An equinox happens about twice a year. It is the moment when the Sun is directly above Earth's equator. On an equinox date, day and night are of equal length.

─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Hannah found me on the banks of the Black Lake. Her heavy gown rustled as she dropped down beside me and kicked off her heels.

I tensed, waiting for her to speak, but she said nothing. The breeze rippled through the grass beneath us, shaking our hair. We sat in stillness, staring into the distance at the Lake. It was only after some moments that she caught me off guard with her question. "What's your problem?"

My initial reaction was to scoff. "Oh, you would love to know, wouldn't you?"

"Yes," she said. "I actually would."

I rolled my eyes, trying not to show that her sudden question had actually made me feel embarrassed and self-conscious. I know did not use to be like this - sensitive and so easily bruised. I had gone soft, and now I realise this hadn't escaped the notice of people around me.

The roles have been swapped - they were now the ones with the serpent under their foot. The snake that had bitten them for years, now a squirming, writhing mess under their toes. They took great pleasure in that, I was sure.

"Why'd you even send that letter, asking me to come back?" I snapped. "There's nothing for me here. Not anymore. If there had been, it's gone now."

"So it all meant nothing to you, then?"

"Nothing?" I finally turned to face her, fuming. "I've always thought Hufflepuffs were complete muppets, but I didn't expect you, of all of them, to be actually stupid! Potter was right in front of me. I had him. Did you really think I let him go because I felt, what, generous, all of a sudden? I risked my life to see her that night in Hogsmeade. I risked my life to try and save your silly friends. For Harry fucking Potter. Because that's what she would've wanted me to do. And you're asking me if it meant nothing?"

Hannah seemed unfazed by my outburst, her expression flat and unimpressed. "So you expect me to really believe that none of that - absolutely none of it - was self-serving?"

At first, I refused to answer. She lifted her head to the sky, then back at me, waiting. My shoulders slumped; I was tired of fighting.

"I was alone," I finally let on. "Yeah, I had friends. Crabbe. Goyle. Blaise, even. But really, I was alone. I was... angry. At everyone, and everything. Then she came along, you know? She was so... bright. And beautiful. She was beautiful. All it would have taken is one look, and I would've followed her to the ends of the earth." I smiled at that. Hannah had diverted her focus to a loose sequin on her dress and I could not see her expression.

"When Voldemort asked me to... well, you know. I felt like I finally had a purpose. I was suddenly important, like I mattered, d'you know you know what I mean? Well, Angel made me feel that way too. The only difference was that I didn't have to prove anything to her. She already saw me for what I was... what I could be. And I don't know why, but she loved me. And I loved her. I didn't know how to show it, but I did." My voice sounded unusually loud in the sudden quietness that had blanketed us. 

"And now, not a single- fucking- day goes by that I don't wish she hadn't done what she did. I'm forced to relive every single memory I've ever had with her. I can't even look at a piece of fucking fruit without being reminded of her. I can't... I can't ever hear her voice anymore, or- or touch her." I opened my palms, imagining Angel's fingers pressing, rubbing. "Do you get it, Abbott? Do you know how it feels when the person you loves dies instead of you?"

Hannah considered my words for a moment, still picking at her dress. "My father was helping Muggle-born families escape the country. They murdered my mother in our home because she refused to tell them where he was at the time. Does that count? Not quite the same, I know."

Silence hung in the air as I stared at her, aghast. I had never known that about Hannah. Either way, it did not make me feel much better at all. There was a pause, and she blew the air through her mouth softly. "We never blamed you for anything, Malfoy."

"Yeah, right," I snorted. "You don't think I see it in the way you lot look at me?"

"The only person who should be blamed is Barnabas," said Hannah firmly. "And believe it or not, I care about you. We all do, even if you are making it extraordinarily hard."

I wanted to laugh. The thought of that was just completely ridiculous. I could hardly imagine Ron or Neville giving two hoots about me. "Yeah, everybody just loves asking me how I've been, don't they."

"Why didn't you ever came back to see her?"

Memories of the past year came flooding back. The overwhelming grief, the silence that came with complete and utter loneliness. I turned away so she wouldn't see the tears that had clouded my vision. "Because I didn't expect to be alive for very long after that."

She observed me keenly, the wind pulling gently at her flaxen hair. "And yet, here you are. So why? What do you want?"

"I just needed another chance." My chest heaved involuntarily at the beginnings of a sob. "I wasn't prep- prepared. I just- I just need, an- another day, another moment. There's so many th- things I haven't told her." My breath started to hitch, and I struggled to inhale. "I would- I would forego my name, my family, everything, right now, if I knew it would bring her back. Hannah, I lo- love her. I have never felt like that in my life. And she didn't know it."

Hannah placed her hand over mine. "She does, you know? She's been wanting to see you-"

"WOULD YOU STOP SAYING THAT, for fuck's sake!" I exploded, snatching my hand away. "Stop talking as if you know what she wants. Angel is dead. She's gone! Or are you too stupid to understand that too?"

At that, Hannah pounced to her feet, heckles raised and blue eyes blazing with fury. "Okay, see here, you fucking arsebadger! Firstly, never speak to me like that again, or you'll be sorry. Secondly, this woe-is-me shit you've got going on? It's time to drop it, seriously. I don't know about you, but I'm not the one who moped about for a whole fucking year instead of coming to visit the girl I claim to love. Dead, you say? Dead!"

She glanced around wildly, as if looking for something to beat me with. "Is that why we haven't heard from you all this time? Have you even read any of our letters? Or are you too stupid to read? If you're so smart, consider this, then: Maybe if you haven't been acting like such a snivelling bellend this whole time, you might've have actually opened them and known that Angel is, in fact, very much alive!"

I stared at her, speechless. At this point, she probably thought I was taking the piss, because she burst into maniacal laughter. This girl was a complete nutter, I thought to myself, and wondered if it was my cue to leave. 

Her cackling died down when I remained silent. "The curse rebounded, you nonce," she said, glaring at me.

"What?"

"The killing curse? The one Barnabas used? The one she saved you from? It rebounded."

"What are you saying?"

She threw up her hands in exasperation. "Merlin, Malfoy! Were you dropped on your head as a baby? Angel is still alive, dimwit. McGonagall was just about to tell everyone what happened before you bollocked it and ran out like a fool."

"But- but," I sputtered, trying to untangle the words on my tongue as I scrambled to my feet. "But my parents. They- they saw her die. They told me!"

Hannah sighed. "I said it rebounded, I didn't say she didn't get hurt. It knocked her out cold for months and months. We all thought she was dead, too. It was Cedric who'd told us to wait.  'One more week', he kept begging Madam Pomfrey and McGonagall, over and over, until she finally woke up about two months ago. We explained all this in the letters you never bloody opened!"

"But her grave-"

"-is empty," Hannah finished for me. "Sounds awful, I know. But we had to be prepared."

"That's impossible," I frowned, still trying to make sense of it all. "There's no protection from a killing curse. The only time the curse ever rebounded was when... when..."

Could it be true? The same kind of rare magic that saved Harry Potter, had saved me too? The cogs turned in my head as I worked to piece together everything I thought I had understood.

'She would want to see you.'

"She's around the back, by the hill, if you want to see her."

"Angel Dawson, for her selfless sacrifice that saved another student's life."

"Tell me why I've been seeing her ghost, then?" I challenged.

"Her... ghost?" Hannah rested a hand on her hip, watching me under a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, her ghost. In the Astronomy Tower. I saw her. We spoke, kissed, whatever!"

Hannah huffed in annoyance, folding her arms. "How should I know what goes on in that big, empty head of yours? Grief does funny things to your mind, doesn't it?"

What was it she had told me last night when I tried to return her the Hippogriff? You can give it to me when we meet again.

Realisation slowly dawned, and my heart filled with hope. "Where is she?" I asked breathlessly.

Hannah tilted her head to the direction behind me, and I whipped around.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

The entire D.A. had gathered on the top of the slope, watching us. I spotted the trio, Neville, and Luna at the front, their pins catching the dying sun. In the middle of them all was Susan, holding somebody's arm.

Angel.

She looked exactly how she did in the Tower - eyes fresh and cheeks pink. Even the worried look plastered on her face couldn't taint her features.

Susan whispered something into her ears, and she started making her way towards us. Her bare feet danced over the rocks and grass, the pin on her white dress flashed. I waited for her to disappear, but she only drew nearer and nearer, coming down the straight stone path towards me. If it hadn't been for Hannah's firm hand on his back, I would have fled in fear.

She hesitated, now just a breath apart from me. In the final whispers of the afternoon, her eyes shone a rich chocolate as they searched mine.

"Draco?"

I was paralysed with shock, and my mouth might have been gaping open. She reached out, her ice cold fingers trailing down my arm to take my fingers in hers.

"Draco."

My name again.

I shook myself out of my stupor. Time stood still as everything clicked into place, like I had just put in the missing puzzle piece.

I snatched her, drawing her in so fast her nose bumped my shoulder. My fingers threaded through her hair, holding her like someone would try to steal her away again.

She wrapped her arms around me, squeezing the breath out. As I felt her heartbeat against mine, I knew this Angel was different from the one I had met in the Tower. That Angel had been desolate and resigned, reconciled with the lie I had been made to believe. The one in front of me now was exuberant, effervescent. Alive.

A breath of laughter escaped my lips, and I clasped her face in his hands. "Wh- how... Th- they told me you were dead!"

"We tried to tell you!" She sounded muffled against my chest. "When I woke up, they wrote to you at once, but..."

The pile of letters on my desk. They hadn't been condolences at all.

"You really are a whole idiot and a half, you know that, Malfoy?" Hannah's grin betrayed her words. She was right, but I pretended not to hear.

"I thought... you didn't want this anymore." Angel's voice quivered against my chest, and I cupped her face in my hands. Our breaths came hard, panting as our hearts were torn between inexplicable joy and tears. "Angel Dawson, I will never, ever, ever, not want you. I'm yours forever."

I tilted her chin and brought my lips to hers. They were wet and pillow-soft, familiar like the back of my hand.

I thought time would slow down and our planet's rotation would come to a halt. Instead, the world burst into life. The grass inched higher, trees spread their arms wider. Flower buds bloomed, exposing their thousand colours. Waves crashed forth from tranquil oceans. The birds lifted their necks to the sky in loud song, and louder still. Everything seemed faster, better. Alive.

And as the sun emptied the last of its golden glory onto the earth, I thought of all the single moments that have ever existed.

This moment, right here, was nothing but an infinitesimal speck in an infinity, a single thread in a tapestry.

And it was magic.