Desolation Row | A Draco Malfoy Fanfiction

Chapter 11

Just over two weeks later, on January 25th, it was Llewellyn Kent's birthday and Madeleine was frantic, running around the Slytherin Common Room inviting as many of her friends as she could to a party she was hosting for her boyfriend. 
"Ophelia, Draco!" she chirped, appearing at our side as I helped Draco with his Charms homework. 
We both looked up and I smiled at my younger sister. 
"Wh-what's up, M-mads?" I asked, reaching up to hug her. 
"Will you come to Llewellyn's party later? It's in the Ravenclaw Common Room at 8:30 pm."
We nodded our agreement and she grinned, running off to find more of her friends.

8:30pm came about quickly as I closed my Transfiguration textbook. 
"Dray?" I asked, coaxing him from his own thoughts as he crossed the 't's and dotted the 'i's of his Transfiguration essay. 
"Hmm?" he asked, looking up as he closed his essay inside his textbook. 
"W-we ne-need to go."
He nodded and stood up, stretching, his shirt untucking itself slightly from his trousers. I averted my eyes and stood up too, passing Draco his robe. Throwing it over his shoulders, Draco waited by the Common Room door as I hurried upstairs to pick up the present I had wrapped for Llewellyn. 
"C-coming, B-buck?" I asked, nudging my cat who was snoozing on my bed. 
He sat up and stretched, mewing as I headed towards the door, asking me to wait. The two of us headed down the stairs towards where Draco was waiting and I grinned at him. 
"L-let's go."
        Madeleine was stood outside the Ravenclaw Common Room with her friend Deryn Kent, ushering those who had climbed the tower for Llewellyn's birthday inside. I hugged my sister as she hurried us inside, instructing me on where to put her boyfriend's present. We headed inside and I could hear music playing though I couldn't quite work out where it was coming from. Placing Llewellyn's present where instructed, I scooped Buchanan up in my arms and he buried his face in my neck. 
"Hey, Buck." I heard a familiar voice call. 
Edward was stood before me with a tall, sandy-haired Hufflepuff whose face was dusted with freckles. 
"This is Tyler O'Sullivan." smiled Edward proudly, gesturing to the boy stood beside him. "Ty, this is my sister Ophelia and her friend, Draco Malfoy."
"Pleasure to meet you." sang the Hufflepuff who had a thick Irish accent. "I love your cat!"
I chuckled and Buchanan raised his head at the mention of him. 
"H-his n-name is Bu-buchan-an. W-want to h-hold him?"
Tyler nodded gratefully and I unloaded Buchanan into his arms. Buchanan mewed and sat up, placing his paws on Tyler's shoulders before accidentally sneezing on his face. I apologised profusely but Tyler laughed and told me not to worry. Catching Llewellyn out the corner of my eye, I slid away from the conversation, scratching Buchanan on the head as I left. A flutter of a hand at my waist told me Draco was following me and I smiled, turning to face him as he dropped his hand.  
"H-happy bir-birthday, Llewellyn." I smiled.
"Thank you, Ophelia, Draco." his Welsh accent softly replied. 
He shuffled away to talk to some of his other friends as Draco and I headed over to where everyone was dancing. 
"Dance with me?" asked Draco politely and I grinned, moving towards him. 
For over half an hour, Draco and I danced. I say dance, given that I have no sense of rhythm it was more half an hour of Draco dancing and me flailing next to him but by 9:30pm both of us were starving. I spotted the food table and dragged Draco over in order for us to get some food.
"Plate?" asked Draco gentlemanly as he held out a paper plate to me. 
I smiled and took it from him, casting my gaze hungrily over the table before us. Since Draco and I had spent most of our Saturday working on different essays for different teachers, we rarely got a chance to have a food break. The only thing we had eaten today were a few chocolate frogs for lunch. After piling my plate exceptionally high with all manner of different party foods, I led Draco over to a seemingly quiet corner of the Common Room where we sat for the majority of the party. I took a look at the Ravenclaw Common Room, marking all the differences between our own and Llewellyn's. For starters, ours was in the dungeons whereas Ravenclaw's was situated in one of the towers, much like the Gryffindor Common Room. The arch windows set into the walls of the circular room gave a spectacular view of the Forbidden Forest, the lake, the Quidditch Pitch and the Herbology gardens as well as the surrounding mountains. They were indeed incredible views, however, in my opinion, the view our windows gave of the contents of the Great Lake was far more enjoyable. We received impromptu shows from the Merpeople and even sometimes a spectacle from the Giant Squid. Personally, I thought that watching the Merpeople dance was far more fascinating than a gorgeous view of the grounds. Then I caught sight of a large, white marble statue of who I assumed must be Rowena Ravenclaw and I began to chuckle. 
"What're you laughing at?" questioned Draco as he followed my line of sight to the statue. 
"C-can y-you im-imagine if we h-had a st-statue of Sal-Salazar Sly-Slytherin in our C-common R-room?" I giggled, once I had composed myself. "Ev-everyon-one w-would th-throw eggs at him a-at Hall-hallow-oween."
Draco snorted as he pictured the situation. 
"You're probably right," he chuckled turning to face me. "He's not very popular, is he?"
We laughed again together as Buchanan came streaking up to us and jumped on my lap, causing me to quickly swerve my empty plate out of the way. I stroked him on the head as he nudged my watch with his nose. I checked the time and gasped. 
"H-how is it al-already 11 pm?" 
Draco's eyes widened as he looked around the Common Room. While we had been sat, dancing, eating and laughing the number of guests had thinned drastically and almost everyone that was left was in Ravenclaw. 
"We need to get back!"
Draco jumped up, accidentally hitting Buchanan with his paper plate which earned him a disgruntled meow. 
Just as Draco and I stood up to leave, the Common Room door burst open and everyone fell silent, the music was the only thing left on. 
"It is 11 pm!" called a familiar voice. "Go to bed! And turn this music off!"
I stretched on my tiptoes and could just see Professor Flitwick standing in his pyjamas, looking very unhappy. He stomped out of the Common Room and Draco and I looked at each other. We hurried towards the door, finding Madeleine as we did so and we all headed out as quietly as we could, Buchanan at our heels.  As we hurried down the spiral staircase, Buchanan overtook us and became our lookout. He would check for the presence of Filch or Mrs Norris and warn us accordingly.  We were nearly back to the dungeons when Buchanan stopped. He bravely turned the corner, the rest of us stood waiting. Suddenly, I heard him hiss and heard a male voice give out a strangled sound of surprise. 
"Get out my way, you godawful cat."  
It was Filch. We were all stood frozen. Adrenaline was coursing through my veins. I could feel Draco's presence behind me and it calmed me down, at least until I saw Buchanan fly across the corridor and land on the floor in a heap.
"I told you to move." croaked Filch as he slouched off in the other direction. 
"H-how dare you!" I screamed, not caring about the consequences. 
I heard Draco whisper my name, a hint of warning lacing his hushed tone but I pressed on. 
"Miss Avondale?" returned Filch as he turned around.
I stifled a sob as I ran forward to pick up Buchanan. It looked as though one of his legs was broken and I held him gently but firmly to my chest. Madeleine was in shock. Draco had kept my sister hidden around the corner as I stood facing off with Filch, Buchanan in my arms.
"What are you doing out of bed?" asked Filch, a sneer twisting his abysmal features. "You know what this means. Detention with your Head of House, next week. I shall inform Professor Snape now. Get to bed, now! Before I give your cat another broken leg."
Filch turned immediately on his heel and headed off down the corridor. When it was safe, Draco and Madeleine emerged from around the corner and in silence, the three of us headed back to the Common Room. 
          Luckily, we were very close to the Common Room and I hurried straight upstairs with Buchanan as soon as we were inside. Placing my cat gently down on my bed, I healed him before getting changed and climbing into bed beside him. I was fuming. I had always hated Filch but now I hated him even more. I didn't even care that I received my first detention of my whole school career, I just couldn't believe he had kicked Buchanan. I held my cat very protectively that night as if I feared someone else might hurt him.