56

Now, Malfoy's rather chippy attitude when he arrived late for breakfast the following morning made it clear that something went wrong.

He was very much alive, and while that was a tragedy in itself, at least he left me alone now— spent most of his time by himself rather than Pansy or Theo or Blaise. Not even Crabbe and Goyle were able to get a hold of him; not really.

Whether that had other reasons or stood in direct connection to my second attempt on his life, I didn't know— didn't care.

Though, his absence gave me time and space to gather my thoughts, truly push through the massive setback in January and focus on finding new solutions. I didn't find any, and I felt just as stuck and helpless as I did those few months ago, but at least Malfoy wasn't the reason for any of it anymore.

Occasionally, I still blamed him just for the sake of it.

And like that, days came and went without much of anything happening. The pile of homework — essay's to write, books to read — grew exponentially while I wasn't doing any of it.

The people around me began revising, reading assignments and generally staying on top of their work while I got buried in it; Still but barely getting Outstandings on the assignments I finished an hour before handing them in— usually staying up all night to do so.

With my mind still scattered, I dragged the fork in between my fingers through the food on my plate. Unenthused, my head rested in my hand halfheartedly following Pansy and Theo's conversation.

A sigh escaped my lips as I pushed the filled plate a little further away from me, taking a deep breath before I spoke.

"I'm going to try and find my sister," I shrugged, fork in the air, pointing it at the two before I lowered it onto my plate. Pansy's eyes widened as soon as the words left my lips, eyes darting in my direction.

Before she even had to ask, I nodded knowingly. "Yes, it's today," I clarified, and at once, a groan rattled through her chest as the cutlery in her hands fell onto her plate.

"I know that," She hissed, and yet, she jumped off her seat in a heartbeat before hurrying out of the great hall in a matter of seconds. Leisurely, I followed her lead and got out of my seat.

My eyes fell on Theo, squinting slightly as he took me in with a brow raised. "You alright?" He asked, gaze falling onto the untouched plate stood before him.

Despite the obvious sign that I wasn't — an untouched plate of mine spoke volumes — I nodded with a small smile on my lips before heading out of the busy hall and turning the corner into the corridor.

I manoeuvred out of the way of a group of younger Gryffindor's entering the hall at the same time, only shaking my head at the way they almost ran into me completely, with not even a fleeting thought to apologise.

"Adreanna—!"

His voice made me stop at once, calculating my next move as I just stood there, my back turned towards Kai.

With a vigorous shake of my head, I turned towards him. Though not completely— half my body still turned in front of me, yet my gaze was pointed right at him.

As he approached at a fast pace, the gears in my head began turning faster — almost as fast as he was walking — and I remembered I had good reason not to be talking to him, whether he knew it or not.

Grimacing, I simply shook my head, turning back around to continue towards the dungeons at an equally fast pace. "I'm sorry, I just really need to—" I threw at him, voice trailing off halfway through before I did so, hoping it would make him stop, but knowing it didn't when I felt his hand on my shoulder mere moments later.

His grip was firm enough to make me halt once more but not to hurt, and as I turned towards him slowly, the first thing my eyes latched onto was that smile of his. Lips turned upwards just enough to make it noticeable as a hint of sadness played in it.

His brown eyes fixated on my own, and I couldn't help but stare right back at them. Comforting and familiar as it seemed, he looked right through me and into my soul instead.

I didn't mind— forgot what had been laying so heavy on my chest for months now and simply enjoyed his presence. Though, it only lasted so long.

"What's wrong?"

His question hit me in all the wrong places.

There were too many things wrong, too many things simply unfixable. And none of them he could help me with. No matter how hard he tried— how hard he would try, if I gave him the chance.

So, my eyes diverted onto the floor, making sure he wouldn't see how much a question as meaningless as "What's wrong?" truly affected me. I wasn't one to cry much, ever. Even as a child, my mother always called me the quietest baby to ever exist.

And now, with the amount of stress resting on my shoulders, I simply crumbled underneath it all— not that I'd ever let anyone know.

I took a deep breath, and exhaled just as loudly before my eyes darted up to him again. A singular huff escaped my lips, amusement lingering in the sound.

"I'm fine, Kai," I said, his lips immediately parting to disagree— head already shaking. Before he had the chance to do so, though, I quickly cut him off. "Promise." My pinky finger raised up in the air, waiting for his to wrap around it in order to make him believe me.

He sighed at the sight, head falling back as his gaze was directed at the ceiling for a second before flickering back onto my finger.

"You know the point of this is that you can't lie?" He assured, hand slowly raising with a teasing smile on his lips that only made me regret it more.

Because, of course I was lying.

And knowing it was for his own sake didn't make the ordeal much better.

I nodded anyway, and as his pinky wrapped around mine, another huff escaped his lips before he spoke once more.

"Well," He shrugged, finger lingering around mine before we both lowered our hands — mine disappearing in the pocket of my robe while his hand went to ruffle through his brown locks. "I just wanted to give you this for Gwen— I haven't seen her around much, so I can hardly give her her gift myself."

Seeing the small bag dangling from his fingertips, his hand stretched out towards me as it did, I couldn't help but smile. Sighing as I took it from them and sneaked a peek.

I shook my head at the jewellery box inside, almost scoffing at the words escaping my lips only seconds later.

"You're too fucking good, Alire."

They sounded like a joke — banter between two friends — though if you listened, really listened, you'd hear the pain, the regret, and the guilt lingering in between the words.

He didn't hear it, though, instead went on to say, "Only the best for you— and your sister, in that case," in an equally amused tone.

My head cocked to the side at his words, body leaning against the wall that found itself behind me after had we moved to the side of the corridor.

"You know I don't deserve that—" I snorted dryly before the words left my mouth, hoping it would cover how much I meant what I said. As Kai remained completely serious, I wasn't sure how well that went.

"Anna," He warned, his brows raising with a light shake of his head. "You're my best friend." His voice wavered for a moment, seeming hesitant at the words coming out of his mouth.

And yet, he went on before I could beg him to stop.

"My best friend who I—" He cut himself off with an amused huff. "—Yes, occasionally have great sex with—" Trailing off, my eyes rolled at the comment, though a smile spread across my lips nonetheless.

I didn't manage to interrupt him, and his lips parted once more. "But you'll always be my best friend first. You know that, right?"

My eyes squeezed shut as I shook my head in disbelief, having it fall back as I stared at the ceiling for a mere moment. "Fucking hell," I sighed. "You're not making this any easier, you know?"

His smile faded as a puzzled expression fell over his face, eyes searching mine for whatever my words could mean. I wasn't quite sure what they might, either.

Though, I did know that Kai Alire being the best of friends right in this second didn't help leaving him only moments later.

As I scrambled away from him, diverting my eyes to not catch the broken look on his face, all I said was, "You're too good—" Already about to turn the next corner as I turned around for the last time, almost shouting my next words to make sure he'd hear them.

"It's for your own sake, alright?" 

A/N: Brocken </3 

I miss Kai already bro 

I hope you guys liked it anyways! lol