Can I Still Love?

Chapter 1

Pansy,

It was a night like no other. The sky was apparent, and the wind whispered the night's secrets to me as I sat on the edge of the astronomy tower. Wishing the wind would take me with it as it moved all around me seemingly teasing me of its freedom. I looked at the night sky for what seemed like the millionth time that evening. It was so tragically beautiful how could I not stare at the graveyard of stars that was being presented to me on this night?

The night comes slowly but goes so fast. When I looked up again the sun was greeting everything with a warm golden hug. I pulled myself up by the same bars that helped me down earlier. I dusted my skirt off not wanting any reminder of this night on me. While turning around I was met with Daphne instead of the opposing view of the sky I was just fixated on.

She just stood there with her sepia-colored hair blowing against her face. It was clear that she had just been in bed before this. Whether it was her ocular fatigue or her evergreen silk night dress that gave it away I didn't know. What I did know was the reason Daphne was there in the first place. "Spirits woke me out of my dark slumber 'cause they knew you were here," she smiled at me with a smile that could heal any heartache. I shake my head at her and walk to the girl. "I promise you they did not," I giggled at her unseriousness. We descended the metal staircase hand in hand. The only noise that could be heard was my heels clicking against the smooth stone floor of the East wing. The warm rays of sun began seeping through the halls as we rushed down the halls to the dungeon not wanting to get caught. Once we arrived at the common room door I uttered the password to the snake and the door was revealed to us. Daphne headed in first, not waiting for another second. Before heading in I slipped off my shoes not wanting to make any noise that would alert my head of the house that I was just entering. I was no longer allowed to be outside the common room before 7 am and after 8 pm after Draco decided to throw himself down the west wing stairs two weeks ago and I just so happened to be there. They painted me as an accomplice since I didn't report my friend's blunder to a teacher. If I reported every dumb idea that boy has said or done they'd never hear the end of it.

I slipped into the common room and down the stairs as quietly as can be and then headed left to the girls' dormitory. As I stepped on the grates I felt the coldness of the metal and the wetness of the water through my sock. An uncomfortable feeling, to say the least, I walked on my toes the rest of the way to the door that led to my room. Once there I swung the door open and moved toward the hallway and into my dorm. I made sure not to make too much noise, not knowing if the others were still sleeping or not. To my surprise, all the girls were awake and getting ready for classes. "Pansy, where have you been?" Milicent hissed as she turned around in her vanity chair. Her freshly curled hair bounced around her face as she got up and walked over to me. She handed me my phone that I had forgotten to take with me the night before when I left. I had "disappeared" shortly after dinner and had not made a stop at the common room to retrieve my phone. I apologize for my absence with a promise to tell her what I was up to during the night. I headed over to my vanity to fix my hair and whatever makeup I had on from the night before.

All the girls had already left by the time I was done tying the bow in my hair. I sat there with the silence eating me up. Not having the strength to get up or move I just sat there on the dorm floor. Staring at the dimly lit wall with the same empty feeling in my head as last night. I sat there until the creak of the door opening broke through my thought causing me to look at the source of the sound. Astoria. "Pansy, are you coming?" she questioned while holding her hand out to me. She was the younger sister of Daphne, only one year below us but two years above us if you want to talk grades. She was a carbon copy of her sister the only difference was that Daphne had beautiful, flowing blonde hair colored in every shade from golden brown to white-spun sun. While Astoria's hair had the rich, deep brown reminiscent of old mahogany, rich and deep, yet with the subtle hues only time brings. I grabbed her arm delicate hand and pulled myself. I dusted off my skirt and tights and proceeded out of the room with Astoria right by my side.

As we entered the Great Hall we were met with the loud chatter of all four houses. I made my way to the Slytherin table and sat next to Draco. "You say that but if you had the chance you definitely would." Draco finished saying to Blaise before he noticed I was here. "If you were given a chance would you let Professor Lupin hit it?"  he implored in all seriousness. I gave him an all-at-sea look before shaking my head no. "Nobody thinks what I think," he sulked laying his head on his hand. "Isn't there a Quidditch game soon,"  I questioned trying to change the subject to something worth talking about. "Yeah, against the Gryffindorks," Theo said pointing at the Gryffindor table with his fork. I looked to where he was pointing and saw Potter and company already looking over at our table seemingly not noticing my stare. One did notice, that Granger girl was watching me back. I quickly looked away and just stared at the table in front of me. "You think we'll win?" I asked pushing my plate away from me. "Of course," Draco said glancing over to the Gryffindor table. "We're gonna destroy them...just like how Potter should be destroying me."  I looked up from the table to see if anybody else heard the bullshit that just came out of his mouth. "Okay," I say getting up from the table closely followed by everyone else.

------------------------------------------------------------------------