BORN TO DIE    ╱    DRACO MALFOY
꒷꒦ · ˚.‧ . written by ella . . . © -lostgardens
035 ━━━━━━━ ❛ certain similarities ❜

"You three realize, of course, that in the past few hours, you have broken perhaps a dozen school rules," Dumbledore's aging voice reminded them. Potter and Weasley looked down at the desk, while Olivia boredly looked at the phoenix perched on his wood stand.

"Yes, sir," the three of them muttered.

"And there's sufficient evidence to have you three expelled," he added, causing Olivia to meet his gaze. Expelled? Please, for the sake of Merlin.

Potter and Weasley glanced at one another. "Yes, sir," the three repeated.

"Therefore..." Dumbledore paused, taking a breath. "It is only fitting... that you three receive... Special Awards for Services to the School," he said, catching the students off guard, especially Olivia.

She was sure that the old worm would've sent her off to some shady wizards and witches reforment camp (she wasn't sure those even existed) rather than give her an award. Especially if said award had anything to do with the school. Potter and Weasley seemed to think it was brilliant because they gave each other surprised yet happy looks.

"Thanks, sir," Weasley gleamed.

Dumbledore gave them a small nod. "And now, Mr. Weasley, if you would have an owl deliver these release papers to Azkaban," the headmaster said, scooting out from behind his desk with folded-up pieces of paper. Olivia supposed those had to do with Hagrid. He handed the papers to Weasley. "I believe we..." He crowded in to whisper, "We want our gamekeeper back."

And with that, Weasley left, leaving Olivia and Potter alone with Dumbledore. "Harry. Olivia," the old man continued, turning to face them. "First, I wanted to thank you, Harry. You must have shown me real loyalty down in the chamber. Nothing but that could've called Fawkes to you," he explained, gesturing to his phoenix. "And you, Olivia. I'd like to thank you for not letting Harry go on his own to face what lied in the chamber." He paused, looking back at Harry.

Olivia nodded her head. "I'd like to be off to bed now," she said, not wanting for him to say more to her. And with that, she walked off, going towards the door.

"And, uh, second for you, Harry... I sense something is troubling you. Am I right, Harry?" Dumbledore continued.

Olivia was so close to being out when Harry said his next words. Her hand was on the handle, ready to open the door and never come back to that office again. But then Potter said, "It's just... You see, sir, I-I couldn't help but notice certain things—certain...certain similarities between Tom Riddle and me. And even Olivia."

The girl stopped dead in her tracks, turning to face the two that were now looking at her. She wasted no time in marching right up to Potter again, glaring at him.

Potter met her heated gaze. "I heard you speaking Parseltongue," he said, causing her gaze to shift between him and Dumbledore, who didn't look the slightiest bit surprised. "And you two sort of... I don't know... acted the same," he sighed.

"I see," Dumbledore muttered. "Well, you can speak Parseltongue, Harry—you both can. Why?" Dumbledore asked. Potter seemed to look confused, like he didn't know the answer, and the same was true of Olivia. She truly didn't know the reason, just that she could. "Because Lord Voldemort can speak Parseltongue," he answered his own question, directing his words to Potter. "If I'm not mistaken, Harry, he transferred some of his power to you the night he gave you that scar." Dumbledore gestured to Potter's forehead.

"Voldemort transferred some of his powers to me?" Potter asked, sounding astonished yet confused.

"Uh-huh." The headmaster nodded. "Not intentionally." He paused, walking back around his desk to sit down as Olivia and Potter moved to stand in front of it.

"So the sorting hat was right. I should be in Slytherin."

"It's true, Harry," Dumbledore agreed. "You possess many of the qualities that Voldemort himself prizes, just as you, Olivia," He didn't miss the narrow-eyed look the girl sent his way. "Determination, resourcefulness, and, if I may, a certain disregard for the rules." He took a breath. "Why, then, didn't the sorting hat place you in Gryffindor?" He raised an offering hand to the dirty hat on his desk.

Potter glanced at the hat, and Olivia focused on Dumbledore. "Because I asked it to," the boy admitted.

"Exactly, Harry. Exactly," Dumbledore said. "Which makes you different from Voldemort. It is not our abilities that show what we truly are. It is our choices," he explained. "If you want proof why you belong in Gryffindor, then I suggest you look more closely at this." He leaned forward, picking up the sword Potter had used to kill the Basilisk.

Potter grabbed a hold of it by it's blade, and Dumbledore muttered, "Be careful." That was when Olivia truly looked at it. It was Godric Gryffindor's sword. Only a true Gryffindor would be able to see it and weld it.

"Godric Gryffindor," Potter said.

"It would take a true Gryffindor to pull that out of the hat," Dumbledore elaborated.

"You still haven't answered why I am similar to Riddle," Olivia interrupted.

Sighing, Dumbledore looked at her. "That I do not know, Olivia," he admitted. "All I know is—"

The door of his office opened, cutting him off from saying anything more. Olivia wiped around, and it was in that moment that she wished she'd left when she had the chance. In struted none other than Lucius Malfoy, holding a new cane since Olivia broke his old one and a house elf cowering behind his legs. The creature looked familiar, but she couldn't quite place him.

"Dobby!" Potter said, and that was when it hit Olivia.

Her blood felt like it was boiling. Of course, the Malfoys were Dobby's masters. It made perfect sense, and the memory of Dobby's words from the night in the hospital wing came flooding back, along with all of the hatred she had for whomever treated him that way.

"So this is your master," Potter added, taking a small step in place. "The family you serve is the Malfoys."

"Mm-hmm," Dobby hummed, looking freighted as he looked up at Lucius.

The blonde man looked down at the house elf, muttering, "I'll deal with you later."

Dobby whimpered at the threat.

Olivia narrowed her eyes, clenching her fists at her sides. She despised the Malfoys as it was; this was just icing on the bloody cake. She watched intently as the Malfoy man made his way over to the desk, with Dobby trailing close behind him. He clambered up the few steps and lifted the edge of his shiny, new cane to Olivia and Potter's throats. "Out of my way, you two," he seethed.

It was a true shame he did that because Olivia grabbed onto the part against her throat and snapped the wood just like she had his other cane.

Lucius glared at her, then looked at his broken cane.

Olivia wondered (and hoped) that she had broken his wand that she knew he kept in it. Unluckily for her, Lucius pulled out his untouched and unbroken wand and pocketed it.

Dropping the part of his cane that she held to the ground as he turned to face Dumbledore, who remained quiet with Potter, she watched Lucius sneer. "So it's true," he addressed the headmaster. "You have returned." He sounded anything but glad of the news.

"When the governors learned that Arthur Weasley's daughter was taken into the chamber, they saw fit to summon me back," the older wizard explained.

"Ridiculous," Lucius muttered, looking to his left.

"Curiously, Lucius, several of them were under the impression that you would curse their families if they did not agree to suspend me in the first place."

"How dare you?" Lucius asked, offended that anyone might question him.

"I beg your pardon." Dumbledore leaned forward in his seat.

"My sole concern has always been and will always be the welfare of this school and, of course, its students," the uninvited man elaborated, looking over at Olivia and Potter.

"Well, all the students, except for your son, of course," Olivia interjected, sending the man a snarky smile.

"Bite your tongue," he seethed, glaring at her. When he turned back to Dumbledore after another quiet moment, he inhaled deeply. "The culprit has been identified, I presume?" he asked.

And Olivia didn't know what it was—perhaps his tone, perhaps him just being him—but she seemed to think he knew exactly who had done it. She thought back to the one time she'd ever seen Ginny Weasley and Lucius Malfoy interact.

The day in Flourish and Blotts just before the school year began... Yes, he had taunted the Weasleys about their looks and things, much like his son, and he had grabbed a book from the girl's bucket. Just one. Olivia remembered him putting it back. But he didn't put just one back; he put two back. The book that Ginny had in the first place, and... the diary—Tom Riddle's diary.

That bloody bastard

"Oh, yes." Dumbledore nodded, dragging Olivia back into reality.

"And?" Lucius paused, growing annoyed. "Who was it?"

Dumbledore shared a glance with Olivia and Potter, then boredly looked back at the man in front of him. "Voldemort," he answered.

"Ah."

"Only this time he chose to act through somebody else"—Dumbledore paused, grabbing the mostly destroyed diary—"by means of this." He lifted the black book so that Lucius could see.

The man seemed to grow nervous at the sight of the journal. "I see," he murmured, barely above a whisper.

Dobby tugged on Potter's sleeve, but only Olivia and the boy seemed to notice. She looked down at the house elf, giving him a curious look despite him not returning it.

"Fortunately, our young Mr. Potter and Miss Mallard discovered it," Dumbledore continued. "One hopes that no more of Lord Voldemort's old school things should find their way into innocent hands," he continued, leaning back against his chair. "The consequences for the one responsible would be... severe."

Olivia could tell by the tone of his voice and his choice of words that Dumbledore knew exactly who had given Girl-Weasley the diary. And so did she, but she wasn't going to say anything... yet. A nice word with her parents when she got home for summer might be nice. She supposed it was time they caught up on her time at Hogwarts. But first, she might have a little word with Lucius's spawn.

"Well, let us hope that Mr. Potter and Miss Mallard will always be around to save the day." Lucius looked over at the two students, who were glaring at him.

"Don't worry, we will be," Potter replied.

Straightening his spine and taking in another breath, Lucius turned to the aging man in front of him again. "Dumbledore." Dumbledore nodded in response, just before Lucius wiped around. "Come, Dobby. We're leaving," he ordered the house elf. "And pick up the rest of my cane," he added, and Olivia bit back a laugh.

That laugh quickly died when Lucius kicked the house elf down the stairs, and she moved forward, ready to go after him, but Potter grabbed her wrist, holding her back.

She gave him an annoyed look, but his grip didn't falter, not even when Lucius hit Dobby with what he carried of his broken-in-half cane.

Once the man and his house elf were gone, Potter released Olivia's wrist and set the sword down on Dumbledore's desk. "Sir? I wonder if I could have that?" he asked, gesturing to the diary.

Olivia creased her brow. "What could you possibly need with that thing?"

Potter turned to her after Dumbledore handed him the diary. "Let's just say Dobby is going to be a free elf soon," he vaguely explained.

But it was enough to put a smile on Olivia's face. "Maybe you're not so bad after all, Potter," she said, slinging an arm over his shoulder. "So how exactly are you planning on pulling this off?" she asked as they walked to the door.

≀⋆⁺₊⋆ ꗃ 𖦹⨳✺

Walking into the common room after Potter explained his plan, and she and him went their separate ways after stepping off the spiral staircase, she wanted nothing more than to go to her room, take a shower, and go to sleep even though morning had already hit them. But the universe had different plans because, before she even turned around, she felt the worried and curious gazes of eight people burning holes into her back.

Sighing, she ran a hand through her dirty and tangled hair and then turned around. Finding the faces of her friends as well as Malfoy and Daphne staring at her, she watched their eyes go wide as they took in her appearance.

Lucas and Pansy were the first to rush up to her, preparing for a hug. She held up her hands in protest. "I'm fine," she assured them, causing them to stop in their tracks. "Just a tiring evening spent searching for the Chamber of Secrets with Potter, Weasley, and Lockhart. Then the night was spent in the Chamber of Secrets with Potter, a ghost of the past, a giant snake, and an unconscious Ginny Weasley. And a morning spent talking to Dumbledore and being visited by Lucius Malfoy." Her eyes were squeezed shut as she reflected.

"What...?" Pansy gaped, sounding extremely confused.

"Wait. My father?" Malfoy muttered, coming up behind Pansy and Lucas.

Olivia peeled open her eyes, meeting all of the confused stares. "Nevermind that," she said, waving a dismissive hand as she let out another stressed breath. "Now I just want to go take a shower because I am filthy, and I am afraid I will get sick thinking about what I have crawled in the last however many hours. Then, I'm going to go to bed." She moved towards the stairs, ignoring the stares. "Goodnight."

"It's the morning," Theodore called out as she disappeared up the stairs.

She quickly made her way to her room, unlocked the door, closed it behind her, and all but ran to the bathroom. She had been serious about getting sick. Once she was in there, she closed the door, locking it, and stripped from her nasty robes that she was going to burn after her shower. She placed her wand, the necklace she wore (that Malfoy had gotten her), and her bracelet from Lucas on the counter.

Flickering on the water, she released a breath, taking a step back to admire herself in the mirror. She was indeed filthy—covered in dirt and grim and probably some other things she didn't want to think about; her hair was a tangled mess, matted in some places; her face was pale; and her eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep.

She looked terrible.

One thing she'd never stop praising Hogwarts for was how fast the water heated. So after another second of looking at herself in the mirror, she stepped into the shower, drawing the door closed. The water felt amazing against her skin. She took a long shower, cleaning the roots of her hair with her rosemary-scented shampoo, softening the ends with the same scented conditioner, and washing away all of the filth from her body with her ginger-scented body wash.

When she was out, she wrapped herself in a soft towel, grabbed her wand off the counter, went to her wardrobe, grabbed the most comfortable clothes she owned, and got dressed. Pansy and Daphne weren't in there, so she assumed they were giving her the space so that she could rest without any distractions. She went back to the bathroom, put her necklace and bracelet back on, brushed her teeth, and fought with her nappy hair until she was satisfied.

Finally, she curled up in her bed and relaxed, placing her wand under her pillow. Sleep fell upon her in an instant once she was snuggled up to Mr. Snake and under her soft duvet. This was the first time she had slept well in a long time, not since she had discovered Tommy.

That morning, during her slumber, she dreamed something different than normal—something different from the one-time dream she had when she was in the hospital wing for the infection. No, this was something entirely different, something entirely darker.

But when she woke well into the evening later that day, she couldn't recall any of it. Nothing but the feeling—the same feeling she had felt in the Chamber of Secrets.

The same surge of power and tingling of her magic—something that made her feel so strong yet so weak—was something she couldn't quite place and would keep to herself until she discovered what it was.

Power that was so dark that it frightened her.

You're destined for great things.

≀⋆⁺₊⋆ ꗃ 𖦹⨳✺

━━━━ ella's speaking !
let's just say that olivia is not the biggest lucius malfoy fan (and it only gets worse as the book goes on)

i hope you enjoyed! make sure to comment and vote !!

kisses.

━━━━━━━━━━ born to die,
© -LOSTGARDENS, oct 2023

word count: 2890.   written: 10.18.23.   published: 10.19.23.