Desolation Row | A Draco Malfoy Fanfiction

Chapter 9

It was already January 6th and the two weeks of the Christmas holidays had seemed to pass by quicker than they had rolled around. I stretched with a groan as I rolled out of bed, not at all prepared for our first day back. With another yawn, I stretched again, this time out of bed, and listened intently to the sounds of Draco and Llewellyn getting ready on the floor above me, and my twin siblings arguing in the room adjacent to mine.
"Good mor-morning, Bu-Buchanan." I smiled at my cat as he arched his back and clawed his paws up my leg.
I picked him up, earning a disgruntled mew as clearly he only wanted attention, not affection. Chuckling to myself, I stroked his nose and planted a heavy kiss on the top of his fluffy head before placing him back on the floor, where he promptly proceeded to have a wash. Crossing my room to my wardrobe, I pulled my clean robes from inside and looked at them, smiling. I folded them and placed them carefully inside my open trunk before grabbing some jeans and an over-sized jumper - perfect for the snowy weather outside. 
"E-Edward, Mad-Madeleine?" I called, poking my head out of my bedroom door, causing my siblings to do the same from theirs. "M-mind i-if I use th-the bath-bathroom."
They both shook their heads and smiled, meaning I was free to have my shower.
        Stepping out of the shower, with wet hair, I attempted to dry myself as quickly as I could. The cold winter chill was creeping its way into our house, sliding in under locked doors and through the seals of closed windows. I shivered and pulled my clothes on, reveling in the warmth of my jumper. 
"Ugh." I was sat at my bureau, trying to run a brush through my damp hair and miserably failing. 
Just as I attempted to run the brush through once more, my father knocked on the door, opening it a little. 
"Everything alright?" he asked, smiling warmly at me. "Are you nearly ready?"
"It's j-just m-my ha-hair." I said, frustrated. 
"Let me."
My father came to stand behind me and took the hairbrush from my hand, placing it on my bureau. He pulled his wand out of his jacket pocket and ran it through my hair, as if it was a hairbrush. Where his wand touched instantly dried. I smiled and ran my hands through my now brushed and dried hair. 
"Th-thank you! I c-can't wa-wait un-until I can u-use mag-magic."
My father chuckled before shaking his head. 
"Don't wish your time away, my dear, allow me to enjoy these last few months before you are a fully fledged witch."
I laughed and stood up, following my father back out of my bedroom and taking the stairs downward two at a time. 

Breakfast had been eaten hastily and all five students were waiting patiently by the door with our trunks. I had Buchanan's basket in one hand but it was empty as he had refused to get into it and wanted to walk with us to the car. With my free hand, I was playing with the ring Draco had bought me and I smiled. Once my father was ready, the six of us headed outside to his enchanted car and piled in, fitting our trunks into the boot. I had since managed to coax Buchanan into his basket and now had him on my lap.  
        Once at King's Cross Station we all jumped out of the car and collected our trunks, grabbing a trolley each to push them. 
"Thank you so much for having me, Mr. Avondale." smiled LLewellyn as he spotted his parents dropping off his sister on the platform. 
With a smile and a hand-shake, my father told him it was nothing and Madeleine hugged our father before following her boyfriend towards his family. Edward then noticed his friend, Tyler O'Sullivan, waving to him from down the platform. With a hug, he too disappeared off down the platform, pushing his trunk in front of him. My father, Draco and I started down the platform, towards the barrier that many witches and wizards were disappearing through. As I checked the time, I noticed that it was 10:55 and began to pick up the pace, knowing that I couldn't miss the train. The three of us discretely disappeared through the barrier, causing Buchanan to mew excitedly - he knew where we were going. 
"B-bye, D-dad!" I called, hugging my father as Draco and I headed towards the train. 
"Thank you for having me, Mr. Avondale!" 
Draco and I jumped into a carriage, just as the train let out a burst of steam and began to roll off the platform. We waved to my father from the window before making our way down the train carriages, trying to find an empty compartment. It didn't take long before we found one that had no one in. Draco let me in first and I smiled, thanking him as I lifted my trunk up onto one of the seats. I sat down next to it and lifted the lid, pulling out a wrapped box and another two smaller presents. 
"I-I j-just ne-ed to go a-and g-give El-elisa h-her pre-resents."
Draco nodded and smiled, rummaging through his trunk to try and find his robes. I took the presents in my arms and pulled the door open. 
"Y-you can let Bu-chan-chanan out i-if he st-starts to me-meow." I said, gesturing to my grumpy cat in his basket.
I headed down the train, checking every compartment for Elisa. I hoped she wasn't sat alone but when I caught sight of her, I realised she was. 
"Hey," I announced my presence, smiling. "M-may I?"
Elisa grinned and gestured to the seats opposite her. 
"H-happy late Chris-christmas!" I said, handing Elisa the presents. 
She smiled and picked up the smallest present first. After ripping the paper off, she grinned at the box of handmade fudge she was holding in her hand. 
"Thank you, Ophelia!" 
She then picked up another one of the presents and flipped it over in her lap. She unwrapped the Gryffindor inspired scarf I had knitted for her and she smiled again, wrapping it around her neck and reaching for the biggest present. 
"Ophelia, you've already got me so much, this wasn't necessary!" Elisa smiled warmly at me. 
I laughed and nodded. 
"Y-yes it w-was."
Elisa pulled the wrapping paper off of the box and her jaw dropped. 
"Ophelia, a new telescope? You really didn't have to!"
"I kn-knew th-that the one y-you h-had ne-needed to b-be re-repla-placed. Al-also, As-astron-stronomy is your fav-avourite."
"Well, in that case, you better have these."
From inside her trunk, Elisa pulled out a gold cauldron with a few wrapped presents inside. 
"The cauldron is your main present and the things inside are just little add-ons. After all, Potions is your thing."
With a grin, I pulled out the first present and unwrapped it. After getting to the bottom of the cauldron, I stood up to hug Elisa. She had bought me a collection of Potions ingredients in addition to the cauldron and some of Honeydukes' Finest Chocolate. 
        After I had thanked Elisa, Ron made an appearance. Seeing that she now had company, I smiled and hugged her again before I headed back to Draco.
"L-look wh-what she bou-bought me!" I beamed, lifting up my cauldron to show Draco.
"How'd she know Potions was your favourite?" Draco asked with a laugh. "Oh wait, everyone knows."
"O-oh sh-shush, you!" I sat back down opposite Draco and put my new cauldron into my trunk, noticing that Buchanan's basket was empty.
"Are you excited to start Apparition this year?" asked Draco, catching my attention.
"Def-definitely!" I answered, grinning.
I had been looking forward to learning how to apparate ever since I was a little girl and had seen my father doing it. As I peered out of the window, I noticed we were nearing the castle so I began to lift things out of my trunk to find my robes. After slipping them on, I felt the train begin to slow before juddering to a halt. Just as the brakes screeched jarringly and the whole train jolted to a stop, Buchanan came streaking into the compartment and jumped gracefully back into his basket, knowing we would be heading imminently into the castle.