𝐅𝐑𝐔𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 | Draco Malfoy

𝐓 𝐇 𝐈 𝐑 𝐓 𝐘 𝐎 𝐍 𝐄

"Why are you so tired? You slept early last night." I furrowed my eyebrows as I pushed back some of the hair that was falling on her face. Through the years, it had been a habit of mine to absentmindedly fix the hair of people I love—mostly Danielle, because her hair cannot be tamed sometimes. Finally, I tuck it behind her ear.

"You made me get up an hour earlier," She whined, setting her palms on the table and pushing herself up. "What were you saying?"

"I'm saying that I do not have enough brains to get through all of this-"

"No, no, I got that," She shook her head, rubbing her eyes with her fingers. "After that."

"Oh, I was asking you who came after Granger. In the ranks. Perhaps with both their brains combined they can spare me some—that'd be enough." I chuckle, facing back to my untouched breakfast and mountainous pile of homework.

"Hm, I doubt that," Danielle went back to her plate, actually taking a bite this time. "Since the second best is Draco, I think."

My hands froze in the middle of organizing my parchment. I hadn't heard his name in so long, it felt like jumping into a tub of ice-cold water to hear it again. "Really..." I tried my best to seem uninterested—even though I was the one who had asked in the first place—forcing my voice to fade and sound far-off.

"Yeah. Really. That bloke is actually pretty damn smart—it's almost ridiculous. Must be the Black genes."

Finally, I thought, a hole I could use to change the subject. I force myself into it immediately. "But you're a Black." I raise an eyebrow at her.

"I'm the Sirius Black type of Black. That's so much different compared to every other type of Black in the bloodline."

I laugh, trying to shoo away the lingering thought in my head that Danielle had provoked. "He's an adjective now?"

"If I had a galleon for every time I was compared to him, i'd be richer than your family." She rolled her eyes, reaching for a piece of toast. "But now that I think about it, the Malfoys weren't exactly dumb either. So maybe it's both for him."

I give a hum in reply as I thought of subjects I could use to stray away from the topic of him.

"You don't buy it, do you?"

This surprised me, and my gaze shot up a little more alert than it should have. "H-huh? Buy what?"

"That he's second in our year. I totally get why. If I weren't a family member who gets to see his grades because Lucius flaunts them every damn year, I wouldn't believe it either." Her eyes moved from mine to the entrance of the Great Hall. "Speak of the devil."

"Hey, Draco! Come over here for a second,"

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

I busy myself again with my homework, pulling out a clean sheet of parchment to start doing the first DADA essay.

It's either my ears have gone strangely sensitive to sound or his footsteps just seemed to be five times louder now that I knew they were his. I felt a presence behind me. I tried not to budge.

I could smell him. Freshly sprayed perfume and mint. I tried to breathe as little as I can.

"What do you need now?" My skin prickled. He might have been standing too close, because his presence was too much for me to bear.