May.
The moon was beautiful tonight.
—
𝐌 𝐀 𝐘.
A year and a half ago.
—
Faith was sitting near the huge window that was slightly open in one of the dark hallways of Hogwarts, letting the warm spring breeze stroke her face with soft gusts.
The full moon was looking at her through the glass, shining silver, casting a long beam on the floor, mesmerizing her, making her forget that she was sitting alone, on the hallway floor, after midnight, and also in pajamas, worn under her Slytherin robe. She didn't worry about anyone catching her, she didn't even care about Filch, who could wander around the castle in search of prey, that is, sleepless, curfew-breaking students — Faith didn't care about anything.
As long as the wind blew her face, blowing her hair off her shoulders, as long as she found salvation from insomnia alone under the moon, as long as her soul was calm and serene, nothing worried her.
Faith took a deep breath, letting the faint smell of grass reach her lungs, and closed her eyes, plunging back into her thoughts. Her arms were wrapped around her legs, bent at the knees, her body was gently rocking back and forth, a smile was frozen on her lips, and nothing seemed to disturb her.
She did not even notice that someone came up to her, very close, she did not hear footsteps, did not feel the presence of another person encroaching on her loneliness, and only when a hand gently laid on her shoulder, she abruptly opened her eyes, feeling her heart skip a beat.
"What are you doing here?" Draco asked quietly, sitting down next to her, shoulder to shoulder. His gaze immediately turned to the disk of the moon, and after a couple of seconds, his lips curved in a weak grin when he realized that Faith was staring at him.
"You scared the hell out of me, Malfoy." Faith grumbled, turning away from him. Her heart still hadn't calmed down from the fear of being caught and punished. "What are you even doing here?"
"I asked you first."
"Then answer first." She said stubbornly, shrugging one shoulder, and Draco just rolled his eyes at that.
Then he took a deep breath and exhaled, letting the air pass through his clenched teeth. He desperately tried to think of a reason why he could be in the dark empty hallway after midnight, because he couldn't, didn't want to tell Faith that he had come there only because of her.
"I don't know what I'm doing here, I just decided to take a walk around the castle and suddenly found you here, breaking curfew." He said simply, and now it was Faith's turn to roll her eyes.
In fact, he knew that she was there, he saw her quietly slip past the crowd having fun at a regular Slytherin party hosted by someone from the seventh year. He saw her the second she stepped onto the first step of the stairs, wrapped in her robe from under which her bare legs were visible, her hair was a mess, and Draco realized that most likely she could not sleep. Therefore, there was nothing he could do but go after her.
"So, what are you doing here?" Draco asked after a long pause, changing his position, pressing his back against the window so that now he was looking at her, and not at the moon.
Faith's eyes glinted in the silvery moonlight as she gave him a quick glance, and Draco had no idea how her heart fluttered at his piercing gaze.
"I couldn't sleep, the music was unbearably loud." She spoke in a monotone, trying to calm the tremor in her voice. Draco was close, painfully close, and it made her nervous, it made her self-confidence and concentration shake.
It was always like this when he was so close that it was possible to see every detail of his face, the silver haze in his gray eyes — most of all, Faith did not want to feel vulnerable, defeated by her own feelings and heart.
"You know you could have used a silence spell, right?"
"I know, right?" Faith mimicked, clicking her tongue. "Maybe I was just looking for a reason to come here. Look at how beautiful the moon is tonight." She smiled faintly, looking up again, but Draco didn't even think about looking at the silver orb, he saw the reflection in her eyes.
"Yeah, beautiful." He said quietly, almost airly, and it wasn't the moon that fascinated him. "Why didn't you come down to the party?" He asked, clearing his throat, after Faith looked at him with suspicion in her eyes.
He felt like an idiot whose heart was about to burst out, and the last thing he wanted was for Faith to suspect something.
"In case you forgot, only those who are in the sixth or seventh year can attend these parties. I don't understand how you haven't been kicked out of there yet."
"Did you know that you are a little coward and a bore? No one will kick you out if you come there. All these rules are just a stupid formality that no one follows."
"A little coward?" Faith almost exclaimed, raising her eyebrows indignantly. "None of my friends attend these parties— well, except for you."
"Am I not enough for you?" Draco asked, stretching his lips in a cheeky, smug grin.
"Not when you call me a little coward."
"But you indeed little," Now Draco's smile was soft, as if he was talking to a child, his head tilted slightly to the side, and he felt his hand almost burning with the desire to lift her slightly drooping head, "You're the youngest of us."
"Come on, I'm only a day younger than you." Faith rolled her eyes, accepting the look of despair on her face at his taunts about her being the youngest; her fist then collided with his shoulder, causing him to burst out laughing.
The back of his head collided with the glass as he threw his head back, his eyes were tightly squeezed shut, the sound of his laughter seemed to fill the entire hallway — Faith could not look away and after a few minutes she was laughing quietly with him, feeling better than ever.
And at that moment, not only Faith became vulnerable, because continuing to laugh for no reason, they did not notice the main danger — Argus Filch, who, like a predator, was slowly creeping up on them, with his cat on his shoulder, and on his face there was an expression of satisfaction and treachery, because who did not know how much pleasure it gave him to snitch on obnoxious children.
"Here you are, lovebirds." He spoke in his raspy voice, immediately giggling at the frightened expressions of Faith and Draco, who were caught off guard.
"Damn, we're caught." Draco whispered calmly, his eyes twinkled with mischief, and Faith already knew what would happen next. She nodded weakly at him, smiling conspiratorially, and the next moment, his hand grabbed her, and they ran headlong down the hallway, away from the angry man.
The sound of their feet running across the concrete floor seemed to echo everywhere, along with their incessant laughter. Their hands were tightly intertwined, Faith's robe was flowing behind her, as was her hair, and for the umpteenth time, she felt better than ever.
"There!" Draco pulled her towards the back of the castle grounds as they ran outside, but as soon as they turned the corner, a stream of water shot at them, exploding in splashes that glittered under the moonlight. Faith screamed, holding out her hand, but it was useless, they were already soaked to the skin, standing in the middle of a wet lawn, being watered with cold water from an ordinary hose that Filch was holding in his hands, trying to teach them a lesson.
"You fucking old—" Draco was indignant, but fell silent the second Faith burst out laughing again, grabbing his elbow, thinking about what a stupid and ridiculous situation they were in and what punishment awaited them. A night watering with a hose was not something acceptable, but they would have had time to grieve or regret this adventure later, and now they didn't seem to care about anything.
Draco joined Faith, and they ran away from the man again, towards the Slytherin dungeon, slipping several times on the wet grass. Their hands never separated for a second, even when they were inside, in relative safety, making their way through the crowd, which was still moving to the beat of the music.
No one seemed to notice the two drenched people who were laughing almost hysterically, squelching wet shoes on the stairs, and no one noticed that something was emerging between these people that only they two understood.
They went to their rooms, saying good night to each other, and Faith could not calm her wildly pounding heart and make a huge smile disappear from her wet face, as she went into the dark room where Nicole had already had her tenth dream for a long time — Faith thought she would sleep peacefully that night, but it turned out that she would not be able to close her eyes, because it was the night when she realized that she was in love with Draco Malfoy.
That night, the moon was beautiful, but more beautiful were her feelings, to which she eventually succumbed to, and her eyes sparkling with joy and awe.