05

The bare stretches of stone wall were illuminated only by the pale moonlight peeking through the windows in the wide corridors of the castle. The only sound echoing through them my leisurely steps as I wandered around, enjoying every precious moment spent all by myself in complete silence.

Moments like those were rare at Hogwarts. You hardly had more than a second alone, with friends and professor mingling about wherever you went.

And Merlin knows I needed as much of it as I could get— Knowing what I had to do by the end of the year and knowing the sooner I'd get it done, the better.

I did my best thinking out here past midnight.

It was late enough to be sure there weren't any prefects to worry about anymore; only Filch I occasionally crossed paths with. And a simple concealment charm was enough to fool the old squib.

Though, the footsteps audible now were definitely not his.

Filch's were slouchy, hardly lifting the soles of his shoes off the ground, and heavy — almost like it was Hagrid himself stomping down the corridors when in reality, he was less than half his size.

But these were light, close to making no sound at all against the stone floors. It was a miracle I even noticed them in the first place.

Realising they were, in fact, approaching me — getting closer and closer by the second — I quickly retreated behind the corner I just rounded, pressing myself against the wall and hoping the same, simple concealment charm was enough to fool them, too.

When they were no more than a few feet away, I regretted positioning myself this close to the edge of the corridor.

Pressing my left cheek against the wall as well, my head was turned towards the corner— a position that ultimately landed me in the situation I found myself in now, about ten seconds later.

Managing to muffle the shriek that would've otherwise echoed through the halls, my breath hitched at the face suddenly no more than a few inches away from my own after it peeked around the corner.

They couldn't see me, of course, and it was so dark, and they were so close, I couldn't make them out, either.

But contrary to what they should've done — which was simply move along their way once they realised nobody was there — this person stayed put. Two seconds, three seconds.

I tried my best to keep my breath flat, breathing as quietly and lowly as I could while their eyes narrowed, brows furrowed, and then, out of nowhere, tapped their wand against my cheek lightly.

Without a single word muttered, I could feel the concealment charm lifting and my eyes widening just slightly.

Looking up at the figure, their lips turned into a devilish smirk, recognition striking their eyes as they took me in intently.

I recognised him when a snicker past by his lips, the sound paired with a low laugh and Malfoy shaking his head.

I visibly relaxed, knowing he wasn't going to get his own house into trouble, though didn't attempt to scramble away from him like I probably should have — his sharp features still incredibly close. Instead, I tilted my chin upwards defiantly.

"Why am I not surprised," He muttered, throwing his head back in amusement while continuing to shake it slowly.

Fiddling with the ends of the sleeves of the blue quidditch jumper I had thrown on, my eyes flickered up and down his frame, noticing the perfectly fitted black suit he wore instead of his robes.

"First your mother, then your sister and now you? Your family really likes getting into trouble, don't they?" He seethed, mockingly inching his face even closer. His grey eyes piercing into mine, breath fanning against my cheek, he raised a brow.

It was silent just for a moment, his words repeating themselves in my mind over and over again before they actually hit me.

"And your family seems to always be the one to get us into it," I spat back. Eyes narrowing, my short temper snapping, my arms flew up to grab his to swiftly push his large frame against the same wall I was previously pressed against.

One hand resting on his chest, the other one forcing his shoulder against it, I noticed his breath hitching as his eyes widened just slightly. Though, contrary to what I expected, his lips curled upwards into a cruel smile just seconds later.

My brows knitting together at the gesture, I did my best to ignore it, eyes flickering from his lips back up to his eyes. "Don't you dare mention my mother ever again," I seethed. "It's your fucking fault she's rotting in that place, in the first place. The bloody Malfoy's—"

I cut myself off with a low groan, giving the boy one last shove into the wall before letting go of him and turning around to leave without another word. It simply wasn't worth my time.

"You know I'll have to write you up for that, don't you?"

With a scoff, I turned back around to face him. "For what, exactly?"

"Breaking curfew, Hayes— you're lucky enough I didn't do the same with your sister a few days ago," He reminded me, loosening the tie around his neck by wiggling the fabric back and forth simultaneously. "Seems you've run out of luck tonight," He shrugged.

"Please," I muttered under my breath, eyes connecting with his as amusement played in them. "You're obviously breaking curfew just like I am." Brows rising, I noticed his Adam's apple bopping as he swallowed thickly. "As far as I know, black suits are not part of the prefect uniforms, are they?"

Gesturing towards his attire, he only shrugged.

"I'm still a prefect no matter what I wear, you know."

Rolling my eyes, an annoyed sigh passed by my lips. "You're a pain in the arse, no matter what you wear," I huffed, turning around once more and walking back the way I came from. "Now, would you mind trying not to be until I'm back in my dorm— What are you doing? "

Catching up with me, keeping enough of a distance between us, he said, "As a prefect, it's my duty to make sure you'll actually end up in the common room." The smirk on his face let me know he knew just how insufferable he was being.

And my suffering seemed to entertain him enough to keep it up.

"Merlin—" I groaned under my breath, taking a left before hurrying down the flight of stairs in front of us.

Making sure to walk in front of him rather than next to him, after around three minutes of silence, at first, I didn't notice the boy coming to a halt behind me.

Turning my head over my shoulder once I did, he stood cautiously against the wall, his head only snapping towards me when I was already looking at him. I threw him a questioning glance, to which he retorted with an eye roll.

"Someone's coming," He said, the words just barely audible, my brows furrowing at them.

Why on earth were Hogwarts corridors so busy in the middle of the night?

Without thinking, I hurried to position myself next to him, throwing him a glare just as I noticed the footsteps approaching as well.

It wasn't a minute later that a small figure, barely reaching my hip in size, passed in the neighbouring corridor, carrying a covered plate in their hands as they wobbled through the dark.

House-elves weren't supposed to be working Saturday night's, were they?

Tiptoeing over to the opposite wall to sneak a peek around the corner it had disappeared behind, I noticed the door leading up to the headmaster's office. And then, after a timid knock against it, the house-elf entered and closed the door behind them.

Was this something that happened every night? Was it something I could use to my advantage?

I only noticed Malfoy watching as intently as I was when I turned back around just to be met with his broad chest — almost running into it completely.

Muttering another insult under my breath, I pushed past him, making sure my shoulder hit his on the way.

"You could've said something when you noticed someone was coming, instead of letting me just get caught," I scowled when I felt his presence a few steps behind me, my complaint being met with a humoured scoff.

"And where would be the fun in that?"

A/N:  It's me again, hehe

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