Monsoon Wings

She stared at the pale face for a long time, her insides empty, not knowing what to think.

But what shocked her most was the necklace around Draco’s neck.

It was the shiny chain with a bell, exactly the one she had received as a Christmas present.

From Malfoy himself.

So there was a pair. And he had given one to her.

Heart thumping, Juno ran towards the hospital wing, past the armor knights near the kitchen. Her footsteps heavily thudded in the empty hallway. She did not stop until she was in the first floor, away from the dungeons. When she did stop, she bent down, clutching at her heart, panting wildly. She was in the first floor corridor now, open to the grounds.

A noisy voice called, ‘Hey Juno!’

Juno glanced and saw it was Elvis, carrying a couple of scurrying owls in his armpits, waving like a lunatic. He lost grasp of one owl and it flew away.

Juno rolled her eyes, wetting her dry lips, still panting. As she adjusted her jacket zipper, she excused, ‘Sorry Elvis, have to go to the hospital wing. Emergency.’

‘Oh, my brother invited both of you to come to dinner with us tonight,’ Elvis called, but she had left, running all the way.

*

It was around five in the evening when Draco finally woke up. The colors were on again on his face. He still felt dizzy, so he went back to lie down on his bed. But then he caught a lump at the foot of his bed. No. It was someone, sitting on a chair and crouching on the bed. Sleeping, maybe. Judging by the blonde hair, it must be Emily.

She was resting on his feet, and they had gone numb because of it. Draco pulled his feet away and she woke up in an instant, as if responding to a terrorist attack.

‘Draco!’ she shouted.

Oh, what? She just called him Draco?

She shouted his name so loud that it echoed in the room, and Draco closed his ears, annoyed. A second later he scratched his hair (gosh, it’s oily) and asked, ‘What happened?’

‘You had a fever. A thumping heavy one. I ran to the hospital wing immediately to get you something. You okay?’

‘I guess so,’ he said, sitting on his bed. The world turned really red around him. ‘Ow,’ he murmured, and lied back again, massaging his forehead.

Like a nanny, Juno walked and sat beside him, checking his forehead, and nodding. It had gone cool. She stared at the window of a few seconds.

‘Elvis said we are invited to dinner tonight,’ she said, and Draco grunted. He had covered his face with a pillow, lying like a dead rat. Suddenly he removed the pillow and said, ‘Were you the one taking care of me while I was sick?’

She nodded expressionlessly. At least he had good metabolism. Fever started in the morning and by evening, it had gone down. Some people had to stay confined in bed for days.

‘And what did you do all the time? Sitting there waiting for me to wake up?’ Draco tried to sit up again, this time slowly. And as he did so, his necklace shined. Juno caught it with the corner of her eyes.

‘Uh huh,’ she said, trying to look straight.

The true thing was, she had been sheepishly staring at him for the whole morning and afternoon. She had started to like his face. His nose, his lips, his pointed features. His Adam’s apple, protruding straight out— was her favorite.

‘Then I can’t go for dinner, you go yourself,’ Draco said, indirectly shaking her off her own thoughts. He lazily lay down again, covering the whole of himself with the blanket.

Juno shrugged. ‘Do you like Elvis?’

Draco made a “whoosh” sound before replying, ‘He’s chatty. Loquacious. Wordy.’

‘Yeah. But that’s his character. You can’t help it. There are things which you can’t help in this world. They just happen to be that way,’ she answered.

He crossed his arms below his head. He stared at the ceiling. ‘You know, you should lie back down like I am doing,’ he urged. ‘Take this bed nearest to the window. Blaise had gone home for Christmas.’

She felt a bit weary, so she lied down on that bed. For a minute they just stared at the ceiling, thinking their own thoughts.

‘So, you mean, some things can’t be changed?’ he asked, like a small kid.

‘Yeah.’

‘No matter how hard I try to change it?’

‘Yeah.’

The snow had fallen outside.

‘Oh, my. Look, it’s so beautiful,’ she whispered, getting up. She knelt on the bed first, then towards the window, slightly opening it. The breeze guided the fragile snowflakes and it touched her skin.

Draco had struggled out of bed and joined Juno near the window, grinning in wonder. He felt a bit cold, but the astonishing snow attracted him more. He reached out a hand and caught the flakes, which, of course, melt as soon as it comes in contact with his heat.

‘You know what, Emily,’ Draco said very softly. ‘Merry Christmas.’

‘Merry Christmas too,’ she whispered.

Draco.

For the rest of the evening till sunset, they stayed there, gazing up at the sky.

*

Elvis’s small hut was warmly lit. Hagrid’s hut was not far away from their small hut. They had chicken and spaghetti for dinner that night. A bit salty, but apart from that, it was okay. Elvis proved to be an entertainer and a joker for dinner.

Yeah.

Really different from Stamp.

Throughout dinner, he kept to his usual cool self, laughing occasionaly. He had nice sets of gleaming teeth, and small dimples. Juno also realized his eyes were not blue—they were grey. Blue-gray. Just like Draco.

And Stamp seldom stared at her, as well, causing her to blush.

After dinner, the three of them chatted about school and Dumbledore, and of course, about the Triwizard Tournament. Stamp was a brilliant talker, but Elvis preferred to boast about his owls. By nine o’clock their talks had directed to the Magical Talent Contest.

‘I’d surely like to join,’ Elvis was blabbing proudly. ‘I can do some attraction with my owl,’ he poked his huge dirty barn owl. ‘Found him when he was still a baby. In the dustbin. Don’t understand why anyone would want to throw one as cute as him away.’

By ten, Juno decided to return to the castle. Elvis offered to accompany her, but the dishes demanded his attention.

Stamp walked with her instead.