IN NOX, SUM VERITAS━━DRACO MALFOY

three. elysian

━━━━ · 。ﾟ☆ .☽ .* ☆ﾟ. ━━━━

(adj.) beautiful or creative;
divinely-inspired; peaceful and perfect

THE GREAT HALL HAD ALWAYS MANAGED TO ROB LOUIS OF HIS BREATH. The overall composition of the dining hall had always left him in complete awe––from the bewitched ceiling, the elongated tables, to the warmth the light held and bounced off of the walls to create a glowing atmosphere. If he could, Louis would stand at the entrance and just stare at all that was going on in wonderment because the Great Hall truly was. . .magical, as cliché as it sounded to one's ears. It was the one part of the ancient school that made him feel truly at home within Hogwarts.

"Elysian," Louis mumbled, nodding, before making his way for the Ravenclaw table and taking a seat next to a familiar-looking pale blonde, a few wavy kinks in her hair to show that it hadn't been properly brushed and a few flyaways were to show for that, as well. When it came to Luna Lovegood, she was nothing short of a sister to him. Louis had taken a particular interest in the girl's antics, taking note of the thestrals that had brought him onto Hogwarts grounds a year prior, along with being told about something called "Nargles", and helping her with whatever art projects she had going on whenever he wasn't studying or didn't have his head stuck in a cloud.

Luna was one of the few people Louis had grown closer to throughout his years at Hogwarts, amongst the sea of crimson, sapphire, emerald, and canary. She was easy to hold a conversation with as she was always animated about whatever topic was at hand and made quite the partner when they both had Herbology together in their fourth year. He didn't know how to put it, but if he had to believe that comfort was a person, all softness around the edges and quiet rain on a cloudy day, it'd be Luna Lovegood.

"Louis!" Luna perked upon seeing him, beaming from ear to ear, radish earrings shaking as she bobbed her head, "how was your summer holiday?"

"Oh, you know the usual, moon girl," Louis smiled, "mostly spent it writing what I haven't and trying to find whatever star I haven't found yet. But there's just something about a night sky full of stars that never gets tiring. It's absolutely beautiful every time I look at it. You?"

"I helped my father with The Quibbler," Luna answered simply, her eyes wide and dusted over with their usual, routine starriness, always taken with everything they came into contact with. Louis nodded at that, smiling, and waited for the ceremony to begin, continuing to make small talk with the witch beside him. Clearly, it was going to be quite different from the other ones as there was a darkness looming overhead this time around. Nevertheless, they persisted.

Sitting somewhat idly at the Slytherin table, Draco was plagued by distraction as Dumbledore's speech droned on in the background, muddling sound between his ears as he had his chin in his palm, contemplating. . .something. He found himself stuck in his head, bound by his own intellect, and he didn't know how to get himself out of the labyrinth that made up his psyche. He didn't even know what had gotten him stuck there in the first place.