banshee ➪ harry potter ✔︎

27. The Awkward Dinner Party

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TONIGHT WAS SLUGHORN'S DINNER PARTY AND VICTORIA WASN'T REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO IT.

She thought it might be fun at first, but as the day went on, she was just dreading it. She didn't like that he was 'collecting' students to be apart of his Slug Club, but she liked knowing that she was in some way, valued as a student.

Victoria got ready in her dormitory quietly that evening, made her way out of the Slytherin common room and headed off to Professor Slughorn's office. As she was leaving, she spotted Draco up a little further down the corridor and decided to follow him. Surely it wouldn't matter if she was a few minutes late...

She followed Draco all the way up through the castle and hid behind a wall, watching as he stood in front of a wall. It moved and he went inside.

It must be the Room of Requirement, she thought.

She did the same thing and entered the Room. There was junk everywhere, obviously things that were either hidden for a purpose or had been lost over the years. It certainly had a different feel to it then when they practiced here for all the Dumbledore's Army meetings last year. Victoria quietly walked around the room, looking for Draco. She stopped when she saw him standing in front of a tall cabinet that looked identical to the one she saw him with in Borgin and Burkes.

She slowly walked further towards him but accidentally kicked something along the way, causing Draco to turn around. She ducked behind a table and cursed silently to herself.

"Who's there?" Draco said.

Victoria didn't move.

"I said, who's there?" He asked again but she remained silent.

"Homenum Revelio." Draco said and suddenly Victoria felt an odd sensation around her, like something was swooping lowly over her body.

She stood up and Draco stepped back slightly, surprised to see her.

"Hi Draco." Victoria said, her hands raised in defence.

"What, are you spying on me now Tori?" He asked.

"No."

"Don't lie to me!" Draco snapped and Victoria flinched.

"I'm not spying on you!" She said firmly, "I just want to know what you've been doing? Why are you being so secretive all the time?"

"I can't tell you, and even if could...I wouldn't." He said.

"Why not? I thought we were friends."

Draco scoffed. "Wasn't it you who told me to stay away from you last year? You were the one who said you didn't want to be friends if I was supporting the 'wrong side'."

"I never said that. I said stay away from me while you support that old toad Umbridge. She's gone, so I thought it wouldn't matter anymore what happened last year."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Well, it does matter Victoria. If we were still friends, you would've been there for me when my father was on trial. If we were friends, you wouldn't be hanging around with Potter and you'd actually act like a Slytherin. If we were friends, you'd still make an effort to see my mother because that's what friends do, they stick around and help each other out. She still goes on about how much she misses you but frankly, I don't see the point. You were never part of our family and you never will be."

Victoria stared at him with glassy eyes. "You don't mean that."

Draco didn't reply.

"Draco, I know we aren't as close as we used to be but I still care about you. And Narcissa. I'm sorry I didn't come to the trial, I've had other things going on in my life. You of all people should understand that."

"What could you possibly have going on? Your family is dead."

Victoria didn't feel sad anymore, she just felt angry.

She narrowed her eyes and glared at him. "How dare you. How dare you talk about my family like that!" She shouted. 

Now she had started crying. Draco knew immediately he'd said the wrong thing and swallowed the lump in his throat.

"Victoria I–"

"Save it!" She snapped, cutting him off. "I saw you in Borgin and Burke's at the end of summer. Whatever you're up to, I hope you know what you're doing. Don't come crying to me if you mess it up because I could care less at this point. You're right, we're not friends and I'm not apart of your family. I never have been and I never will be."

Without another word, she stormed out of the Room of Requirement.

Her tears fell and she ran off back towards the Slytherin common room. She never imagined Draco of all people would say something like that to her. She trusted him and thought that they'd at least be able to move on from last year's events. She thought they'd be able to move past their differences and still remain friends. But she was wrong, and she didn't care anymore.

She reached the corridor, leaned against a pillar and cried.

"Victoria?"

Ginny Weasley's voice filled her ears and the brunette looked up. Ginny's eyes were puffy and her face was red.

"Are you okay?" the red head asked.

Victoria nodded, wiping her face clean of the tears. "Fine. Are you?"

Ginny chuckled. "Fine. I suppose we should get to that dinner before it's too late."

"Dinner is the last place I want to be right now but...I guess so." She said and linked arms with Ginny.

It didn't matter that they'd been crying, or that neither one knew what the other was crying for. What mattered was that they were going to be strong and move on together. Even if it was just for a few hours.

The two girls entered Slughorn's office and everyone stared at them.

"Ah, Miss Weasley and Miss Gibson, come in, come in." Professor Slughorn greeted.

"Sorry sir, we aren't usually late." Ginny said.

"No matter, just in time for desert. That is if Belby has left you any." He chuckled.

Harry noticed both girls had been crying and stood up randomly. His green eyes met Victoria's brown ones and for a moment she felt like it was just the two of them in the room. When he sat back down, after realising everyone was staring at them, Victoria took a seat next to him.

"What?" Harry whispered to Hermione who was smirking at him.

"Nothing." She whispered back, still smirking.

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This chapter was so lame cri

Hope u enjoyed it anyways lol