Under the Willow Tree | Draco Malfoy

chapter 55: mr. tall, dark, and geeky

She tentatively shoved the door open and blinked in surprise when she stared down at Blaise. His face was lined with tear stains, and his eyes were puffy and bloodshot from his extensive crying.

He looked completely broken.

Lorelei rushed towards him without warning. She plopped down beside him and wrapped him up in what she hoped to be a comforting hug. She squeezed tightly and murmured, "I'm so sorry you're facing this alone, Blaise, but it gets better, I promise."

Blaise didn't hug her back at first. In fact, his instinct was to shove her off, to throw her back and across the compartment. He was furious that anyone would dare to touch him, but somehow, her soft support made him hesitate.

He pulled away from her and stared coldly at Lorelei. She was Draco's soulmate, so she was clearly not a friend. Why would she even bother to comfort him?

"What are you doing?"

"Do you not like hugs? I'm so sorry! I should have asked if you liked hugs before I hugged you. I just saw you crying, and I panicked because I wanted to help." Lorelei ran a hand through her hair and bit down on her cheek to stop her rambling speech.

"I wasn't crying," Blaise scowled.

Lorelei blinked at him blandly. She lifted a hand and brushed away some of the tears on his cheeks. Her hand came back damp, and Blaise looked away when he realized he couldn't lie his way out of this.

"Did someone do something to you? If so, just let me know, and I'll have a chat with them. It's not right to be mean to be people," Lorelei said. She gave him a genuine smile, and Blaise just stared at it. This all felt so alien to him. Hufflepuffs in general seemed like aliens to him.

"You'll have to talk with your little boyfriend then," Blaise laughed bitterly. He nearly stood up to leave, but Lorelei groaned.

"I told him to stop being so mean to people! What did he do? Did he say something rude again?" Lorelei stressed. She scanned his face while waiting for a response, so she saw the genuine confusion flash in his eyes before walls went up once more.

"It was a long time ago, and an imbecile like you can't fix it," Blaise suddenly snapped. His harsh tone startled Lorelei into silence. She averted her gaze and stared at her hands. She hoped it wasn't a mistake trying to comfort the icy Slytherin; she had just been trying to help.

"What did he do to make you hate him so much?" Lorelei finally wondered.

"His idiocy cost my soulmate her life, so don't expect me to just forgive him that easily," Blaise spoke without thinking.

When Lorelei looked at him with her eyebrows drawn together in a look of true sadness for him, he realized his mistake.

Blaise rose to his feet and pointed a wand at her. "You weren't supposed to know that."

Lorelei slowly put her hands up, worried that any sudden movement towards her own wand may provoke him over the edge. She never took her eyes off him as she spoke, not wanting to be taken off guard.

"I'm really, really sorry that happened, but please don't hurt me in revenge," Lorelei breathed.

"I've already hurt lots of people in revenge. You wouldn't even be special," Blaise remarked, but Lorelei picked up on the slight quiver in his voice.

She frowned. "And did that make you feel any better at the end of the day?"

Blaise's face twisted into one of pure rage. He was furious that this girl was acting as if she knew him. How dare she make a comment like that?

"You don't deserve to feel this pain. I can see how heavy it is for you to carry it all," Lorelei murmured. She carefully took in all of his strangled features and heavy breathing.

Blaise dropped the wand and shoved his face into his hands again to sob. It made him furious that Lorelei was seeing him unfurl like this, but he was too shattered to be able to stop it.

"What happened to her?" Lorelei wondered when Blaise crumpled onto the bench beside her.

Blaise stared at her for a moment, torn. He didn't want her to know any more than she did, but he was also aching to tell someone else about Daisy. He finally succumbed to his desires with the comfort that he could just erase her memories after.

"Daisy was a muggle, so my mother trained me to hate her, but it was impossible. She was fiery and wild, and she taught me how amazing it was to live life unrestrained. She was my best friend," Blaise admitted with a cold indifference. He stared at the wall on the other side of the compartment and swallowed hard every couple words, the only break in his heartless facade.

"But then I met Draco, and he met her. He probably doesn't even remember her, doesn't even care. But he told his father about her, and unfortunately his father spoke to my mum about it. Mum knew about Daisy, but she didn't know I still spoke to her. Mum had tried to make sure I understood the punishment that came from fraternizing with a filthy muggle like her, but I didn't care.

"I should have been more careful. I should have known better than to trust Draco. He had to tell his father everything, even about the 'funny witch' I knew," Blaise laughed bitterly.

"And mum killed her to punish me. Wouldn't have been the first time she took a life without caring, and it definitely wasn't the last... Draco's perfect father got my best friend killed while every father figure I've ever had has died or disappeared as soon as I started to care!" Blaise was fuming now. He hit the wall beside him angrily, and Lorelei unintentionally flinched.

"I can't imagine how painful all of that must be for you... You deserve to have someone on your side."

"Well, maybe I don't want anyone," Blaise snapped, but Lorelei immediately shook her head.

"Of course you do. For a long time, I was alone too. I had convinced myself I was better friendless and lonely, but I was wrong. I met Luna...and Draco and Theo and Pansy. Now it's like I have a little group of friends, and it feels nice. You deserve that too," Lorelei said. She reached for his hand in comfort, but he pulled away and stared at her sharply.

"Leave. I can't deal with your freaky kindness right now," Blaise grunted and put his face in his hands again.

Lorelei blinked in surprise but did as she was asked. She stood up and left to go to the bathroom with a lot more questions than she started with and a sad understanding of why Blaise was so cruel.

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