Hey loves! The last chapter may have seemed short or undescriptive. It was like a twelve-year-old wrote it, it's bleak. The emptiness in the paragraphs represents the emptiness in Taylor, and therefore, in Draco. If you haven't noticed, the character's writing in their pov sounds like them. When you switch from Taylor to Draco, you could tell from how the writing sounds. Let me try to explain:

Usually, when it's from Draco's pov, there are more questions he asks himself in the writing. Draco is unsure of his actions, he overthinks, so his pov is like that. From Tiny's pov, the writing is methodical like she is. Her brain is very precise and articulate, therefore, her pov is. 

Just thought I'd mention that ^.^ on to reading... (there's a lot of dialogue in this chapter)

-

But he had gone. He's left her.

-

Taylor

Taylor didn't go to any of her classes for a week. It wasn't long before Heidi came to check on her. She knocked on Taylor's door, then opened it before getting a response. Taylor scoffed playfully, "And what was the point of knocking?"

Heidi smiled, "To announce my presence. I could have walked right in but since you're my best friend and I love you, I gave you a warning."

"Oh yeah, so generous," Taylor joked. Heidi always made her feel better. She wasn't even trying, she's just the kind of person who can always make you laugh. Taylor had been in bed when Heidi came in, she sat up against the headboard now. It was half 11 at night. As Heidi walked further into her dorm, her face displayed pure confusion. 

"Tay?..." 

"Hm?" Taylor was genuinely unsure of what could possibly be wrong.

"Your room is messy," she said suspiciously, "It's never messy?"

Taylor shrugged and picked at her hands. Heidi frowned, "What's wrong?" Taylor shook her head and stared at her hands. Heidi marched right over to the bed and got under the covers. She turned to face Taylor. "You can tell me." Her eyes were caring. Taylor always told Heidi everything and anything that happened. 

"I know I can," Taylor sniffed. Her hand rose to cover her face as she started crying and shaking. Heidi cradled her and smoothed out her hair. After a long five minutes of sobbing, Taylor tried to tell her. "Heidi- He-" she couldn't tell her. Her mouth wouldn't form the words. "He-" 

Heidi cut her off, "I know, I know. Shh. It's okay you don't have to talk. Shh, it's okay." Taylor slept in her arms the entire night. She needed this, she needed Heidi. She made Taylor feel so safe and comfortable. They met in Taylor's first year, Heidi was a year older than her. 

-

It was the first day of school and Taylor was just sorted into Hufflepuff. Her mind was already filled with wonders about Hogwarts. She was still trying to process the fact that she's a witch and that there was a school for people like her. She sat down next to a blonde girl with a friendly face and was hit with a million questions, "What's your name? What's your zodiac sign? Do you have a pet? What's your favorite color? Do you like Quidditch? I'm trying out for the team this year." She was completely invested in Taylor's responses, keeping eye contact and nodding as she spoke. They became friends quickly and started spending every day together, gossiping or doing homework. Along the way, Heidi became an older sister to Taylor.

She would always have her back, help her with anything, listen to her and give advice. But she would also call her out, make sure she's not making dumb decisions, and keep her in check. Taylor loved Heidi like a sister, the kind of love she used to take for granted. Ana and Heidi would have gotten on like a house on fire.

Bad joke.

Heidi supported Taylor in everything she did, she even got used to the weird ways Taylor likes to do things. She knew exactly what Taylor needs and how to calm her down. And Taylor would go to every single game or friendly that Heidi was in. She looked like Hufflepuff incarnate, painting the house colors onto her skin. She made sure to cheer the loudest so Heidi knew how proud she was.

-

Two years later, Heidi still feels like a sister to Taylor. Even more so, now. She's been pushing Heidi away lately, and where did that get her? She missed Heidi so fucking much. Taylor was ashamed, embarrassed, even, about everything going on. She didn't tell Heidi about her struggling to eat, she didn't tell Heidi about the time she was spending with Draco, and she wasn't planning on telling her what happened with Blaise. 

It was all too much to keep in, she had to tell someone. Heidi would always be there for her, Taylor knew that. Whenever she was ready to talk, Heidi would listen.

Taylor slept soundly for ten hours with Heidi, it was the first night she didn't have a nightmare in days. Once Heidi saw she was awake, she groaned, "Finally, I've had to pee for like an hour!" Heidi dramatically wobbled to the bathroom, leaving the door open because Taylor asked her not to close it all the way. "Why didn't you just get up?" Taylor asked before yawning and stretching her arms out. She rubbed her eyes and sat up.

"I didn't want to wake you, you looked so peaceful," she giggled. Taylor stared into the wall, dissociating. She responded to Heidi's blurred comments with "mhm," and "huh." She wasn't stuck thinking one thing on repeat and she wasn't overthinking. There wasn't a thought in her head. 

Her face peered around the doorframe, she had a pink lip gloss in her hand, "Tay, did you hear what I said?" Taylor's eyes flickered away from the wall and to Heidi, lost and confused. "That's what I thought," Heidi sighed. "Get up, you're going to class today." She turned back to the mirror and continued to apply the gloss to her lips. 

Fuckkk. She didn't want to leave her dorm. Maybe she could convince Heidi to skip class and stay in her room? No, Heidi's a stubborn Taurus, Taylor could never pull it off. 

Taylor groaned and pulled the covers back over her, sinking into the mattress. Heidi responded to her with, "You can't hide in here forever, you know." Taylor huffed and got up, sorting through the piles of clothes on her floor. She wore black leggings and a yellow sweater with 'HUFFLEPUFF' in black letters across the front. She went to grab her wand from the nightstand, but it wasn't there. She looked through her entire room, lifting up blankets and clothes trying to find her wand. 

Taylor doesn't misplace things and she definitely doesn't lose them. 

Suddenly, everything on the floor lifted into the air. Taylor turned to see Heidi with her own wand held up high. "It's right there, under your bed," Heidi pointed at the bed and sure enough, Taylor's wand sat just underneath it. She used her wand to clean her outfit, straightening out any wrinkles. 

-

Her first class of the day was Transfiguration. Professor McGonagall asked for her to stay late to catch up. She was going to have a tutor, the "best transfigurist in her year," according to McGonagall. Taylor agreed, knowing she was behind and needed extra help.

The rest of the students had cleared out and Taylor sat waiting for her tutor. McGonagall faced the door and said, "Ah, there you are. Thank you for agreeing to help Miss Bristol. Have you two met?" The voice that responded made Taylor freeze. Almost immediately, she felt like she was drowning again.

"Yes, Profesor, we've met." A tall boy walked into the room. This boy had always been friendly and everyone loved him. He's intelligent, charming, funny, and generally a nice guy. Girls swooned over him, guys were jealous of his attractiveness. And everybody loved him.

Taylor's heart felt like it stopped beating, or maybe it was beating too fast. He looked at her, smirking. He was walking towards her and she wasn't sure what to do. Before she could make a sound, he was already in front of her. He stared into her eyes and leaned his elbows on the desk, "What'd you do with that skirt? You should wear it more often." 

A tear had escaped from Taylor's eyes and she jolted out of her seat. She backed away and stormed out of the room, Profesor McGonagall's voice becoming quieter as she sped through the halls. She turned into a bathroom and locked herself in a stall. Tears were streaming down her face now, almost silently. 

As her crying turned to sobs, the lights in the bathroom flickered and the walls shook, followed by a bang. A pipe burst in the plumbing and water was spewing out from a sink. This wasn't Myrtle's bathroom, so Taylor was confused as to why it seemed to be haunted. Peeves didn't like to mess in the girl's bathrooms, either, so it wasn't him. 

The hauntings stopped when Taylor calmed down a little, barely crying anymore. The sink was still broken, but she could easily fix it with her wand. You couldn't tell it was ever broken, but now it seemed out of place for looking in too good condition. Taylor took it upon herself to revamp the girl's bathroom on the ground floor. She fixed every crack and cleaned every speck of dirt. Once she was done, there was no mold in the sinks or vines growing across the wall. The doors no longer creaked when they moved and all of the plumbing was functioning perfectly.

Satisfied with her work, Taylor started walking to her Charms class. Professor Flitwick chastised her for being late, followed by Heidi doing the same. Taylor apologized saying, "I was fixing the bathroom." Flitwick was confused, to say the least. He was happier knowing she used her knowledge of charms to do this, proving she's learned something.

Professor Flitwick was one of the kinder teachers at Hogwarts, he offered Taylor help and didn't punish her for missing so many classes.

The last class she had was integrated Divination. Students from all four houses were in this class, one of them being Draco. She took her seat and looked at him from across the room. He didn't pay much attention in class, always watching Taylor instead of the professor. They were discussing reading tea leaves, "In this room, you shall discover if you possess the Sight," Profesor Trelawney ran into a table and students laughed.

"Together we shall cast ourselves into the future!" She held her hands up while she talked, her voice wavered slightly. Taylor saw Draco rolling his eyes. She instructed them to take the cup of the person sitting opposite them. Taylor was sitting with Cho Chang. They took each other's cups and looked into the bottom. 

She wasn't sure what she was looking for, but Profesor Trelawney continued, "The truth lies buried like a sentence deep within a book, waiting to be read," she was walking from table to table, making eye contact with each student. 

"But first, you must broaden your minds," she put her hands on Seamus Finnegan's head and shook it profusely, "First, you must look beyond!" 

Taylor was struggling to not laugh. It wasn't that she thought Divination was fake, it was more of Professor Trelawney's teaching methods. She actually quite enjoyed Divination, for this reason, it was different from the usual textbooks and writing on the board.

Hermione was now sitting with Ron and Harry at the table in front of Taylor and Cho. Her voice was in a near-whisper, "What a load of rubbish."

Strange, she wasn't sitting there before. "Where did you come from?" Ron asked, startled.

"Me? I've been here all this time." Taylor laughed to herself, Hermione was a brilliant witch. It wouldn't surprise her if she's been time traveling.

Professor Trelawney continued to ask Neville Longbottom if his grandmother was sick. "Broaden your minds," she kept repeating. Taylor stared into Cho's cup, it just looked like a bunch of tea leaves. "Ah! Your aura is pulsing, dear! Are you in the beyond? I think you are!" In one swift movement, Trelawney was now in front of Cho, holding her shoulder. 

Cho nodded with a frightened look on her face, "Sure," she said weakly. "Look at the cup, tell me what you see." Cho and Taylor exchanged doubtful looks. Draco caught her eye from across the room, an amused smile on his face. 

"Well, Tay's got sort of a comet shape, and that kind of looks like a hammer," Cho was pointing around the bottom of the cup, "Which could mean a triumph over difficulties and major change," she said it as more of a question but gave Taylor a smile and said, "You are approaching a fateful moment in life."

Professor Trelawney stared intently at Cho with her wide eyes, nodding along to what she was saying. "Give me the cup," she held her hands out. Cho tilted it towards her and she immediately gasped. "The gallows," she stated, frantically looking at Taylor. "This is an evil omen, my dear, evil." She crept closer to Taylor with each word. Taylor was starting to freak at this point.

"Okay that's enough," Draco interrupted from his seat across the room. Trelawney glanced at him momentarily then moved her gaze to Ron, "You! Tell me what you see!" Ron started babbling about Harry's tea leaves, but Taylor wasn't listening to them.

She instead looked at Draco and mouthed the words "Thank you." He smiled and mouthed "You're welcome." They held each other's gaze for several seconds but were soon interrupted by Professor Trelawney yelping. 

"Oh, my dear boy... My dear..." She was trembling, and Harry looked terrified. "You have... the Grim!"

Gasps could be heard from around the room. Questions stirred, "The Grin? What's the Grin?"

"Not the Grin, you idiot, the Grim."

A boy in the back spoke up, "Taking the form of a giant spectral dog, it's among the darkest omens in our world. It's an omen of death."

Everyone was thinking the same thing. It had something to do with Sirius Black. Taylor heard Hermione after class saying, "Oh honestly Ron! If you ask me, Divination's a very woolly discipline. Now Ancient Runes, that's a fascinating subject." Her voice left as the three walked down the corridors and exited the castle. 

Sirius Black instilled extreme fear in Taylor. A man who is capable of escaping from Azkaban, the highest security prison, is a dangerous man. Draco caught up to her, interlocking his hand with hers. "Good to see you back in class, Tiny," he said with a grin.

Taylor didn't respond, she only nodded. His hand felt warm pressed against hers, and she wondered when they got to the holding hands' stage. Draco stopped walking and turned to Taylor to face him. "Are you okay?" His eyes darted up from the ground and stared into hers.

"That stuff about the Gallows and the Grim isn't real. You're not in danger." He was now holding both of her hands in his, squeezing them gently. Still, Taylor said nothing. She bore into his eyes and got lost, forgetting where she was and how to breathe. "Can I hug you?" His voice brought her back and she nodded again.

He dropped her hands and wrapped his arms around her body, resting his chin on her head. She smiled and hugged him back. She could tell how expensive his suit was from the fabric. Taylor didn't even know what it was. It wasn't silk or wool, nothing she's felt before. "What's your suit made out of?" 

Draco paused for a moment, "What?"

"Your suit. What's it made of?" She drew shapes on his back in the fabric.

He laughed a little, "Linen, darling." 

"Huh." They stood in silence, still in a tight embrace. "Is it expensive?"

"Not sure, possibly." Draco's family was incredibly wealthy. Of course, he didn't know if his coat was expensive. Why would he? He had enough money to fill an entire warehouse with linen suits. Taylor thought about how nice it would be to not worry about money. About being able to know you'll always have a home or food on the table.

At Hogwarts, Taylor didn't worry about these things. It all came back to her whenever she was home, though. Seeing her dad in their cramped one-bedroom apartment with a broken heater and leaky ceiling. If only she could use just a little bit of magic outside of school. She'd only need to use one or two spells to fix everything up. But she'd definitely be expelled and her wand would get snapped.

-

They walked back to her common room together. Heidi and Cedric were sitting on the couch. Heidi glanced up at her and went back to her book. For a second, Taylor thought she didn't care, or miraculously didn't notice. That was, until, "Tay? You do realize you've brought Draco Malfoy into the common room right?"

Cedric spun around and his expression fell. "The fuck are you doing in here, Malfoy?"

Draco's hands balled into fists as he grew angry. Taylor stepped in before anything could happen, "We're hanging out. Is that a problem?" This was one of the first times Taylor said anything remotely passive-aggressive to her friends.

"Taylor, you can't be serious. He's Malfoy," Cedric continued. His face scrunched in disgust.

Heidi slapped his leg with the back of her hand, "She can do what she wants, Diggory. Don't be a prick." Cedric scoffed and kept reading. Heidi looked at Taylor shaking a finger at her, "As for you, door open at all times. I mean it."

"Okay mom," Taylor exclaimed sarcastically. She leads Draco to her dorm and heard from Heidi, "I MEAN IT!" They laughed as they entered the room. Taylor was immediately embarrassed by her messy room, only now taking into account how bad it was.

Instead of making fun of her, Draco helped her with cleaning charms. But, she liked to put her clothes away herself. She showed Draco how she likes her clothes to be folded, and he listened like he didn't already know. Taylor was organizing her money again, which had been sprawled out over her dresser, and Draco made her bed. 

Taylor looked at him just in time to see him pick Beary up from the floor and place him in between the pillows. She looked away, flustered, and tried to hide her smiling like an idiot. She walked over to the window and glanced at the sky, "It's almost time for dinner."

"And how did you get that from looking outside?" 

"The position of the sun," she said looking back to him. Then, pointing towards the sky, said, "It's almost six."

Taylor watched the clouds hovering above the castle, slowly moving across the sky. She watched as a Hippogriff flew over the Forbidden Forrest. She saw the color-changing butterflies hanging around some Asphodel plants, turning shades of green and yellow.

"Do you think you can eat?" Draco asked, making his way over to her. "Oh yes, I'm starving." 

The two made their way to the Great Hall. Draco had perfectly cut slices of ham and a baked potato on his plate. Taylor had gotten two potatoes, a serving of green beans, and some ham. They ate in the library today, it was almost always abandoned during meals so they could talk freely. Draco didn't make any comments on how much Taylor was eating, which she appreciated.

After they finished, though, he did say he was proud of her for eating the meal. But he said this after every meal, no matter how much she ate. They then went outside and the weather was perfect. Draco held Taylor on his back and he ran around the courtyard, spinning and jumping.

The stars came out of hiding and twinkled in the night sky. Taylor laid on the ground and stared up at them. She loved looking at the stars because they were always in the same spot. Every night.

Draco laid next to her, still laughing and out of breath. "I used to know every constellation," Taylor breathed. "But you don't anymore?" Draco turned his head to look at her. She shook her head, not looking away from the stars, "No," she said softly. "Ana taught me them, she used to point them out every night." She fidgeted with the small 'A' on her silver necklace. 

"Maybe you could learn them again," Draco replied, looking back to the sky. Taylor laughed, "I don't think so. Ana used to talk about how the stars can tell the future. She would tell me all the time, 'It's written in the stars, Tay!' I swear sometimes I think she was supposed to be the witch."

Taylor took a deep breath and looked over at Draco, "She would've loved you, you know." He faced her again, asking, "You think so?" She giggled, "Oh, I know so." 

-

After watching the stars for an hour, they walked hand in hand back to Taylor's room. Draco kissed her forehead and said goodnight. She pulled him in for one last hug, thanking him for the day they spent together. After he left she changed into baggy sweatpants and a soft tank top. She did her regular nightly routine, brushing her teeth and washing her face, before climbing into bed. Halfway through the night, she took the pillow on her left and turned it 90 degrees, placed it back down, and fell asleep again.

The sun was rising over the lake when she woke, feeling ill. As she got up and changed, she felt worse. Taylor walked to the bathroom to brush her hair, trying her best to ignore it. She hated feeling sick. All at once, she threw herself over the toilet and vomited. Immediately, she felt better.

Weird.

She brushed her teeth and continued to get ready for the day, but something didn't feel right. 

-

Since I brought up the fact that Heidi's a Taurus, here's a few character facts you may not know. Taylor is a Saggitarius, which makes sense as to why she and Heidi are best friends. For future reference, Draco is a Gemini, and Mattheo is a Capricorn. If you know zodiac signs stuff, you get it. If you don't, look it up the characters will make so much more sense if you know their signs. And for my people who'll get it: Blaise is a Virgo. Makes a lot of fucking sense right?