Petals & Thorns | Fred Weasley

three

"Alright, ease off. I was just messing around." He put his hands up in defence. "Let's just go to bed." Without another word, she turned and stormed up the stairs to the dormitories. She took place in her familiar room, noticing the single bed in the corner. She always got the single room. She asked specifically if she could have the last assignment, putting her alone annually. With two to a room in their house, and an odd number of females in her year, she was always left her by herself.

She placed a charm on her door, making it so nobody could open it even if they tried. She took off her clothes from the day, and stared into the mirror of the wardrobe. Looking back at her was a broken girl. When the crowd dissipated and she was left her by her lonesome, her true colours showed. She felt a crawling emptiness enclose her body. That's what she was; alone. No matter how many people she had following her, or how many wanted to be by her side, she was always lonely. When you can't trust, life is dull. She didn't have any friends. She always believed she was perfect by herself. She didn't think she needed anyone. Then, as she grew older, she regretted the walls she built around herself. She was always on her own. Her eyes held a darkness as she watched them. The heavy circles under them screamed at her. Her wrist throbbed with discomfort. She massaged it gently with her other hand. Today hadn't been the first time she experienced hurt at the hands of her significant other. She pulled the loose hair from her neck into a knot at the top of her head. The green duvet called for her as she saw its reflection. 

She wasn't ready, though. Her hands massaged her face, awakening the skin. She let her fingers trail over the smoothness, and let them dance over where his lips had touched barely moments before. She trembled at the thought. She was Adalinda Malfoy, the strongest witch in the school. She shouldn't be afraid of a man who didn't hold half of her power. Yet, as she stood, she knew she was. His whole being terrified her. He held a power over her head that made her quiver at the thought. She wasn't sure if her fear was over the mental capability he held over her, or the looming disappointment of her father that would ensue if she cut ties with him. If she did so now, she wouldn't have an issue finding somebody else. People were practically lining up for her. Despite that, she knew how linked she was with Adrian. They had spent many years together. She was used to his hands, his lips, and his mind. It took her a long time to grow comfortable with him, and she wasn't ready to start over with someone new. She stayed with him out of blindness for a better life.

She opened her trunk, pulling on a pair of loose fitting sleeping pants. The red marks on her thigh had dissipated. She grabbed a shirt and as she pulled it over her head, her eyes came in contact with her wrist. Unfortunately, those marks did not leave. They were turning a slight ugly shade of purple. She broke her gaze from it, climbing into bed. As she pulled the duvet up to her chest, she stared at the stone brick ceiling. She felt hot tears sting her eyelids. She shut them out, turning to face the wall. She let her mind wander, particularly to the collision she experienced after their feast. She remembered the soft brown eyes of the ginger boy, the ones that spread warmth within her. That was something she hadn't felt in a long time. It was a feeling Adrian Pucey could never give her. She felt disgusted at the thought of it, and shut it from her brain.

The next morning came slowly. She was tired and irritable due to her broken sleep. Her white button up shirt was itchy on her skin under her grey sweater. She fidgeted as she sat. Her loose tie was hugging her neck, both ends cascaded down her shoulder. Her white-blonde hair hung freely, straight down her back. After her shower, she found herself in the dining hall once again, finishing up her breakfast. Her friends had not yet been awake. She rose early to beat everyone to their first meal. She sat idly at the Slytherin table when footsteps caught her attention. Draco, her brother, took a seat before her. She peeked up over her mug of tea with a look of disinterest.

"Morning." He spoke quietly. She twitched her nose at his word.

"Morning." She replied, wearily. Usually, he listened to her when she ordered him not to speak to her. He was acting out of the ordinary this morning. "What do you want?" She chided, placing her mug back on the table. Her eyes, under reading glasses, scanned the potions textbook before her as she spoke.

"Do I have to want something to speak to my sister?" He asked, looking at her advanced copy of the sixth year edition text. She pulled the book back, away from his line of vision.

"Yes, you do. Tell me what you want." She leaned closer to him, her face parallel with the table.

"I want to know what happened between you and Weasley yesterday." She played stupid as he spoke.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Her attention filtered back to the words on her pages. If you looked closely, you could see scribbles of notes within the margins. She added them soon after her father purchased it for her.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about, Addy." He shifted in his seat, hovering over the table. They were speaking in hushed whispers. She reached out to grab her beverage again, but he grabbed her hand. Her sleeve lifted so he could see the marks of anger on her boney wrist. She recoiled her hand as if he'd stabbed it.

"You saw what happened, Draco. He ran into me and I put him in his place." She snapped, catching his curious eyes. "Don't think it's anything more than that." She ordered. He let out a smirk.

"That's not what I saw, sissy." He taunted. She reached over and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt.

"That is what happened. If I hear you mention anything other than that to anybody, I will have your head." He gave her a hard set scowl as she let go, straightening himself out.

"If you don't learn to play nice, I might have to tell our father about it." Her eyes were staring at him with flames behind them. She drank her last bit of tea, and slammed her book closed.

"You dare mention it to him, and I'll make sure Aunt Bella gets ahold of you when she gets out. I am her favourite, after all." She stood with her sentence.

"You won't be if she hears you were accommodating to a blood traitor."

"I don't know what you think you heard, but it's wrong. I hate that family with every part of my being. I am the legacy of the Malfoy name, not you." She spat. "If you think you can take that away from me, you're sorrily mistaken." She turned away as she finished, done with the conversation. "I have a boyfriend who our parents love dearly. I respect our blood status, and I would never waste my time with anybody of his sorts." She reminded him as she walked away. Draco was left alone at the Slytherin table.

The hallways were starting to fill as she made her way to the potions classroom. The familiar sound of her black high heels echoed off the walls as she entered. Snape was used to her early arrival, handing her a sheet as she took her seat closest to his desk. It held course syllabus for her sixth year. She emptied her book and quill on the wooden desk, ready to start the day. Soon after, the rest of the class piled in. Adrian took the chair beside her, grabbing her hand openly. He intertwined their fingers as Snape began his lesson. Graham and Cassius took the remaining seats at the bench. She copied down notes cleanly as Snape derived into the potion they would be studying. She noticed her groupies looking over at her paper often. They missed many of his words while fooling around with each other.

She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose as they gathered the ingredients for their recipe. She looked over her list, and back to the bottles and their labels. She took what she needed to begin, and brought them back to her place. She didn't notice, but a pair of familiar brown eyes were following her as she did so. Chopping was heard all around the filled room as students began dropping their items into their potion base. As Addy continued to progress, her potion flourished with the dark purple colour it was supposed to hold. She glanced beside her to her friend's cauldrons. They showed brown muck. Some were spitting back and steaming. She gave a look of disgust.

Snape made his way around, glancing at each of their bubbling concoctions. When his sight felt upon hers, he was pleasantly surprised. "A difficult potion to master, but we can see here that listening and doing your homework can prove successful." He drawled. "Good job, Malfoy. As always." He finished so only she could hear.