Under the Willow Tree | Draco Malfoy

chapter 22: as soft as a porcupine

Lorelei Jones | 3rd Year

Lorelei was in a rush. She had woken up late, and none of her roommates thought to wake her. When she looked around her dorm room that morning, she noticed that all of her roommates were gone, and she was going to be late for a meeting with Luna. She hated being late for things since she believed others may get the wrong idea and think she doesn't value them.

So, she quickly changed out of her pajamas and into her weekend wear and then hurried from her dorm room. Every movement was rushed and frantic as she bolted about her room and eventually out of the Hufflepuff common room. She ignored the half-amused gazes of her roommates when she stole past them on her way out.

The largely empty corridors echoed Lorelei's panicked steps as she scurried across the castle. She came up quickly on a corner and tried to slow to a stop, but she was going too fast, so she slid and nearly fell. She realized then that she really needed better grip on her shoes.

Lorelei grabbed onto the wall in an attempt to steady herself after she nearly fell. She regained her balance and then hurried with her long hair falling into her eyes now. God, she should have tied up her hair. This was a disaster.

After trying unsuccessfully to move her hair out of her face, she rounded another corner, but the wind from a nearby opening to the courtyard blew more of it into her face. She was trying to fling the long strands out of her face when she felt hands on her shoulders and then a collision with a hard body.

Oh, no.

Lorelei stood still for a second, unsure of what to do. She slowly looked up, but she didn't meet the boy's eyes at first. Her heart was pounding in her chest, but she felt oddly safe in this boy's arms.

He was tall, and the grip of his hands was firm, if not slightly chilling, and she had never felt a grip like that before.

After cautiously licking her lips, she lifted her eyes to his and found herself staring back into a gorgeous set of grey eyes. They were swimming with concern and shock, but she soon recognized who he was from his silvery blond hair and pale skin.

Holy crap, Lorelei thought when she looked up into the eyes of none other than Draco Malfoy. She hadn't spoken to him much before, but she knew he wasn't one for forgiveness. He was going to kill her.

Draco's previously concerned face morphed into a cold expression, and he shoved her away from him. She stumbled back a couple steps and swallowed hard.

"Are you okay?" Draco asked with a coldness in his voice that sent shivers over Lorelei's skin. She didn't know how such a kind question could sound so cruel, but that's exactly what Draco had done to the simple phrase.

Lorelei wrung her hands and tried to ignore the pounding in her chest. She glanced between Draco and Theo Nott, the boy from the train last year who lost his wand. He seemed frazzled when she first met him, but this time, his face was neutral. However, his eyebrows had risen slightly after observing the collision and Draco's subsequent actions.

"I'm sorry. I'm just running late, and my hair was in my face. I didn't mean to-" Lorelei rambled when she looked back at Draco's cold, unfeeling eyes.

"Are you hurt?" Draco demanded, and Lorelei stifled the urge to flinch.

Lorelei swallowed hard and looked between Draco and Theo cautiously. She shook her head and licked her lips.

"Then go," Draco commanded with a harsh stare pinned on her.

"What?"

"He told you to go, you daft muppet," a black haired girl snarled when she stepped up to the group. Her arms were crossed over her chest, and her stare was cold. Lorelei didn't know who she was, but she thought that kind Slytherin girl from last year might have been friends with her.

Theo just shook his head at the black haired girl and turned away. She stared at Theo's retreating form, and this gave Lorelei a chance to slip away. She backed up and disappeared behind the corner that she had just gone around too quickly, causing all of the present problems. She escaped the line of danger just as she heard Draco Malfoy start yelling at the girl for what she said. A full on argument seemed to break loose over her rude comment, which faded more and more as Lorelei moved farther from where they were.

Lorelei furrowed her eyebrows together. It seemed unusual to her that Draco Malfoy was defending her in front of other Slytherins. He hardly even knew her; why was he fighting over what that Parkinson girl said about her? 

Lorelei chewed on her lip and took hurried steps to get farther from the drama unfolding in the corridor. In this slightly skittish state, she nearly jumped out of her skin when a person appeared around the corner ahead of her. Lorelei gasped and placed her hand over her now racing heart as she took in the person who scared the life out of her.

Theo Nott blinked and mumbled out a quick apology. He was just trying to get back to the Slytherin dorms, and he had had to go a long way around just to get to his destination because of this fight; scaring this younger blonde girl was definitely not part of his plan. He truly just wanted to get a chance to take a nap. It seemed awfully unfair to him that he had to go through all this unwanted trouble just because of Draco's poor decision making abilities.

Genuinely, Draco needed some life coaching, Theo thought.

Lorelei watched these thoughts seem to pass over Theo's weary face, but an overwhelming wave of embarrassment crashed over her, and she felt the need to explain herself.

"Sorry. I just-I'm running a bit late, and it really hasn't been my day at all. I swear I'm not normally this clumsy, but it's just been a rough day," she said with fleeting eye contact. Her gaze flickered up to Theo's curious expression occasionally but mostly settled onto her flat-covered feet. "I'm really sorry for the trouble again."

"Eh, no need to worry. I'm quite clumsy myself, actually. Not sure how I ever got on the Quidditch team like this. I guess I'm much better on a broom than I am my own feet," Theo said with a disarmed laugh. He blinked in surprise a moment later when he realized that that was probably the most he'd said in one breath in days.

"I've considered trying out for the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, but I'm not sure that I'd enjoy that... I'm not really competitive to be honest." Lorelei slightly smiled at him, but she took her gaze off his when his dark eyes settled on her small frame and twisted hands.

"Yeah... Well, I guess I should apologize for that git, Malfoy. He doesn't know how to be gentle." Theo sighed and ran a hand over his face. He gave Lorelei a slight smile that seemed almost exasperated to her.

"Oh, he's not all that bad. He's just...not as good at some things...like friendliness," Lorelei offered with the corners of her lips twitching up in amusement.

Theo blew air through his nose in a laugh and stuffed his hands into his pockets. "You can say that again. The git's about as soft as a porcupine."

Well, he does have soft hands, Lorelei thought, but she caught herself before she said it. She blushed at the thought of admitting that to Theo. Experiencing the crushing weight of her awkwardness, Lorelei abruptly announced, "Well, I've got to go. My friend is probably worried that I haven't arrived yet."

Lorelei didn't wait for Theo to reply. She just slipped out of the nearest exit and onto the school grounds. She had a long walk around the castle ahead of her, and she had no idea how to explain what had just happened to Luna.

//