THE VISION THIEF - D. MALFOY

16. halloween

"Wait, wait!" Arden says. "So you and Malfoy were attacked by Death Eaters last night?" She asks. I nod slowly. "After one of them already tracked you down back in California?" She adds. I shrug. "Yep." I say.

"Wow. I had no idea Emma." Daphne says softly. I frown. "I'm sorry guys. But honestly neither did I really. Well, I didn't realize how much trouble I truly was in. I just barely found out that I'm on the Death Eaters most wanted list right now." I say.

"But why do they want you?" Capri asks. I pause for a moment. "I'm not sure. Because of my parents?" I lie. I make the rapid decision to withhold a fraction of the truth. I hardly knew anything about this supposed "Restoration." I decided maybe for now it would be better if they didn't know the real cause was something far more sinister. It would certainly save them the extra stress.

"Well thank you for telling us." Capri smiles after sitting them down to explain why I had been gone all night, as well as every moment leading up to me being at Hogwarts. As far as they had known, I was simply a witch raised in the muggle world who's Hogwarts letter came a little later than ideal.

"Of course." I smile back. "You know you can tell us anything, right?" Daphne tells me. "I know I just - I don't know. I guess I should've just told you guys." I say.

The truth was, I had a hard time trusting people. Of course I trusted three girls. To an extent. It had been a little over a month since I had met them, and although they were quick to become my best friends, I hadn't quite felt comfortable in fully opening up to them.

* * * * *

Draco Malfoy frowned deeply as he stared at the black ink on his left forearm. The mark that would forever remind himself of his past. He wished so deeply he could get rid of it, but nothing had worked. It was still as dark and striking as the day he had first gotten.

His muscles ached as he sighed and pulled his shirt over his head. To say he wasn't concerned about the events of last night would be a lie. The last thing he was expecting was to be cornered by two Death Eaters. However, he truly wasn't expecting that Ashwood would have saved his life that night. He knew the look in Rookwood's eyes better than anything, and he knew Rookwood would have killed him if it weren't for that idiot girl.

At times, she was slightly tolerable, times such as the previous night before. But after this morning things went right back to normal. He rolled his eyes just thinking about how infuriating she was as he turned on the shower.

He stepped underneath the hot water, his muscles slightly tensing at the heat. His whole body desperately ached, and he knew it was because of the Crucio curse Rookwood had used on him. Draco shook his head. It was nothing he wasn't used to. That curse had been his Father's favorite form of punishment growing up. It only grew worse in the previous years when Death Eaters has constantly flooded his home.

He could hardly call it a home anymore. In a way, he was glad he could come back to Hogwarts. He was able to escape his empty shell of a mother, ever so lonely since his Dad had been captured and sent to Azkaban for good.

He knit his brows together harshly, not even a life sentence in that place was enough punishment for how cruel of a person his Father had been. He wondered how a person once so kind hearted as his mother could ever be his wife.

Surely it was an arranged marriage. Like the betrothal he had towards Astoria Greengrass. He felt a sharp pang as she crossed his mind. Astoria has been quite possibly one of the only people that had truly cared about him. Their relationship was nothing short of platonic but he wished so badly that he could just talk to her once more.

He wished that he could tell her that she actually meant a lot more to him than he would ever let on, and that he was sorry for not being a better friend.