Harry's POV
Neville and I waited for Luna to finish picking up all the trinkets she found. I wouldn't decline that they were pretty, but dusk was starting to fall, and the temperature was dropping. We waited outside the store with our hands folded to keep warm. But the cold didn't seem to affect Luna as she was lost in finding trinkets.
"Luna," Neville finally said, "Can you hurry up?"
"Yeah, it's getting cold," I added.
"It's not that cold," she replied, "But I'm done here anyway. We can leave."
"Let's go, grab some butterbeer," Neville said, "That will make us feel warm."
"It will start to snow soon," Luna said, looking at the sky as we walked. "It's going to be even cooler then."
"Harry, are you going back to Weasleys for Christmas?" Neville asked.
As soon as he said that, Ginny's face flashed before my eyes. Hermione's words echoed in my mind. I would have to spend holidays with Gin if I went to Burrow. And there was no way she wouldn't try to kiss me. I wasn't sure if I was ready for that. But I didn't want to hurt her either.
I bit my bottom lip and said, "I'll stay here, most probably. I think Mcgonagall might need candidates for running Hogwarts."
"You really thought it over," Luna laughed.
I guessed she wanted me to explain that, but when I turned to her, she was again looking up at the sky.
"You're going to fall if you keep walking like that," I chuckled, looking at her amusedly.
"Here," Neville said, holding her arm, "I'll guide you... to assure you don't stumble upon anything."
I narrowed my eyes on Neville, giving him a look. It looked as if he blushed a little as he said that.
We soon reached Three Broomsticks, and we were hit with a wave of warmth. As soon as we entered the packed room, Seamus waved at us, beckoning us to join him in the corner. We went up to him and ordered butterbeer for us.
"Is there going to be a carnival this year?" Luna suddenly asked, making me snap my head towards her.
"Where did you get that thought?" I asked.
She pointed behind me, and I turned to see a red poster stuck on the wall. It said:
CHRISTMAS CARNIVAL AT HOGSMEADE THIS YEAR!!!! COMMENCES ON THE FIRST WEEKEND OF THE CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS. THE CARNIVAL WILL BEGIN WITH THE WIZARDOUS CONCERT. TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE NOW. FOUR GALLEONS EACH!
"What is The Wizardous?" I asked.
"Don't you know?" Seamus said. "It's a music band. They're really popular these days."
"I think I have heard a few songs by them," Luna said, still gazing at the poster.
"Yeah? What's your favourite one?" Neville asked.
"I don't have a favourite," she said, her eyes wide and earnest.
"I can suggest some good ones," he replied.
"It says they will commence the carnival with a concert," I said.
"Well, I'd like to see that," Luna said dreamily, gazing at the poster.
"Let's buy the tickets then," Neville said. "Harry?"
I nodded and took out a few coins from my pocket. We placed it on the marked spot before the poster. Suddenly, with a jingle, they disappeared, and three tickets for the carnival replaced them. Neville grabbed them and distributed them among us.
Draco's POV
Astoria took me to Hogsmeade, where we were supposed to meet her friends. I had different plans for the evening, but I didn't have the choice to decline Astoria when she said she wanted me to meet her friends. She had already told the entire school about our marriage. According to her, I should develop friendly relations with her friends, so they would be assured.
I don't understand these girls sometimes.
Nevertheless, I didn't have the option to say no. So, I let Astoria drag me to Hogsmeade. When we arrived, Astoria's friends were buying some shawls. As we walked closer, she called and waved at them while holding me by the arm.
"Hello, Astoria," one of them said sweetly. "I see you brought your boyfriend along with you."
I kept a straight face, ignoring the way my heart clenched around the word boyfriend.
"I certainly did," she blushed. "I know you already know, but girls, this is Draco Malfoy, my boyfriend and future husband-to-be."
They all started cheering, which embarrassed me as it attracted the crowd's attention.
"I cannot decide who's luckier," another girl said. "You both are a perfect match."
I wanted to scoff at that sentence. Sure, Astoria and I looked good together, but we were far from a perfect match. I believed it would take me ages to get used to Astoria's position in my life. Perhaps because I was forced into this marriage.
"Aww," Astoria said to her friend, "That's so sweet of you!" She took my hand, beaming at me.
Then she introduced me to her friends. There were four of them in total.
"This is Angela, Sally, Andrea and Darcy," Astoria smiled, and the girls waved and giggled animatedly back.
"So, what are your plans for the special day?" Angela asked.
"What special day?" I asked and looked at Astoria, who blushed.
"Don't you know?" Sally said. "Astoria's birthday's coming up."
"Uh-" I looked at her again. "I didn't know." And muttered, "Why didn't you tell me?"
"There's still time," she answered, unable to stop smiling, "It's two weeks from now."
"And what is the cute couple discussing between themselves?" Andrea teased.
"Perhaps what Draco should give his future wife," Darcy commented.
I saw Astoria blush again.
"Oh, I know what he can give her," Angela said excitedly. "The concert tickets of The Wizardous at Christmas carnival."
The girls all squealed in response, with giggles of "How romantic!"
"They are having a concert?!" Astoria asked in surprise. I was vaguely familiar with the wizard music band.
"Yes!" Sally said. "And it's at Hogsmeade."
"We already bought the tickets," Angela said.
"Merlin! I need to buy the tickets now," Astoria screamed, turning to me, she said, "Draco, please. I want to attend the show so badly."
I looked at her with a blank expression. Astoria continued to insist, "I want to go with you. Please, let's buy the tickets."
I knew I couldn't decline her. Every time she said please, I could hear my father commanding me to keep her happy. Musical bands weren't something of my interest, but I decided to buy the tickets for Astoria.
I nodded with a smile. "Of course! Anything for you." I placed a hand on her shoulder, feeling a bit out of sorts. I needed her friends to get to like me, because that would make her happy.
"You're so sweet," Astoria said as she pecked my cheek. The girls went 'aww' again, and I tried to keep my grin intact.
I felt suffocated, the girls were crowding around me and it was hard keeping my thoughts to myself. Astoria was way too close, and I needed some privacy. I really wanted to talk to someone. Someone who can actually understand me, the person that knows what it was like to be a pureblood in a society. The only person I could think of was Theo.
When we hung out in the common room after dinner, I told him about what happened at Hogsmeade this evening.
"Oh, yeah. The tickets to The Wizardous concert— I bought them too," he said. "They are crazy popular these days. I believe almost everyone in school must have bought the tickets."
That made my heart sink again. The whole bloody school? I sighed. "I don't fancy these gatherings with loud music and people shouting. I'd prefer an orchestra."
Theo rolled his eyes and said, "If you don't want to attend, just tell Astoria about it. I think she might understand."
"Yes, but I know she'll be disappointed," I explained. "She clearly mentioned she wanted to attend it with me."
"Draco, do you even want to be with her?" he asked, taking a sip of firewhisky, and offering it to me.
"It's not a matter of choice, Theo," I answered, grabbing the bottle from him and taking a large sip. "I'm marrying her next year whether I like it or not."
"Are you ready for it?" Theo asked.
I shook my head. "But I will be. I still have a year left to get used to her."
"I don't know what to say, Draco," Theo said, "You are pushing yourself toward her. It won't make you fall for her. What will you do when you start to actually like someone?"
I looked at him. "I can only hope it should be Astoria."
Theo sighed and shook his head, his brown hair falling into his eyes. "Can't you talk about it to your father?"
"If I could have, I would have," I said, impulsively pushing Theo's hair out of his eyes. Theo raised an eyebrow at my gesture, a smile spreading across his face. I grew flustered, not knowing why I did that. I gave him a sneer, looking around the common room to avoid his gaze. I noticed Potter laughing with his friends, such a bloody large group. I only had Theo. I noticed the twins were with him as well.
Of course, he was like a magnet.
"Look at him," I said without thinking. Theo followed my gaze.
"Bloody Potter," I muttered. "Look how happy he is. All of this because he has no parents to force him to marry someone."
"Draco," Theo called, "Don't try to compare your situation with someone else. It doesn't make sense. Potter has his own shit too. Sure, your parents are forcing you into this marriage, but they have also loved and cared for you. Potter hasn't got any of it."
"Do you honestly believe that?" I scoffed. "He got enough love from bloody Dumbledore to stupid the Weaselbees. On top of that, he's got a girlfriend to love him. And no one forced him to do that." I didn't avert my gaze from the chattering Potter. His eyes gleamed as the fire in the fireplace reflected in them.
Theo sighed. "I'll repeat my words. Comparing yourself with someone else will do you no good." I had enough. Clearly Theo didn't understand.
"I need to wake up early tomorrow," I said as I stood. "Good night."
And with that, I went into the dorm room, once again preparing myself to sleep on the couch.
Harry's POV
"I don't know if these are working," I said as I chewed the chocolate in my mouth. "Do you feel anything, Neville?"
"I don't know, Harry," he answered. "I think they are working, but also feel the cold. It's hard to tell."
"Do you think we have bought the wrong ones?" I asked.
"I don't know," Neville said and asked Luna, "Luna, are you sure these chocolates are supposed to make us feel warm?"
Luna hummed as she continued chewing. She had closed her eyes as if meditating. I wondered if the chocolates really worked on her. She took another bite of the bar she held.
"How do you manage to do it?" Neville asked.
"You must feel the energy of the chocolate," she said.
"And how do we do that?" I asked.
"It won't work on its own," she explained, "You should want it to work for it to work correctly."
"I'm pretty sure I have been wanting it to work for the past fifteen minutes, Luna," I said with a sarcastic smile.
"Well, then you're not trying hard enough," she replied, still chewing slowly.
"Ugh! I give up," Neville said. "I'm moving closer to the fireplace. Would you like to join me, Harry?"
"I'll pass on that, but thanks, Neville," I said, "The only thing that can save me from this cold is my blanket."
"Are you going to bed?" Luna opened her eyes.
"Yes," I said, "Tomorrow is the first day of the student program, and I have the first class in the morning. Professor Slughorn asked me to come early to his office to collect some papers. I don't want to be late."
"Alright. Good night, Harry," Neville said.
"Good night, Harry," Luna added.
"Good night, guys." I waved at them and folded my arms across my chest again as I walked up the staircase to get to the dorm rooms.
I was literally shivering from the cold. Even with a robe topped with a scarf, I could hear my teeth chatter. I hurried up to the dorm and pushed the door. The dorm was as freezing as the common room. I slid my shoes off, quickly jumped on the bed and slid under the blanket.
It took me a couple of seconds to get warm. Once I was warm enough for my teeth to stop chattering and my body to stop shivering, I sat up to remove my glasses when I noticed Malfoy sleeping on the couch without a blanket.
The couch was next to the window. It usually stayed open, but it was closed today. I figured Malfoy must have closed it due to the cold. But that wasn't enough. Malfoy was curled up in a tight ball with a woollen jumper and socks, and I could tell he still was cold. I recalled my situation a few minutes ago knowing how cold it would be without a blanket. Spending an entire night without a warm blanket wouldn't be good for his health.
I looked on the other side to see if there was an extra blanket, but there wasn't. I hated to admit it, but I was actually worried for Malfoy. Even if he was the brattiest person I'd ever met, he didn't deserve to sleep through this cold. I felt bad that he had to spend the night this way. I would have offered him my blanket if we were friends. But at this moment, I needed the blanket just as much.
I took off my glasses and slept on the bed guiltily. The fact that Malfoy had to sleep through this cold night beside the window made me somehow uneasy.
//another chapter!!
What do you guys think?
Thanks so much for reading, I really appreciate it!
Just a question though, who is your favourite song artist?
You know, to kind of match with the theme a little ;)
I also get super like... Deep in thought when I think of their names, like we're magical people just obsessed with hogs to name their school HOGwarts and their little village HOGsmeade? Please share your opinion on that ToT