Wake Me up When My Story Ends

Alexa hoisted her luggage onto the train, thankfully smiling as Seamus lent her his hand. On the train, she made her way through the narrow corridors to find Malfoy’s cabin. She was desperately wishing that he chose to sit alone today, without all of his lackeys and worshipers.

Passing cabin by cabin, Alexa tried to move quickly so no one would recognize her and ask any questions. This trip isn’t something she wants people to know about. A Gryffindor vacationing with a Slytherin: could the odds play less in their favor?

By the end of the train, Alexa’s arms were aching from dragging along her two bags while avoiding the numerous mistletoes. In one of the last cabins, she caught sight of a familiar bushy, brunette mane of hair behind the opaque glass.

Silently cursing to herself, Alexa dived into a nearby cabin, swiftly shutting the door behind her. Outside of the cabin, Hermione had opened her door and was looking up and down the hall. She gave up after a few seconds, retiring back into her cabin.

Alexa sighed with relief, flipping her long bangs behind her head with her hand while breathing deeply. That was close. She hadn’t told Hermione where she was going for vacation; she had actually just evaded her on the train platform.

“Do you have to be in the same cabin as me too?” a familiar voice hissed behind Alexa and her relaxed posture grew stiff. Turning around, she saw Draco Malfoy lounging against the seat, pale grey eyes glaring at her.

“Shut it,” Alexa snapped, hoisting her bags on top of the rack up above the seats. It’s not as if she wanted to be here. She would love nothing more than to run out of the cabin and go room with Hermione or Luna but she didn’t have much of a choice. But if she left, Draco would slip away by the end of the train ride and she’d never find her way to the Malfoy Manor. Her parents might just kill her if that happened; this trip means a lot to them.

“Ouch,” Draco sarcastically mocked, his glower fixed on Alexa.

Alexa sat directly across Draco, drawing another scowl from him, but she wasn’t about to stare into the corridor the entire train ride. The window was much more engaging.

The train’s whistle hissed and with a jolt, they began abruptly moving. Alexa hastily swept her eyes around the compartment, thankfully acknowledging that only Draco’s luggage was-

“Draco!” a sickly sweet voice exclaimed and the sliding door flew open to reveal Pansy Parkinson. She squealed when she saw Draco, gushing desperation. Alexa and Draco synonymously frowned at her pug-like face.

“What’s she doing here?” Pansy cried, jabbing a manicured finger at Alexa. Draco groaned, frustratedly rubbing his forehead. He got up and in a swift motion closed the door, shielding them from any prying eyes.

Even though Alexa loathed the boy in the way a Gryffindor would, she couldn’t help but sympathize with him a little. He clearly despised the other two women in the compartment.

“Nothing,” Draco irritably answered but Pansy clearly wasn’t pleased.

Alexa looked away from Pansy, returning her eyes to the window once again. Fortunately, Draco and Pansy never got in many disputes with Alexa. Other than her being a Gryffindor, they had no reason to hate her. Evidently, that was reason enough.

“Make her leave,” Pansy complained to Draco, angrily tapping her foot. The annoying tapping never ceased, constantly clicking against the ground.

Alexa snapped her head towards Pansy, glaring venomously at her. Right now, she was very stressed. She had no idea why her family was spending Christmas with the Malfoys, other than the likely fact that Voldemort actually was back, as according to Harry Potter. If that was true, then this was an even greater problem.

“Why don’t you try?” Alexa hissed, whipping her cedar wand out of her robe and pointing it at Pansy. She really wasn’t in the mood for Pansy’s screeching.

“Why you little bi-“

“ENOUGH!” Draco roared. Alexa narrowed her eyes at him but the dark bags under his eyes kept her mouth shut. She didn’t care for Draco, his attitude annoyed her, but that was it. She had no personal vendetta against him. He was just another nasty Slytherin to her. Pansy, on the other hand, was stretching Alexa’s last nerve.

“But Draco-“ Pansy whined, but a stern gaze from Draco shut her up. Alexa eyed the way he kept massaging his temple, the way he ran his hand through his bleached hair, and concluded that there was something big on his mind as well.

When Draco didn’t reply, tears began to well in Pansy’s eyes. She turned and sprinted out of the room, slamming the door shut behind her. A few moments later, they could hear her wailing from a nearby compartment.

Draco groaned, resting the back of his head on the seat. He closed his eyes, his narrowed face more gauntly than ever, “Fool, look what you’ve done.”

“What I’ve done?” Alexa incredulously asked, raising a cross eyebrow at the Slytherin, “It was your bloody girlfriend who ran in here and bawled, idiot.”

“Don’t talk to me that way,” Draco snapped, opening his ashen eyes and glaring at Alexa. Alexa openly glared back, temper flaring.

“I’ll talk to you however the hell I want to,” she growled, clenching her fist around her wand. Her memory stretched, trying to remember if magic was permitted on the train. After a moment, she realized she didn’t even care.

“You’re getting on my last nerve,” Draco warned, closing his eyes again with his brow crunched. Clearly, he was deeply occupied on some other matter, openly stressing about it. Everyone has problems but it didn’t give him permission to talk to Alexa like that.

“As if I care,” Alexa scoffed, “Tch.”

“You’re coming to my house,” Draco reminded, scowling with his eyes still shut, “Drop your damn attitude and show some respect.”

Alexa darkly laughed, thoroughly enraged, “I don’t know who the hell you think you are Malfoy, but trust me, no one wants to run back to the castle as much as I do right now.”

“I wouldn’t be too sure,” Draco spat, and for a second Alexa mulled over his words, trying to understand why he wouldn’t want to return home. He quickly continued, clearing up any misconceptions, “Being stuck with a cabin with you for a train ride, a witless Gryffindor, is torture.”

“Not all of us are born as heartless Slytherins,” Alexa hissed, shifting her glare to the window. Draco didn’t look as if he was about to open his eyes but nevertheless she couldn’t risk him noticing any emotion within her own. Those words hit close to home with her, considering she was the only Gryffindor to taint the Yaxley legacy.

When a silence followed, Alexa glanced over to Draco, expecting a retort. Instead, his body was limp against the seat and his chest was steadily expanding and contracting. He had fallen asleep in the middle of their argument.

Alexa frowned, displeased with his reaction. Her frown faded as she observed Draco’s sleeping face. He looked so different without a sneer cloaking the rest his features. Without his menacing expression, he seemed helpless and innocent. His bangs fell gently on his face, shielding his eyelids from her. The deep circles under his eyes explained why he fell asleep.

Alexa turned away, choosing to watch the trees soar past the train outside instead. The dull chattering from other compartments was like a lullaby, compelling her eyes to close. She hadn’t gotten any sleep the previous night while worrying about her engagements for the following week with her parents. Fluttering her eyelids, her eyes closed while falling asleep to steady rhythm of Draco’s soft breaths .