A Heavenly Betrayal (Draco Malfoy Love Story)

Saviour

Maria and Draco were walking, hand in hand, through the candle-lit corridors, on their way back from the Astronomy Tower. Maria was still, obviously, a bit shocked by what Draco had only just told her. Many questions lingered restlessly in her head.

"You know you still haven’t answered my first question."

He looked at her, frowning but content. Sharing his past and troubles had been extremely relieving; he felt much better now that at least one person understood him – knew his version of his story. And what made him feel even better was the fact that this person was Maria.

"What you thought about the rumours of you changing and stuff," she added, curling up one end of her mouth at the sight of his puzzled face.

"I think death threats are pretty convincing."

"Not that!" Maria half-laughed, half-blamed.

Draco was smirking, throwing his shoulders back. He feigned concentrating really hard, only to no avail.

"You know what I mean, stop kidding!"

He slowly regained a straight face. All of a sudden, his tone became very serious and deep as a frown hardened his features.

"I think growing up would be the better term, not changing."

Maria was lost in her thoughts for a few seconds. She agreed with him; change was too big of a word. It implied that the person had lost yet also gained something, which, for all she knew, wasn’t Draco’s case. It made great sense in her mind; the past events of his life had made him more mature. He wasn’t a new person, he had simply grown; because Merlin knows there’s a world of differences between talking the talk and walking the walk.

Suddenly, a faint cry echoed from of the adjacent corridor. Maria and Draco paused at once and held their breaths to listen intently. Another sob made its way around the corner ahead of them. Someone was crying, no doubt about it, but who? With a quick glance at each other, the pair swiftly and quickly resumed to a trot. It was their duty after all – although they often tended to forget what these ‘Friday night watches’ were originally for. They hastily turned around the corner as a new outburst of cries was heard. On the stone floor, beneath a torch, sat a little girl; most likely a first year, judging by her size. Blinded by her tears, she did not see them approach. Maria crouched awkwardly beside her; she was no good with other people’s tears. Draco stayed slightly behind.

"What’s wrong?" she abruptly inquired in a forcefully soft voice.

The little girl’s face was wet and glossy in the candle light. After a few dry sobs, she managed to summon enough breath in her small lungs to speak:

"Frankie... he… he’s lost, I – I can’t find him…"

She broke into a whole new set of loud cries. Maria threw a quick, panicked look at Draco, trying to figure out what to do next, but he did not return the favour. He merely frowned, watching the little girl cautiously.