THE FURIES ▸ Draco Malfoy

Chapter Sixteen: COMUS

◤ ❝You carry your head, your heart, and your hope in three men so easily capable of tearing you to pieces. You have made a grave mistake, Miss Erebus. Now that they hold these sections, what is left inside for you to protect? Your soul is nothing without them. It will rot just as quickly as his did if you do not take them back. The moment they adapt to permanence, you are lost forever.❞ ― Severus Snape ◢

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CHAPTER SIXTEEN:   COMUS

December 20, 1996

                 The walk to Slughorn's office was short, but the ringing of the clock alerted them that they were already a few minutes later than the expected arrival time. Andromeda would have been concerned, but after noticing McLaggen and Granger staggering quickly through the corridors, her worry lessened (what a surprise it was to her that Weasley wasn't her date instead). Halfway there, Andrew eventually loosened up and gave back into his old personality. If there was any indication of his oddness from earlier, it was gone. Instead, there was a skip in his step Mia hated to find endearing. Excitement and eagerness were two emotions buzzing around in his brain, and she knew that without even needing to look further just how much he was looking forward to the evening. Merlin knows why. She would rather pitch herself off the side of the castle than think about the night's forecast.

The door to his office was open when they got there, only seconds after Granger and McLaggen. The place looked exactly how Mia's nightmares pictured it would, and she blanched the second that she stepped inside. In one direction, there was a small huddle of people dancing to the music fluttering softly throughout the place. The other side had a group of people conversing around a large section of food, laughing their way through sips of mead. The urge to turn around and walk right on back to the Slytherin common room was far too strong, an impulsive panic starting to attack as she remembered the memories from her past. Just when she moved to turn on her heel, Andrew tightened his hold on her arm closer to him. 

"Ah, ah, ah," he scolded as he looked down at her. She glowered at him. "It isn't nice to leave your date before the party's even begun, Mia." 

"You can run away with me. Now, can we leave before anyone sees u―" Mia's words fell in her throat when she saw who was coming up to them, only seconds after their arrival. Should she have been surprised in the slightest? Instantly, her eyes darkened and she stood up straighter. "Professor Snape. I wasn't aware this was a crowd you often affiliated yourself with."

Snape frowned at her, his dead eyes moving slowly from hers to Andrew's at her side. He did not look pleased in the slightest to see the Quidditch player wrapped up around her side, and the way his lips pulled down were the first evidence of that. Mia ignored the urge to flinch instinctively, imagining all of the horrible things he was thinking. Displeasure filled every wrinkle on his face, feeding into his already-lacking compassion. The second piece of evidence was his words, as he turned his icicle stare back on her with an expression that said everything and so much more. No, he certainly was not pleased with the predicament she had gotten herself into with Andrew Vaisey. 

"Miss Erebus, just as well. I was not aware that you were still affiliating yourself with such a crowd," he said, coarsely. "I was under the impression that you would have Mister Malfoy escorting you to the party this evening." 

Mia's jaw tightened. "You were mistaken." 

She knew exactly what he was doing. Snape thought that Andrew was a distraction, and finding any weak point to take a hit at was his tactic at hand. He was reminding her of her mistakes in getting close with the boy. Knowing full well that nothing was going on between her and Draco, he still attempted to implant that idea into Andrew's mind. Judging by the expression that hung over Vaisey's face as he listened to their conversation, her date was beginning to believe it. She dug her heel further into her shoes, trying to avoid the urge to spit an unmannerly choice of words at her professor in front of the entire room. If she had to push Andrew away, it would be on her terms. Her words. No one else's.