Lazuli - Harry Potter Fan Fiction (Draco Malfoy)

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

I help Draco to his feet and then turn back to my brothers and sister. Ginny gasps and Fred and George glare. "So, is it true then? What he said." Ron cocks his head towards Draco and steps forward. I stare at my feet. "IS IT TRUE?" Ron shouts.

"Yes," I stutter.

There's a sharp intake of breathe from all of my siblings. "Juliet, have you lost your mind?" George's eyes grow wide. "No," I say.

Draco takes my hand and steps forward. "Look, she doesn't need your permission to have a boyfriend." Ron glares at him. "Shut up Malfoy, before I deck you." I come between Ron and Draco, pushing my brother backwards. "Ron, can we not do this here?" I'm concious of the people around us, everyone at the party watching our argument, except for Caspar, who's holding a bag of ice to his nose.

"Why the hell not? Everyone should know! Tell your friends, Juliet Weasley is going out with Draco Malfoy. In fact, I think that our parents would love to know this fantastic news, don't you?"

It's Harry who steps forward and tries to pull Ron back. "Come on Ron, they're not worth it." I frown at him and Draco scoffs. "Look at you Potter, acting all noble. Potter knew about us Weasley, and he didn't tell you because Juliet begged him not to. She didn't want any of you to get hurt."

Ron looks at Harry in disbelief and shrugs him off. "Some friend you are," he takes a final look at me and jabs me in the collarbone with his index finger. "You, you are not my sister. I never want to speak you again. Don't even bother going home for Christmas, go to one of your cow friends houses instead." He looks at Honey and Sophia who are stood just behind us. "Hey! Shut your face, ginger." Honey shouts.

Ron makes a rude gesture in her direction before storming out, tugging Hermione and Harry with him. Fred and George follow him closely, leaving Ginny behind. "I don't approve of this choice Juliet, but I won't punish you for it." She turns and follows our brothers away, leaving me in tears.

"Juliet," Draco starts, taking my hand. I wipe my eyes and sniff. "We're leaving." I state, more of an order than a question, and storm out before anyone can stop me. Draco follows me closely as I canter down the Ravenclaw tower. "Juliet, wait, please."

I turn around and jab him with my finger. "No Draco. This is your fault. You had to get into that fight, didn't you?" Draco scoffs and throws his hands in the air. "I did it to protect you. A simple thank you would be nice." I roll my eyes. "My family hate me now! I knew this would happen. And for your information, I can protect myself." I try to walk away but he grabs me. "No, you can't. You don't know what's out there, and I'm the only one who can protect you against it."

"It was a damn party fight!"

"You were at risk and I'll kill anyone who tries to hurt you!"

"Why?!"

"BECAUSE I'M IN LOVE WITH YOU, THAT'S WHY!"

I gasp and take a step backwards, my back brushing against a stone wall. I hadn't been expecting that. I place a hand on my stomach and breathe deeply, frowning as I try to understand. How could he love me? My family are blood traitors to him, and he knows the difficulties that we'd face. I'd been expecting him to break up with me sooner or later, after he realised that everyone was working against us. We're like Romeo and Juliet, star-crossed and forced to be apart.

But that doesn't mean that I'm not in love with him either.

"Draco..."

"No, let me explain. I've been in love with you since that day in the tree house, when you agreed to be my girlfriend. And I've never felt like this before, I didn't think it was possible to feel like this. You're like a candle, a spark. You don't know how I felt before I met you. It's as if my life is a lot lighter now and that if anything ever happened to you, if that candle ever went out, then I wouldn't be able to cope. So call me selfish, but I'm not going to give you up easily."