Common Ground ⌁ Draco Malfoy [2/4] ✔

12

"You can't just dislike the man for that!"

The Slytherin common room that evening was rather empty, containing only three students. Draco, who sat with one of his arms outstretched on the ledge of the long sofa and the other stroking Emma's hair, who lay calmly over the couch with her head in his lap and a novel in her hands, and Blaise who sat respectably on the opposite armchair, not once putting up a fight in being reminded of his boundaries.

"Er – yes I can, actually," Blaise argued, leaning forward with a mocking look on his face and his hands clasped together. "Know why? Cause I do."

"But you shouldn't, though," Emma argued back. Blaise rolled his eyes and leaned back against the armchair, laughing slightly. "Fine, go ahead. You're only doing harm to yourself by making yourself sound simpleminded, simply because you see the bad in good people and the good in bad people."

Draco let out an amused sound, his hands still stroking his girlfriend's hair while his eyes were on the boy across from him. Blaise hummed arrogantly and turned his head away, the sound of his tongue clicking.

"Slughorn's a joke!" Blaise went on. "These little parties he throws – pointless! This might be the only thing Potter and I will ever agree on because he hasn't showed up to any of them."

Emma saw Draco look down at her from the corner of her eye, but she simply stared back at Blaise, one of her eyebrows naturally furrowed.

"Well, I wouldn't mind it," Emma said quietly. "I'd go, simply for the ice-cream."

"You don't even know the stuff he says, it's all about well-known people – they're the only ones he even bothers to invite and pay close attention to. I don't even know why that Weasley girl gets invited – it's like Draco said, what's so special about her? If being a blood-traitor makes you special, I mean, I wouldn't question it then."

Emma glowered at him, but said nothing. She simply did not understand why being civil with everybody made anybody a blood-traitor...did not understand why the word was even created in the first place. Even though she had never been called a blood-traitor before, she still took it to offense because if the Weasley's were so-called blood-traitors, then so was she.

"Draco, make her stop looking at me like that," Blaise pleaded with his friend.

She felt Draco shrug. "How?"

"I don't know; can't you kiss or something? Grab the book and cover her face with it."

"How about I take this book and whack you over the head with it," Emma suggested, a sickly smile forming on her face. "How does that sound?"

"Painful," Blaise nodded. "And uncalled for."

"Besides," Draco started, and Emma looked up at him, "who would want to cover up a face like that?"

Blaise gagged while the couple ignored it. Emma scrunched up her nose playfully and grinned at Draco, before turning back to her novel. She launched into the world of her novel while the two boys conversed back and forth about their new Potion's teacher. Emma didn't mind him much; sometimes he could be a little annoying when he paid close attention only to those who were related to well-known people, but other than that he was an OK teacher. A bit biased, but otherwise OK. Pretty soon, Emma found herself too in thought that she had to re-read her page. She looked up for a moment at Draco, still feeling his hand brushing against her hair, and watched him. She didn't quite feel the chemistry between them yet, but it was obvious he did.

Emma chewed the inside of her cheek as her eyes seemed to follow the trail around his face, his nose, his abnormally coloured mouth since it was usually pale, the colour of his eyes. Her teeth left the inside of her cheek when Draco suddenly looked down and caught her in the act, raising one of his eyebrows. Emma barely heard Blaise scoff. It seemed as though Draco was asking for a staring competition, but the butterflies kept eating away at Emma's stomach and she found herself slowly breaking into a grin.