PART 22

HIS gaze drifted towards the sleeping girl in his arms , warmth radiating from the blanket that cocooned their bodies - his fingers entwined with hers , her cheek resting against his shoulder - their breaths synchronizing into a patterned melody , saccharine sweetness of an angel's hymn. Orange shadows danced across the light freckles  that dotted her nose like a million constellations across a galaxy , and each time she shuffled closer to him while in the realm of Morpheus , his heart raced in his ribs , igniting twirling meadows of honeysuckles and butterflies fluttering with gaudy wings across the zircon sky.

A low , harsh screech against the window pane jolted him out of his stupor , and his silver eyes went towards the arching , tawny hued window that rose across the threshold into the carved dome , pearly beads glistening against a canvas of lapis lazuli. A handsome eagle owl scratched at the glass , talons curled around an envelope folded out of fine parchment.

Draco hated to wake her , watching how she slept peacefully. And so , he gently crept away from under her , softly laying her back on the couch , head resting upon the embroidered cushion of molten sapphire.  Gently pulling his fingers away from her grasp , he was hit with an overwhelming frigidness. Standing up with a light sigh , his feet moved past the round coffee table of oak - mugs stained with reminiscent drops of hot chocolate.

Opening the window , he held out an arm for the hooting owl to perch upon - before taking the letter from it's paws.

Flipping it , in the light of the flames from the hearth he read the sentence engraved in brilliant peridot ink -

"To , E.M.R."

The initials upon the letter confused him , and Draco raised a brow - racking his brains for a Ravenclaw with such initials. Under the elegant cursive , sealing the mouth of the envelope was the Frey crest in an exuberant shade of plum.

A letter for Evanna ?

"Her initials are not E.M.R.", he mumbled to himself , before he heard a soft grumble resound from the couch where Evanna lay asleep in peace. Swiftly pocketing the letter , he watched the owl melt into the darkness of the bleeding onyx sky , until it was just a blur in the distance , a blur behind the conical shingles of the eerie castle.

Walking noiselessly across the Tunisian carpet of blue crystal that adorned the otherwise bare wooden floor , he returned to where the girl lay - sitting on the edge of the royal blue couch. The corners of his lips tugged upwards unconsciously , as he slowly ran his fingers through the hair of caramel that curtained her like a waterfall of copper - and his gaze returned to the platinum bracelet that caught the light of the flames , and shone - glistened brightly like a lantern for a blind man in a cave of enshrouded darkness. His smile widened as he realised that she still wore the bracelet , but when his fingers absently brushed her wrist , he heard her shuffle beside him - the queer azure locket around her neck glinting in the light.

"Did I wake you ?", He asked softly.

Shaking her head , a small smile came over her lips as she whispered ,"No." Shifting slightly closer to him , his breath hitched in his throat as she pressed a kiss to the corner of his lips , before resting her head on his shoulder once again , and drifting back to sleep. Tentatively , he returned her sleepy embrace , periwinkle flowers blossoming in his throat , curling around his ivory white lungs and reaching out towards the purple pink lungs , palpitating heart and tainting his pale cheeks a deep shade of peony. He tried to convince himself that it was solely from the delirium of sleep that she had done so - and yet his heart gave a flutter , beating rhythmically in the cages of his ribs - letter crumpled within the depths of his pockets.

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Hidden away underneath the depths of the shelves of full of books that rose in geometric patterns from the honey wood floor - Evanna's eyes skimmed the words that stained the yellowing parchments , a standing symbol of time. Her ears pricked up at the soft whispers resurfacing from the other side of the shelf , eyes trained on her pages but mind focused on the words as soft as an equinox's zephyr.

Through the gaps in the books , she saw a small glimpse of two girls speaking in hushed tones with books pressed to their chests.

"When is the DA meeting ?", One of them asked , frantically eyeing the aisle for approaching feet or prying ears.

"At five. You know the place , Marietta - but didn't you receive the timings ?", another voice whispered back to the girl named Marietta.

Evanna's cherry lips curved upwards. Shutting the book , she made enough noise to let the girls know that they had been overheard. Pushing her chair back with a low scrape on the wooden floor , she swung her bag over her shoulder - eyes coruscating with mirth that bloomed in her chest in the guise of a smirking demoness as she watched the pale , sweat beaded faces of the two apparent Ravenclaws who stood with trembling shoulders.

Their eyes fell upon the silver 'I' that glistened proudly on Evanna's collar , jaws clenching and eyes filling with hate.

Being in kahoots with Harry Potter meant that Evanna already was aware of the DA , and was cleverly leading Umbridge to nowhere as she had promised to the Golden Trio. But the game would soon be up , and the members of the society other than Hermione , Harry and Ron were not aware of their little 'partnership'.

Walking away , she checked the time on her silver wristwatch , the dials turned to show that it was almost three - lunch having ended an hour ago.

Her feet abruptly took a turn , taking the steps up to the seventh floor , and not long passed when she found herself once again staring at the bare wall that concealed the door to the coveted room. A mahogany door , polished to attain the perfection of a fresco , materialised , and her fingers curled around the door , pushing it open as her eyes searched the empty corridor for anyone eavesdropping.

Strings of pure , amber light of the gleaming afternoon sun irradiated the caving walls of the room that had no particular geometric pattern , raindrops of crystal dangling down from the center of nowhere. The thousand paintings on the wall told timeless stories , tales spun by the old - of celebrations , and wars , of treaties and massacres ; even the gruesome tale of the Salem Witch burnings.

Tapestries of the Frey family were engraved upon the ceiling , that was so very melanoid , it seemed out of reach of any magical light that touched upon earth. Purple albatrosses , wings spread in glory - cerise dripping from the feathers of amethyst - adorned the pristine room.

Ten students , aging from fourteen to sixteen - stood in a circle - all of them manifestations of demons descended from the nine circles of hell.  A single dark wooden table , eleven chairs stood in front of the marble hearth , it's wooden contents free of fire and ashes.

"Good afternoon", Evanna mused , walking forward - before sitting at the head of the table - bad dropping to the floor. The ten students turned to face her , before slowly moving to their assigned seats on either side of the Ravenclaw. Scraping of the chair against the lacquered floor rebounded against the domed ceiling.

Evanna spoke in a soft voice , like she almost always did - as though she should not have to strain her voice to reach the ears of men , rather they should covet to hear her words , what they meant and their twisted , lyrical beauty. Her voice carried over over to the others , like invisible threads of sharpened ivory that wrung itself around the flesh of the ten hearts yet to be completely tainted , yet to be completely malignant - pulling and twirling to make them dance like puppets , to her will , to her music.

"The agenda , if you may", She said , fingers twined with each other and placed upon the varnished table.

A girl , around fifteen years of age with almond eyes of emblazoned determination , and hair the colour of Apollo's chariot - nodded her head , fingers hurrying to roll out a parchment scroll where she had written the agenda.

"We practiced on improving the Patronus charm last week , this week it is the Transmogrification Torture curse", She spoke , voice wavering ever so slightly. Evanna nodded in response , although inwardly she was pleased that  all those present at the table had a better control on taming their magic and befriending it from the deepest core of their souls - allowing them to grasp even exigent spells. Afterall , she had picked them solely on their academical performance , allure and wealth. Although Crabbe and Goyle struggled to pick up slightly - their skill of knowing all the canards flying around the school made up for their lacking in intelligence.

"Very well. But today , before we move onto the curse - how many of you know what horcruxes are ?", She questioned , rising on her feet as a ghost of a smile played at her sanguine lips.

Hushed murmurs broke out all over the table , indicating that a fair few were aware of the scandalous objects that were said to grant immortality. Her smile widened , and she raised a hand - silencing all those present for a cause not yet lost in darkness , before asserting ,"Once upon a time there was a boy in this same room , a boy we all fear today. And he divided his soul into six bits , hidden away in six objects."

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[ A/N : SO SORRY FOR THE SMALL CHAPTER. A LOT HAS BEEN GOING ON , AND I JUST CAN'T KEEP UP. BY THE WAY , EVANNA SAYS SIX HORCRUXES BECAUSE SHE DOESN'T KNOW ABOUT HARRY BEING A HORCRUX.

 I NEED TO GET SOME STUDYING IN , AND THEN I WILL BE FREE TO PUBLISH A FEW MORE CHAPTERS. NEW CHAPTER COMING ON SUNDAY PROBABLY. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR 600+ READS !

WITH ALL MY HEART ,

ORPHIC_MOON ]