It can never be the same

Chapter 3: Part 1

A/n I decided to split Draco's perspective on how his relationship with the reader progressed into two chapters because it was becoming too long to keep as one chapter.

Draco remembered the first time he had ever seen Y/n. She had been glaring at him after Harry Potter had just humiliated him by not accepting his friendship. He had looked at her quizzically, wondering what he could have done to offend her. It's not like he had spoken to her. She had scoffed and rolled her eyes before turning away from him. For reasons unknown to him then, his heart had skipped a beat.

Throughout the year, he found that his eyes would drift towards her whenever she was around. It not only confused him but frustrated him because he didn't understand why he kept looking at her. Even worse, whenever he tried to speak when she was in close proximity to him, he would become strangely flustered and tongue-tied. He had to avoid looking at her pretty eyes to be able to form a coherent sentence. It was mind-boggling to him why her presence seemed to have this effect on him.

Staring at her became his favourite pastime though. He found it interesting watching for her reactions and learning little things about her just from observing from afar. Like the cute little pout she would have on her face when she was really concentrating, or how she would place her head on her hand when she was zoning out. He noticed how she would scrunch her nose when she thought something that someone said was stupid, or how she would thin her lips and avoid eye contact when she had something to say but didn't want to say it out loud. He noticed how she could be so confident and take charge at times but at other times be so anxious and unsure of herself. She was strong-willed, sarcastic, and could be stubborn - and yet she was so kind, always willing to lend a helping hand. She was just a complex person that he enjoyed learning about.

It was only when he caught himself smiling when he saw her laughing wholeheartedly, shining brighter than any candle in the Great Hall, that he realised that he had a crush on her.

"Bloody hell," he muttered to himself. Pansy, who was sitting next to him, turned towards him.

"What?" she asked.

"I think I have a crush on Y/n."

She rolled her eyes before saying, "Anyone who has eyes knows you have a crush on her, Draco."

The blushing whenever he was around her had only intensified.

He had decided, though, that he couldn't go on like that if he wanted to win her heart. So he resorted to what he knew best, being his confident self and showing how he was the person for her because he was a Malfoy. Oddly, she didn't take too kindly to that, always rolling her eyes and dismissing him. She would always have a witty remark for him that he didn't know how to respond to.

First year was coming to an end and he had made no progress with her. Then she had smiled at him, on his birthday no less, and he had thought that no birthday present could compare to that. 

Second year had just begun and he had thought that his feelings for her had calmed down by then but then she was walking passed him, completely unaware of his presence, and he found himself sighing blissfully.

For their very first class of Defense Against the Dark Arts, he had basically sprinted to the seat next to her to beat Potter to it. She had signaled to her friend not to start anything with him (it was probably too early in the morning for her to deal with that) and he smirked smugly at Potter as he watched him grumpily sit down in another seat. She gave him the cold shoulder the whole time but he was just too excited to be sitting next to his crush.