The Buddy System. *Updating In Process*

1. Return to Hogwarts

The headaches started again—a dull throb right behind my temples. They'd been happening for weeks now, accompanied by sharp little stings in my chest that always seemed to strike at the worst possible moments. Anxiety, probably. Or stress. Or both. Returning to school without a single familiar hand to hold was enough to rattle anyone, I supposed.

I pressed my forehead against the window, watching the platform through a thin fog of breath. Parents hugged their children again—one last squeeze, one last whispered reminder to write home. A small smile tugged at the corner of my mouth despite myself. It was bittersweet, watching love I no longer had, but it was also... comforting, somehow. Proof that not everything had been destroyed.

Then I noticed him.

A familiar blond boy stood only a few feet away on the platform, directly outside my window. Draco Malfoy looked different—older, but not in the graceful way people grow into themselves. He looked worn down. His posture was stiff, his shoulders too tight, his eyes shadowed as though sleep had abandoned him months ago. There was something raw about him, something hollow that hadn't been there before the war.

His mother stood beside him, regal as ever. Narcissa Malfoy's chin was lifted in that practiced, aristocratic tilt—but there was tension in her jaw, the faintest tremor in her fingers. She looked straight ahead, determined, composed... until she turned suddenly, as though sensing eyes on her.

Our gazes met.

Startled, I did the only thing my nerves allowed—I raised my hand in a small, awkward wave and attempted a polite smile. It felt ridiculous, but to my relief, she returned it with a soft, almost grateful nod.

Draco followed her line of sight, brow furrowing. When he spotted me, his expression flickered—confusion, maybe recognition, or maybe just surprise that anyone would acknowledge them at all. His eyes dropped quickly, as if unsure whether he was allowed to look back. And then, without a word, he turned to pull his mother into a tight embrace.

I looked away to give them privacy, but the reflection on the glass betrayed the tenderness of the moment. Draco held her as if she were the last solid thing in his life, as if the moment he let go she might dissolve into the air around them.

And honestly... after everything they'd lost, everything they'd endured, maybe she was the most important thing he had left.

She probably always had been.

To Draco Malfoy, Narcissa wasn't just a mother—she was his lifeline.

Draco Malfoy... what an enigma he was.

For years, he'd been like a storm cloud hovering at the edge of every room—unavoidable, unpredictable, strangely captivating. I'd crossed paths with him more times than I could count. Some encounters were forgettable, barely more than brush-by moments in the corridors. Others... well, others had stayed with me far longer than I would ever admit out loud. But no matter how trivial or fleeting our interactions were, he had a way of catching my attention without even trying.

I noticed him. Perhaps more than most people did during fifth and sixth year.

Merlin, that sounded creepy. I winced at myself.

It wasn't like I followed him around, taking notes on his daily habits like some lovesick investigator. I had more important things to worry about—like surviving my classes, trying not to fall apart in public, and pretending my life wasn't crumbling quietly beneath my feet. But still... noticing him didn't require effort. It just happened. He had a way of drawing the eye, even when he tried to disappear.

Especially then, actually.

I remembered the way he'd walk through the corridors with his shoulders stiff, as though bracing for a blow no one else could see. The way exhaustion clung to him like a second skin, the melancholy etched deep into his features. He always looked glum... except for one particular evening.