Traitor : Fred Weasley, Draco Malfoy & OC Fanfic

Chapter 14 - Breakfast

Tossing and turning in bed all night, I couldn't get what Draco had said out of my head. His words had crawled to the deepest parts of my mind and nested there. I finally drifted to sleep only to be awoken by our alarm an hour later.

Me and Daphne rose slowly from our beds, silently got dressed and dragged ourselves out to the common room. Daphne quickly livened up and became her usual chatty self but I just couldn't muster the energy today.

"Breakfast will fix whatever's wrong" Daphne beamed and linked arms with me as we made our way to the Great Hall. I hoped she was right.

We made our entrance into the grand room and all of a sudden I was overwhelmed at how busy it was. I skipped breakfast most days and instead opted for an extra hour in bed, so I had forgotten quite how packed it was.

Eyes were on us as soon as we came in and whispers erupted from both the Gryffindor and Slytherin table. I tried to push away my paranoia, assuming I was just feeling particularly sensitive this morning, until I heard something that confirmed my fears.

"One of the boys from our house, on the quidditch team...yeah I know in the changing rooms...slut" a third year Gryffindor whispered to her friends. I halted to listen to her for a moment.

"Nobody knows who it is, but I reckon it's George Weasley, ugh he's so fit" the girl gushed.
"No no, it can't be George, I thought he was with Angelina?" her friend corrected. They were sat with their backs to me and the rest of their little gaggle were facing me. They had noticed my presence and were desperately motioning for them to stop talking.

"Oh god" the first girl that had spoken said. She craned her neck slowly to turn and look up at me. I cocked an eyebrow and she buried her head back in her breakfast.

"Come on Celeste" Daphne called. She had seated us just next to Draco and his group of friends. I sorely wished that I could tell Daphne what he'd been doing to me so she'd stop placing us so close to them, but I understood she just wanted to be near Blaise.

Daphne was turned away most of the meal to speak with Blaise and I picked at the full English breakfast in front of me, my appetite suddenly gone. I tried to keep my head down as much as possible, not wanting to spark anymore gossip.

Few empty places down from me was Draco and I could see him from the corner of my eyes he was watching me but I refused to acknowledge his gaze.

In my silence, everyone's conversations became crystal clear and I could hear the boys' talk turn to something unsavoury.

"Lucky bugger" Goyle muttered to Nott.
"I know, in Potions too" Nott whispered back.
"What a slut" Crabbe grumbled. I heard a smack against the back of his head, it was the sound of a large ring colliding with his thick skull. Crabbe let out a high pitched yelp but the boys continued on with their vulgar chat.
"Did she moan?" Goyle chimed in and the boys cackled around him, all but Draco.
"I bet she's loud, isn't she Malfoy?" Goyle spoke again and proceeded to loudly mimic female moans.

I shot them daggers, trying to make it obvious I could hear them but they were all too wrapped up in their own jokes to notice.

Flicking my eyes over to Daphne again to see if she had been listening to their conversation too, I saw that her and Blaise were in a world of their own, completely unaware of everything happening around them. She was staring dreamily into his eyes and it was as if I could almost see a soft pink haze around them.

My plate of food was suddenly shadowed as someone tall came into view and blocked the light. My head snapped up to look at who it was and my mood suddenly shifted.

"Reading, are you alright? I couldn't help but notice you're looking rather gloomy this morning" Fred asked, leaning over the table to speak with me. He motioned behind him and I glanced around him to see George, Ron & Ginny waving back at me. They had obviously all seen that I wasn't myself today.