in the end ~ d. malfoy

Chapter Sixteen

"Didn't you grow up around Shadowhunters?" he questions, as she shoots him a glare.

"I was getting to that" replies Rajesh — Maya, Draco corrects himself — , "Anyway, my mother quickly realized that I could Change — another word for the ability to shapeshift — " she adds, seeing his confused expression, " into anyone I wanted, as long as I had a piece of their clothing, or anything that they touched for a long period of time. She told me the truth — my dad - Arjun, obviously - wasn't my biological father. It was someone else, a Eidolon demon she'd met before the wedding —"

"A demon?" Draco questions, shocked. Maya Rajesh looks vaguely uncomfortable, squirming slightly in her spot before answering.

"Yeah, a demon" she replies, somewhat discomfited, "She doesn't like to talk about it. But I've been learning how to control them ever since I was four, and I'm pretty decent at it now."

Draco stands there for a few moments, trying to process what he just heard. His brain has gone kaput, completely refusing to work at the new information that has entered his ears. He feels overwhelmed, a confusing mix of feelings scattered through his mind. They fog up his rational thinking like steam on a window, like someone has just cast a confundus charm and left him there.

When he asked her what she was, he certainly didn't expect this. In fact, Draco isn't even sure what he expected. But the fact that she's demon spawn, normal-looking, hiding in plain sight among the other students all this time — it scares him, more than he'd like to admit.

"Malfoy?"

Draco jumps backward, quite violently, as Maya's — he still can't believe he's calling her that — eyes widen with shock. She's standing closer to him than before — a little too close, some would say. The air around them suddenly feels warm, charged with something he can't explain. It's like the Yule ball all over again, he can feel the heat of the magic underneath her skin, seeping out, trying to touch him. It should put him off, make him want to increase the distance between the two of them — but, oddly, it draws him in further, and Draco has to physically force himself to step back so he doesn't come off as touchy.

"Are you okay?" she questions, genuinely looking concerned, "I know it was a lot of information.....but you look like you've seen a ghost?"

"I'm fine" Draco replies, uncharacteristically nervous, running a sweaty hand through his hair, "I-I just needed a moment"

Maya Rajesh sighs, still looking at him oddly for a moment before she speaks again.

"Okay, well I should probably go," she states, somewhat awkwardly, "Diana will probably be wondering where I am, and I don't want to feed the rumor mill by coming back without an explanation. Remember, this stays between us."

Draco scoffs, all previous feelings vanishing and being replaced by annoyance.

"D'you really think I'm stupid enough to go around running my mouth about this to other people?"

She gives him an appraising look, coolly, from head to toe, in a way that makes a strange shiver go down the back of his spine.

"I wouldn't put it past you"

Draco rolls his eyes as she walks away, a few moments later, a strange feeling brewing in the pit of his stomach..

Maya Rajesh may be irritating, but you can't deny that she's something else entirely.

And he's amazed that he didn't figure out how literal that statement was before.

"But I had my wand hidden up my sleeve," Ron assures Padma Patil, a few days later in the common room, who seems to be a lot keener on Ron now that he's getting so much attention and is making a point of talking to him every time they pass each other in the corridors. "I could've taken those mer-idiots any time I wanted."