BORN TO DIE    ╱    DRACO MALFOY
꒷꒦ · ˚.‧ . written by ella . . . © -lostgardens
049 ━━━━━━━ ❛ weekly meetings ❜

The autumn month was slowly coming to an end. Olivia sat in the common room with her friends in front of the burning, bright fireplace. The crackling sound of the flames and wood wasn't a match for the chatter of students all around the common room, including Olivia and the others. The green-eyed girl sat bundled with a blanket in between Pansy and Draco. Blaise, Theodore, and Lucas were opposite them, resting on the other couch, while Daphne sat in a chair off to the side.

The boys, save for Draco, were rambling on and on about... well, whatever it was that they rambled on and on about. Daphne had a book in her hands, and Olivia sat in the middle of Draco and Pansy bickering—the girl kept picking fun at the boy, giving him "tips" on how he could improve and stop being a whiny little ars—

The door of the common room opened and closed, cutting through their chatter. Olivia looked up, her eyes going over to the door, and she saw Astoria approaching them with a little skip in her steps. The girl had a small, almost sheepish smile on her face when she stopped in front of them. Daphne glanced up from her book and offered her sister a warm smile in return, and everyone's eyes fell on Astoria.

The younger girl's gaze flickered between all of them, still with a smile on her face, but she focused in on Draco. She took a step forward, a small blush falling on her cheeks. She messed with a piece of parchment in her hands while her eyes strayed from the boy's for a second. "Hi, Draco," she greeted the boy in a shy and sweet tone that sounded too close to her sister's when addressing the same boy for Olivia's liking.

Everyone turned to the blonde boy, giving him knowing looks. Olivia's gaze slightly narrowed as she studied him. He seemed clueless as to why his friends were stifling laughs and why Olivia was giving him a curious look, completely missing how Astoria spoke and looked at him. His eyes found Olivia's, and he returned the expression she was giving him.

Olivia shook her head with a very small, barely-there hint of disappointment at the boy's cluelessness. Then she faced the standing girl, whose eyes were lingering on Draco, who was not quite paying her that much attention. His eyes were glued to the side of Olivia's face.

Astoria seemed to realize how long she was staring and snapped out of her trance, clearing her throat while looking down to the floor. She brushed her shoe across the floor, kicking around invisible rocks. "Uhm, Olivia," she muttered. Her voice was barely above a whisper, but Olivia heard it loud and clear.

"Yes?" Olivia raised her brows, watching the girl raise her head.

Astoria shifted on her feet, going from one shiny Mary-Jane shoe to the next. She seemed nervous, and the reason was unknown to Olivia. The young girl played with the parchment in her hands, studying it for a moment before she met the eyes of the girl, which made her even more nervous. She took a step forward, lifting her note-holding hand. "Professor Snape told me to give this to you," she admitted, not seeming to be able to fully focus on the girl she spoke to. "And he, uhm... He said that he wanted you to go to his classroom as soon as possible."

Olivia's brows knitted together as she looked at the unopened note. What could Snape possibly need from her? She took the parchment from Astoria's hand and began to unfold it. That was when she felt a shift in the couch as Draco lean forward a bit.

Turning her head, Olivia saw him looking over her shoulder, no doubt trying to get a peek at whatever the professor had to write. She raised her brows as he looked at her, and he backed away with a slightly annoyed expression. She faced forward again while everyone watched her.

Sitting there for a moment longer, the note still folded closed, she let out a breath and stood from her seat. She unfolded the note, keeping it close to herself, not wanting Draco's (or anyone else's) eyes to accidentally catch sight of what was written. She didn't even know what it said. Her gaze fell on the parchment, and Snape's neat handwriting caught her eye.

I need to speak with you. You have some
explaining to do. Come to my classroom now.

Olivia wondered what she did to warrant such a demand. She had been so careful with her scheming. Every single thing she'd ever done to date crossed her mind, trying to conclude which one was getting her in trouble. Any of them could've been the culprit. So she decided that she'd just play dumb when she met with the professor. That was her best option.

Folding the parchment back, she pocketed it. "I have to go," she said, taking a step forward. Her eyes connected with those of Astoria, who still stood beside Daphne's chair and in front of Olivia.

A frightened look shone on the girl's face, and she just stared at Olivia with wide eyes, swallowing the lump in her throat. Inhaling deeply, she took a large step back and glanced around at the others, focusing on Daphne, who gave her a sympathetic look, for a moment longer than the rest. Then she rushed away without saying another word, leaving everyone in silence beside the faint conversations that fell from others' lips around the common room.

"I get the feeling she's scared of you, Olivia," Theodore laughed, leaning back in his seat.

Daphne rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on, leave her alone, Theo. She's just shy," she defended, adjusting how she sat in her chair. She lifted her book and placed it back on her legs when she was done moving. "And... well, she looks up to you, Olivia." Her eyes found the ones of the girl she spoke to.

Olivia couldn't even say anything before Theodore did. "I was just messing around, Daph. And besides, most people are scared of Olivia, so it's not as if this is a ground-breaking conclusion," he retorted with a carefree tone.

Daphne just sighed.

"Most?" Olivia asked with raised brows, glancing back at the boy.

Theodore sheepishly smiled. "Did I say most? I meant all."

Olivia snorted with a roll of her eyes and walked away, her curiosity about what the professor could need still on her mind as she exited the room.

When she reached the classroom after walking the length of the corridor (she was glad that Snape's classroom was in the dungeons), she knocked on the door, hearing Snape's monotone drawl say "Come in" from the other side of the thick and wooden door. She pushed open the door, and her eyes immediately landed on the man who sat at his desk, presumably marking the students' work.

He looked up after a moment, only to see Olivia standing at the door. "Astoria Greengrass gave me your note and told me that you needed to see me," she explained without him even asking as she took a few steps into the classroom and closed the door behind her.

Olivia could've sworn she saw confusion fall on his usual blank and expressionless face. But perhaps she was seeing things—that happened sometimes. Or at least she thought it did. She was still a little unsure of that conclusion.

"I do not need to see you. And I gave no such note to anyone," he admitted, setting his quill down. His hands folded together in front of him on his desk, and he studied her, watching the confusion cross her features. He thought for a moment and then let out a breath. "But I am glad you're here," he added before she could even utter a word in response to what she just learned.

She'd just have to save her questions for later.

"Come, take a seat," the man instructed, gesturing in front of him. A chair moved its way from behind a table and over to the front side of the desk, opposite him. She did as he said and moved forward, pulling out the seat and sitting down. "I've been thinking..." He paused, perhaps going over his next words in his head. "I'd like to have weekly meetings, just the two of us, to discuss everything going on, no matter what it is."

Olivia's eyebrows nearly shot up to her hairline. The man seemed to be sincere, but then again, it could just be a ploy to get her to spill her guts so that he can report all of her plans to her parents. "Why?" she inquired with suspicion, narrowing her eyes.

"Because, Olivia, as much as you don't think it true, I do... care"—he seemed to struggle saying the word, like it was an offense or burned his tongue—"about what happens to you." He inhaled, picking his quill back up so he did not have to face her after his admission. "I would like to see you successful in your life."

"Did my mother put you up to this?" It was the only explanation. There was no bloody way that Snape, of all people, cared about what happened to her and wanted to see her successful in life. It was not possible.

"No, Clodagh has nothing to do with this." He paused for a moment, and Olivia opened her mouth to speak. "Nor your father," he added before she could even ask. He knew her too well; it was irritating.

"Okay, then why?" she repeated, still not believing his first answer fully.

He let out a breath and gave her a pointed look. "Because I know that you're hiding things from everyone. I don't know what they are or why you feel the need to keep them secret. But I want you to know that you aren't alone," he explained. That was a better answer, more believable. "You need to learn to trust others more, and these meetings may help."

"That's rich coming from you, professor," she countered, scoffing. "You say that I need to trust people more? You're one of the most untrusting people I know." She held up a hand before he could speak. "And don't try to deny it. I see the looks you give... and I heard your conversation with Dumbledore the night that Sirius Black was thought to be in the castle."

He didn't reply; he just stared at her with narrowing eyes.

She inhaled a breath and stared back. He was trying to get her to break—to agree to his "weekly meetings." And she was thinking about doing it. He wouldn't be terrible to plot with, though Olivia wasn't sure that's what he meant. Still, it wouldn't be so bad. But there was still the nagging thought running through her mind, yelling that he'd tell everything to her parents.

He did say that she needed to trust more.

"Fine," she gritted.

≀⋆⁺₊⋆ ꗃ 𖦹⨳✺

Pushing open the door of the common room, Olivia's eyes danced around. She and Snape had talked for a moment longer before he let her go. The weekly meetings were now going to be a thing, and she wasn't sure how she felt about it. A time to tell all of her secrets and plans wasn't something she wished for or wanted. But then again, it would be relieving on her mind.

She could always journal her thoughts. There was a journal lying right under the floorboards of her room—the one that Theodore had gifted her in her first year. She'd never used it or even touched it aside from when she received it and placed it beneath the floor, so it was completely blank, ready to hold her deepest, darkest secrets like Theodore had meant it.

But perhaps that was too risky.

As much as she hated to admit it, Snape's weekly meetings were the safer option.

Her eyes fell on the couches where her friends had been sitting when she left, but they were no longer there; the seats were now occupied by other Slytherins who talked amongst themselves. Forgetting those housemates, she turned to find familiar faces. Well, they were all familiar, but she was looking for someone to talk to. Then her eyes landed on the perfect target.

"Where are they?" she asked as she came to a stop at one of the round tables.

It didn't take a genius to figure out who she was talking about, but with the group of boys that sat at the table, she wasn't sure there was a genius amongst them.

Adrian Pucey, Terence Higgs, and three other boys, whom she'd forgotten the names of since she didn't care to remember, all looked up at her, pausing their conversation with each other to focus solely on her. Higgs leaned back in his seat, his eyes wandering over her, which put a sour taste in Olivia's mouth. But he didn't speak.

Pucey, realizing who was standing before him, looked away from her. "Upstairs. In your room, I suppose," he said curtly.

He seemed to still be afraid of her after what happened two years prior. Olivia loved it.

"Yeah, and you could go running to them," Higgs began, giving her—what she supposed he believed was—a charming smile. "Or you could stay down here with me."

Olivia's face twisted in disgust as she focused on him, but she quickly wiped it away.

"Mate, just leave her be," Adrian told him, sighing.

Olivia and Higgs both ignored the trying-to-keep-peace boy. "Why would I do that?" Olivia inquired with a curious tone and raised her brows. She knew exactly why he wanted her to do that.

"I feel as if we'd enjoy our time together," Higgs admitted with smugness.

She only liked that smug quality in certain boys. Three particular boys. This boy just looked ridiculous with his arrogance and sly smirk. He looked pathetic. "See, I don't think so," she countered, crossing her arms over her chest and taking a step closer.

His smirk only deepened. "Why is that?" He seemed so confident, like he'd be able to change her mind.

It was Olivia's turn to smirk as she breathed out a laugh. She took another step forward, coming closer to the boy than he perhaps thought she would. Then she leaned down, placing both her hands on the arms of his chair, boxing him in. His expression faltered slightly, but he kept a good demeanor for the most part.

She could feel the eyes of his friends staring at them, perhaps amused. "Because you couldn't handle me, even if you tried," she whispered, bringing her face a little closer to his.

His face went blank, and his eyes flickered.

She felt delight overcome her body. Her smirk grew bigger, and she stood up straight, stepping back from him. She gave him a once-over and then began walking away. His friends snickered but quickly went silent, and she was sure that Higgs sent them a warning look.

"That's right," he called out. She planned to ignore him and just continue walking to the stairs, but then he spoke again. "I forgot. You're more into blondes." He sounded amused with himself, his words coming out mockingly.

She stopped in her tracks. Slowly, she turned around to face him once more, her eyes not-telling and slightly angered. No blondes that she was "more into" came to mind, so she was curious about what he meant with his words. Who was he referring to? Because she thought of no one.

She gave him a bored look, crossing her arms over her chest. "What are you on about?"

His smirk was back. She hated him. "Oh, come on," he scoffed, like the answer was obvious. The common room had gone silent now that the conversation was no longer just between them at the round table. Eyes were trained on them, all interested in whatever was going on between the two. "Everyone sees how you look at Malfoy."

Malfoy? Meaning... Draco?

Olivia let out a disbelieving laugh. She was the only one who found that funny, apparently, because everyone else remained tight-lipped beside the few whispers that traveled in the air. "And how do I look at him, may I ask?" Her mocking tone was saving her from revealing the annoyance she felt.

"Like you're obsessed with him." He paused with a half-shrug, letting the words sink in. "In love," he sang to the exaggerated, not-true-in-the-slightest point. "However you'd like to put it." He leaned even further back in his seat. He was so arrogant, it was disgusting. "Oh, and when other girls are around him, like Greengrass or Parkinson, you look like you want to murder them." He ignored the warning look Pucey was giving him. "Aren't they supposed to be your best mates?"

"You're barking," Olivia retorted.

She did nothing of the sort. She only looked like she wanted to murder Daphne because she sometimes did, and that reason had nothing to do with Draco. His words disgusted her greatly. It was beyond absurd for him or anyone else to think anything such as that. Draco was well... Draco. He was just Draco. Nothing more, nothing less. A barely-even mate.

"Denial is always the first step." Higgs shrugged.

Olivia rolled her eyes. "Whatever," she gritted, turning around. She made haste to the stairs, trying not to show how that boy's words got to her. What was she thinking!? They didn't. His words meant nothing.

Nothing at all.

When she reached the door of her room, she could hear voices coming from inside. She inhaled deeply, trying to calm herself. The boy she had been accused of being obsessed with was in there. It wasn't true, but she knew the conversation would make its way throughout Hogwarts in no time.

In fact, her housemates were probably rushing to whisper what happened to their friends or anyone who would take a second to listen. Meaning, Draco would find out sooner rather than later, and if she went off the other gossip she'd heard over the last few years, then she was doomed for a twisted story being spread. She swore that the students at Hogwarts were worse than Rita Skeeter with their storytelling. And soon enough, she would even have the ghost whispering about her.

Then the worst thought hit her.

Draco might think that she actually liked him. That was how the story could be twisted—that Higgs was just stating facts, and she didn't deny them. She shuddered at the thought. She should've denied his words. That boy's stupid, idiotic, meaningless words. Because they weren't true.

They weren't.

Taking in and letting out another breath, Olivia tried to clear her mind as best as she could before she twisted the knob of the door and pushed it open. Her eyes caught on her group, who all stopped what they were doing and looked at her.

Blaise and Pansy were sitting on Pansy's bed. Theodore and Lucas sat on opposite ends of Olivia's bed. And Draco and Daphne sat on Daphne's bed, a little closer than Olivia believed they should've been. Since, well, since Daphne said she was over Draco, of course.

When Draco realized who was standing in the doorway, he practically jumped up from Daphne's bed and made his way over to her. She turned away from him before her eyes could be perceived as lingering too long, now hyper-aware of anything and everything she did around him. She closed the door, then tried to brush past him without meeting his eyes, but he stepped in her path.

"What did Snape want?" he asked curiously.

Letting out a breath through her nose, she didn't look at him. She took a moment to think about her and the professor's conversation.

Snape had not told Astoria to give her the note.

With all that had been on her mind in the past, however many minutes, she had completely forgotten about that. She wondered who really gave the younger girl the note. The list wasn't too long, and there was a certain person that would always be a person of interest to Olivia. And that person just happened to be the note-giving girl's older sister.

Olivia looked up, her eyes darting to Daphne, who was paying extra close attention to them, and then she found Draco's cloudy eyes.  "He just wanted to talk about an assignment," she lied, not planning on divulging her suspicions. If she told him that Astoria had lied about who gave her the note, then he'd ask too many questions.

She looked away after a second. He did not need to be getting any ideas, so she couldn't let her eyes linger too long. With the thought in mind (it being all she could seem to think about), she sidestepped him and made her way to her bookshelf. Everyone just followed her with their eyes, not seeming to have anything to add. She was fine with that; she wasn't in the right mood for random conversations at the moment.

Plucking a book from her shelves, not really caring which one she got, she sighed. When she turned around, she came face-to-face with Draco. He was looking at her with a look she didn't like. He was studying her. She took a step back, preparing to move past him again. But before she could, he took the book from her hands. He began glancing over the cover, then opened it and read a bit of the pages. Olivia gave him a knowing look, despite him not being focused on her. "That's by a muggle author, you know," she told him.

His gaze found her's, disgust taking over his pupils and face. He handed the book back to her, holding it like it was going to give him a disease. A small smirk lined her lips, and she took the book from him, then slid past him, making her way to the door.

"Where are you going?" Pansy and Lucas asked in unison.

Olivia stopped in her tracks and faced them. "I'm going to study," she replied.

"You're always studying," Theodore chimed in.

Ignoring his words, Olivia turned to the door again and reached for the knob. But before she could turn it and leave, a thought crossed her mind. Sometimes she really hated her thoughts. She always had to go through with them; she couldn't help it. So, putting on a brave face (a smirk fell on her lips), she slowly spun on her heels.

She could see the worried looks on the group's faces. They knew the expression on her face all too well. "I'm in the mood for swimming," she admitted, taking a couple of steps further into the room. "Tonight, after curfew, we should go to the Black Lake. I think it'd be fun."

"But we could get caught," Daphne muttered, sounding unsure.

Draco took a step forward with a smile on his face. "I think that's a great idea."

≀⋆⁺₊⋆ ꗃ 𖦹⨳✺

━━━━ ella's speaking !
ah yes, some more scheming is in the works 🤭

trust me when i say olivia has not forgotten her original to-do list that i made in act two; just because i don't write something, doesn't mean it doesn't happen!!

adding to that, this book is almost completely planned (only six chapters left to plan) so everything will come full-circle in the end, i promise

make sure to comment and vote 🕺🏻

kisses.

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

word count: 3857. written: 12.20.23. published: 12.23.23.