Monsoon Wings

That night, Draco was exhausted. Not only his muscles, but mostly his eyes. Watching Juno Emily dance around in front of him the whole day exasperatedly made him weary. In the end, Juno herself fell onto the floor, dead tired. Draco had to drag her up.

‘You have to get some rest,’ he had said, pulling Juno up by the arm. Damn, she is heavy. He let go and she slumped back onto the ground.

‘Let’s sleep here tonight,’ she begged him, curling on the cold floor like a tight ball.

‘You—’ Draco began, but sighed and sat down beside her fatigued body on the floor. Forget it, he assumed. It had been a long day for her.

They had added some magic to her moves, that was: during the fourth turning, she would jump gracefully with arms outstretched then spin, furtively withdrawing her wand, then giving it a swish and stars would be conjured in the air, gleaming like Gilderoy Lockhart’s teeth, then transforming to snow that fell prettily onto the ground. Then she would do the last move and then bow and the show ends.

Secretly, Draco believed she would never make it past audition.

Sure, she had said that her Mom was a dancer, but vividly that talent wasn’t passed onto her. This fact was like the strongest and brightest candle ever.

‘Do you want me to call Jayden Rocky to carry you up to the Gryffindor common room? Or do you want me to use the Hovering Charm?’ he asked nastily, chuckling at his own statement.

‘Brrr,’ she said, shivering.

‘Cold, eh? That’s why wake up and sleep on your comfy warm bed.’

‘Hm.’

‘Woi, Emily?’

No reply.

‘I’ll leave you here.’ He stood up, brushing his pants. Eww. So much dust.

No reply from the figure on the cold floor.

‘Bye Emily, I’m leaving,’ he was close to the door by now.

No reply.

‘Bye!’ he raised his voice, and opened the door. He went out and shut the door, waiting for Emily to shout, begging him not to leave. He pressed his ear against the hard wooden door.

Merlin’s beard, that pig’s asleep.

He bit his lower lip, annoyed. Then he opened the door and entered the room again. Surely, Juno was still there, in the same position. He coughed out loud, trampled his foot against the floor, and banged the door, still she hadn’t woken up.

He gawped, thinking hard how to move that big sleeping rock. He sat down beside her and paused, refraining from making a single sound, then suddenly bellowed, “Fire! Fire! Save your own lives! Fire!’

He stopped, and listened. Nothing happened. She was still a dead fish.

He angrily pounded the wall. But his knuckles hurt, so he regretted it. What should he do now? Leave her like this? Can’t, he couldn’t.

Oh, come on, she’ll wake up in the morning.

He clicked his tongue impatiently and leaned down, bringing his face close to hers, taking support of his one elbow, propped on the dusty floor. He eyed her for a while, before blowing at her eyelashes. He then whispered into her ear.

‘Juno Emily, if you still don’t wake up, I’ll kiss you straightaway.’

*

She was dreaming she was in Stamp’s hut. It was a black night, and she was shivering. She was searching for Stamp, desperately calling his name all inside the small hut. Out of nowhere she was suddenly in the Ministry of Magic, on the stage. She began dancing, though inside she was screaming to herself to stop dancing, because she was exhausted. She fell down onto the floor, hitting the cold hard dusty floor. Then she looked up and saw Stamp erect, his face very close to hers, speaking something distant.

‘Juno Emily, if you still don’t wake up, I’ll kiss you straightaway.’

Oh yes, she said. Please kiss me.

She opened her eyes and saw the blue-gray eyes, and smiled.

Som—

‘AAAAHHHHHH!!’ she yelled like a lunatic, jumping, fully awake. Her reflex action was to punch that face—which she did.

‘I have never seen someone waking up from a deep sleep shrieking like your style!’ Draco bellowed back, annoyed, rubbing his left cheek where she had punched him.

Juno, realizing what she had done, put a hand over her mouth to stifle her gasp. ‘Oh, my Lord. Are you okay, Malfoy?’

Draco rubbed his cheek angrily, which was throbbing like crazy. He felt it going a bit stiff—maybe it was swelling up. ‘No I am not! Look at what you had done!’ He groaned, and crouched on the floor.

‘I’m sorry! Gosh,’ she reasoned, pulling herself closer to him. She tried to pull his hand, so she could see the wound, but he viciously smacked her arm away, groaning.

‘Oh,’ he lied down on the floor, groaning madly. This was the second time some girl had punched him. Last year it was the Mudblood, now it was some decayed annoying bacterium in the form of Juno Emily.

‘I’m sorry, I was dreaming,’ she repeated, crouching low as well.

He did not stir, and she sighed. Now that she had retrieved from the shock, she felt sleepy again, and lied down on the floor. It was dusty, yes. Big deal.

She was half-asleep when she murmured, ‘Will you come and watch me while I perform?’

Draco, half-asleep as well, grunted.

‘Promise?’ she asked, slowly stirring.

‘Yes,’ Draco said hoarsely. ‘Yes, Juno. I’ll be there.’

Hey, what are you saying? A voice in his head intervened. Tomorrow is your time with Olivia.

Nevertheless, he did no further ado, because he had fallen asleep.

Neither of them realized that, throughout the night, the sky was shedding snow; Fawkes the phoenix was singing a silent melody; that their bodies had moved closer to each other, embracing in the coldness of the night.