Under the Willow Tree | Draco Malfoy

chapter 42: letters vol. 4

Lorelei Jones | 5th Year

After her emotional conversation with Theo Nott in the kitchens, the school year flew by, although everything seemed to be moving in slow motion around her.

She went through classes without hearing a word the professor said. She hardly remembered eating any food, although she often forgot to go to the Great Hall at meal times, which meant that Theo had to drag her to the kitchens for late dinners created by the elves specifically for her.

When Luna went to the Department of Mysteries, Lorelei wasn't even aware until after. She had no idea that her best friend was in serious danger until it was all over.

Lorelei didn't blame Luna for the greater distance between them lately; Luna had a lot of friends now, so she had to split her time between everyone, and that obviously meant less time for Lorelei. It was all okay really, for Lorelei had Theo now too, so her time was split as well.

Theo and Lorelei liked to lay around and watch Muggle movies on the television he somehow smuggled into Hogwarts — how he did so, Lorelei didn't want to ask.

Lorelei learned a lot about Theo during this time. His favorite food was any form of cheesy pasta. His favorite time of day was nap time. He loved comedy movies, and he showed Lorelei all of his favorite ones.

When Lorelei took Theo along with her on one of her trips to see the thestrals, she learned that he could see them as well. His mum passed away from cancer when he was young, and he was sitting beside her at St. Mungo's when she took her last breaths. Lorelei told him about her dad then.

Theo also told Lorelei about his dad. He told her about how his father was his best friend after his mum died. He spoke so highly of his father, and he explained how he hated the way other students spoke about him. His dad wasn't a death eater, but his status as a wealthy, pureblood Slytherin made people assume the worst about him. Nothing made Theo angrier.

However, despite how close Lorelei had gotten with Theo, she was still sitting by herself at the Hufflepuff table when her third soulmate hint dropped onto her breakfast plate. She picked up the crisp envelope and frowned. She stuck her finger under the corner and smoothly tore open the paper, tugging out the parchment inside.

1.

Printed neatly in the middle of the page was the number of years between the ages of her soulmate and herself. Her stomach twisted when she saw the black ink confirming her fears.

She glanced up at the Slytherin table to find Draco already staring back at her with a heavy gaze and his own letter clutched tightly in his hands.

Draco Malfoy | 6th Year

With shaking hands and a horrible sense of dread rising in his throat, Draco tore open his letter and felt himself crumble at the word printed there.

Hufflepuff.

It was her, and that should have been something exciting for Draco — which was obvious to him by the reactions of all of his classmates — but it was crushing him. His soulmate wasn't going to share her results with him to find evidence they had one another. His soulmate could hardly even look at him.

Draco had never hated himself more.

As his soul drew closer to hers, and his heart slowly deflated in his chest, he pushed himself to his feet and escaped the Great Hall. Briar was already off with Longbottom, so he doubted anyone would be coming to check on him this time.

He slipped into the Room of Requirement, kicked at the stupid cabinet he was forced into working on, and then collapsed into his own sobs.

Everything was ruined, and all Draco knew to do was fix this cabinet to keep his mother safe, but at what cost? What danger was he going to be putting everyone else in to keep his mother alive? What peril was he putting Lorelei in?

Draco's world fell out of alignment as the fissure split his heart in half.

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