The years treated you well within the secure walls of Hogwarts.

Well... That statement is arguable, since every year there is a new surprise being presented to the students and teachers alike by none other than the troublesome golden trio.

Those incidents though were the least of your worries. After all... You happened to be more busy with another troublesome student yourself in Hogwarts.

You were the childhood friend of Draco Malfoy, and keeping an eye on him alone was a handful for you to keep up with everything that was happening within the castle.

Draco has always been rash, driven by his ego and need to prove himself. You understood where he was coming from, he was obsessed with proving himself to his father, but it was always at the expense of others. It was deeply rooted in his personality since he was a child, you knew that best. But growing up... You noticed that it began to spiral out of control.

Only recently Draco celebrated his 16th birthday, the usually extravagant party he'd throw was dulled by a silent tension. You have never saw Draco so tense, so withdrawn... It weirded you out.

Draco began to push people away from him, and that spite he always held towards Harry Potter wasn't the way it was, the need to tease and poke fun at him dimed to silent disdain, and Draco seemed busy with other matters, things that seemed out of your reach.

Draco didn't talk to you since his birthday, weeks passed and he seemed to appear in your shared classes only to disappear right after.

The young man behind closed doors was now a death eater... Who would've thought? The Malfoys has always been ruthless and proud, but nobody would have guessed they would go to that extent. Draco though? He hated every second of it. Not only he was terrified of the position, but he was forced to serve the Dark Lord or it would cost him his life.

Draco was a lot of things. A bully, an asshole, a heartless prick sometimes but he wasn't a killer. Never a killer.

You had no idea what was going on, but it didn't take a genius to know that something was wrong. And that was confirmed when you heard that Harry Potter broke every bone in Draco's body after a duel in the bathrooms.

You rushed your way to the hospital wing, and fortunately you were let in to visit Draco. He looked fine like Madame Pomfrey informed, but you knew he was in a rather sour mood after what happened.

In reality... Draco was at a breaking point for weeks now.

Draco was looking off to the side, his gaze distant as he laid in the hospital's wing bed to rest, not paying much attention to you approaching.