🪄✨ Cerita keenam: A night staring at the sky



"Kak! Lihat deh bintang itu."

"Yang mana?"

"Yang paling terang. Itu!"

"Yang tidak berkelap-kelip itu?"

"Eh—iya! Paling terang dan tidak berkelap-kelip! Indah sekali ya kaaak? Kalau malamnya cerah begini selalu ada saja bintang yang terlihat paling terang di langit. Kira-kira itu bintang apa ya?"

"Bintang yang kau lihat itu planet Venus. Tidak hanya di malam hari, ia juga muncul sesaat sebelum matahari terbit dan terbenam."

"Eh?" Calia menatap tak percaya senior yang sedang tiduran di sampingnya, "Aku tahu kakak sangat pandai, tapi masa kakak sampai bisa membedakan jutaan bintang yang ada di langit malam begini hanya dengan melihatnya saja?"

"Aku tidak sedang menyebutkan nama semua bintang. Aku hanya menjawab pertanyaanmu saja, tentang bintang yang sedang kau kagumi."

"Tapi bagaimana mungkin kakak bisa tahu itu adalah planet Venus?"

"Yang terlihat di langit malam tidak semuanya bintang, 5 di antaranya itu planet."

"Oh ya? Tapi bagaimana kakak bisa tahu mana yang bintang dan mana yang planet?"

Zayn mengangkat sebelah tangannya, menunjuk langit malam yang di atas mereka, "yang berkelap-kelip itu bintang, dan yang tidak itu planet. Bintang-bintang akan selalu berada di tempat yang sama, sedangkan planet berpindah-pindah."

"Ya Tuhan—" Calia masih terpanah—untuk kesekian kalinya—dengan kepandaian seniornya itu, "rasanya kalau tiap hari bersamamu, lulus dari Hogwarts aku akan lolos tes masuk Yale."

"Yale? Apa itu?" Zayn menoleh, ah tentu saja pria berdarah campuran itu tidak tahu Yale, pikir Calia.

Calia tertawa, "muggle things."

"Tapi itu apa?"

"Itu universitas, Kak!" Jawab gadis itu di sela tawanya, "jadi para muggle itu setelah lulus sekolah, bisa lanjut ke jenjang pendidikan yang lebih tinggi. Ya itu, universitas!"

"Oh, maksudmu seperti Harvard?"

"Loh? Kakak tahu Harvard?"

"Ya, tentu saja. Aku kira universitas hanya Harvard, atau mungkin itu yang terbaik di dunia."

"Tidak." Calia mengerucutkan bibirnya, "yang terbaik itu Yale, bukan Harvard."

"Aku tidak ingin memperdebatkan apa yang tidak kuketahui."

"Tapi sekarang kakak harus tahu, Yale itu lebih bagus dari Harvard." Calia mendekatkan wajahnya pada Zayn, memberikan ekspresi serius terbaiknya.

"Sudah, sana, pandangi saja bintangmu." Zayn memegang pipi gadis itu, membuat arah pandang Calia ke arah langit lagi alih-alih menatapnya."

"Tapi kan tadi kakak bilang itu planet, bukan bintang."

"Planet itu juga bintang, aster planetes, bintang pengelana."

***

[A short story]

Sudah beberapa hari ini, aku bad mood. Rasanya segalanya yang kulakukan tidak ada yang berjalan lancar. Aku seperti kehilangan semangat. Rasanya ingin, bermalas-malasan dan baca webtoon saja seharian. Banyak sekali pikiran yang tumpah tindih di kepalaku.

Hari itu, aku memutuskan untuk jalan-jalan ke mall. Sendiri.

Sekitar pukul 10 pagi, aku tiba di salah satu mall di BSD City. Karena masih pagi, walaupun akhir pekan, mall belum terlalu ramai. Aku menunggu lift. Aku mau ke lantai paling atas, mau coba nonton sendiri di bioskop.

"Alohomora." ucapku tanpa mengeluarkan suara, pintu lift di depanku terbuka—bukan karena mantraku, tentunya. Aku masuk dan pintu lift kembali tertutup. Di dalam lift tak banyak orang. Hanya 2 orang perempuan dan seorang laki-laki muda.

Aku berdiri di depan pintu lift. Lift berhenti di lantai 1 dan seperti yang biasa kulakukan, aku mengucap "Alohomora" sesaat sebelum pintu lift terbuka, tetapi di luar sadarku, aku malah mengeluarkan suara yang cukup keras. Dua orang perempuan yang tadinya sedang seru berbincang, berhenti bicara, mereka—tentunya—mendengar "Alohomora"-ku dan entah apa yang mereka pikirkan tentangku.

Tanpa pikir panjang aku langsung keluar dari lift, walaupun lantai itu bukan lantai tujuanku. Aku malu.

Baru saja aku beranjak keluar dari sana, aku mendengar suara seorang pria di belakangku, ia berucap "Colloportus." Spontan aku menoleh ke belakang. Pria itu—yang tadi berada di lift yang sama denganku—sedang menatap ke arahku sembari menahan tawanya.

Aku menutup mulutku dengan sebelah tangan, "Seriusan, aku malu banget." Kataku.

Ia tertawa, "Jadi—ada penyihir yang nyasar di sini nih." Ia berjalan mendekatiku.

"Iya nih, penyihir lagi mau healing." Kataku, tersenyum. Rasa maluku tadi—hilang.

"Sendiri?"

"Iyaaa. Mau nonton sendiri gitu ceritanyaa. Kamuu?"

"Mau cari sepatu nih. Kamu serius mau nonton sendiri?"

"Iyaaa. Kenapa, mau nemenin?"

"Boleh. Temenin cari sepatu juga ya ntar?"

"Boleh boleeeeh! Oh, kamu asrama apa, btw?"

"Tebak."

"Slytherin?"

"Hahahaha, kelihatan banget ya?"

"Gak sih. Akunya aja yang jago nebak." Kataku, setengah bercanda. "Coba tebak, aku asrama apa."

"Gryffindor."

"Yakin banget?"

"100% yakin."

"Kok bisa seyakin itu?"

"Aku bahkan tahu inisial namamu. S, kan?"

"Kok?" Aku membulatkan mata, terkejut. "Kamu kenal aku?"

"Hahahaha. Gantungan kunci di ranselmu."

"Oh!— eh, tapi biasanya orang gak notice loh itu gantungan Gryffindor. Kecil banget gitu kan." Kataku sembari menengok ke arah gantungan kunci di ranselku.

Pria itu hanya menjawabku dengan senyuman. "Namamu siapa?"

"Tebak."

"Hm—Sofia?"

"Hah?" Untuk kedua kalinya pria itu membuatku kaget, "Kamu sebenarnya kenal aku kan? Ayo jujur!"

Dia tertawa. "Aduh. Gak. Beneran. Tapi aku mau kenalan." Ia menjulurkan tangannya. "Nizam."

***

It was a typical day at Hogwarts. The sun was shining, birds were singing, and students were bustling about, hurrying to their classes. In the midst of the chaos, two people stood alone in the hallway. Calia Arcadia, a Muggle-born Gryffindor, and Draco Malfoy, a pure-blooded Slytherin.

They were standing close together, their faces only inches apart. Calia's heart was pounding as she waited for Draco to make a move. But then, suddenly, a loud voice echoed down the hallway, startling them both.

"Malfoy!"

Draco jumped and instinctively stepped back. Calia was left standing alone, her face flushed and her heart still racing. She couldn't believe that Draco had almost kissed her.

Draco, however, was in a state of shock. He couldn't believe that he had almost done something very reckless. He quickly composed himself before turning to face Professor Snape, who was glaring at him with a look of disappointment.

"What are you two doing?" Snape asked, his voice cold and stern.

Draco cleared his throat. "Nothing, Professor," he said, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible.

Snape looked from Draco to Calia, his eyes narrowing. "I suggest you two get to your classes," he said. "Now."

Draco and Calia quickly made their way down the hallway, neither of them daring to look back. When they reached the end of the corridor, Draco stopped and turned to Calia.

"I'm sorry," he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

Calia shook her head. "It's okay," she said softly.

Draco nodded and then, without another word, he turned and walked away. Calia watched him go, her heart heavy with confusion and regret.

She had no idea how close she had been to sharing her first kiss with someone she had been secretly in love with for years. She couldn't understand why Draco wanted to kiss her; did he have feelings for her? The prospect left her feeling confused. All she knew was that, in that moment, she had seen a different side of Draco Malfoy - a side that she had never known existed.

It's always been a hard task for me to make a story about Draco Malfoy who is in love with a muggle born. 😂 But, I'm trying, dear @chachacalia.

°°°
❤️ Draco Malfoy was walking down the Hogwarts corridor when he heard raised voices. Peering around the corner, he saw several Slytherin boys had Calia Arcadia, a Muggle born Gryffindor, cornered. Draco felt a pang in his chest as he looked at her, remembered how he had been secretly and sincerely in love with her for more than three years now.

He marched over to the group, keeping his face straight and adopting an air of superiority. "What's going on here?" He asked gruffly.

One of the boys answered snidely, "We were just teaching this Mudblood a lesson about keeping away from our kind."

Draco rolled his eyes and shot them a glare of contempt. "You don't need to teach her any lessons," He replied sternly. Turning to Calia, he softened his voice but still spoke coldly, "You'd better be off then; I don't want to find you near us again."

Calia gave him a small nod and hastily made her escape while Draco watched until she had gone out of sight. Once she was gone, he slowly turned back towards the boys and gave them a curt nod before walking off down the hallway. As his heart thumped wildly against his chest, he began to regret not saying something more - anything that might have given him some kind of closure. After all, if this were his only chance to talk to Calia, then what kind of coward had he been for simply letting her walk away?

But there was nothing else for it now. Draco put on his mask of bravado and resumed walking down the corridor - leaving his feelings behind him like forgotten shadows in the moonlight.

"Is that, you? What are you doing here?"

Just happened to be passing by. What are you doing all alone in this forest?

Passing through, especially in this pouring rain?

Yes, precisely.

Alright... I think I should head back.

You left something behind.

Left something? (Looking around) I don't think so....

Yes, your sense of direction. You’re heading the wrong way.

Oh! (Startled) (glancing around) I didn't even notice. So, which way should I—