The night he gave it to you felt as though it were carved out of time, suspended between the castle's chaotic atmosphere and the quiet certainty of young love.

After dinner, Draco pulled you aside and led you into the dimly lit corridor leading to the courtyard. You noticed a hint of nervousness in his demeanour that you weren't used to seeing. After all, he was always collected, smug and two steps ahead. But tonight, he was just... Draco.

“This is for you,” he said, pressing a velvet box into your hands. When you opened it, you saw a delicate silver chain inside. Dangling from it was a serpent charm.

“Just touch it,” he added, his voice softer now. “And I will always know when you miss me.”

You slipped the necklace around your neck, and the cold charm settled against your collarbone. For a fleeting moment, Draco smiled back, the kind of smile that stripped away every wall he had ever built.

A year was a long time.

And yet, it wasn’t.

Daphne was perched on the edge of the armchair opposite you, wringing her hands. You knew this conversation was coming; you just didn’t know when.

“Just to clarify…” Daphne started, “it doesn’t bother you that I’m dating him? I mean… it’s only been a year.”

“Daphne,” you said, “I left him for a good reason. Don’t worry. It’s fine. You can date him.”

Her face softened with relief. “Thanks… it means a lot.”

You nodded and offered her a faint smile before excusing yourself, before the walls you’d built could crack.

The dormitory was quiet when you returned. You sat on your bed, the silence pressing in on you, and stared at the trunk by your feet.

You knew what lay hidden inside it. You hadn’t looked at it in months. But tonight, Daphne’s words had unearthed something within you.

You opened the trunk. At the very bottom, beneath folded robes and forgotten parchment, the necklace gleamed faintly.

Your fingers shook. You remembered the night Draco had given it to you, how he had sounded almost afraid, almost hopeful. You remembered the way he had smiled when you put it on.

You shouldn’t. You told yourself that. You had told Daphne that you were fine, that you had moved on and that the past was the past.

And yet.

You closed your hand around the charm and pressed it against your palm. A jolt of warmth spread from it, pulsing faintly in a way that made you feel as though it were alive and connected to you. You swallowed hard. At that exact moment, Draco knew.

He knew you missed him.

Far away, in the library where he and Daphne were studying, Draco froze. The sensation came like a tug at his heart, a familiar warmth that he hadn't felt in a year. He blinked, and in that instant, he knew.

You had touched the necklace.

Draco’s throat tightened. For a year, he had wondered whether you still kept it or had thrown it away, and whether the promise he had given you had meant as much to you as it had to him. Now he had his answer.

Daphne’s voice pulled him back. “Draco? Are you all right?”

He blinked again. “Fine,” he answered.

But his mind was not on the parchment in front of him or Daphne’s questions about potions. It was on you, sitting somewhere in the castle and touching that necklace; reaching across the distance that you had both tried so hard to create between you.

And though he didn’t allow himself to smile, he couldn’t stop the truth from sinking in... you still missed him.