BORN TO DIE    ╱    DRACO MALFOY
꒷꒦ · ˚.‧ . written by ella . . . © -lostgardens
051 ━━━━━━━ ❛ nothing happened ❜

The next morning, as she walked through the doors of the Great Hall a little later than normally, Olivia knew it was a safe bet that the interaction between she and Higgs had spread like wildfire amongst her schoolmates. She'd be stupid to think otherwise. And she was sure the words had been twisted around into a false narrative—that she was indeed obsessed with Draco, and it wasn't just speculation.

She inhaled deeply before she lifted her chin and walked along the length of the Slytherin table with her head held high. Whispers and mutters of teasing names followed her past groups of Slytherins, all eyeing her. They weren't going to get to her because they simply did not matter.

"Oh, look here, everyone. It's Malfoy's swoon bird," a random Slytherin called out as Olivia passed by him, causing the ones around him to laugh like he was the most comical person in the entirety of the world.

Olivia ignored the tease, knowing that he could've come up with something more creative than "swoon bird." What was a swoon bird anyway? She focused on her group, who were all staring at her worriedly. She knew what they were thinking. People always thought they'd get away with crossing Olivia because there was a wool-covering blanket over their eyes that made them think she'd do nothing. She'd been warned multiple times to behave herself, and she had, for the most part; maybe that was why some viewed her as weak.

Perhaps she needed to do something to change that.

As she sat down between Pansy and Theodore (who had Daphne to his right), she faced Draco, Blaise, and Lucas. Everyone focused on her while there were a few snickers from other thought-they-were-hilarious Slytherins around.

"What's going on?" Pansy asked her with furrowed brows, sounding and looking extremely concerned. She bit her lip as she nervously looked around, narrowing her eyes whenever someone was staring at her or Olivia, and then she focused back on her best friend. "Why is everyone laughing at you and calling you names?"

Names. Olivia almost wanted to laugh. They weren't just calling her names. From the whispers she was still listening too, she heard "Malfoy's swoon bird" (she still didn't know what that was), "Malfoy's lovestruck stalker," and some other titles that she did not want to even repeat in her head.

Why had the narrative been turned on her? Just a few weeks prior, they'd been in Hogsmeade Village, and Granger had called Draco Olivia's "lap dragon" and said that he followed her around like a lost little puppy and that he seemed obsessed with her. But now she was the one who was obsessed and in love with him? It made no sense. And it wasn't true.

The idea of her falling in love with him, of all people, was insane in itself. She barely knew him. Granted, yes, they'd been closely acquainted since their first year and had known one another before then, but she had despised him with her entire soul up until this year, and frankly, she was slowly returning to that.

It wasn't his fault; she knew that. Not entirely, of course. He wasn't the one who had made those accusations, and he wasn't the one calling her teasing, completely not-true names. But he was the one who had confused her, thought too much of her kindness, and ultimately made that ki... what happened in the Black Lake happen.

He'd gotten in her head and made her actually, somewhat, enjoy his presence. He had made her think of him as a friend, going against her mother's original wishes. He had apologized to Lucas without any prompting. He was always staring at her with that burning gaze that heated her skin. He made her joke around with him, and she even found him funny at times. He was entirely himself without any regret, and though he got on her last nerve, she respected that.

He boggled her mind and made her question the facts she knew for a moment.

His eyes were on her, and she ignored him. It was his fault, she concluded. Higgs may have said the words, but if she did truly look and seem like the way everyone apparently believed, then it was because of Malfoy. All because of him and his stupid, confusing, and angry-to-her-mind persona.

She focused on her empty plate, not answering Pansy's question.

"Olivia?" Pansy muttered, trying to get her attention.

There was a beat of silence, and then Olivia abruptly stood. She looked at everyone but him. "I've lost my appetite, so I am going to study before classes start," she told them, then stepped over the bench, preparing to leave. She placed the strap of her bag on her shoulder, then gave her group, skipping over him, one last look before she began walking away, still ignoring all of the whispers.

"You're always studying," Theodore called out from behind her, watching her hastily move across the stone floors of the Great Hall. There wasn't a response in return, and after another second, he faced everyone else. "What's going on with her?" he whispered, thinking she was out of earshot, but she heard him loud and clear.

She'd like to know too.

As she pushed open the double doors, she heard a loud, wet-sounding explosion behind her and gasps falling from the students lips. She glanced over her shoulder, seeing the Slytherins, who had been mocking her, covered in chunky, green substance.

It took her a moment to realize what she was looking at. Her eyes danced around the Great Hall but ultimately fell back on her housemates. A smirk slowly crossed her mouth as she bit her bottom lip as the open-mouthed and angry-eyed students looked up at her, and then she turned away and left.

Whoever had done that had a wonderful sense of humor.

≀⋆⁺₊⋆ ꗃ 𖦹⨳✺

"Shouldn't you be in class?"

Olivia turned around, facing the familiar voice. Her eyes landed on her brother, who was standing behind her with his hands in his trouser pockets. He was giving her a knowing look that she was doing everything to ignore. Shrugging her shoulders, she faced the bookshelf she stood at once again and continued searching for a book she needed.

"Why aren't you in class, Livvy?" he asked, coming to stand to the right of her.

"I could ask you the same," she countered, not meeting his eyes.

"Olivia," he sighed, giving her a knowing look.

She inhaled deeply through her nose, turning away from him with a roll of her eyes. She moved down the shelf and continued to search the books as he followed her. She knew he would let up unless she told him what was wrong with her, but she didn't know how, with it seeming like a greater deal than it was. With a shrug of her shoulders, she glanced back at him, then faced forward again and grabbed a book off the shelf. "It's nothing," she muttered, flipping through the pages of the book.

"What happened?" he inquired, quirking a brow, his hands still in his pockets.

She went silent for a long moment, trying to come up with something to say. She could tell him the truth, or she could fib; he sure had no problem doing that to her from time to time. But he would know. She was never a good liar when speaking to Lucas; he knew her too well. She had to tell him the truth. And perhaps it would do some good.

Turning around and facing her body towards him, she closed her book and let out a sigh. She didn't meet his eye. It took her a moment to speak, not wanting to confess the words. It was embarrassing and completely and utterly not anyone's business. "I kissed Draco," she whispered extra-quietly.

His features twisted in confusion, having not heard her. "What?"

She sighed dramatically, meeting his gaze. "Ik kuste Draco," she repeated in Dutch, a little louder now that she was sure no one who knew the language could be listening. She'd rather die than have anyone else know what she had said.

Lucas's eyes went a little wider as he scoffed out a laugh. She was messing with him; at least that was what he thought. There would be no way that his sister, Olivia Mallard, kissed Draco Malfoy, the boy that, up until that year, she loathed with everything in her. "You're having a go at me, aren't you?" he asked, concerned that she might be serious.

She tilted her head to the sight with a pointed look that let him know that she, in fact, was truly serious, unfortunately. "No. I am not having a go at you. Ik heb hem gekust... gisteravond... in het Zwarte Meer," she elaborated, the words almost painful to admit. It was the truth; she had kissed Draco the prior night in the Black Lake.

Lucas's face had nothing but shock on it, and Olivia couldn't blame him.

"But it meant nothing," she added. "At least, not to me."

"Then why would you do it?" he questioned her, furrowing his brows.

She looked away from him, running a hand through her hair. She didn't want to tell him. She didn't want to admit it to anyone or herself. "Because I wanted to," she muttered, wiping some dust from the shelf next to them so she didn't have to see the look on his face.

"So it meant something?" He sounded almost confused.

"No," she argued, narrowing her eyes as she met his. Wiping the dust on her robes, she moved past him, going to the open part of the library, so they no longer had the privacy to talk about it. She was done; she didn't want to speak of it anymore.

"It sounds like it meant something," Lucas said as he trailed behind her.

Before she could retort a response, someone calling her name caught her attention. She recognized that voice; it was one she did not want to hear or deal with right then. Or ever again, for that matter. Hers and Lucas's heads whipped to the left, watching as Draco walked towards them, seeming determined. A few people passing by shushed him for being too loud when he said her name. He just ignored them and continued making his way to the siblings.

There was barely any time for Olivia to think. Should she make a run for it? Should she leave Lucas alone to deal with him? Or shall she stay and endure the pain of the conversation that she was no doubt about to be in?

He came to a stop in front of her before she could make up her mind. So she just crossed her arms over her chest, her book tucked in them, and put pressure on her body to distract herself from her running-wild thoughts. "What?" She raised her brows, staring at him with a blank expression.

Draco's eyes flickered over to Lucas, non-verbally telling him to get lost.

It did not take Lucas long to get the hint, and he walked away without a word. Olivia watched his back as he moved away, and then he turned and sent her an apologetic look. She wanted to curse her brother for that, but she didn't. She just glared at him as he disappeared behind a bookshelf. And then she was left all alone with Draco. Because it went so well the last time.

"I don't have time to talk, Malfoy. I need to study," she told him, purposely calling him by his surname as she turned away. She trailed over to another book shelf, right next to where Lucas was hiding, and he followed her.

"It won't take long," he said, ignoring how she didn't call him Draco. Then he ran into her back when she came to an abrupt stop.

Slowly, she turned around and met his gaze. She drew in an irritated breath at the fact that he would not leave her be, then released it through her nose before grabbing his wrist and pulling him along with her, further behind the bookshelf.

"What do you want to talk about?" she asked when they came to a stop once more. She set her book down on a shelf and crossed her arms over her chest as she looked at him with annoyance and raised brows.

"Uh, about what happened last night," he drawled out in a quiet and confused tone, wondering why she was so upset with him.

Of course he did. "Nothing happened last night," she replied, shaking her head as she pretended like she didn't know what he was talking about. Nothing happened. Nothing happened. Nothing happened. She kept repeating that in her head until it became annoying; that way, it'd stick, and that'd be what she felt. She brushed past him, trying to end their conversation before it even started, but he reached his hand out and captured her arm in his grasp.

He turned her around to face him, giving her a confused look. "Of course something happened," he countered, furrowing his brows and taking a step closer. "You kiss—"

She snatched her arm out of his hold and gave him a look of anger. "Nothing happened. And even if it did, it meant nothing, Malfoy," she told him, gritting through her teeth. It meant nothing. It meant nothing. It meant nothing. That was what she would continue to tell herself. Nothing happened. Nothing happened. Nothing happened.

His eyes flickered, going from confused to cold, clearly upset by her words, and she watched it happen. He was trying to keep a brave face. And something pegged at her stomach with the realization, but she was also keeping a brave face.

"Right," he said after a moment. Inhaling deeply, he took a step back from her. "Nothing happened, and that 'nothing' didn't mean anything." His eyes trailed over as he placed his hands in his trouser pockets. "See you around, Mallard." That was the last thing he said before he moved past her, slightly knocking her shoulder with his in the process, and presumably left the library.

She stood there in her own silence before she heard footsteps coming up behind her. When she turned, her gaze fell onto her brother, who was staring at her with a hint of concern gleaming in his eyes. He took small steps forward, cautious that she might be angry. "Gaat het goed met je, Livvy?" he inquired quietly, stopping in front of her.

"I'm fine," she replied, grabbing her books off the shelf and walking away.

Nothing happened.

For the rest of the day, that was what she told herself, even after sitting through the rest of her classes, going to lunch, and sitting with her group, where Dra—Malfoy didn't even acknowledge her once. And again, later that day, when she sat in the common room with them and when she went to dinner, neither time was she even glanced at.

But that night, when she was tucked away in her bed, all that was on her mind was him and how stupidly messed up everything was. Something did happen. She had kissed him. She knew those things, but what she wasn't sure of was whether the way she said it meant nothing was the truth. It should've been a clear-cut answer, but it wasn't.

And that frightened her.

≀⋆⁺₊⋆ ꗃ 𖦹⨳✺

━━━━ ella's speaking !
this is such a major filler chapter oml, but i needed to show olivia and draco no longer getting along so that the next few chapters will make sense yk?

i hope you enjoyed nonetheless!!

kisses.

━━━━━━━━━━ born to die,
© -LOSTGARDENS, jan 2024

word count: 2580. written: 1.7.24. published: 1.10.24.