BORN TO DIE    ╱    DRACO MALFOY
꒷꒦ · ˚.‧ . written by ella . . . © -lostgardens
025 ━━━━━━ ❛ silence or apologize ❜

A few more days had come and gone, and Olivia hadn't talked to Malfoy at all.

This was her way of getting him to be civil with Granger—and any Muggle-borns or people he deemed lesser than him. Her strategy was simply to ignore him. That was all it took to drive him mad, though he was doing his best to deny it by ignoring her too.

Pansy was losing her mind with stress. Two of her friends ignoring each other was going to make her go gray before she even reached the age of thirteen. That was why, when they were sitting in the common room—Olivia was reading, ignoring how Malfoy was staring at her, and the others were just watching them, wondering which one was going to crack first—she asked, "When is this little game going to be over? I don't think I can handle it anymore!" Her voice sounded particularly stressed.

"Yeah. What happened between you two?" Daphne asked, rubbing a calming hand on Pansy's shoulder.

"Nothing happened between us, per se," Olivia answered, not looking up from her book as she flipped the page. "Malfoy just..."

Draco spoke before she could finish. "Mallard," he said with a bit of disdain, "is mad that I called Potter's golden girl a Mudblood." He rolled his eyes, sitting up in his seat. "It's honestly pathetic how upset she got. I was just calling the girl what she is: a Mudblood." He leaned forward in his seat, resting his elbows on his knees. "And now she's not talking to me," he scoffed.

"Draco," Daphne scowled like a mother would her child.

"What?" he asked, raising his hands.

"Lucas, tell Malfoy that if he wants me to speak to him again, all he has to do is apologize," Olivia explained, looking at her brother. Lucas looked hesitant to repeat the words since he knew Malfoy had heard them. But when Olivia gave him a pointed look, he opened his mouth to speak.

Malfoy raised his hand, stopping Lucas from speaking. "I heard." He sent a glare in Olivia's direction. She wasn't looking at him but at her book instead, once again pretending as if he didn't exist. After another moment of tense silence, he said, "Fine, I'm sorry." He paused, taking a breath. "There, are you happy?"

Olivia chuckled, closing her book and throwing a look up at the ceiling. "Lucas, will you tell Malfoy that I didn't mean for him to apologize to me; I want him to apologize to Granger?" She elaborated, her eyes fixing on Malfoy's gray ones.

"You've got to be bloody mental if you think I'm apologizing to Granger!" The blonde boy shot up from his seat.

"Then you've got to be bloody mental to think I'm going to talk to you again, besides this moment!" Olivia replied in the same tone, standing up from her seat as well. He looked at her with furrowed brows, breathing deeply. And with one last look, she walked away, going to the library.

≀⋆⁺₊⋆ ꗃ 𖦹⨳✺

Another few days had come and gone. Olivia had still yet to speak to Malfoy, and he continued on with the little game they were playing as well. She acted as if the game didn't matter to her, which it didn't, of course. But she knew it was still driving Malfoy mad, which gave her all the more motivation to continue.

She sat in the library alone, studying just as she always did. The table she sat at was littered with books and pieces of parchment—her current assignments—as she flipped through an old, slightly dusty book in search of what she needed. She was glad for some quiet, and what better place to get it than the library?

Her friends had distanced themselves from her and Malfoy. They were stressed about the battle going on. She didn't blame them, but she had a feeling it'd be over soon, so she didn't fret about it.

As she continued to flip through the pages, still not finding what she needed, she could sense someone approaching her. That all-too-familiar shiver went down her spine as that gaze fell upon her. She didn't dare look up, not wanting him to know that she knew he was there.

"Olivia." Malfoy's voice came out in a whisper. He stood in front of her on the opposite side of the table, looking down at the top of her head. "Olivia," he repeated when she didn't look up. Still, she didn't reply. He let out a sigh. "I'll..." His voice fell short, as if he were struggling with what he was about to say. "I'll," he began, pausing to take a deep breath. "I'll apologize to Granger."

Finally, Olivia looked up. Her eyes were full of surprise. She knew he'd break eventually, but she didn't think it'd be so far before he'd agree to apologize. She studied his face, seeing his disdain for his words, but it was the pleading look in his eyes that made her know that he was desperate for her to talk to him.

Slowly, she stood, her eyes never leaving his. "Really?" she asked, raising her brows. She was quite proud of herself in that moment.

"Yes," he replied, letting out a breath.

"Alright." She nodded and began to gather things.

≀⋆⁺₊⋆ ꗃ 𖦹⨳✺

Later that night, the group sat in the Great Hall for dinner. Olivia looked up from her plate at Malfoy, who sat across from her, chatting away with Theodore. "Malfoy," she said, catching his attention. He looked over at her with questioning eyes, and she nodded toward the Golden Trio. "You said you'd do something," she reminded herself, getting confused looks from her friends.

"Do I really have to do it now?" he asked, obviously not wanting to do it.

"Yes," she replied.

He released a breath, closing his eyes for a moment of thought. When he peeled them back open, his gray hues falling on her green ones, he softly nodded. "Fine." He stood up from his seat, and she followed, standing from her own seat.

Their friends watched them curiously as they made their way to the end of the table, meeting before they continued on over to the Gryffindor table. And they weren't the only ones who were looking at them oddly. Students they passed—mostly Gryffindors—looked at Malfoy and Olivia as if the two were about to shoot curses at them.

They ignored the looks and came to a stop behind Granger. Weasley and Potter quickly looked up, eyes slightly wide, most likely wondering why the two most hated Slytherins were standing behind the girl. "Watch out," Weasley muttered to the girl sitting across from him, nodding to the Slytherins.

Olivia cleared her throat, ignoring Potter and Weasley, and Granger quickly turned around. Olivia looked down at the girl, whose brown eyes were wide.

"Can I help you?" Granger asked, narrowing her eyes. She was putting up a strong front, but Olivia could tell she was nervous by their presence, especially with the way she kept glancing at Malfoy, who had an annoyed look plastered on his face.

"We don't need your help, Granger," Olivia began. She looked over at Malfoy. "Malfoy, here, has something he would like to say to you," she explained, sending the boy next to her a knowing smile. "Don't you?"

Malfoy rolled his eyes, letting out an aggravated breath. "I'm sorry I called you a Mudblood," he muttered under his breath, making it barely audible. And he wasn't even looking at Granger.

"What?" Hermione retorted, furrowing her brows.

"That was good, Malfoy." Olivia sent him a small smile. "Now say it like you mean it."

Rolling his eyes again, he huffed. He looked between Olivia and the girl staring up at him, obviously struggling to respond. "No," he finally said. "I've said it once. I did what you asked. It was embarrassing enough the first time; I'm not going to do it again," he stated matter-of-factly, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Fine, then." Olivia shtrugged, then turned to walk away.

The realization that she was going to go back to not talking to him hit Malfoy quickly, and he reached out and grabbed her hand. She stopped in her tracks and turned to face him with a bored look. Their hands were still holding each other. "You'll talk to me if I do this?" he asked, needing reassurance.

"Yes," she answered. When he glanced down at their hands, she did the same, and he quickly took her from his, feeling a sense of loss at the connection that made her want to be sick. "I'll talk to you if you apologize like you mean it."

The trio's eyes were still on them as both Slytherins faced them once more. Malfoy cleared his throat, his eyes falling from Granger to Olivia. "You'll talk to me if I do this?" he asked, looking at Olivia.

She nodded, humming in response.

Rolling his eyes, Malfoy sighed, looking back at Granger. He stared at her for a moment before speaking. "I'm sorry that I called you a Mudblood. It wasn't right of me to do," he said loudly and clearly, and he actually sounded like he meant it.

Granger's face was twisted in confusion and surprise, alongside Olivia's. The Mallard girl's eyes slightly widened as she stared at Malfoy. Olivia knew that he was just apologizing to Granger so that she'd speak to him again, but still, she was surprised.

"Thanks, I guess," Granger mumbled, breaking her gaze away from Malfoy. She turned to face Potter and Weasley again, who were sending suspicious looks to the two Slytherins.

"Come on," Malfoy grumbled, grabbing Olivia's arm and walking away from the Gryffindor table.

When they made it back to their own table, they retook their seats, receiving confused looks from each of their friends. Neither said anything, and they didn't plan on it. Their friends didn't say anything either, though Olivia was sure they wanted to.

And when dinner was over and the girls were resting in their beds, preparing for bed, Pansy said, "Olivia, I'm guessing you made Malfoy apologize to Granger, and I'm just going to let you know that you have him wrapped around your finger because he wouldn't of done that for anyone else."

Then the room was silent. Olivia felt an odd feeling pegging at her heart at the words.

What Olivia wasn't aware of was that Daphne heard the words, and a different type of feeling pegged at her heart.

Oh, if only she knew.

≀⋆⁺₊⋆ ꗃ 𖦹⨳✺

━━━━ ella's speaking !
double update since this chapter and the previous one are both really short 🫶🏻

kisses.

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

word count: 1800. written: 9.25.23. published: 10.3.23.