«Olive»
Everything in life comes down to fate. At least that's my opinion. Every decision you make, every step you take or don't take. It's supposed to happen that way.
Deep down I knew that there had to be a reason why Voldemort and all his dark shit entered my life. I just couldn't figure it out yet. But it was meant to happen that way.
I made my way back to the compartment, my eyes tired and my head was pounding from the bad air on the train. I found Daphne and Pansy asleep in their seats. I wasn't gone for that long, but it seemed like all the talking required a lot of energy.
For the rest of the ride I read a book, which I brought with me. Eventually it got dark outside and the train arrived at the station. The street lamps were glowing in the dark, marking the way out of the station. Students were flooding the platform and I watched the first years gather around Hagrid. They looked even smaller next to him and the sight made me smile.
"Daph' wake up." I carefully poked her shoulder before I walked over to Pansy.
"Pansy, it's time to wake up." I pulled her cloak and eventually both of them got up, cursing me for interrupting their power nap.
We were one of the last ones to depart the train, since the two took ages to get out of the compartment. Daphne pulled open the door to exit the carriage, Pansy followed her. They were already climbing out of the train when I heard a familiar voice in the carriage across. My head turned at a thud and I stopped walking.
"That's for my father. Enjoy your ride back to London." the voice said and the steps came closer to the sliding door in front of me.
The door got pulled open and Draco appeared, stopping in his tracks. He was wearing a black, expensive looking suit.
"Hello, Olive." he said rather surprised and with a splash of guilt on his face.
I looked at him with an raised eyebrow while leaning to the right, trying to get a glimpse of who he was talking to. The train was empty.
"Talking to yourself, Malfoy?" I asked and turned to the left, exiting the train.
I felt his eyes on my back but I continued catching up to Daphne and Pansy. We arrived at the great hall just in time and took our seats at the Slytherin table.
"Taking your time, huh?" Enzo said when I sat down next to him. He's always saving a seat for me in the great hall and I love him for it.
"Don't look at me. It was their fault." I pointed at Daphne and Pansy, while both were rolling their eyes at me.
The whole hall fell silent and McGonagall walked in with the new first years. My eyes scanned the group and I noticed Voldemort's son walking behind them with an rather bored expression on his face.
His brown curly hair where sitting perfectly, not one out of place. Pretty much everyone was focused on Mattheo by now.
"Hot." I heard Pansy say and spun my head around to look at her. Daphne hit Pansy with her elbow and Enzo held in a chuckle.
The sorting ceremony began and we got some new additions to Slytherin. Every time someone got sorted into our house, we cheered and welcomed them to the best house in Hogwarts.
"Mattheo Thomas Riddle." McGonagall said, sounding a bit flustered. The whole hall fell silent and you could hear whispers all around. He walked forward and McGonagall put the sorting hat on his head. Before it even touched his hair, the hat called out „Slytherin!"
Our table started clapping slowly, unsure how to react. Theodore was the one, animating everyone to clap.
"He almost surpassed Draco's 1,09 seconds sorting record." Enzo joked and I was on the floor. This guy never fails to make me laugh.
"I'm telling you. That guy's a bad ass." Pansy said, not letting Mattheo out of her sight.
He sat down at the beginning of the table and I couldn't help it but to look over. I noticed a few light scars on his face. One went right through his eyebrow. As if he felt my gaze, his head turned in my direction. Our eyes locked and he send me a confused look, before shifting his attention towards Theodore.
I turned away as well to listen to Dumbledore and his lecture about the forbidden forest. After he finished his speech, the food appeared on the table.
"Finally. I thought he'd never stop talking." Pansy said relieved and filled her plate.
"Keep in mind that he can kick your ass out of here any minute" Daphne reminded her and Pansy scoffed.
"We won't let that happen pan'." I winked at her while putting some mashed potatoes on my plate. The food is to die for at Hogwarts.
"Anyways." Daphne giggled and held up her glass: „I'm glad to be here with you all."
Everyone agreed and took a sip from their glass. The hall was filled with chatter and laughter. I'm glad to be here too.
◅▫▻
After dinner we made our way out of the Great Hall to the Slytherin common room. The corridors were dimly lit and when we arrived in the dungeons, you could feel the temperature difference.
"Pureblood." Daphne said in front of the door to our common room.
Every house has their own common room and own password. I've been in every common room at least once and to be honest, I like ours the most.
"Well that's ironic." Enzo joked and looked at me, since I'm not a pureblood.
"I guess you need to stay out here." he added and raised his eyebrows at my annoyed face. Enzo likes to joke about the whole pureblood thing since fifth year.
"Oh shut up." I boxed his arm and pushed myself into the common room.
The light in the room was tinted green from the water in front of the windows, at the end of the room. Since our common room was in the dungeons we were under the surface of the black lake. The fire was crackling and a few students were sitting around the tables or on the black leather couches in front of the fire place.
We walked down the steps at the entrance and Daphne stopped in her tracks when someone knocked at the common room door.
"Hello, gorgeous!" Fred said when I opened the door slowly.
Fred and George were leaning onto the door frame, smiling from one ear to the other. "We just wanted to come by because of the welcome party tonight." George stated and I nodded.
Every school year the twins throw a welcome party and everyone is invited. Last year was my favourite so far. Except for the fact that Enzo drank so much, Daphne and I had to carry him to his dorm.
"Are you coming?" Fred asked and I turned to look at Daphne, unsure if she was down.
"Of course! We're going to be there!" Daphne answered and put her arm around my shoulder.
"Gryffindor common room, 8 PM." Fred said with a wink and the two turned around to leave.
Daphne was jumping up and down in excitement and I laughed at her energy.
◅▫▻
We spend a long time getting ready and left the dorm definitely too late. Daphne and I walked through the dark corridors in the direction of the Gryffindor common room. The closer we got, the more we could hear the music and chattering.
We walked through the portrait of the fat lady, which was the door to the Gryffindor common room and tried to make our way through the crowd. The room was full of people, dancing and laughing.
"It feels like every year there are more people here." Daphne screamed against the music and I nodded, trying to take in my environment.
We boxed ourselves through the crowd towards the stairs, so we could get a better view of the place. I felt a hand on my shoulder and spun around.
"Olive!" Fred said and gave me a hug, which I gladly returned.
I didn't really know the twins, since we never really hung out together. But when we did I enjoyed their presence.
"Daphne." he added, wrapping his arm around her. It was only then, that I noticed how she blushed at their interaction.
"Care to join us for a drink, ladies?" George asked, after appearing behind his brother. He was wearing a shirt in dark red to match his brother.
"You don't need to ask twice." Daphne laughed and dragged me with her.
The party was really getting started when we arrived at the bar and even more people flooded the dance floor. The air smelled like perfume and cigarettes. Just a few seconds later I was holding two shot glasses in my hands and Daphne downed both of them.
"OMG! This is crazy!" Pansy screamed, as she made her way over to us. She was wearing a short black glitter dress and looked absolutely stunning.
"They've gone mad this year!" I laughed and pointed at the twins. Fred rolled his eyes at my comment before shifting his attention towards Daphne.
"Let's dance, Olive." Pansy grabbed my arm and pulled me towards the dance floor.
The smell of alcohol flooded my nostrils and I could feel the music in my bones. Pansy and I were twirling around the dance floor and laughing at our attempts to balance our drinks.
Thirty minutes and a lot of shots later, Pansy was dancing like some crazy girl. Just when I was about to take her to the toilet she stopped in her tracks.
"Look who's here." Pansy screamed and I turned my head to see who she was looking at.
Cedric was standing next to the bar, talking to one of the Hufflepuff girls from his year. I shifted my attention towards Pansy again and rolled my eyes at her. "Pan'" I sighed before continuing. "I'm not interested in Diggory anymore."
"But you two would look so cute together." she slurred and made her way through the crowd towards Cedric.
"CEDRIC!" she screamed and my eyes widened at her actions, before I ran after her.
He turned his head at the sound of his name. When he saw me he smiled politely and I bit my cheek. Damn it, he is cute.
Before I could grasp Pansys arm, I ran into Draco, who was walking over the dance floor like he was the only one on there. His drink spilled over my dress and I cursed when I felt the cold liquid on my skin.
"Fuck." I muttered under my breath.
"Oh shit, I'm sorry." he murmured and pulled out his wand to dry my clothes with a spell.
"Thanks." I looked up at him and I could swear that his pupils widened, the second we made eye contact.
"Are you alright?" he asked and I nodded, trying to walk past him to stop Pansy from whatever she was about to do.
"Olive?" I turned my head at the sound of my name. "Yeah what's up?"
"You look gorgeous." he said after hesitating for a second and I smiled at his words. "Thanks. You don't look bad either."
"Let's get you a new drink." his hands wandered towards my arm, gently guiding me away from the dance floor. I just nodded and followed his lead.
"Where is Pansy?" I turned around, searching for my friend who was too drunk to be let alone with Cedric.
"She's with George." He pointed towards our right and yes. George was guiding Pansy towards one of the armchairs in the corner of the room.
I sat down on the floor, my back resting on the wall. I closed my eyes since my head was already pounding from the alcohol.
"I'm getting to old for this shit." I laughed and Draco chuckled at my words. When I opened them a few seconds later, he was gone.
I stayed in my spot, observing the dance floor and the people on it. Daphne was dancing with Fred and I couldn't help but smile. This was definitely not on my guess list for this year, but I was here for it.
Someone sat down next to me, holding a cup in my direction. I turned my head to see that it was Draco again.
"Water." he said when I eyed the cup sceptical.
"For gods sake, drink the water Olive." he laughed and handed me the cup when I furrowed my eyes at him playfully.
"I thought you left." I said, while looking at Daphne, not turning my head to face him.
"Never." I felt him smile next to me and I chuckled. We sat in silence for quite a while and eventually my head didn't feel dizzy anymore.
"Thank you by the way." I held up the cup and he nodded politely.
"You're actually not that bad." I added and he rolled his eyes at my comment.
"I'm hurt that you would even think that." he joked and I said nothing. I was just observing him and the way his expressions changed while talking.
I was looking at the guy of which I thought that he's too arrogant to show any type of humor or affection. But here he was, trying to crack jokes on the ground of the Gryffindor common room.
"Did you even listen to me?" My head turned at his words and I nodded slowly, hoping he'd let it go.
"You know-" Draco started before stopping mid sentence. His eyes were glued to the entrance and I turned my head to get a glimpse of who he was looking at.
Mattheo entered the common room. He was wearing a black shirt, which was unbuttoned at the top and his hair were still a little wet. When he noticed us, he made his way over with a little grin on his lips.
"If it's not my two favourite death eaters." he joked and I shot him a warning look.
"Oh wait- You failed being a death eater..." he pointed at Draco and turned to look at me "and you didn't even get in." he grabbed my cup and downed it.
I waited patiently for his reaction, trying to hide my laughter. His brows furrowed at the taste of the sparkling water.
"What's so funny, darling?" he asked and Draco rose to his feet, clearly annoyed. "Okay Mattheo, you had your fun. Just leave her alone now."
"But we were about to dance a bit." Mattheo had a devilish grin on his face and I was baffled at how different he behaved in comparison to the evening at the Manor.
"That's very kind, but I'm dancing with Draco." I got up and placed my hands around Draco's neck "Right?" I asked with a smile and Draco nodded.
Mattheo scoffed and shot an angry look at Draco before he made his way towards the bar.
"He's already getting on my nerves." I groaned while Draco was guiding us onto the dance floor.
"Ask me. He's at my house every other week." I laughed at his words and he placed his hands around my waist carefully.
"Since when have you been a death eater?" I asked curiously and Draco took a deep breath before answering.
"Since the fifth of June." I nodded at his response and let my eyes wander around the room.
"It was my fathers wish. He wanted me to join as soon as possible and I do everything to make him happy." I looked up at him and put my hand on his shoulder.
"There's nothing wrong with that. But I think you should put yourself first."
"It's easier said than done. But you're right." he smiled at me and I felt how my cheeks got red.
I noticed Mattheo in the back of the room, his hands around a girl I knew from class. She was giggling non stop and I rolled my eyes at her behaviour.
◅▫▻
After I had enough of dancing and reassured Draco that I would be fine on my own, I made my way towards the toilets and stopped in my tracks when I heard voices inside of the girls restroom.
"He had his hands around her waist!" A girl said while sobbing.
The amount of tissues girls go through because of boys is disturbing. I always chose myself over any guy that tried to treat me like shit. Well, most of the time. You can't always see the red signs or the warnings which everyone is throwing at you.
"Calm down. That doesn't mean anything." another girl with a clam voice said behind the wooden door.
Since I didn't want to disturb, whatever was going on in there, I turned to the left where the boys restroom was located. Just when my hands touched the cold door knob to enter the toilet, I caught an important piece of the conversation next door.
"Don't you see the way Draco looks at her?" my head turned at the sound of his name.
"Astoria, she's not half as pretty as you."
"Like have you seen that face?!"
Astoria is Daphne's younger sister. I didn't know her really well, but Daphne told me some things about her which made me question if they were even related.
"Draco wouldn't want anything to do with her. She's not even a pure blood."
I scoffed at what I just heard and chose to wait until they left the toilet. Just a few seconds later the door got ripped open and Astoria and her friends exited the toilet.
The silence was so loud. I watched their eyes move from me to Astoria, back to me and then to Astoria again.
"Are you alright?" I asked concerned and Astoria looked at me bewildered.
"Yes." she answered before trying to brush past me.
"Not so fast." I grabbed her arm and stopped her from escaping. "You've got some mascara right there." I moved closer to wipe away the dark crumbs under her eyes.
She send me a forced smile and as she and her friends left, I leaned onto the door, watching them leave.
"She definitely is prettier than you." Mattheo said as he walked up to me, still the same grin on his face as a few hours earlier.
"Thanks." I send him a short ironic smile and threw open the restroom door.
"You're too nice."
"She's my best friends sister." I answered before closing the door with a loud thud.
I looked at my reflection in the mirror, before washing away the lipstick on my thumb, which I put on there before Astoria left the restroom. Some red eye bags were the least I could do for her.
I'm not one of the girls with the great comebacks in arguments or bad ass lines. In situations like these my head is blank and everything I could have said pops in my head hours later.
The soap was burning on my hands, from peeling away the cuticles on my thumbs. It was a bad habit of mine, which I picked up a few months ago. My attention shifted back towards my reflection in the mirror.
Hurtful words can't bring me down. They meant nothing to me in the past and won't in the future. I've learned to love myself the way I am and not let anyone tell me otherwise. At the end of the day you're responsible for your own happiness.
◅▫▻
Love yourself. You deserve it <3