Unplanned Liars • Draco Malfoy

65. Nott's defeat

When I reached my dormitory, the girls weren't there, what was a relief. Tears were streaming down my cheeks against my will, but this time I knew better. I entered the bathroom and opened Milicent's cupboard - I remembered that she always had a bottle of Calming Draught with herself, so I opened it and took a sip.

This time no crying all night.

I walked up to my trunk and found a quill, a bottle of ink and a piece of parchment, then got the Potions book so I could write on something. I was still shaking, since the Draught hasn't started working yet and found it difficult to write. A few tears dropped onto the parchment and I understood the longer I'd sit like this, the longer it'd take me to calm down. So I quickly scribbled a short note to my parents and promised myself to take it to the Owlery as soon as possible.

I put the letter into an envelope and looked down, sighing as I saw two snakes on my chest. One of them was shining on the emerald background, silver letters spelling Slytherin embroidered under it. What if the Sorting Hat hadn't put me in Slytherin? I would've never experienced all that... He would've stopped talking to me...

The other snake's background was the blackness of my robes, and its head was moving. When I realised that, I took the necklace off immediately and tossed it into my trunk. I won't need it anymore.

After that, I walked up to my drawer and took out the fake Galleon, then threw it next to the necklace. Another thing I could consider as rubbish now.

I didn't fall asleep quickly. I even heard the girls coming back from the ball, but I pretended to be sleeping and didn't even budge. I didn't want any questions or explanations.

The next day was fortunately Saturday. Most people were exhausted after the ball and almost asleep at the breakfast, but I looked no better than them. I didn't sleep well, either. The Calming Draught didn't exactly help me.

When I entered the Great Hall, he was already there by the Slytherin table talking to Crabbe and Goyle, but I ignored it, even though I was still devastated and tears immediately started forming in my eyes again. Avoiding looking at him, I sat between Tracey and Blaise after muttering a "hello".

"Good morning our lovely Aurora!" Nott greeted me, looking very energetic and cheerful, unlike everyone else. "Why are you sulking?" he asked after I didn't reply.

"Nothing, Nott, shut up and leave me alone," I hissed, not even looking up at him. I could hear that my voice was breaking and I really didn't need to cry in front all of them. I just reached for the nearest plate with food.

"Ouch, Aurora," he bit his lip, "possibly that time of the month?"

"No, Nott, buzz off!" I shouted, my fork landing onto the plate with a loud clatter.

Both Blaise and Tracey stared at me. With the corner of my eye, I could see him doing the same. Pathetic.

Only thing that made me feel better was that he didn't look like he had slept well, either.

"Okay, Merlin, calm down," Nott said, raising up his arms in surrender.

After that, there was silence between all of us and everyone was absorbed in their own plate.

"Actually, I need to tell you all something," I eventually broke the silence when I was halfway through my meal.

"I'm all ears," Nott said at once, then smiled at me, putting down his cutlery. Tracey looked at me curiously, so did Blaise.

"I want to say goodbye to you."

"What?!" Blaise choked on his toast, then started coughing. I hit him on the back a few times.

Nott's eyes widened and his smile faded.

"What do you mean by goodbye?" Tracey asked me as Blaise came back to normal breathing.

"My parents will take me from here tomorrow or on Monday," I said as calmly as I could. "And don't expect me to come back."

"What? Why is that? You're a pure-blood, what are you afraid of?" Nott fired at me, looking alarmed.

"Oh, there is nothing I'm afraid of for now," I said loudly, glancing at him to make sure he heard me - and he seemed to be listening to everything I was saying, "believe me, Nott, I didn't plan it. Even better, I want to stay here, but things have changed a bit."

"But you can't!" Nott protested.

After he said that, Blaise snorted with laughter.

"It looks like you lost, Nott," he said somewhere between his laughs. This caught me off guard.

"Lost wh-?"

"Shut your mouth, Zabini!" I was cut off by him and everyone turned their heads towards him in shock, including mine. I felt a searing pain in my chest when I saw his full face, but didn't show it.

"Okay, okay," said Blaise, still laughing while Nott glared at him. You didn't have to be a genius to know it had something to do with me. I wanted answers.

"No, Blaise, tell me what's going on, this instant," I said definitely, piercing him with my eyes.

"Don't you even dare, Blaise!" he shouted, hitting the table with his fist and standing up.

"It's none of your business! Blaise, tell me!" and I was on my feet now, too.

"Merlin, I lost a bet!" Nott said eventually and impatiently. "They said I wouldn't make you my girlfriend in a month and they won!"

There was a short pause, in which I stared from Nott to Blaise and again.

"They? What do you mean they?" I thundered.

"Draco and Blaise," Nott said dismissively, clearly annoyed.

There was another pause. Blaise was speechless and I could feel his eyes on me.

"Great," I said, pushing my chair aside with all of my force. "Great," I repeated and stormed out of the Great Hall, leaving my half-finished meal.