It ends.

The castle hummed with an energy that hadn't been there all year. Umbridge was gone, driven out by the Weasley twins' spectacular farewell performance, and for the first time in months, everyone felt like they could breathe again. The looming threat of her pink horror had vanished, and with the end of term so close, there was nothing left but relief, laughter, and the excitement of going home.

Kenny, Blaise, Pansy, and I were all sitting near the Black Lake, giggling like we hadn't in what felt like forever. The past few weeks had been hell, but now? Now, we could finally pretend everything was normal again.

Until he arrived.

Draco Malfoy walked towards us with his usual air of entitlement, his platinum hair catching the golden rays of the setting sun. I didn't even have to turn around to feel his presence. It was like my body was wired to recognize his proximity, to react before my brain could. But this time, there was no fluttering excitement. No warmth.

Only dread.

He stopped a few feet away, arms crossed, expression unreadable. "Having fun?" he drawled.

"Oh, loads," I replied breezily, tilting my head back to look at him. "It's been a fantastic day, actually."

The obnoxious first-years nearby had been picking up on the tension, their nosy little heads poking in, whispering amongst themselves. I heard one of them mumble something about 'rizz' and 'drama,' which only fueled the fire in my gut. Blaise and Pansy smirked, clearly enjoying the scene that was about to unfold.

Draco scoffed. "Of course. Now that you're done playing traitor, life must be grand."

I tensed, my fingers curling into fists. "Oh, for Merlin's sake, we are still on this?"

"Why wouldn't we be?" He took a step closer, his voice low but sharp. "You lied. You snuck around. You betrayed me. You betrayed all of us. And now, what? You think we're just going to laugh about it over a butterbeer?"

I shot up from my seat. "I didn't betray you!"

"You joined Potter's little club!" His voice rose, drawing more attention. "You—Selene Blackthorn, a Slytherin—ran around with a bunch of Gryffindors and helped them go against the very people you grew up with."

I shook my head, laughing bitterly. "Oh, grow up, Malfoy! You're acting like I ran off to be a damn Weasley."

"Oh, don't worry, you were halfway there, weren't you?" He sneered, and my stomach twisted violently. "Weasley seemed awfully comfortable grabbing you that night outside the Room of Requirement."

I felt my face burn. "That was not—"

"What? Not what it looked like?" He let out a humorless laugh. "Of course. Because Malfoy is just a paranoid, jealous git, isn't he? Malfoy is just the fool who stood by you all these years while you ran off to be Potter's new pet."

I pushed him.

I don't know what came over me, but I shoved him, and Draco actually stumbled back a step. "You are such an insufferable prick, Malfoy!" I shrieked. "You think this is about you? That everything I did was some elaborate ploy to betray you?"

Blaise whistled lowly. "Oh, this is getting good."

Pansy nudged Kenny. "Ten galleons says she swings next."

Draco's face twisted with rage as he closed the space between us, his voice a dangerous whisper. "Then what was it about, Selene? Because from where I'm standing, it sure as hell looks like you chose them over us."

I jabbed a finger at his chest. "Oh, I don't know, Draco, maybe because I wanted to actually learn magic? Maybe because Umbridge was running this place like some kind of deranged dictator while you were too busy kissing her arse to notice?"

His eyes darkened. "Don't."

"Don't what?" I scoffed. "Tell the truth? You loved the Inquisitorial Squad. It gave you power, and we all know how much you love that."

His jaw clenched. "You don't know what you're talking about."

I threw my hands up. "You just hate that I didn't fall in line like I was supposed to!"

His expression was venomous. "I hate that you lied to me. I hate that you kept things from me like I was some idiot who wouldn't understand."

"You wouldn't have."

It slipped out before I could stop it, and I immediately regretted it. The look on his face was almost enough to make me take it back.

Almost.

His breath hitched, and for a moment, I saw it—the hurt. The pure, unfiltered betrayal beneath all the anger. But then, just as quickly, his walls slammed back into place. His face twisted into something cold and cruel. "Well, at least you finally admitted it."

A lump formed in my throat. "Draco—"

"No." His voice was sharp. Final. "You made your choice. You picked your side."

I shook my head, tears pricking at my eyes. "I didn't pick anything! I didn't want any of this!"

He scoffed. "Could've fooled me."

The argument had started as a stupid petty fight, but now, it was something else entirely. Something much bigger.

"You are so dense," I spat. "You act like you know me so well, but you don't, do you? Because if you did, you'd know that everything I did—I did it to survive this hellhole! I did it so that when I walk out of here, I'll actually have learned something instead of being Umbridge's puppet!"

His lips curled. "And yet, here you are, standing on the opposite side of everything you claimed to believe in."

I felt something in my chest crack. "Draco—"

"I don't even know you anymore."

Silence.

Real, heavy silence settled between us, and suddenly, the weight of what had just happened slammed into me like a freight train.

The fight was over.

But we had both lost.

Draco exhaled harshly, running a hand through his hair. Without another word, he turned on his heel and walked away. Just like that.

And I let him go.

Pansy, Blaise, and Kenny stood in stunned silence, and the first-years—who had been obnoxiously commenting throughout the fight—seemed to sense that this was no longer a joke.

Kenny reached for me, but I stepped back. "I—I need to be alone."

She hesitated but nodded, understanding me better than I understood myself at that moment.

And then, without another word, I walked away, my heart aching, my world crashing down, and the knowledge that nothing would ever be the same again weighing heavy on my soul.

.......................................................................

The train ride back home was supposed to be quiet, a moment to breathe after the chaos that had unfolded at Hogwarts. But, of course, nothing in my life was ever quiet when it came to Draco Malfoy.

I had barely stepped into the Slytherin compartment when his voice cut through the low murmurs of conversation.

"Oh, look who finally decided to grace us with her presence," Draco sneered, his arms crossed as he leaned against the window. "Thought you'd be off with Potter and his lot, seeing as you're practically one of them now."

I clenched my jaw. I had barely spoken to him since our last argument, but it seemed like he had been waiting for an opportunity to start another one.

"Draco, I swear, I am not in the mood—"

"Oh, of course, you're not in the mood!" He stood up, stepping toward me. "You're never in the mood when it comes to addressing the fact that you bloody betrayed us!"

I scoffed. "Betrayed you? Merlin, Draco, you sound like I handed you over to the Dark Lord himself. I trained with Potter, I didn't kill your mother!"

Gasps filled the compartment, but I was too angry to care.

Draco's face twisted, his pale skin reddening with fury. "You don't get to joke about that. You have no idea what you did, do you? You chose them. You humiliated me. You humiliated all of us!"

"You humiliated yourself!" I shot back, stepping closer until we were practically nose to nose. "You and your precious Inquisitorial Squad running around like Umbridge's little lapdogs—did that make you feel powerful, Malfoy? Did it make you feel like you mattered?"

His fists clenched at his sides. "You don't get to talk to me like that. You don't know what it's like to carry the weight I do—"

"Oh, please spare me the tragic prince act!" I threw my hands up. "You're not the only one with expectations, Draco. You're not the only one who has to make choices!"

"AND YOU MADE THE WRONG ONE!" he bellowed, his voice cracking slightly, and for a split second, I saw it—the hurt, the betrayal, the sheer devastation. But just as quickly, it was gone, masked by his ever-present anger.

"You think I don't regret it?" I whispered, my voice raw. "You think it didn't kill me to keep things from you? To see you look at me like I was the enemy?"

He laughed bitterly, running a hand through his platinum hair. "You ARE the enemy, Selene. You picked them over me. Over us."

I let out a hollow laugh. "Oh, don't flatter yourself, Malfoy. I didn't pick anyone. I picked myself for once. And maybe that's why you can't stand it."

Draco lunged forward, and for a second, I thought he was actually going to hit me, but Blaise and Theo grabbed him by the shoulders, holding him back.

"Alright, that's enough!" Theo barked. "Both of you, stop acting like bloody lunatics."

"You don't understand," Draco snapped, his voice shaking. "None of you do."

"Then make me understand!" I yelled, my hands shaking at my sides.

Draco stared at me, his breathing heavy, his grey eyes stormy and unreadable. But then, just like that, he turned away.

"There's nothing to explain. We're done here."

The words hit harder than I expected, but I refused to let him see it. I swallowed the lump in my throat and walked out of the compartment without another word.

The train ride dragged on in silence, and when we finally arrived at King's Cross Station, I was exhausted, both mentally and physically. My parents were waiting for me on the platform, their faces cold and unreadable.

My mother barely glanced at me before turning to my father. "Let's go."

No warm greetings. No 'how was your term?'. Just disappointment, heavy and suffocating.

As I turned to take one last glance at Draco, I found him staring right back at me. But unlike before, there was no anger, no fire. Just emptiness.

And somehow, that hurt the most.