A Memorable Tale

61 | Noticing

I walked through the corridor while on patrol, my prefect badge hanging off of my uniform as I eyed the torches perched on the wall and the stones that built the castle.

In the silence of the night, I heard a quiet sniffle and a stifled sob.

My head tilted and I followed the sound to see a first year student from Hufflepuff seated on a window sill, holding his hand and trembling. "Hey..."

The little boy flinched and looked up.

"You're out late," I stated, taking a seat next to him.

"I'm sorry... I had detention."

"Did it just end?"

"Um... A while ago... But I didn't want to go back."

"Why is that?"

He showed me the hand that he was cradling and I saw words carved into his skin, as if someone took a quill and wrote, but it was sharp as a dagger.

I will not speak out of turn.

"It's gonna scar," he sobbed, covering his eyes with his other hand.

My eyes flickered from his hand to his face, his grey eyes glossed over with tears.

I turned, realizing that no one was following me through the forest surrounding the Malfoy Manor, the sound of a young boy's footsteps ceasing. "Draco?"

As I retraced my steps, I found him seated at the roots of a tree, holding his knee and trying to hold back tears. "What happened to you?"

"What do you think happened?! I fell."

I knelt down next to him, prying his hands off of his knee to reveal a gash on his skin. "Geez, you're such a baby."

"Am not!"

I reached into my pocket and pulled out a cloth and some bandages, things I often kept with me when I was going out. It was usually for my animals, but Draco was close enough. "I'll ask Dobby to heal you up when we get back."

When I looked back at his face, I saw tears rimming his eyes.

"Draco?"

"It's gonna scar," he sobbed. "Father's gonna see it."

I held the boy's hand up. "What's your name?"

"Killian."

"Well, Killian, you're going to be just fine. Look at it, it's already beginning to fade, see?" I held it up in front of his face. "Even if it does scar, you can say you defeated a mighty dark wizard when you got it. As a matter of fact, I'll give five points to Hufflepuff, just for being so brave."

He grinned at me and began wiping away his tears. "Thanks."

"Come now. I'll walk you to your dormitories."

We walked through the halls and I approached the entrance of the Hufflepuff common rooms, hesitating. "I-I'll leave you here then. Goodnight."

"Goodnight!"

I watched him disappear into the crawl space and carried on with my patrol. Normally, one would feel a warm feeling inside when they help someone. At that moment, however, I felt a cold chill down my spine.

Who would do such a thing to such a young boy?

•••

"Y/N. Y/N!"

I looked up at Neville, who was emerging from the lake. We had started hanging out weekly at the lake, as a sort of calming method from the year before. From one of the people who tortured his parents sneaking into the school and... you know, the scenery of the lake and, well, each other, were good distractions. "Sorry. What did you say?"