BORN TO DIE ╱ DRACO MALFOY
꒷꒦ · ˚.‧ . written by ella . . . © -lostgardens
090 ━━━━━━━━━ ❛ more training ❜

Word that Umbridge was questioning students about "illicit activities" had been making its way around the school. The professor had been gathering a good number of students at a time, taking them into her office one by one, closing the door, and offering them tea before she started her questioning. Cho Chang, along with some other students, had also watched Filch hang a sign on the wall that was growing a new one each day. It declared that all students shall submit to questioning about these suspected illicit activities, per the Educational Decree No. 82. Olivia rolled her eyes when she was told this.

But talk of illicit activities and questioning by Umbridge weren't the only things that had been making their way around the school in hushed whispers. No, the fact that Olivia Mallard had been seen snogging Draco Malfoy, who was now one of Umbridge's most loyal followers, was falling from everyone's lips. They had given her suspicious and judging looks whenever they saw her—as she walked down the corridors, went into the library, sat or walked into the Great Hall, in their lessons. Wherever she was, there was at least one person speaking about it. However, they all, conveniently, seemed to leave out the part where she'd gone back to Draco and told him off for being a twat. Nevertheless, she ignored the gossip, looks, and whispers, just as she always did, even when it made its way to the members of Dumbledore's Army.

Even there, in the Room of Requirement, she was receiving odd looks and whispers behind her back, much like what had happened when she entered that evening for another round of lessons. Most everyone, save for Luna, Harry (who didn't even seem to have a clue as to it all), Lucas, and his friends, gave her untrusting and nasty looks, like they were wondering why she was there—like she was some sort of traitor. Even Hermione and Weasley (the latter didn't really surprise her) looked at her with weariness.

Still, she paid them no mind since no one was outright speaking their minds to her, and they began their training.

"Now focus on a fixed point, and try again," Harry instructed Neville as the other students worked on casting Expelliarmus around them.

Olivia was working with Evelyn, Lucas's friend and the girl who had been his date to the Yule Ball, just to the side of them. She gave the girl much of the same instructions that Harry had given to the Longbottom boy, and Evelyn got the spell right after her second try.

"Brilliant!" Olivia smiled as the younger witch focused on her with excitement only she could possibly have—she was so bright and cheerful, even Olivia felt happier in her presence. She understood why Lucas liked to spend time with her. Speaking of Lucas, he was standing beside Akeno as they practiced their spellcasting and chatted with grins. It made Olivia's heart swell, making her feel happy for her brother.

"Expelliarmus!" Neville cast, and Olivia glanced over, not seeing anything happening. She sighed, knowing that Neville was feeling disappointed with himself since he was one of the only ones who had mastered the spell, or even cast it, for that matter.

After a while of that, they moved onto levitation spells. Hermione, of course, had already learned that one easily in their first year. Olivia knew that as she watched the girl, thinking back to Flitwick's class, where she, herself, had been deemed a magical prodigy for simply knowing wandless magic. But this was different—this time, they were levitating people, not feathers.

"Very good," Harry told Hermione, looking up at who she was levitating in the air as he walked by her. "Keep your concentration." He moved a little further after that, focusing on who another student was holding in the air. "Great," he noted, sounding happy with how the spell was going. Then he made his way over to Cho, who was levitating Nigel with a few other students. He stopped behind her, and his hand fell onto hers, which was holding her wand, but he kept his eyes on the younger boy, who was floating in the air. "A little higher," he instructed, helping her raise her wand.

Olivia just smiled and shook her head in amusement at the gesture, with her arms crossed over her chest. It was clear Harry was interested in Cho; she just wondered when he would get the courage to tell her. The feelings were clearly mutual, after all.

Once Cho's wand was in the position it should be, Harry removed his hand from hers, his eyes still on Nigel. Then Cho made the mistake of looking over at the boy and breaking her concentration on the task at hand. And therefore...

"Whoa!" Nigel shouted as the spell stopped, and he came down. Everyone just winced as the boy hit the floor, while Harry found Cho's gaze, neither really realizing what had happened. Nigel stood up quickly, straightening out his clothes. "I'm okay. I'm okay," he assured with a smile.

≀⋆⁺₊⋆ ꗃ 𖦹⨳✺

As Olivia walked down the corridor, clad in her thick winter clothing because of the cold weather and the snow that covered the ground, she spotted Luna just up ahead. A small smile fell on her lips when she focused on the girl, who was staring out to the courtyard. She simply approached her, opening her mouth to say hello, knowing that Luna had been one of the only ones not talking about what happened between her and Draco, though that gossip had long since settled due to the fact that newer and more interesting things had come to light. At least, things that were newer and more interesting to the gossiping students of Hogwarts. But before she could even mutter the greeting, her eyes landed on three familiar boys, who stood in the courtyard and were laughing while they tossed snowballs at a Ravenclaw boy, like the immature idiots they were.

Her smile fell off her face instantly as she glared at Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle. Then she moved past Luna, who was now following her movements with her eyes. Olivia drew out her wand as she made her way towards the boys, and with a flick of it, the pile of snowballs, plus the ones that had been mid-air, disappeared, and three Slytherin boys stood a little straighter at the sight of her. She rolled her eyes as she looked away from them and focused on the Ravenclaw boy. "Go on," she ordered him, gently pushing him in the opposite direction of the other boys, and he wasted no time in running off. Then she turned to Draco and his two goons standing behind her, giving them a look of annoyance. "You three are terribly childish," she stated, her tone sharp as she moved closer. "I thought you'd be over all of this taunting by now, but I suppose I was mistaken."

With that, she went by them in an attempt to leave, holding her chin high. But she didn't get too far, however, before she felt a hand fall on her bicep and pull her to turn her around. She looked up, her brows furrowed in annoyance as her eyes landed on Draco, just as she suspected they would.

"You shouldn't act as if you're such a saint," he retorted coldly, with a barely-there sneer, keeping his hold on her arm. "It wasn't too long ago that you would've laughed at what we were doing."

"Actually," she began, knowing she could easily correct him, "I wouldn't have laughed." She gave him a snarky smile before continuing, "I would've rolled my eyes and thought you were acting like an actual child." She leaned a bit closer, her smile turning into a smirk. "Much like now. Because you are a child, Draco. You are fifteen, and yet you act just as you did when you were merely eleven. It's rather embarrassing." She stood up straighter and watched as he glared at her. "This time apart has honestly been for the better," she admitted, gesturing between them. She knew she was lying through her teeth. The truth was, she missed him, but she wasn't going to tell him that. "It has made me realize how immature you are and how we are best separated. I have actual things to worry about, unlike you, whose only worry is if his hair looks good or not."

"I don't believe you," he told her.

She raised her brows. "No?"

"No." He shook his head, leaning just a tad closer to her.

"And why is that?"

"Because you would push me away when I did this."

"Did wha—"

She couldn't even finish her question as he cupped her face with his hands and placed his lips on hers. She stilled for a second before she uncontrollably melted into the kiss, feeling her stomach flutter, even though she didn't want it to.

He didn't give her any time to fully kiss him back, however, and he pulled his mouth from hers but didn't move away, not even an inch. His eyes fell on her face, a smirk climbed onto his lips, and his hands fell to rest on her triceps.

Her eyes remained closed and her expression relaxed, just like when he kissed her in the courtyard on her birthday. She didn't open her eyes as she leaned her forehead against his chest. "You really need to stop doing that," she whispered in his thick winter coat as he stroked her hair with one of his hands.

Then, without another thought, she pulled back from him and turned around, though she struggled to do so, wanting to linger in the scent of him for a bit longer. She walked away with rushed steps while he watched her with disappointment, dropping the hand that had stroked her hair to his side and letting out a sigh.

≀⋆⁺₊⋆ ꗃ 𖦹⨳✺

Luckily, no one else besides Luna, Crabbe, and Goyle had been around when Draco kissed Olivia for the second time in the courtyard, and she knew that none of them would tell anyone about it, and they hadn't. No whispers and gossip about Olivia had resparked, and noticing her distance from Draco over the last month and a half, the members of D.A. slowly began to fully trust her again, not thinking she was with him or anything of the sort.

And she wasn't, of course.

When she walked into the Great Hall a few weeks after the kiss, Olivia made her way over to the Slytherin table, just as she always did, not even hearing a single peep about herself. However, someone from another table did call her name as she went by them. Olivia's brows furrowed, and she found them with her eyes, seeing a girl smile at her and wave. It was quite an odd feeling and gesture, even though she knew the girl from the lessons in the Room of Requirement. They weren't friends or anything. Nevertheless, she sent her a small, tight-lipped smile and wave in return before she stopped in front of her friends at their table.

Having seen this interaction between Olivia and the Ravenclaw girl, her friends, excluding Lucas, gave her a curiously confused look. But, even as she sat down, setting her bag down next to her, none of them said a word about it, and she was glad for it, not in the mood to come up with some excuse for the interaction.

"Where have you been, Olivia?" Draco asked, however, not even giving her a chance to put a bite of food on her plate. She quickly looked up at him with raised brows as the others focused on him too. His face was blank, though he almost looked annoyed and suspicious at the same time. "I feel like I haven't seen you in forever," he added, though it was a lie and they both knew it.

"I wasn't aware I had to let you know my every move, Draco," Olivia replied flatly, narrowing her eyes just the slightest as she heard the others trying to hold in their amusement. Draco just glared at her. She inhaled deeply before exhaling and placing her hands on the top of the table, not in the mood to deal with him. She pushed herself up from her seat as they watched her. "I am no longer hungry," she told them, tossing the strap of her bag on her shoulder.

Draco scowled at her. "Where are you going?"

He didn't get an answer as she started walking away, so he watched her with frustration.

"I think you had your chance, Draco, but you blew it," Pansy admitted, her amusement clearly still lingering, though she tried to calm it. She, too, watched Olivia, who had been stopped by Potter, before she could leave the Great Hall, both of them standing right next to the tall double doors. "You might as well give up."

Whatever Olivia and the Gryffindor were talking about made the former laugh and smile, and Pansy knew that it was just annoying Draco even further. She might as well add a little fuel to the fire to make things more interesting.

"And now she's moving on," she continued. "Do I particularly enjoy the fact that it is with Potter, of all people? Not at all, but I am glad for her nonetheless." She knew she was poking the bear, but it was just so amusing. "She seems happy. I mean, look at her; she's practically glowing." She gestured in the hand of Olivia, like she was showing off something. "And I suppose Potter isn't too bad-looking—he's quite fit, actually. Maybe that's where Olivia is always off to; maybe she and him are sneaking around and sno—"

Before she could even finish her sentence, Draco stood abruptly from the table, his eyes still trained on Olivia. Pansy smirked as she watched him make his way towards where the doors were, going closer and closer to her best friend.

Blaise turned to his girlfriend, a knowing smirk of his own curled at his mouth. "You did that on purpose, didn't you?"

Pansy glanced over at him, her smile widening. "Of course."

As Draco approached Olivia, hearing her laugh at whatever Potter had said, his eyes stared at the back of her head. If she noticed his presence, she didn't say anything, not even when Potter glanced at him and furrowed his brows. "Olivia," Draco said, cutting her off from replying to Potter.

Olivia rolled her eyes, hearing his voice, her smile falling from her face. Then she slowly turned around to face him, giving him a questioning yet bored look with raised brows and crossed arms over her chest. "What do you want, Draco?"

Draco just smirked, taking a step forward. "You forgot something when you walked away."

Her arms slowly fell back to her sides as she watched his movements, her expression turning confused at his words and the smirk on his face. All she'd had with her when she'd sat down at the table was her bag, and she certainly had that with her. "What are you talk—"

Just as always, before Olivia could even finish speaking, Draco placed his hands on the side of her face and kissed her. Her eyes closed as she held herself back from returning the kiss, overly aware of the eyes on them as she heard the gasps and whispers of others around them.

Pansy, at the table, slapped her hand over her mouth with delighted shock, and Theodore rolled his eyes. Blaise looked amused yet a bit surprised with a small smirk, and Lucas focused solely on his plate, his food being the most interesting thing he'd seen in that moment.

Then Olivia quickly pulled back.

She swallowed the lump in her throat, her eyes boring into his, their faces so close to each other's. Everyone in the Great Hall was still focused on them, and Harry's eyes were burning a hole into the back of her head. "Why did you do that?" she asked breathlessly. "I already told you that you need to stop doing that, especially in front of a ton of people."

"I thought you wanted a grand gesture," he reminded her. "This is me doing that."

"I wanted one that wasn't done out of spite," she retorted. She knew what he did was only to get under Harry's skin. And fortunately for Draco, it did get under Harry's, but not in the way he wanted it to or for the reason.

Still feeling everyone's eyes on her, she squeezed her own shut, thinking about how the word of this was going to get out around the school to the ones that weren't in the Great Hall already and probably even further now that more people had seen it. Snape had seen it, and she was sure the professor was going to go running his mouth to her parents. "My mother is going to kill me," she muttered under her breath, then opened her eyes and took a step back from Draco. She turned around, and as she did so, her expression twisted in guilt and sorrow. Her eyes landed on Harry, who was staring at her with hurt and betrayal through his round glasses. "Harry..." she mumbled, taking a large step forward and reaching out.

The boy just shook his head, his green eyes swimming with disappointment. Then he turned and left the Great Hall, while everyone else continued to watch. She immediately went to follow him, feeling Draco's hand brush against her wrist. She didn't let him get a good hold on her as she pulled her wrist from his grasp and continued to follow Harry through the double doors, not even sending a glance at anyone else.

Draco watched as the doors closed behind her, and he realized that Pansy had been right—he had blown it. He was losing her more and more with each passing day.

Olivia rushed down the corridor, taking fast steps in a light jog as she tried to catch up with the boy, who was walking rather rapidly. She needed to explain to him that Draco was being an idiot, because he was. He had only kissed out of spite and jealousy, and any other time, she wouldn't mind that. But now she did. "Harry!" she called out, almost reaching him. "Harry!"

Harry simply didn't stop walking, clearly upset with her.

She didn't understand how he could possibly be upset with her. Draco had been the one to kiss her, after all, not the other way around. She had thought that was clear. Though she, admittedly to only herself, had been close to kissing him back.

When she finally caught up with Harry, she grabbed his shoulder, which reluctantly made him stop. Then she went around him, coming to stand in front of him with a pleading look on her face.

He didn't meet her eye, but he also didn't move from where she'd stopped him, giving her hope he'd hear her out on it all. But then she noticed the more annoyed-than-hurt look that had taken over his expression and her brows furrowed. "Why are you so upset about this?" she asked pointedly, knowing it was a ridiculous question—there were many reasons for him to be upset about Draco kissing her.

When he finally found her gaze, he looked at her as if she were stupid. "You know what his father is," he told her sharply, narrowing her eyes from behind his circle glasses. His tone was angry and frustrated as he alluded to the fact that Lucius was a Death Eater. There was no point in him outright saying it because who would believe him anyway—he didn't have any evidence besides his and Olivia's word, which didn't mean much to the "important" folk these days. "How are we supposed to trust you if you still associate yourself with him?"

She knew he was talking about Dumbledore's Army and probably the Order too. And the truth was, she didn't care if they trusted her or not, as long as she was doing what she believed was right. That was clear with the fact that her mother didn't trust her and never had, and yet Olivia still went on with her day, doing what she could to help D.A. and the Order. "I care about Draco, Harry," she admitted, not wanting to lie to him. "Nothing is going to change that, not even his family's crimes or loyalties. Trust me, I have tried."

Not wanting to hear her words, Harry rolled his eyes, shaking his head in disappointment. Then he moved past her, trying to get away from her as fast as possible.

But Olivia wasn't done with their conversation, so she whipped around, now being the one who felt angry with him. She narrowed her eyes at the back of his head as he continued to walk away. "You can help who you have feelings for!" she said sharply, her voice slightly raised as she rushed the words out. She let out a huff of breath, calming herself as he stopped in his tracks. "You should know that."

He turned to face her again, his expression confused. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

Olivia took a step forward, now feeling slightly settled, her anger only lingering a bit. "Everyone knows that Cho and Cedric were together last year," she said, bringing her volume back to normal. "And yet, that didn't stop you from having feelings for her, did it?"

Neither one of them had really spoken of Cedric since returning to Hogwarts that year, besides in the first DADA class of the year when going back and forth with Umbridge, so it was a slight shock that she'd brought him up.

Harry opened his mouth to respond, but no words came out as he thought about what she had said. Then he let out a sigh, closing his mouth and looking to the ground.

He knew she was right.

"I just don't trust him," he admitted after a long pause.

"And you have every right not to," Olivia assured him, knowing that he was speaking of Draco, as his eyes met hers again. She took another small step forward, giving him a pleading look, and placed her hands on his arms. "But I hope you can trust me and my judgment."

Again, Harry took a long moment to think about what she was saying, staring into her eyes as she stared back at him. Then he softly nodded, agreeing to trust her, though he didn't know if she should trust herself. She clearly had a blind spot when it came to Draco.

She hoped she didn't disappoint him, and he hoped that too.

≀⋆⁺₊⋆ ꗃ 𖦹⨳✺

They were working on stunning charms again during the next Dumbledore's Army meeting. The whispers about Olivia had returned after the little kiss-incident in the Great Hall, but Harry quickly went on to tell the others not to focus on gossip, that Olivia was to be trusted, and that her connection to Malfoy did not matter to him and it shouldn't to them either. He told them that they needed to focus on their spell work, and that was it. Olivia had quickly thanked him for it, though she had originally planned on just ignoring the whispers and worrisome looks, and then they went on with this lesson.

"Stupefy!" was being shot around the room from all different directions as they practiced against one another. Students were flying across the room when hit by the spell, and Olivia and Harry looked at each other with a bit of pride in their expressions and smiles, feeling happy that the lessons had been paying off. Then, after the lesson, they quietly exited the Room of Requirement, not wanting to be discovered by Filch, who was still stationed outside the main wall leading to the hidden room.

Later that same week, Umbridge had officially announced the little group that Draco was going to be a part of—the Inquisitorial Squad. Olivia rolled her eyes when she heard the announcement over the school's PA system and the fact that the woman was offering extra credit for anyone who joined. She knew that, now more than ever, she, Harry, and the others would have to be extremely careful.

When they went back to the Room of Requirement for another round of training, they started focusing on shrinking charms.

"Diminuendo!" Nigel aimed his wand at one of the wooden test dummies that had been coming at him, hitting it perfectly.

Everyone applauded him before trying out the spell for themselves.

Most got it on the first try, including Lucas and his friends.

Again, they left the Room of Requirement swiftly and quietly, not to be caught by Filch or the goon squad that roamed around the corridor with him. The following days, as Olivia walked into the common room, down the corridors, entered the Great Hall, or went into her classes, she saw Draco, Crabbe, Goyle, and a slew of other students sporting the badges that insinuated that they were apart of the Inquisitorial Squad, and she rolled her eyes at them.

"Working hard is important," Harry told them as he went over to one of the Patil twins, helping her aim her wand right. "But there's something that matters even more," he added, going over to another girl. Her wand shot out the stunning spell just as Harry touched it, hitting the person across from her square in the chest and sending them backwards.

"Expelliarmus!" someone else cast, and Olivia smiled when they disarmed their target.

"Levicorpus!" another called out. "Got it."

Harry and Olivia looked at each other, smiling proudly, as the boy continued to walk around the room. He usually did most of the talking, while Olivia joined in on the actual instruction bit of the lessons, not really being the one for encouraging speeches. "Think of it this way," he went on. "Every great wizard in history has started out"—his voice trailed off as he looked up at the student that another was levitating in the air—"as nothing more than what we are now: students." He came to a stop in front of the fireplace as Olivia joined his side. "If they can do it, why not us?"

Olivia knew he was right. They could do it.

Before the meeting was over, Evelyn raised her hand, though they weren't in class (she did this anytime she had to say something), and asked, "Olivia, can you tell us about wandless magic? You can do it, right?" Her voice caught the attention of everyone, causing them to look at her and then at Olivia, who was staring at her with a surprised look.

It wasn't a secret that she could do wandless magic, but she didn't do it quite often, so she was slightly rusty. "Uhm..." Olivia sent a look in Harry's direction, seeing the boy give her an encouraging nod as she stepped forward. "Sure." She smiled, her lips pressed together, feeling everyone's focus solely on her. "Well, for starters, it can be rare for a wizard or witch to be able to master it. Learning it is quite difficult as well, but not impossible," she explained. "And not everyone can do it. See, I can, but Lucas"—she raised her hand to her brother—"can only do it to an extent, though he could master it if he took the time to learn." She gave her brother a knowing look with a small smile, noting the small pink that fell onto his face as Akeno looked over at him with a smirk. Then she focused on the others again. "For me, it somewhat came naturally; I have been able since I can remember. I still had to practice a great deal of time, but it was easier for me than it had been for Lucas," she explained, feeling everyone's attention remain on her.

"Now there's two types—well, really three types of wandless magic," she continued, walking a few steps to her right. "There's nonverbal, verbal, and accidental." She counted on her fingers. "Some of you may have performed accidental wandless magic before you came to Hogwarts and had a wand—made something happen without even speaking a spell or meaning for it to happen." Her eyes found Harry again, seeing him watching her closely. "Then there's nonverbal, which is casting spells, jinxes, curses, or charms without actually speaking them," she said, though that was pretty self-explanatory. "Let me demonstrate. Lucas, can you?" She gestured for her brother to stand in front of her, which he did, making his way from the crowd, which was watching both of them closely. "Now, just lift your wand and don't do anything else," she instructed him, and he did as told, withdrawing his wand and just standing still.

Inhaling deeply, Olivia focused on him and on the spell she wanted to cast, and then lifted her hand. With a wave of her finger, his wand was thrown from his hand, clambering onto the ground. The ones around them were looking at it with surprise and glee in their expressions, and mutters of excitement were heard all around them. They then applauded for Olivia, and she was certain she heard the Weasley twins say, "Wicked."

Once the noise died down, Lucas picked up his wand and went back into the group to stand with his friends, and Olivia moved on. "And finally, there's verbal wandless magic," she told them, going over to her bag. She dug inside and pulled out one of her books before returning to her previous place. She set the book down on the floor and took a step back. "This, as you can probably guess, is wandless magic where you speak the incantation. Like this..." She pointed her finger at the book on the floor and easily said, "Wingardium Leviosa."

The book started to rise from the ground slowly as she guided it with her finger, and the others watched it with their complete focus, feeling a tad excited. It was only in the air for a second before she brought it over to herself and then let it fall into her right hand, which hadn't been controlling it. "Now, this is a very mild version of what wandless magic can be like, but since it is quite difficult to teach, I'm not sure if we can explore it further, unfortunately."

Sighs of disappointment were heard all around.

"Look on the bright side, everyone," Harry interjected, coming to stand next to Olivia. "If we have a bit of extra time, I'm certain that Olivia would be more than happy to teach you all the basics." He turned to the girl with a bright smile. "Right, Olivia?"

Her eyes slightly widened, trying to ask him what he was doing without actually asking him. He seemed to understand her as the smile remained on his face, but his gaze was pointed. She simply smiled as well after that, turning to face the others once again. They were staring at her with hope in their eyes, and she wanted to let out a sigh. But she held it in, keeping her smile kind. "Right, you are, Harry. But maybe we should continue to focus on the more important, defensive magic for now."

"Of course."

≀⋆⁺₊⋆ ꗃ 𖦹⨳✺

During their next meeting, they all stood in a circle with a practice target in the middle as Olivia and Harry rounded them, watching them practice against it. It moved for the dozenth time after being hit many of those times, rolling around in the middle of all of them.

Someone called out, "Stupefy!" Then the target moved again, going to the other side of the group, and Neville said, "Expelliarmus!" but his attempt didn't really do much. Olivia was still proud that he tried his best, even noticing the disappointment on his face.

"Expelliarmus!" Evelyn then cast, hitting the target as it came towards her.

It spun a bit more before coming towards Luna. "Expelliarmus!" The blonde girl's voice was soft, per usual, but the spell worked nonetheless.

The target then made its way towards the center of the circle again, and Ginny lifted and aimed her wand at it. "Reducto!" she called out, her tone strong and powerful, letting a blue light shoot from the tip of her wand. She hit the wooden target, which resembled a Death Eater quite a bit, causing it to explode into ashes and fall to the ground in a pile.

Everyone watched in shock as the dust settled, even Ginny. Then proud smiles came onto Harry and Olivia's faces while they stood behind the Patil twins and lifted their gazes to the girl. Ginny looked up at the others, who were all staring at her, seeming confident and happy with herself as she smiled. Her brothers, on the other hand, standing on either side of her, looked at their little sister with a bit of fear in their expressions, now knowing not to mess with her too much.

Like a routine, they left the room once the lesson was over and made their way out of the side door, knowing that Filch probably sat outside the main door, like always. They simply went back to their common rooms, not too worried at the man who could never seem to catch them, no matter how hard he or the squad tried.

Then, at the end of that week, they came back to the room to practice some more, this time being for the final time before they went on holiday, since Olivia and Harry were leaving, with her going back to the manor with Lucas upon their parents' request and him going to the Burrow with his two best friends and the other Weasleys. The Christmas tree was high and tall, decorated all over, as it stood in the corner of the room, and shots of "Expelliarmus!" rang all around them.

Harry, observing everyone, along with Olivia, walked by Neville as he cast, "Expelliarmus!" aiming his wand at one of the Patil twins (Olivia still could not tell them apart—identical twins were a feat that she never knew if she'd concur or not). The wand shot out of the girl's hand, causing her to gasp and watch it as it went into the air and fell to the ground. Others did as well, and then they focused on Neville with shock.

This marked the first time he had successfully cast the spell and disarmed his opponent.

"Oh!" someone gasped.

"Did you see that?" another asked.

And then everyone moved closer to him, smiling proudly.

Harry placed his hand on the boy's arm, causing him to look over at him. "Fantastic, Neville," he told him with a smile. "Well done, mate." He took a step back as more people came over to the Longbottom boy to praise him for his good work, and he sent a glance in Olivia's direction, seeing her smile at the boy as well.

After things had settled and they had all practiced a bit more, Weasley, Harry, Olivia, and Hermione all stood at the front of the room, focusing on the others, while Nigel stood just behind them. "So, that's it for this lesson," Harry began, holding his wand in both hands and in front of him. "Now, we're not gonna be meeting again until after the holidays." He seemed a bit sad about the fact.

And Olivia would've been lying if she said she wasn't slightly bummed as well, feeling nice to have had a distraction for a bit of time. She, frankly, wasn't ready to return to the manor for two weeks, but she was also curious as to why her mother wanted her back there, unlike all the other times she was happy to let her and Lucas stay at Hogwarts.

There were mutters of disappointment with that information.

"So just keep practicing on your own as best as you can," Harry encouraged. "And—and w-well done, everyone. Great, great work."

They all started applauding for two who had been teaching them for the past few weeks. They both had bright smiles on their faces, though Harry's was bigger than Olivia's.

"Well done, mate," Olivia heard Weasley tell his best friend as he leaned closer to him.

Hermione glanced over at the girl, offering her a kind smile, which was returned.

Harry thanked the boy as the applause continued, and Olivia focused forward, taking in everyone that stood in front of them. The claps eventually died down, and everyone gathered their things, preparing to leave.

Olivia, Hermione, and Weasley glanced over at Harry, seeing him hopelessly staring at Cho with a longing look as those around them spoke about their holidays. The Ravenclaw girl was staring at the standing mirror, which Olivia knew had Cedric's photograph placed on it as a way to keep them motivated to continue what they were doing. To remember why they were doing it. Olivia's brows furrowed slightly in empathy. She felt quite bad for Cho. Even at odds, she didn't know how she'd react if she ever lost Draco permanently.

She never wanted to know.

Then, glancing over to Hermione, the two of them gave each other knowing looks. Smiles tried to fight their way on their faces as Olivia's pity faded away, thinking about how obvious Harry and Cho made it that they fancied each other. Then the two girls and Weasley backed away as Hermione said, "See you in the common room, Harry."

Lucas came over to Olivia alongside his friends as Neville thanked Harry. All of the others followed in kind. Neville then thanked Olivia too, while her brother slung his arm over her shoulder, and she told him, "You are most welcome, Neville." Some others also copied his telling of gratitude once more, and she smiled at them.

"Merry Christmas," Harry told them as they made their way to the door.

"Merry Christmas," they replied. The same wish was granted to Olivia too as they went by her, which she returned.

She eventually walked into the corridor, along with Lucas and his friends, whom she had come to like quite well. She saw why her brother spent so much of his time around them. Luna joined them a second later, softly smiling at Olivia as she gave her a perfectly Luna look. Olivia didn't question her about it. In fact, she wasn't saying much of anything, tired and not ready for the trip back to London.

The group of them didn't get too far down the corridor, and Olivia heard someone call her name from behind them. She turned around, raising her brows, as the others mimicked her actions, their gazes all landed on none other than the Weasley twins walking towards her. The one on the right was holding a box of something, which made her curious. One could never know what those two were toting around.

"Harry did have time to hear our ideas," the one holding the box began as soon as they both stopped in front of her with identical smirks on their identical faces. She was almost positive that it was Fred speaking to her, but it also might've been George. She couldn't be sure, but she was certain that it was most definitely one of the two.

"And we thought you would be happy to hear them," the other continued, which made her even curiouser. If Harry hadn't been interested in giving away his time to listen to whatever they wanted to pitch to him, then what made them think that she would?

Oh, who was she kidding? Of course, she would hear them out.

She didn't say anything; she just lifted her hand and gestured for them to start walking again, which made their smirks deepen at her acceptance. She really wanted to get to her room and go to bed. She was terribly exhausted.

The first one's voice lowered, in case someone was listening, as he said, "We were thinking—"

"—of either slipping Umbridge some Puking Pastilles into her tea—"

"—or Fever Fudge, which gives you these massive, pus-filled boils."

Olivia remained silent for a moment as she thought about their ideas. Lucas and his friends were in step with her to her left, and the twins were on either side of her since they were a step behind the rest of them. "Well, whatever you do," she finally said, "happily sign my name on it as well. I would gladly take the punishment if it meant giving that woman just the slightest bit of her own medicine."

"Brilliant!" the twin on her left beamed.

Then his brother added, "We knew you'd approve."

And with that, they walked off, smirks on their faces, as Olivia raised her chin a little higher, smirking at the thought of revenge against Umbridge. Lucas just looked over at her in amusement, already knowing that she was reveling, though the actual revenge hadn't happened yet. His friends sent shocked looks to each other, which didn't go unnoticed by either of the siblings.

"Don't worry," Lucas whispered to them, letting out a light laugh, "she won't hurt you."

Olivia glanced over at them as their focus fell on her once more, her eyes boring into theirs and a dangerously cunning smirk on her lips. "Maybe..."

"She's only kidding, I promise," Lucas assured.

After that, her brother's friends parted off, going in the direction of the Ravenclaw Tower with quick steps, while Olivia and Lucas went to the dungeons, finding their way to the familiar blank wall. He whispered the password, the door appeared, and they entered, finding the room empty as expected given the late hour. They simply said their goodnights and went to their rooms, heading up opposite staircases.

Olivia, unsurprisingly, found Pansy sound asleep when she got into her room, so she closed the door behind her softly, then quietly made her way to the bathroom, where she lit the candles and took a shower, washing herself with her rosemary-scented shampoo and conditioner and her ginger-scented body wash. Then she came out of the bathroom, after brushing her teeth and hair and blowing out the candles, got dressed in her silk pajamas, and lay down in her bed, placing her wand under her pillow as always before snuggling with Mr. Snake.

She was absolutely exhausted, so she had expected to fall asleep right when her head fell onto her pillow, but instead, she was tossing and turning for what felt like forever, not being able to get a wink of sleep. She'd much rather have a nightmare than this.

When she finally gave up, she sat up in her bed, letting out a huff as her eyes fell onto the clock on the wall. An hour and a half had passed since she first laid down. It felt like four hours and two minutes all at once.

Not wanting to wake Pansy up, who she sent a glance over to and saw that she was still asleep, Olivia retrieved her wand from under her pillow and stood up from her bed. She put on her house shoes and made her way to the door, leaving Mr. Snake in her spot on her bed. Then she grabbed her bag and left the room, quietly making her way down to the common room.

But as she stepped off the last step, just across the room from her, Draco was stepping into the common room as well. She stopped in her tracks at the bottom of the staircase, staring at him with slightly wider eyes. He was doing much the same, standing at the bottom of the opposite staircase and staring at her with surprise, both shocked that the other (or anyone at all) was awake this late and that they came into the common room at the exact same time.

He took a step forward, and immediately she turned around and went to walk back up the stairs, not wanting to deal with him.

"Olivia, wait," he said softly.

She stopped again, squeezing her eyes shut. She knew she should ignore him and just go back to her room and try to sleep, but him saying her name proved that he was actually there, and she couldn't seem to make herself move besides slowly turning around to face him again. Opening her eyes and trying to keep her composure, she raised her brows questioningly.

He didn't say anything as he walked closer to her, not stopping until he stood right in front of her, only a few inches between them. The lack of distance made her turn up her head even more so she could stare into his eyes, while he stared down at her like a million questions and thoughts were running through his mind.

They certainly were in hers.

But the only one he voiced was, "Am I losing you?" He lifted his hands to her face, his fingers brushing over her cheekbone. His tone was so breathy and helpless, like he was scared of her answer, and she couldn't help the flutter in her stomach at the sound of it. Especially not when he pushed some of her hair behind her ear and cupped her cheek.

She leaned into his touch, not even fighting herself against doing so. He made her so angry sometimes and so upset, but she couldn't help what she felt for him, just as she told Harry. She couldn't help that he—just the mere thought of him—made her heart beat faster than anyone else or that his true smile brightened her day and made her happy like no other.

He made her feel so much, and that scared her more than anything in the world. She knew that she shouldn't feel that way about him—he was the son of a Death Eater, he had his own purist beliefs that she despised, he was a wanker most of the time, and he could barely express how he felt and most of the time chose to not express anything at all. He was everything that she should not want, but everything that she did want.

He was her forbidden fruit.

Olivia inhaled deeply through her nose and shook her head. "You're all I want, Draco," she admitted in a whisper, feeling his thumb brush against her cheek. Her eyes fluttered just slightly at the gesture, and her mind calmed more than ever.

He softly smiled at her words, still staring down at her. Then he leaned down, bringing his face closer to her, but he didn't kiss her like she had been expecting him to do. He simply brushed his lips against hers and whispered, "And you're all I want, Olivia."

Olivia tried to fight back her smile as she stared into his eyes. Then she took a glance at his lips and brought her face even closer to his as she focused back on his piercing gaze. "Good," she told him with a bit of possessiveness in her tone. Then she kissed him, wrapping her arms around the back of his neck so she could pull him even closer to her as the hand that had been holding her cheek dug itself in her hair, tangling his fingers in the strands.

They only kissed for a moment before she pulled back again, and he looked down at her with confusion. "For the time being," she started, looking away with nerves of ruining the moment, then she focused back on him, "we have to keep this a secret."

He opened his mouth to reply, but she pointed a telling finger at him, and his mouth snapped shut.

"Which means no more snogging me in front of everyone," she added.

Draco gave her a knowing smirk, his hands resting on her hips. "I just thought that was what you wanted me to do," he told her, sounding as if he were clueless and innocent, but the look on his face let her know that he was anything but.

"I'm certain you did," she replied boredly.

His smirk just deepened, and then his lips were back on hers. She let out a content sigh into his mouth due to this and threw her arm back over his shoulder, around the back of his neck as she pulled him against her.

But again, they only kissed for a moment before another thought came to Olivia's mind, and she pulled away again. "Also..."

"Olivia, you're killing me," Draco groaned, resting his forehead against hers while his thumb brushed over her bottom lip.

She smiled at his dramatics, then leaned back so that she was looking into his dazzling eyes, and he lifted his head to meet her gaze with a faux bored look. She knew he was truly giving her all of his attention, though he was trying to seem disinterested in speaking.

"No matter what Pansy thinks or has told you, I am not sneaking around with Harry," she assured him, her tone tellingly, needing to make that point clear. He was Harry, after all. She would never, ever sneak around with him for a bit of romantic rendezvous. It made her shudder (not in a good way) at the thought of such activities. "He fancies someone else," she added to make it more clear. "And besides..." She smirked, looking at him with a glint in her eye. "I much prefer blondes."

He furrowed his brows in curiosity, though there was a faint tilt of his mouth. "How did you—"

"Lucas told me," she answered before he could even finish asking his question. She thought back to her brother explaining to her what had happened that day in the Great Hall. "He told me all about how Pansy pushed all of your little buttons"—she poked a finger into his stomach, causing it to tense, and she tried to ignore the intensified stiffness of the muscles that lay under his shirt—"until you snapped, got up from the table, stormed over to me, and kissed me to spite him."

"You're wrong," he countered. "I kissed you because I wanted to." He shrugged, acting as if he were careless, and leaned even closer to her. A smug smirk tugged at his lips, and she focused on it, wanting him to go back to kissing her. "Potter just happened to be there, and yeah, it didn't hurt that he got his knickers in a twist."

She rolled her eyes but couldn't help the smile turning up her mouth. When she met his gaze again, seeing him studying her, still with the smirk, she leaned closer, wanting to stop talking now that she'd gotten all of her thoughts off her chest so they could go back to more fun things.

But before their lips could connect again, he took a step back, moving his hand down to hold hers, and then he guided her over to the couches. He lit the fireplace with a flick of his wand as they sat down, and both of them dimmed the light coming from the tips of their wands.

After that, they didn't talk. Simply put, they just went back to snogging since no one was in the common room, and they both greatly missed each other. Olivia eventually climbed onto his lap to make their kissing easier, feeling the warmth of the fire on her back as his hands rested on her hips and hers were tangled in his hair on the back of his head. Once they were done, she moved to sit next to him again. Her head rested on his shoulder as her arm looped with his, and she ran her fingers along the soft skin of his forearm, both of them watching the fire burn in front of them.

They stayed like that for another half hour or so, until Olivia realized that they needed to get back to their rooms before either one of them fell asleep there. She stood up from the couch, and his eyes immediately found her, watching her movements closely.

She leaned down and placed a small kiss on his cheek, then pulled back, looking over his handsome face. Another kiss was given to him after that, this time a quick peck on his lips. She straightened her spine and looked down at him with a soft smile. "I should probably head to bed now." She took a step back, and his eyes did not leave her. "Goodnight, Draco."

"Goodnight, Olivia," he replied, his voice soft and almost a whisper, his eyes burning into hers.

She felt her face heat, hearing her name fall from his lips, but she blamed it on the fire. She rounded the couch, keeping her eyes on the back of his head before she faced forward, making her way closer to the stairs.

But she couldn't even get past the back of the couch when she suddenly didn't feel well, like a lesser version of how she felt after being hit with the killing curse. Her hands braced themselves on the small table behind the couch, smacking against the wood as she got a headrush. She felt herself growing weaker as Draco looked over the back of the couch due to the sound.

And just as his eyes found her, Olivia fell to the ground with a loud thud, causing him to shoot up from the couch. "Olivia!" he called out quickly, rushing around the couch and coming to her side, his knees hitting the ground. She was practically half conscious as he pulled her onto his lap, lightly tapping her face to get her to stay awake. His breathing was rapid as she mumbled nonsense, with her eyes remaining closed. "I'll be right back," he told her urgently. "I am going to get Snape." He gently laid her back down on the floor.

He rushed over to the door of the common room, opened the door quickly, and made his way into the corridor, going straight to Snape's classroom. The door was closed when he reached it, but he knew the professor probably was inside, so he opened the door quickly, not wanting to waste another second of maybe letting Olivia get worse.

"Snape, I need—" His words fell short when his eyes landed on Potter, who was sitting in a chair and looking as if he had a fever with the amount of sweat coating his skin. His eyes narrowed at the boy before his gaze found Snape, who was staring at him with a bit of a surprised look, still with his same stern features. Draco didn't spend a second questioning why Potter was in Snape's classroom so late at night. He solely focused on the professor and said, "I need your help." He tried to steady his voice, given the present company, who was heaving in breaths. "Well, Olivia does." Potter's brows furrowed, though neither Draco nor Snape paid him any mind. "Something's wrong with her."

The professor didn't even ask him anything before he quickly brushed past him and exited the classroom. Draco quickly followed, and so did Potter, who had all but jumped up from his seat. They made their way back to the common room, and Snape said the password, not loud enough for Potter to hear, thank Salazar, and then they entered. Once they were all inside, Snape and Draco rushed over to Olivia, who was now turned on her side as she tried to get up from the floor.

"What did you do to her?" Potter asked demandingly, focusing his narrow eyes on Draco.

Draco looked up at him from where he was squatting next to Olivia, fire in his eyes due to the accusation that he did something to harm Olivia in any way. He would never. Potter was a bloody fool for thinking otherwise, though that fact had always been painfully obvious to Draco. He really didn't understand how Olivia, or anyone else for that matter, dealt with him. "Nothing, you git," he retorted with a sneer.

"Both of you shut up," Olivia said harshly while Snape helped her stand. "I am fine," she added, gritting her words to her teeth, and both boys quickly looked at her with concern. She coughed into her hand, feeling a nasty wetness hit her palm. And when she pulled her hand back to examine it, she saw the same black sludge that she had been coughing up that night at the Quidditch World Cup. "Okay, maybe I am not completely fine," she mumbled.

And with that, Snape guided her to the door as she clutched her wand with one hand, which she quickly used to dismiss the sludge in her palm, feeling as if she were going to vomit if having to look at it any longer. Potter went to follow them out, and so did Draco, but Snape turned to the latter and held up a finger. "Go back to your room, Malfoy. It is past curfew."

Draco looked at him as if what he was saying was complete gibberish. That, or as if the man was an idiot. "No," he argued, not wanting to leave Olivia alone with these two, especially since she'd collapsed. He didn't like Snape, and he liked Potter even less.

"Draco, just go to your room," Olivia said weakly, and he didn't meet her gaze, still glaring at Snape, who was staring at him boredly. "I promise, I will be fine," she added, and he finally found her eyes.

He looked at her with a look that made her think he was going to retort and refuse to go to his room. And then he took a step forward, reaching out his hands briefly, seeming as if he was going to kiss her. But he seemed to remember what she had told him earlier before he could.

They were supposed to remain a secret for now.

Dropping his hands to his sides, Draco let out a frustrated breath through his nose and took a step back from her. Then he lifted a finger, pointing it tellingly at Snape. "If anything happens to her because of you..." His eyes narrowed at the man, then he turned his focus and finger on Harry, who stood behind Olivia. "Or you, Potter." He found Olivia's eyes after that, dropping his hand to his side once more, and his gaze softened as he saw her small smile, finding charm in his threatening tone.

She watched as Draco slowly backed away from them, keeping his eyes trained on Snape and Harry, before he finally turned around and made his way up the stairs that led to the boys' dormitories.

Snape led her out of the common room and to his classroom after that.

At first, Olivia hadn't even questioned why Harry was there at such a late hour, but as she sat down at one of the workstations and Snape handed her some kind of potion to drink so that she'd feel better, her mind rang with questions—about what was happening to her, why Harry was there, and how Snape knew to make her feel better.

"What is this?" she asked, looking at the potion. It was unlabeled, which was slightly concerning to her.

Snape's expression stayed much the same as it always did—blank and emotionless. He studied her face for a moment as she looked up from the vial and found his eyes. "Just drink it, Olivia," he ordered her in his monotone drawl.

Her brows furrowed as she watched him turn around, letting her stare at his back. She knew he was hiding something from him, but she wasn't exactly sure what it was. Her parents were on it too, no doubt having looped the man in. However, she trusted him enough not to poison her, so she drank the potion, downing the whole vial. She didn't get a second to ask for an answer to anything after that because Snape simply checked if she was all right—if the potion was working, she supposed—and then sent her and Harry back to their dorms.

Olivia's mind was awake all through the night when she took another shower, trying to make herself feel better. Then it was the same when she laid down in her bed once more, trying not to wake Pansy up with her tossing and turning as she clung onto Mr. Snake, with her wand placed under her pillow, as always. And for the next couple of days, she was completely and utterly exhausted—mentally and physically.

But at least she had Draco again.

≀⋆⁺₊⋆ ꗃ 𖦹⨳✺

━━━━ ella's speaking !
happy september 1st!! and happy 100th part of born to die!!

i really hope you liked this chapter! it was original split in two, but i felt they'd be too short by themselves so i combined them, and i think that it was for the best!

draco and olivia are back 🤭

also, i'm sure you all have many questions about what's going on with olivia and how exactly she survived the killing curse back in act four, and i swear it will be explained at some point, you just have to continue reading :)

make sure to comment and vote 🫶🏻

kisses.

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

word count: 10127.   written: 7.5-8.24.   published: 9.1.24.