"Professor Selgentar?" Draco asked in partially false horror. He needed to feign ignorance, but at the same time, was surprised she made the connection.
"Don't play dumb with me, Malfoy," she said said sharply. "I know that you've been seeing her after hours–"
"Have you been spying on me, Granger?" He said mockingly, using her family name as she used his.
"I won't say I'm spying," the girl retorted, "But I have been keeping a close eye."
"Why?"
"Why?! Because you've been an absolute twat, ever since you saw Harry in the library–"
"You mean when he caught us in the library."
"Caug-caught us?" Hermione gasped incredulously, "There was nothing to catch us for, we weren't doing anything wrong–"
"What do you expect, Hermione? That we could be friends? To pretend like the past five years haven't happened?" He sneered, the ugly expression mangling his face in the moonlight, making him look sinister and cold.
"People chang–"
"Don't tell me people can change," Draco snarled. "I haven't."
"Yes, you have. I've seen the good in you."
"The good!" He snorted, sitting up now, and glaring down at the Gryffindor. "There is no good here. I told you it was fun while it lasted but I'm not delusional. No good can come out of this and now I'm bored."
"You're doing it again!" Hermione said shrilly, "Why do you have to act so hateful when you're truly not as–"
"As opposed to?" He asked, pausing to cock his eyebrow at her, "My father?"
"Will you stop cutting me off?!" The girl shrieked, "I was going to say Voldemort. You're not, and never will be, as hateful as Voldemort."
They glared at each other for a moment before Draco seemed to deflate.
"I'm tired, Hermione."
The sudden vulnerability caught her unawares, and she wanted so much to reach out and cup his cheek, to give him comfort, the knowledge that he isn't alone. But she didn't.
"I-I'll let you rest, then." She said hesitantly, standing up and drawing the invisibility cloak up around her, "Unless... unless you'd like me to stay? I could–" She glanced at the reclining chair at the foot of the ward, "I could stay, if you like."
A smile tugged at the corner of Draco's lips but he forced it away, just like all the feelings and thoughts that Hermione has been putting into his head for the past few months, rejecting them like they were poison, though welcoming them in private.
"No, go." He said with a heavy sigh, "Go back to your Gryffindor tower and"– Hermione grimaced as though expecting biting words– "sleep well."
Hermione let her gaze rest on him for a beat before throwing the cloak over her head and retreated out of the ward. It seemed like eternity before Draco released his breath, wishing with all his heart that this little show of loyalty or friendship went unnoticed by Professor Selgentar, though if poisoning Draco wasn't beneath her, he knew that she wouldn't leave him unmonitored.
Sleep didn't come easy, but at last it came, crashing over him in waves of black fatigue, until dawn came and he felt no better rested than he was the night before.
That afternoon, Draco was discharged and he walked with a certain swagger, milking the attention he received, grumbling about how Dumbledore is losing his wits for allowing a student to be poisoned under his watch, "Must be the incompetent house-elves that contaminated the food with their filthy little paws." He spat vehemently, returned to his full vigour, bolstered by the admiration and attention that his fellow Slytherins endowed on him.
Nobody pointed out that they ate the same food as he and were not poisoned as he was. But the Slytherins have long learnt to not argue with Draco who thought himself higher than anyone in their house, if not all the houses. Pansy was almost beside herself at the thought that her dearest Draco was making a comeback, believing that he must have succeeded in the task the Dark Lord had set out for him, which put a damper on his mood when she brought it up. Fussing and fawning over how brilliant Draco was.
His mood soured further when a second year was sent to fetch him from the dungeons.
"Malfoy, Draco, sir," the tiny boy squeaked, "Professor Selgentar told me to give this to you. She said you would know where to find her." He handed him a small piece of parchment. Without a second glance or another word, the messenger slipped out of the room. Draco glanced down at the careful scrawl which seemed to have been written with a loving flourish:
Doesn't she care so wonderfully much?
His heart caught in his throat and he looked up to find the boy gone. Crushing the parchment in his hand, he quickly threw it into the fire and glared at it until the flames were seared into the back of his eyes.
Upon accepting the fact that he could not escape her, he left for her empty office, devoid of all artefacts or personal touches, almost like an office of a phantom.
"Brilliant move," Draco complimented as Selgentar answered the door and left it wide open for him as she made her way to her desk.
She was settling into her chair when the door shut behind him.
"I would say everything worked out perfectly, didn't it?" She said with a little cackle, "Ingenious, if I say so myself."
He allowed his gritted teeth to form a grimace he hoped looked sinister. "Cunning befitting of the Dark Lord's servant."
The professor seemed appeased at this and said, "I'm sure there is nothing else stopping you from fulfilling your destiny, Draco?"
"Nothing will stop me from carrying out his wishes... It is my honour to serve," he said, "And my birthright."
Selgentar considered this for a moment and said, "Spoken like a true Slytherin. Voldemort has always overestimated the loyalty and the competence of his followers and I see now why that might be. Everyone speaks of him reverently because they are afraid of him." The professor leaned towards Draco and asked gently, "Do you fear him, Draco?"
Instead of responding instantly, the boy tilted his head and waited for her eagerness to grow before finally saying, "A loyal servant has nothing to fear."
At that, Selgentar threw her head back and laughed. For a split second, Draco almost saw the image of the Dark Lord's glee reflecting back at him but it was gone too quick, almost as though he had imagined it.
"Good, good... Very good. I am very much looking forward to what new information you will seek out and I am sure the Dark Lord shares my sentiments..." She stood up from her chair and Draco made a move towards the door, recognising that he was being dismissed but the professor stopped short in front of him, her hand raising towards him.
"You won't disappoint me now, will you?" She traced her fingers across his face, leaving a cold trail running down the back of his spine.
"I will not disappoint the Dark Lord." He fixed his icy glare on her. "You are not the Dark Lord."
At this, he turned with his shoulder squared and back straight before exiting the room and heading back to his dormitory as fast as his long legs could take him, hearing the echo of her laughter following him into his dreams. But now he knew what needed to be done. If he wanted to stop being a spectator in his own life, it was time for him to take life by the reins.
YOU ARE READING
The Lost Timeline | Dramione | ✔
Fanfiction"Do not make the mistake of thinking I care what you think of me." She looked down and saw her book in his other hand. The unexpected kindness in the midst of poison was more than she could bear and she took it from him quickly before breaking into...
