CHAPTER FOUR
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i. ugly sweaters & slytherin scarves !

— MORNINGS AT HOGWARTS WERE OFTEN SLEEPY YET ENCHANTING. Even after four years, Taron could never get used to stepping into the great hall, groggy from the excitement of whatever happened the night before.

Taron had tugged on one of his handmade Weasley sweaters- which was an absolute ghastly colour combination of salmon pink and periwinkle blue. It was bright and gaudy, and Taron loved it.

Once the four students that had spent the night in Taron and Cedric's dorm had gotten ready (Eli decidedly stealing a pair of Taron's pants) they made their way down to the great hall where food had already been set around the tables.

To be polite, Taron walked with the group towards the Hufflepuff table- not intending to stay- but not wanting to cut off Eli, who was talking about her paintings.

"—and I swear I thought I saw the damn thing move- I mean- how is that possible? I've never attempted live paintings before, I don't even know the enchantments-" She continued talking, mostly with her hands as she made gestures to emphasize her point.

As everyone sat around the table, Taron stole a bite of Cedric's toast and let Eli finish her long rant- which had started when they left the Hufflepuff common room.

"Are you off then?" Cedric asked Taron, nodding at Eli to show that he had been listening to her.

"I believe so," Taron glances toward the other side of the hall, where a bored looking blond sat, head in his hand.

Draco Malfoy's gaze lifted towards the Hufflepuff boy, and the corner of his lips lifted slightly as he stood from his seat.

"Yeah." Taron confirmed, turning back to the group and saying a polite hello to Neville as he sat next to Eli. "Are they handing out schedules this morning?"

"Tomorrow morning, I believe." Reign replied, bringing some eggs over onto her plate.

"Perfect, I'll see you all later." Taron waved absentmindedly, searching for Draco who was now missing from the Slytherin table.

Catching a glimpse of some shiny, dressy black shoes exiting the great hall, Taron grinned and rushed to follow the boy wearing those shoes.

Maybe he rushed a little too fast.

As the brown eyed Hufflepuff turned the corner, he ran directly into the steel blue eyed Slytherin- who had evidently been waiting patiently for him just outside the door.

Going down in a heap of elbows and knees, they hit the corridor floor, both emitting loud grunts as they went.

"Lovenus, still clumsy as ever I see." Draco teased, though the phrase was less mocking and more endearing.

"Only for you, Malfoy." Taron winked, before dissolving in laughter.

Draco chuckled lightly- an occurrence he found himself doing less and less these days, "I know that was a joke, but there's far too much truth to it. I can barely count the amount of times you've run into me- and the amount of perfectly good pants you've ruined."

"I only got grass stains on the one pair- and it was your fault for wearing white pants on a walk around the quidditch pitch." Taron laughed.

"You tackled me to the ground as soon as you saw me and then tried to suffocate me."

"Correction- I hugged you."

"No comeback for the tackle thing, I see."

Taron tilted his head with a crooked, boyish smile, "Okay that, I did do."

Draco returned the smile before realizing they were still sprawled on the floor, "We should get up before that ghastly thing gets filthy." He muttered, referring to the ugly coloured sweater Taron was wearing.

"Hey!" Taron protested, still grabbing Draco's hand as they pulled each other up. "Molly made it for me." He pouted.

"Is Molly blind?" Draco laughed.

Taron paused, tilting his head back and forth with a grimace and holding up two fingers close together, indicating that Molly Weasley was, in fact, the slightest bit blind.

"That's besides the point though, I quite like this sweater." Taron huffed.

Draco smirked, "Are you blind?"

Taron just pushed Draco playfully, both boys laughing as they fell into step shoulder to shoulder, their heels echoing along the empty corridor.

"How was your summer?" Taron asked.

Draco sighed, "Boring. Yours?"

"It was alright." Taron smiled apologetically. "Relatively uneventful, if you don't count Eli hitting a flock of pigeons with a quaffle and then somehow managing to get them to attack Cedric instead of her."

"That girl shouldn't be allowed near quidditch supplies." Draco laughed before pausing, tilting his head slightly, "Or birds."

"Yeah," Taron chuckled, "Try telling her that."

For fear of the conversation falling silent, the Hufflepuff continued, "Eden also got a pet spider."

Draco made a face, to which Taron laughed, "Yeah, I know. It's disgusting. You should see the way the beady eyed little devil looks at me- you'd think I was it's next meal."

"You probably will be." Draco laughed unhelpfully.

Their polished heeled shoes clicked in sync against the cobblestones and a cold air pushed against their faces as they reached the courtyard, where few students sat reading or chatting.

While both Taron and Draco came from wealthy families, their shoes seemed to be the only way you could tell that at a glance. Taron found the shoes comfortable, and he always dressed for comfort. Draco, on the other hand, dressed for sophisticated trends, and more often than not his 'casual wear' was a complete suit and tie.

The blond looked overdressed next to Taron's homely knitted sweater and worn pants.

"I saw you at the Quidditch World Cup." Taron stated matter of factly.

"You were there?" Draco's storm blue-grey eyes widened slightly, a hint of terror on his pale face.

"Yeah, Amos and Cedric invited me along- I was a few seats away from the Weasleys." Taron shrugged.

"You didn't get hurt or anything, right?" Draco rushed, stepping in front of Taron and looking the boy over. All he noticed was the Hufflepuff's uneven grin and slight shiver in his shoulders.

Of course, he was always cold.

"We made it out fine, Amos disapparated us as soon as we saw the death eaters." Taron assured.

Draco nodded quietly, his heart heavy with guilt. He hesitated for a moment before deciding to tug off his dark green and silver Slytherin scarf, carefully wrapping it around Taron's neck with a certain gentleness Draco often found in himself when he was around the boy.

"Thanks." Taron grinned.

Draco flushed, waving him off with an 's alright' and resuming his place next to him.

A steady silence fell between the boys as they listened to the quiet chatter of nearby students, and the click of their polished heels against the stone as they paced the courtyard.

On any other day, they'd have gone somewhere more private. Somewhere Draco was allowed to be soft spoken and kind. More like himself.

Being a Malfoy came with its own set of expectations, and the expectation was that Draco remained sharp tongued, quick witted and sly. It pained Taron to see him like that, knowing Lucius Malfoy's influence was a chilling pressure that Draco just couldn't shake.

Today, however, they decided to stick close to the castle- knowing they had to be back by lunch, so Draco couldn't let as loose as he normally would.

The conversation continued to flow between light hearted chatter and comfortable silence, until another voice joined them- airy and dreamlike in nature.

"Hello Taron." Luna Lovegood stepped up next to the boys, wearing a pretty blue sweater and a dazzling smile.

"Luna!" Taron greeted, throwing an arm over the girl's shoulder and leaning his cheek against her head affectionately, "How are you? Did you settle in alright?"

"Mhmm." Luna nodded, picking gently at her nails, "Though, I seem to have lost my scarf, and those lovely purple shoes you gave me last year... I suspect the nargles are at fault."

Draco glanced incredulously at Taron, who glared in response, a clear sign for the Slytherin to keep his opinions to himself, knowing that not many people would willingly go along with Luna's unorthodox beliefs.

"Seems likely," Taron agreed, rubbing Luna's shoulder in a small act of support. "Do you think they'll give them back?"

"Likely not." She sighed, "But perhaps I'll find them somewhere."

Taron bit his cheek slightly, knowing that his dear friend's belongings had likely been stolen yet again- not by 'nargles', but by her own dormmates. It wouldn't be the first time, and he highly doubted it would be the last, despite how heated himself, Cedric, and Eli had gotten the last time Eli had caught the wretched thieves.

There were some things, unfortunately, that they just couldn't protect Luna from, no matter how hard they tried.

"We'll keep an eye out for them," Taron stated, pulling Luna's hand into his own, placing a friendly, affectionate kiss to the back, "Right, Draco?"

Draco furrowed his eyebrows, intending to argue if only to keep his image intact.

Then, he reminded himself, this was Taron. 

'Taron', as a word, meant many things to Draco. It meant a certain level of safety, and comfort. It meant warm smiles, kind phrases, and bone-crushing hugs.

It meant happiness, and as Draco observed the sad, sympathetic look in Taron's eyes when he hugged his dear, oblivious friend closer, he couldn't be bothered to care about his social standing.

"Yeah, of course." He muttered, allowing the tiniest hint of a smile to tug at his lips when Taron perked up at his sentence with a familiar cheerfulness, "I'll check the dungeons for you."

— LUNCH COULDN'T HAVE COME AT A BETTER TIME. Just as Taron's stomach began its incessant reminder that he hadn't had a decent breakfast, the clock tower chimed its happy tune. At least, it was a joyous sound to Taron- up until the exact moment it became the worst sound he'd ever heard.

"Can we not just grab something from the kitchens? I'm starving!" Taron groaned, trailing after Eli and Reign as they guided him across the courtyard.

"And who's fault is that?" Eli asked, unfazed by his discomfort.

Taron huffed, glancing over Luna's messy blond hair at a distant huddle of green and silver robes, feeling remorse for the way Eli had earlier dismissed Draco from their group, wishing she'd see the Slytherin the way he did, even for a moment.

"Maybe we can get something after everyone arrives?" Neville offered quietly, wringing his hands and observing the developing crowd as he nervously moved closer to Taron to avoid bumping into anyone, as he so often did.

"Or he could just wait till dinner." Eliza pointed out, wrapping an arm around Reign's shoulder, slowing them both down in order for the others to catch up.

Neville gave Taron a sheepish sort of smile, his shoulders tensing further into a compliant shrug.

Taron sighed, "Where's Cedric, anyway? Didn't he wanna see this too?"

"Funny you should say that," Reign laughed as she caught a glimpse of Cedric's figure in the distant cluster of students who were waiting for the predicted 'guests' to arrive.

"Oh, that bastard." Eli muttered. "Well, Taron, you can quit your bloody whining."

Taron craned his neck over the heads of the women before him, seeing Cedric moving swiftly towards them, a brown paper bag gathered in his hands.

"You couldn't let the idiot learn his lesson." Eli voiced as Cedric met them halfway.

"Hey, you show your father some damn respect." Cedric laughed, tossing the bag to Taron, who caught it with ease.

"What's this?" He asked.

"Turkey, swiss, mayo, and more turkey between two slices of bread, now eat up and stop complaining." Cedric grinned, falling back to walk next to Luna, resting an arm gently on her shoulder.

"I wasn't complaining." Taron lied.

"Yeah, you were." Cedric retaliated, "It doesn't matter, just hurry up; they're arriving soon."

Taron decidedly stopped talking and gratefully tore into the paper bag, biting into what was arguably one of his favourite sandwich combinations.

The sky was a misty turquoise, perfectly complementing the deep blue sea that their cobbled courtyard overlooked.

As he leaned against the stone railing, a certain chill crawled up Taron's spine when a bitter wind tucked itself into his knit sweater, reminding him of the Slytherin scarf that had been so kindly placed around his neck.

He had intended to give it back, of course, but just as it always went with Taron, he would likely be hanging the cozy article in his closet by the end of the night, no matter how pure his intentions were.

"Look, Taron!" Luna tugged on his sleeve and pointed into the mist, drawing his attention to a speck of darkness on the horizon, which slowly revealed itself to be a carriage pulled by winged horses.

Taron's awe quickly turned to concern as he followed the carriage's path to the makeshift runway, choosing to speak up once he'd finished another bite of his sandwich.

"Watch it, Hagrid!" He shouted over the cheering crowd, watching the half-giant dive out of the way of the remissful horses.

"You reckon that's everyone?" Cedric asked, pushing closer to the group to look over their heads.

Reign gestured towards the dark, rolling waves, "Few more on that boat, probably."

Before the soft-spoken hufflepuff had even finished her sentence, the 'boat' began to rise from the icy depths, revealing a magnificent ship that had been hidden beneath the water.

Taron beamed at the dramatic show of powerful enchantments from both visitors, and as he took another bite of his sandwich, he settled into the idea that this year, like every year, was going to be quite an unpredictable journey.

author's note

i promised a mass update for when a certain Thankmas fundraising goal was met and you guys absolutely crushed it! thank you so much to everyone donating, sharing, and supporting— remember we're gonna be fundraising all throughout December so keep up this incredible energy up and more incentives such as this are coming your way!

also please cut me a little tiny bit of slack if the chapter isn't great, I decided a week before the Thankmas launch that I would update every one of my stories so that was 6 total chapter in 7 days with a lot of extremely late nights 😓 I did my best though I really hope you enjoyed! I love you all, thank you for reading 💕