Chapter Nineteen

"Every single one of Draco Malfoy's problems doesn't need to become your own, Seohyun."

The common room was fairly empty; it was midmorning, and most people had classes. Seohyun and Padma, meanwhile, had a free period and decided to spend it in the common room. They were both on top of their homework, so they nicked the two chairs in front of the fire and spent the hour relaxing. Seohyun was content, reading a Korean novel her father had mailed her the previous day.

Not many others were in the room - only a handful of seventh years, so Padma had to talk in a hushed whisper.

Seohyun closed her book. "What do you mean, Padma?"

The other girl frowned. The firelight caught her brown eyes, filling them with a warm glow.

"You're stressed, Seohyun, don't deny it –" she added sharply, when Seohyun opened her mouth. "I see you lost in thought. I see the worried glances you shoot Malfoy during breakfast and dinner. But just because you're his friend, doesn't mean you have to take all his worries and problems and fears on your shoulders. You're your own person too, Seohyun."

Seohyun sighed and rubbed her eyes.

"I know," she mumbled. "I just – I can't help it. If you knew what I did... you'd be just as caught up. Just as involved."

She wasn't mad. She knew there was truth in Padma's words. She had been so concerned for Draco lately that she'd started leaving homework to last minute, instead spending time trying to figure out how to get Draco out of his messy situation without breaking trust or betraying him. The only reason she was on top of her work now was because Padma, Terry, and Anthony had forced her to focus on her work for the past three days.

Nothing, so far, had come to mind.

And Seohyun had the sense she was running out of time. Draco was getting more frazzled, and the school year was ending. Combine the two, and she guessed Draco Malfoy had a deadline that was fast approaching.

He would either succeed, or he would fail – and there was little she could do to help either way.

What was the right thing to do, anyway? Seohyun had once thought that the divide between right and wrong, good and evil, had been black and white.

She was now only realising just how grey it really was; how the borders between them dissolved into one another, blurred and overlapped.

Padma shook her head slightly. "Seohyun," she murmured. She leaned over and rested a hand on Seohyun's knee.

"You've got a beautiful heart, my friend. Just don't let it go to waste."

"Don't worry about me, Padma. I have everything under control."

+++

Draco

The day faded into night, but Draco's concerns didn't subside. They only heightened, like stars suppressed during the day, only to let out their full light after the sun fell.

Today was the day everything changed.

He'd hoped to find Seohyun during the midmorning free period they shared, but she'd been nowhere in sight. Perhaps she'd been in Ravenclaw Tower. He'd only had limited time to corner her after lessons, not nearly enough time to explain everything.

He wished otherwise. He wanted to have more time to explain.

She had no idea what he'd been working towards since the school year commenced. She knew he was a Death Eater, and that was the limit of it. She had no clue of the nature of his assigned task, and if she had, she'd no doubt turn her back on him.

He couldn't bear the thought of Seohyun, his one true friend, leaving him, so he'd kept his mouth shut. Draco knew he should've been honest with her, but his fear of losing her overrode everything else.

He couldn't believe that, during a time that spanned slightly less than a year, Seohyun Park had become a greater friend to him than the people he'd known since first year. Completely fresh, new to England, a pencil more often than not tucked behind her ears and paint smear on her skin. He hadn't thought much of her at first - she was a new classmate, nothing more. He'd had bigger things to worry about.

That was, until she showed concern for him. When she cared not for his name or status, but the person he was beneath all of that. The Ravenclaw overlooked house boundaries to reach out to him, a Slytherin, with a smile that shone like the stars she so adored.

Seohyun Park was art, a masterpiece, crafted only by the most careful strokes and beautiful colours. Someone had taken great care when constructing her passion, her generosity, her kindness, and her fierceness. Draco was still a little scared when he recalled the time she'd cornered him: he could almost feel the fire in her veins burning his skin.

Seohyun Park was art, the stars, and a storm all combined into one.

And he loved it. He loved her. He loved the way her tongue poked out the corner of her mouth when she focused, the way she lost herself in art, the way her eyes mirrored the stars when she gazed upon them, how she loved and embraced her Korean heritage and how alive she became when showing off her art.

He loved her. When everything was terrible, she was the light in the dark, the one person who kept him in one piece.

And after tonight, he knew that he had to let her go.

Because to had to kill Dumbledore and let the other Death Eaters into the castle. Though Seohyun saw the best in everyone, there was no way she'd forgive him after tonight.

He didn't blame her.

Draco lay awake in the Slytherin dormitory, clutching the wrinkled parchment in his hand. His heart thudded in his chest in time to every second. He watch ticked obnoxiously loudly, as though to make obvious how little time he had left.

He closed his eyes. It was time.

He slipped out of bed, still in his robes, eliminating any time wastage. Everything he possibly would need tonight was on his person. Like a cat, he slipped soundlessly from the dormitory.

Out of everything he carried, the parchment weighed heaviest in his hand, for it was the most important to him. Scribbled in ink was a message to Seohyun: his final note before she hated him forever.

She'd done so much for him, so at the very least, she deserved a direct confession of what he had to do from him, not hear it from the mouth of another.

Don't be the one to prove me wrong, she'd once said.

Draco closed his eyes and spelled the page away.

I'm sorry, Seohyun. It looks like I'm going to have to.

+++

Seohyun

Seohyun groaned and rolled over in her bed. Lethargy held her body down like lead in her veins. She felt like she had made of fog: cloudy, groggy, unable to make sense of anything.

Merlin, what time is it? She'd gone to bed at a good time. So why was she suddenly awake and feeling like she'd barely slept at all?

Maybe her unease had followed her into her sleep. Seohyun moaned and shifted onto her side, eyes scrunching up as the eyes of that evening came rushing back to her mind.

Leaving the Great Hall after dinner. Being following by Draco, and pulled into a disused classroom. His grip on her arm so tight that he'd left a mark, and the vulnerability in his eyes.

"Draco?" she'd breathed.

He'd looked at her and Seohyun, with all her experience analysing art, had been unable to make anything of the look on his face.

"Seohyun," he'd said lowly, urgently. "Look, please, promise me - promise me that you won't leave Ravenclaw tower tonight."

"Why should I? I need sleep."

"Yes but - no drawing late at night, okay, or any random night wanders. Not tonight. Trust me."

"Draco, what's going on?"

"I can't say for sure. But it would be best for you if you stayed in the tower tonight."

Draco had scared her, but Seohyun had been unable to extract any more information from him. It had left in on edge for the rest of the night. Even her sleep had been fitful, troubled by uneasy dreams.

I wonder what time it is. Seohyun forced her eyes to flutter open.

For a moment the world was fuzzy. Seohyun rubbed her eyes to remove the excess sleep and, in time, the world aligned. She stretched out, feeling like she was still moving in a foggy dream, to grab the watch on her bedside.

Her hand brushed a sheet of parchment as she did so.

Seohyun frowned. Somehow, her mind managed to conjure the thought that, hang on, I didn't have any parchment on my bedside table. Watch forgotten, she fumbled to grasp the thin sheet and pulled it toward her.

The light was dim, making it almost impossible to read. Seohyun procured her wand. "Lumos," she muttered, and proceeded to read.

Her breath hitched.

Her heart stopped.

Her body froze.

She stopped functioning.

She closed her eyes, cold sweat breaking out across her skin. Her breath was suddenly so ragged and loud she wondered how Padma and the others weren't waking up. She felt like she'd been dunked underwater: her body screamed for air but she couldn't procure it.

No. No, no, no. Surely not. I can't –

Her limbs shaking and panic slowly creeping through her body, Seohyun reread the letter.

Seohyun,

Tonight I have to do something that you won't be able to forgive. You've forgiven me for so many things, but I know it won't be possible after tonight. From the start of the year, my task has been to kill Dumbledore. It was ordered by You-Know-Who, and if I didn't do it, he's going to kill my family. I've been repairing the Vanishing Cabinet in the Room of Requirement to let in other Death Eaters.

I know you won't be able to forgive me for this, but I've been cornered. I just want you to know that those months were not a waste. You were my light in the dark, my anchor, and I'll never forget everything you did for me. I wish things could be different, but I have no other option.

I know I'm letting you down, and that I'm proving you wrong. I do not expect forgiveness, but I just want you to know you were appreciated. That I didn't take everything for granted. I'll always cherish those months together, Seohyun. Always.

Thanks for everything,

Draco.

The panic was full-blown. All tiredness washed away like water cascading from a waterfall and Seohyun was on her feet, her heart in her chest, her limbs shaking so much she was barely able to pull on her robes.

Draco.

His warnings from earlier had been forgotten. All she cared about was the letter, what he had to do – no, I won't let him! I'll do something, anything!

Her thoughts were garbled and like lightning, flashing through her brain but so quickly forgotten. With her heart pounding she sped from the room, nearly tripping over her feet several times.

It took all of Seohyun's will not to scream Draco's name throughout the castle. She clattered down the many stairs and sprinted, her hair sticking to her forehead and sweat already coating her body in a mix of exertion, fear, and panic.

Focus, Seohyun. Try. He needs you. Where would he be?

Wherever Dumbledore was, to perform You-Know-Who's required deed. And if he had to commit an act like that, there was no way they could stay, they'd need to escape –

The Vanishing Cabinet? But what if they were cornered? They'd have to flee, through the grounds so they could exit Hogwarts to Disapparate –

Seohyun's eyes flew open. It was a hope, a stupid, wild, hope, but it was probable, and she was going to take the slim chance offered her way.

Without taking any more time to think things through, she tore toward the school grounds.

The night air was warm and exercising heated her body, but Seohyun payed no heed. She spotted several figures scurrying across the grounds, light shooting from their wands - she ran closer, and spotted that unmistakable flash of pale hair. 

"Draco!" she screamed.

She saw him wheel around, and thought he heard his yell of "Seohyun!" back, but couldn't be sure: the wind was in her ears and she could hear the blood from her heart pounding within them. She pushed herself harder, her wand out, nearly slipping on the grass.

"Don't! Don't hurt her! Listen to me!" she heard him yell to someone, and he too was running toward her, like a frenzied beast.

"Draco!" gasped. "Draco, you can't -"

They stood in front of each other, panting, sweat clinging to both of their faces and glistening in the dull moonlight.

"Seohyun." He rested a hand on her shoulder. Were those tears in his eyes? "I am so sorry about this."

Seohyun opened her mouth, but before she could say anything he pointed his wand at her. "Stupefy."

As she crumpled to the floor, she thought she just made out Draco kneel beside her and whisper, "I'm sorry."

Then everything went black.

**********

are you ready for the next part to this guys? just warning you: you might want to brace yourselves.