Just Him {Draco Malfoy}

21 - Frozen

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— DRACO GOT OUT  of the Hospital Wing two days later, and ever since, he had tried to contact the Princess with owls, letters and even knocked on her door himself. She never answered to any of his signals. He wondered if he had done something.

"I just need to see her. Just for a few minutes—"
"I said no, Mr. Malfoy. Stop being annoying and go to your next class.", Professor Snape warned him and the blonde boy sighed, walking away.

After what had happened to him, everybody looked at Draco differently. It was the neutrality of the looks that threw him off. Quite frankly, he didn't know what to expect, but neutrality was a total surprise, since at Hogwarts everyone felt comfortable picking sides. There was no fear behind the students' gaze. Draco didn't know what to feel, so he simply chose to ignore the indifference and move on. Though, he knew that for Potter the days of glory were counted. The rumors of him being The Chosen One and then of attacking another student, weren't going to help his reputation as a hero.

Draco snickered at his own thoughts.

Potions went at an awfully slow pace; Professor Slughorn repeatedly mentioning the students' parents and what they had accomplished. It was getting old and quite frankly, boring. Draco stood up from his seat and grasped his books as he packed his belongings. He was about to exit the classroom, until the Professor stopped him at the door.

"Do you know if the Princess is alright?", he carefully asked.

"No... Why?", Draco's brows furrowed in confusion.

"I'm not supposed to say something like this, but— She might have received the gifts she was taken away many years ago— I shouldn't have said anything.", Slughorn pressed his lips in a tight line.

"What gift are you talking about, Professor?", Draco's curiosity increased. The Professor shook his head and walked out of the classroom. "I'm afraid I've said too much, Mr Malfoy. Have a good day."

What was Ella hiding?

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That night, Draco told himself that he was going to face her. It didn't matter if she had her own personal bodyguards at her door. He was worried and he wanted to make sure she was okay. With his own eyes, not by words told by a bunch of people.

The blonde boy's footsteps were slow and careful as he walked through the familiar corridor.
As he wanted to turn right to reach the corridor her room was in, her own door opened.

Draco hid quickly behind the grey wall and observed her carefully. Over her dark blue dress, Ella wore a black cape that covered her head and back. It appeared that she was headed outside. As Draco carefully followed her, he held his own coat closer to his body as the cold month of December was finally there.

He worried a little, noticing that the black cape was the only thing that kept her away from the wind, then he noticed the long, black gloves on her hands and sighed.

They were out of the castle as the snow touched Ella's feet, Draco noticed that she was walking without having heels on. They were a few meters away from the lake's unruly water, as Draco called for her.

"Ella!", he shouted as the various thoughts popped in his mind. Why was she so close to that damn lake?

Ella quickly turned around, looking startled and ran towards the lake. "Stop it!", Draco ran behind her, then stopped as her bare feet touched the water and she freely walked on it, freezing the whole lake.