𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐓𝐰𝐨 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐬

Chapter 9

Adeline tossed and turned throughout the night. Instead of guilt and frustration keeping her up, it was now nerves and a fear of inadequacy. Because what if Potter got to know the real her and ended up hating her? Actually hating her for who she was, not the shell she projected, and wanted everyone to hate.

If you hate yourself, other people can't beat you to it.

And maybe that's why she had a mask. Maybe that's why she was so nasty to others.

And how much of the real her was Adeline being on those fake dates, and how different would she be, knowing she was the real Adeline—someone who she had only shaken hands with a number of times before burying her beneath the mantle her father conditioned her to have.

Who was the real Adeline?

Why was this so bloody complicated? Life was so much easier when she was just a bully, and when being something Potter liked was completely different from being herself.

She rolled over in her bed, casting a lumos and checking her pocket watch periodically.

At 5:03 in the morning, Adeline hesitated before she put on her slippers and silk bathrobe. She tiptoed to Draco's door, knocking on it softly until he opened it moments later.

"Hey," she whispered.

"What do you want?" he bit, his hair in disarray and eyes barely open.

"I can't stop thinking about him." Her arms were crossed tight over her chest. "I'm so nervous. I don't know what to do."

"It's hours away. Couldn't you have waited until the morning?"

"It's morning, technically."

He glared at her and ushered her into his room, shutting the door. He sat on his bed and pulled his comforter back over him while Adeline sat on a chair next to his desk.

"I don't understand how he can keep doing this to me, how it hasn't gone away." Adeline bit her lip.

"It's a crush. That's what happens." Draco yawned and rubbed his face. "I can't believe you've never had one before. Not even those stupid ones you have when you're twelve."

Adeline twisted the Malfoy ring. "You know our family. I wouldn't dare to."

"Yeah. I know."

Adeline took a deep breath. "I hate feeling so out of control."

"Haven't you ever wanted to be out of control? Just be a kid for a bit."

"Being a kid gets you nowhere. Besides, I'm fourteen, not four. I'm going to be running our Manor in a few years. Playing around and dating in place of learning how to be powerful... it's a waste of time."

Draco took a deep breath. "Firstly, I'm going to run the Manor as well. Secondly, father brainwashed us. And I think you're finally realizing it."

"Our father's an ex-Death Eater, in case you don't remember. You think he won't raise us to be like one, even if You-Know-Who isn't around? And dating Potter of all people, the direct antithesis of what father stands for. Merlin, what am I doing?" She put her head in her hands. "I can't have a crush on Potter. I can't love. I can't laugh. I can't do this."

"I hope Potter changes you." Draco spoke softly.

She looked at her brother. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I think you could be a good person if you learned how to be. I don't want you to be like our father. He's cruel. He's mean. He's empty."

"He's powerful."