Dear diary,
I might be in love with one of my schoolmates. He's in Slytherin and he's a seeker but I'm a Gryffindor and I really want us to win the House Cup this year but I can't help but cheer him on because he is extremely talented. I've never seen anyone fly the way he does. It's absolutely brilliant! You should have seen the way he does a backflip in the air-- it's like he has wings!
The balding blonde man with the pointy face shook his head at the diary with an amused smile. How very much cliched. Does it always have to be a tenacious, head strong Gryffindor and a cool, brilliant Slytherin? Well, he is cool and brilliant in his time-- that much he could remember.
A little girl with puffed cheeks and shocking red hair was running around the platform, looking under skirts and luggages for something. A funny, curious little thing. Is this how all lovesick twelve year old girls behave? She had inherited her hair from her father but the rest of her features came from her mother. The same intelligent eyes, stubborn nose and defiant chin. She was already wearing her school robes and yellow socks that reached her knees and ran past him.
"Stop."
The blonde man tapped his platinum snake cane once and it was as if all business in Platform 9 and 3/4 stopped. The girl skidded to a halt and prepared herself for the worst. A school governor just caught her running around without her guardian. House points will de deducted. She'll be expelled. She'd be the shame of the family.
"Miss Rose Weasley," he hid the diary behind him as to not embarrass the girl, "the Headmistress has told me a lot about you."
"Bloody hell."
It was a whisper and the girl's amber haze was on her black leather shoes. The shine winked back at her. Language-- inherited from her father.
"What was that?" The blonde man asked.
"All good things, I hope," the girl tried to charm him. Quick wit-- inherited from her mother.
The balding man almost laughed at the girl's cheekiness. "Indeed. All good things and even better things in the future, I hope," he smiled before handing the girl her the diary. It was received with wide eyes and flushed cheeks, almost as red as her hair but with no doubt, joy and relief that it had been the balding blonde man with the pointy face that found the diary and not the young and handsome Slytherin Seeker.
It didn't matter then that he had been a Slytherin Seeker too in his time. But no Gryffindors (that he had a crush on) wrote things about his brilliance. It was a tragedy in it's own right.
Not that the man knows nothing of tragedy.
A widower at the age of twenty five. He had lost both his wife and his son at their attempt to make a family of their own. It should depress him really and turn him back to drink forevermore and he did for a while but he managed to quit (thanks to the hounding of a certain bushy haired, perpetually 'employee of the month' Ministry of Magic employee). He lost a trustworthy companion and partner. There will be no one like his Astoria. It will be a quest on it's own to find another one suitable enough to give his name(but who is he kidding, he already has his eyes on someone). At thirty seven, the blonde man with the snake cane is wealthier than ever and more pursued by beautiful women from all over the world. His prediction had come true-- lingerie had been and will continue to be thrown his way on the daily. A wife could wait(or not-- he's just dragging his feet at this point).
The girl with the red hair smiled at him in connivance. The same big front teeth, it made the blonde man sigh at the picture of memory.
"Rosie! Where have you been?"
The girl's mother strode towards them. Her curly brown hair was up in a dainty bun behind her, she was wearing an elegant trouser suit-- suitable for her new position. Head of Magical Law Enforcement and the head of her household. She recently separated from her husband. It caused a bit of an up stir in the wizarding community, with the couple being two thirds of the Golden Trio who vanquished Voldemort the Evil. Even the Boy Who Lived didn't know what to do with himself and who to side with between his two best friends.
But as for the man with the blonde hair, he soaked up every single piece juicy information about the split of the hero couple. He relished and lived through the details. It made him feel the most alive since the end of his tumultuous teenage years.
"Listen, I want you to write to me everyday, alright?" The girl's mother fussed over her. Arranging her hair, flattening her collar and repeatedly pressing her soft, mauve colored lips on the girl's freckled skin.
"But, mom. Homework and this and that, so on and so forth," the girl sighed, fingers crossed behind her.
The balding blonde man is already processing the red headed girl's adoption papers in his head.
Her mother furrowed her brows, "Then write to me right after you finish it. I'm not asking for a novel, Rosie. Anything would do."
"Bottle caps and sucker wrappers?" The girl asked mischievously, light dancing in her brown eyes-- mirror images of her mother's.
"Anything, you silly girl," her mother giggled despite herself. Soon, it was time to depart. The girl with the red hair was waving through the train window, with half of her body hanging out. A boy wearing a Slytherin scarf pulled her back in. The train moved forward.
It was instantly more quiet and less cheery.
"Quite the charmer," the blonde man with the pointy face said to the girl's mother.
"Best thing to happen to me, honestly," she sighed, still looking towards the horizon where the train disappeared. The air around them smelled of her perfume, still sweet and feminine but with hints of earth tones. Like preserved wine. It only gets the better the longer it lingers.
Does everyone she encounters get affected this way? It would have been endlessly inconvenient for all involved.
The man felt the familiar ache on his chest. It only ever did for her.
He has so much to tell her.
"Granger, fancy a midmorning cup of coffee?"
Her eyes finally landed on his face. Her gaze retained its tenderness despite the recent heartbreaks and hardships. He allowed himself a small smile and she mirrored it. "But I can't possibly, I have to report to the French Minister and-"
"It's only a cup, Granger, we're not going to order the whole cafe menu." Well, he could just to keep her there.
She sighed. "Add butter cookies, Malfoy, and you're on."
"Anything for you," he said. He wanted it to sound like a joke because he was not yet ready for the coming implications.
She did her signature eye roll and head shake as if already calling him on in his bluff. But a small smile was playing on her lips and if Merlin permitted it, he would have kissed her right then and there in the platform that connected his world and hers. Their beginnings and ends.
But it was best to take things slowly, now that he's so sure.
Surer than sure.
And all will be well. Surely. Truly well in his books. He has done his waiting. He has earned his redemption.
But such is not the case.
No. It can't ever be that simple.
Fate's hands hovered over them and she checked her list. Someone's got to give.
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Yo! This just reached 15+K, guys! All thanks to all of you! So I am updating here and now in my part time job because I am really thankful and happy! This even reached #503 in fanfiction last Tuesday, I think. I was out of it for two days, guys, and will probably be again this coming week cause momma's gotta hustle.
Song up top is 'Happily' by these underground musicians that go by the name of One Direction. I swear this is one of the happier chapters.
Dedicated to my girl @oslca35 for her comment in chapter 27. I really think that Draco's other girls need better representation other than 'gold diggers and slags'. Come on, guys. We've all been the ex-girlfriend or it has happened at one point or so that we didn't get the guy. So yeah. *gets all worked up about minor characters*
Thank you very much for reading!