Draco was sat on his bed, waiting impatiently, when finally, there was a knock on his dorm door. He rushed to his feet and step after step, he grew more eager to open the door for his friend, who he cared for profoundly.
"Hello, Draco" (y/n)'s eyes met his, her sweet smell rising to his nose. He inhaled it, wishing to be able to keep it, so that everytime she wasn't around, it would make him feel safe and calm regardless. It caused him to smile and he just couldn't seem to stop doing so.
"Come in." He stepped aside and cleared his throat, endeavouring to pull himself a bit more together. "How have you been?" He asked, sitting back down on the bed with a straight face now.
She passed him on her way to his desk, warmth radiating off her body, creating goosebumps on Draco's skin.
A sigh escaped her lips. Draco looked up, his eyebrows knitted together with concern. With her back faced to him, she pulled a piece of parchment and a quill out of her bag. He waited for her to turn around, so that he could see her. He hoped, it was just a momentary sigh with no meaning behind. But she remained solidly in place.
"Are you... alright?" He asked slowly, unsure. One side of him did it because he tried to show her, that he cared and wanted her to know, that he would listen to her. Whereas on the other hand, he felt like hurting whoever had made her feel this way.
She nodded, her head just moving while her face was still not in sight.
"(Y/n)" A muscle in his jaw twitched. He needed answers. This was slowly but surely driving him mad.
"Yeah" she muttered. "I'm alright."
"Turn around, please." Draco asked her softly, gently. And so she did. She let go of the quill she had intended to write with and turned around just enough for Draco to see her precisely. His body stiffened, muscles clenching briefly. The sight of (y/n)'s somewhat weak fragile figure before him, the hooded eyes, under which dark shadowed circles lay, made his body ache. The sight of her truly pained him, because, surely, for him, her pain was his. "(Y/n)..." he tried to find the right words. Obviously he couldn't go with anything that could make her sadder, he wouldn't forgive himself if he ever caused her pain. "Are you really okay? I mean..." his voice trailed off, wavering into the distance. His eyes were still scanning her body and face.
"Yes." She shrugged, tilting her head to the side as if she wanted to turn back around again.
"You can talk to me." He said assuringly.
She sat down on the chair in a swift move, wanting to rest, curl up in a ball and hide the truth from the world. But it seemed impossible to hide it from him, from Draco.
"You know-" Draco began, an idea occurring to him. "I've heard about some sort of method." He decided to watch her closely, wanting to see her reaction before he continued.
She looked up. "What method?" She asked quietly, looking quite exhausted.
"To make you feel better. Come here" Draco ordered and patted on the bed. She stood up hesitantly, but still ended up sitting down. "Now-" Draco held her head softly. "Move you head this way." He guided it down to his lap, so that the back of her head was on his lap while the rest of her body rested on his bed. "Do you mind if I stroke you hair a bit?" He asked and (y/n) shook her head slowly. He began to twirl a strand of (y/n)'s hair around a finger, caressing it afterwards.
"Are you sure you know what you're doing? What are you gonna do?" She said doubtfully.
"Patience" Draco whispered, voice low and soft. "This will, hopefully, ease the..." once again, he tried to find the right words to use. "The strong emotions you claim to not be feeling."
