HP: She married Malfoy after becoming an exchange student.

(Draco and Elias finally made it back to the group before the prefects "wanted" them.)

[Slytherin Common Room]

The screams in the Great Hall hadn't even subsided when the Slytherin students were already crowding towards the underground common room. Torches flickered in the stone corridor, casting long and short shadows.

Goyle and Crabbe squeezed side by side at the front, their greasy hands still clutching the gnawed chicken bones. Crabbe mumbled, "Trolls must have lice on them."

Gore didn't reply, focusing intently on licking the barbecue sauce off his fingers, his robe stained with a yellow pumpkin pie stain.

Pansy grabbed Daphne's arm and walked quickly, her gray-green hairband brushing against her shoulder.

"Look at how slow Draco is," she glanced behind her, her voice low and meaningful, "if Elias takes a step slower, he'd rather take only half a step, as if he's afraid of being left behind."

A small owl with light brown feathers was perched on Daphne's arm, tilting its head and pecking at the lace on her sleeve.

She smoothed the owl's feathers with her fingertips, a smile curving her eyes: "Those two are always inseparable. Last time Elias brushed the snow off Draco's shoulder, his fingertips brushed against his collarbone a little longer, didn't you see?" (ps: No negative implications, this is just brotherly affection (｡ò ∀ ó｡))

She leaned closer to Pansy, "My little owl cooed right then and there, like it was giving a message."

Pansy chuckled, but the corners of her mouth subtly curled upwards.

Theodore walked beside Elias, the pages of his book rustling softly in the wind. "Filch should be crying," he said, adjusting his glasses. "The troll has trampled the armor on the third floor."

Elias hummed in agreement, but his gaze fell on Draco's back in front of him—the other was kicking a small pebble with his head down, the heel of his boots making a thumping sound on the stone ground.

As he turned the corner, Draco suddenly stopped.

"What are you two whispering and plotting over there!" Draco finally couldn't hold back anymore. The two girls' gazes were too piercing, accompanied by subtle laughter. It was obvious they weren't saying anything nice.

Pansy and Daphne paused, then exchanged a smile. "What else can we say? Just say you and Elias are close."

He was about to retort to Pansy when he was suddenly poked in the lower back—it was Elias who lightly touched him with the end of his wand, as if to say, "Ignore her."

Draco felt a slight heat in his ears and deliberately quickened his pace by half a step, but Elias grabbed the back of his cloak by the collar with a light touch, like lifting a cat with its fur standing on end.

"Elijas!" a third-year boy suddenly shouted, his voice echoing down the corridor, "If you keep clutching Malfoy's cloak, he's going to cry!"

A low chuckle broke out from the Slytherin ranks.

Elias didn't turn around, but simply released his grip and smoothed Draco's rumpled collar. As his fingertips brushed against Draco's neck, Draco abruptly turned his head, his grey-blue eyes widening: "What are you doing?"

"There's a pumpkin seed," Elias said, flicking the stubborn seed away with his thumb against Elias's chin. The movement was as natural as breathing, as if he had done it a thousand times.

Draco's face flushed red, and he turned and walked toward the entrance to the lounge, the hem of his fluttering cloak brushing against Elias's boot tips.

Elias smiled as he watched his retreating figure, then quickly followed, hearing Theodore whisper behind him, "Next time you can use a cleansing charm."

"That wouldn't be fun," he muttered, a hint of amusement in his voice, which was drowned out by Goyle's shouts of "The troll's club is as thick as Crabbe's arm."

Elias quickened his pace and finally caught up with the humiliated and furious Draco at the dormitory door.

"You..." Elias paused.

"What else do you want to say!" Draco's cheeks were flushed red, like a steaming teapot, and his gray eyes were misty. He grabbed Elias by the hem of his robe and pushed him into the bedroom.

Elias wore a dark gray knit sweater with a Slytherin robe over it, the top two buttons undone, revealing his well-defined collarbone.

As Draco grabbed him, the hem of his robe swept across the silver patterns on the carpet, creating a very light breeze that made the wisps of hair on Draco's forehead sway slightly.

"It's nothing," Elias wisely shut his mouth.

"Hmph," Draco walked to the window and began to unpack the gift Lucius had sent that morning.

"Ugh... cufflinks again." Dad's gifts are as boring as ever.

Happy Halloween, Little Dragon.

Elias walked up to him at some point and placed a palm-sized black velvet box on the small coffee table between them.

The box was tied with a silver-green ribbon, which shimmered softly in the pale green light. "For you."

Draco raised an eyebrow, hooked his fingertip on the ribbon, and gently tugged...