Monsoon Wings

That night, the 2nd of January, the first day the new term started, was the day Juno thought would never come.

That dinner, she already witnessed something she shouldn’t have witnessed.

Shouldn’t have witnessed.

At least that was the way she called it.

That night, in the Slytherin common room, Draco also said something she shouldn’t have heard. It felt odd, coming from his lips. Moreover, because it was never expected by her. She had been so used that, disconnecting herself from it felt painful.

‘From now onwards, you don’t have to wait for me again,’ he started. He was sitting around the table, 3 seats away from where she was sitting. His Transfiguration work lay opened, untouched. He was playing with his fingers, eyes locked on them. ‘Every morning, you can return back to where you belong in the Gryffindor table.’

She paused, pretending it was okay. ‘Because now Olivia will take my place, right?’

‘Yes and no. Remember the bond has not expired. You are still my slave. And I am instructing you to—to go back where you belonged. You don’t have to accompany me during classes, as well.’

She actually fixed her gaze on him. His eyes were still focused on his hands. He felt very distant to her now. What happened basically? He should sit next to her, teasing her as always. But now it felt different to her. The 3 empty seats next to her had defined the hole in her heart.

‘In short, you can do your business with Stamp while I do mine with Olivia,’ Draco said slowly, picking the words.

They paused again. Juno looked down at her Transfiguration.

‘And thinking about the necklace—’ Draco said, narrowing his eyes, ‘I’m sorry a mistake has been made. Either coincidently or deliberately.’

‘What?’ she said, heart thumping slightly.

‘It was meant for Olivia,’ Draco said softly. ‘I sent it via owl. Should have used house-elves. My mistake. With people like Elvis running around. He’s in charge of the owls. You must know what I mean.’

Juno nodded. What else could she do? ‘I’ll give it back to you.’

‘Yeah,’ Draco whispered, then sniffed. ‘Okay. That’s all I want to say.’

Juno forced a laugh. ‘Elvis is weird. The first time I met him, that night of the Yule Ball, I thought he was my stalker.’

Draco’s faced looked up straight at her, as if pulled by a magnet. His eyebrows cringed. ‘Your stalker? You mean, you got another message?’

‘Nothing. It’s okay. Nothing has happened again. Probably he has got bored and went to stalk someone else.’

A silence followed again. Juno watched a few first-years playing Dungbombs in the corner. They reminded her of Fred and George.

What was the last time she had seen them? She didn’t know. The Gryffindor common room had become alienated from her. But not for now. She’s coming back, right?

She closed and arranged her books and parchment, preparing to leave.

‘What are you doing?’ Draco asked.

‘Leaving.’

‘No, stay,’ he requested timidly.

She sighed and decided to stay, playing with the hem of her robes.

‘How about the audition? Are you prepared yet?’ he opened a topic.

‘Yes. I mean no,’ she said a bit nervously. True, she did not rehearse anything. Well, she had, apparently, but just a bit. She was really confused, she had no single idea what to perform. ‘I’ll go on the 5th—that’s Sunday.’

‘What is the point of going if you don’t know what to perform?’ he mocked, with that usual nasty smirk in his face.

‘Are you titillating me?’ she snapped.

‘Fine. Meet me on Saturday, dungeon number four, the furthest from the one in which we have Potions. We’ll rehearse there.’

‘What?’ she was flabbergasted. Firstly, because she had never expected this Draco Malfoy, the one who had always caused her life havoc and unhappiness, actually wanted to help her. He was the one laughing the hardest the first time he heard she was going for this contest! Secondly, the way he said it, as if he himself was joining.

‘Full day practice,’ he spoke again, gazing into space.

‘What about Olivia?’

‘What about her? You know she always spends Saturdays with her stinky friends in the library.’

‘She is a nice girl,’ Juno said softly. ‘And I wish you both every bit of happiness.’

There was a weird thoughtful expression in Draco's face. Was it sadness? Emptiness? Juno could not correctly guess. Why should he feel that way, when he had just won the girl of his heart.

They went to the pit of silence again. The first years were given penalty by one of the Prefects for playing Dungbombs.

‘Will anyone send you to the Ministry of Magic?’ Draco asked again after sometime, watching the first years and thinking how lame they were.

‘Probably Elvis. And Stamp,’ she blushed, and Draco coughed.

‘Right. Your boyfriend,’ he added sarcastically.

‘You see, Elvis is joining too. He said he had prepared a performance involving his owls.’

They looked at each other like starving African babies, before bursting out the best laughter ever.