Lorelei Jones | 4th Year
Hagrid was bloody and bruised when Luna and Lorelei met up with him that evening. Luna was shocked by it for a moment, but she soon settled into her usual seat and chattered on about creatures Lorelei had never heard of before. From the tight expressions on Hagrid's face, Lorelei wondered if maybe he had never heard of some of these creatures either.
However, Lorelei didn't settle into her usual routine that day. She scoured all the cupboards and shelves until she spotted a dusty rag on top of a tall stack of books that was way over her head, but she managed to snatch it after she jumped a couple times and swung her hand towards it.
After smiling victoriously, Lorelei thoroughly cleaned this rag, and she wet it down with some warm water. So, while Luna and Hagrid spoke of nargles — which Lorelei knew extensively about — and other confusing creatures, Lorelei gently dabbed at Hagrid's blood-covered wounds. She didn't ask how he got such wounds, for she was just happy to feel helpful. She could clean his cuts for him, even if she couldn't do anything about what had caused them.
"Well, uh, you girls got yer second soulmate letters, didn't you? What was it this year? Their Hogwarts house?" Hagrid asked once Luna stopped discussing nargles with the confused gamekeeper.
"Their blood status," Lorelei quietly corrected as she dabbed away the last of the blood on Hagrid's arm and put the rag in the sink.
"My soulmate is a half-blood," Luna hummed while she lifted one of the heavy books Hagrid kept in his hut into her lap for some light reading.
"Mine is a pureblood," Lorelei said and stared down at her feet once Hagrid looked at her.
"Oi, well, that's mighty good, hm? I'm sure you'll get a soulmate just as kind as you, Lorelei. The universe wouldn't want it any other way," Hagrid said, but he watched as a thought passed over her face with an accompanying horror.
"Um, I...I'm sorry I've got to go back to the dorm, I just-"
"Thank you for having us, Hagrid. We'll be back in a few days," Luna said as she led Lorelei to the door.
Once the two girls made it away from Hagrid's hut, Luna hummed, "You're worried about your soulmate. That they aren't kind."
Lorelei was too scared to confirm this observation, but she didn't need to.
"So you think you know who your soulmate is, then?"
Lorelei stopped in her tracks and looked at Luna's watchful expression, which had one eyebrow lifted slightly.
"I-I might," Lorelei admitted with a cold feeling settling over her, but something in her stomach was still flipping at the thought. "But I'm scared that he...that he isn't good. I'm just confused."
"May I make a guess as to who you suspect it is?"
Lorelei's heart seized in her chest, and she avoided Luna's gaze as she nodded. Luna hummed happily and said, "You think your soulmate is Draco Malfoy."
Lorelei choked, but she didn't deny this claim. Luna was right, as always, and Lorelei had no idea what to say about this most recent observation. If her suspicions were correct, her soulmate was one of the least kind people she had ever met, yet somehow, he still gave her butterflies whenever she caught him stealing glances at her. How twisted was that?
"We cannot control who our souls are tied to, Lorelei," Luna said as they climbed the hill back up to the school. "We can only make the most of what we are given."
—
Lorelei wanted some time to think about all of this when she returned to her dorm, but she was not granted that wish.
Heather, Emily, and Ashley were all gathered on Heather's bed while they passed something around between them. Lorelei quickly realized they were little slips of parchment. Her little slips of parchment from Draco.
"Are those-are those mine?" Lorelei stammered and took a step closer. Heather didn't bother to hide the notes, but a ringing laughter came out of her chest.
"Of course not. These are my love notes from Draco. He calls me his princess," Heather said and tucked her hair behind her hair.
"You're lying."
"And why would I lie?" asked Heather. Emily and Ashley just watched the exchange with slight amusement written into their features, and Ashley kept on loudly popping and chewing her gum throughout the exchange.
"I don't know," Lorelei admitted with exasperation building in her chest. She didn't want to play these games with Heather today; she just wanted her notes back.
"And that's because I wouldn't lie. These are mine," Heather said. She then gathered the two little slips of parchment up in her hands and climbed out of her bed. She started for the door, and Lorelei shuffled after her with chest aching and eyes burning.
"Heather, please-"
It was no use. Heather was already moving down the hallway at a much faster pace than Lorelei could keep up with by walking. The taller Emily and Ashley both passed Lorelei as they followed Heather towards the common room. The three girls clambered out of the exit to the common room and started to head towards the rest of the castle.
"Heather, wait, what are you doing?" Lorelei pleaded as she ran a couple steps to try to catch up to them and their long strides.
"Oh, just going to show some of my friends these sweet notes from my boyfriend, Draco-"
Heather's face completely drained of color, and it was no secret why. Draco Malfoy and Theo Nott had just rounded the corner together, and the scowl Draco was directing at Heather made it clear that he had heard her claim...and he didn't like it one bit.
"Delusional losers," Draco grumbled to Theo before his eyes caught on the little slips of paper in Heather's hands. His scowl turned dangerous once he saw what they were. His eyes snapped up to find the heavily breathing Lorelei a few feet away. She wasn't meeting his eyes, and Draco didn't like that either.
"What's in your hands?" Draco growled and stepped closer to Heather.
She paled, and her mouth began to open and close repeatedly, at a loss for words.
"Give it here," Draco commanded with his voice pinched and demanding. His grey eyes were icy and cold as he stared down at Heather. No one could look at this interaction and believe what Heather said was true. If she was his girlfriend, he would look at her with more happiness. Lorelei knew so from all of the cute movies and books she'd seen about love.
"Get out of my sight, and never bother her again. Got it?" Draco snarled with his gaze burning a hole into Heather.
She didn't even answer, just nodded her head before she ran back towards the Hufflepuff dorms with Ashley and Emily slack-jawed and devoid of color as they ran after her.
Draco closed the distance between Lorelei and himself. Theo was leaning against the wall with a look somewhere between amusement and boredom as he stared down anyone who dared to come into their section of the corridor.
"These are yours," Draco said. He took one of Lorelei's closed fists in his cold palm and peeled back her fingers. He didn't move away his hand underneath hers as he lifted the notes in his other hand and dropped them carefully into her exposed palm. He then gently closed her fingers over the notes and said, "If it happens again, tell me. Okay?"
Lorelei nodded, and she surprised herself with how much eye contact she was maintaining with Draco. She wasn't blushing so much today, and she continued staring at his face through the exchange, not showing happiness nor embarrassment during their interaction.
Draco took a couple steps backward after he released Lorelei's hand — much to her disappointment — but now he had a little smile on his lips, and something about it made her feel warm inside.
With the sudden mission to see more of those smiles, Lorelei surprised herself and spoke up, "Wait!"
"Yes?"
"Thank you," she said with a shy grin and shining eyes.
"You're welcome, princess." Draco winked subtly enough that only Lorelei saw, and his smile spread further on his face when pink coated Lorelei's cheeks again. "I'll see you at the Quidditch game tomorrow, and you better be in green."
//
/AN: I currently have no power at my house, but my dad used the generator to turn on the internet, so enjoy an extra chapter because I'm bored and foolishly draining my phone battery. 😉 /