WE NEED EACH OTHER [DRARRY]

CHAPTER NINETEEN : STANDING UP

Malfoy scoffed, "Getting mad now, are we, Potter? Finally, being made to abide by the rules rather than having the title of the Chosen One save your neck?"

His tone was arrogant and annoyingly condescending. Before I could find the proper retort to snap back at him, Luna spoke.

"Is your father coming as well, Malfoy?" she asked as if none of our arguments was happening.

Malfoy nodded, his arrogant expression slipping off his face like hot butter. "I believe McGonagall must have informed him by now."

"And how do you feel about it?" she asked, running a hand through the grass absent-mindedly.

He shrugged. "I've already disappointed him, so I don't think this will make any difference."

His voice was casual, but I could see his hands in tight fists by his side, his knuckles turning white. Something in the pit of my stomach sank further. I glanced away, something like pity rising in me.

Am I feeling bad for Malfoy? This is very unlike me.

Draco's POV

Lovegood had left a while ago, mumbling something about hornsacks and nargwals. Since then, the awkward silence was back.

Honestly, all I wanted to do was leave. Just escaping the presence of Potter would be such a relief. There was a strange sort of tension in the air. I waited for the moment Potter accused me, but it never came.

I counted my breaths, leaning heavily on the tree. Maybe I should be worried about Father coming to see me, but I really couldn't give a damn.

I was fed up with him. He was making me do things against my will. But I couldn't do anything about it. He would, most likely, tell me off and threaten the school like he always did.

Nothing new, really.

The awkward silence was killing me. Potter looked as if thinking something more than observing the students. I had been doing that myself for a while now. Every time I would look at those kids, it would remind me of what they called me yesterday.

That is what I am to them.

I kept my head low, plucking out grass and fiddling with it, when suddenly, out of the blue, I heard Potter say, "Standing up for yourself isn't a disappointment for the family, you know."

I immediately looked at him. He seemed calm before, but now his cheeks are flushed as if he said something he didn't mean to.

"What do you mean?" I asked, scowling.

"When you said, you have disappointed your father." Potter plucked a few blades of grass as well, avoiding eye contact. "All you did was stand up for yourself against those kids. There's nothing wrong with that."

I chuckled. And it sounded strange. "Do you mean I should have continued with what I was about to do to those kids?"

Potter went quiet for a minute. It looked like he was actually considering what I could have done to those kids... like I was dangerous.

"N-No..." he uttered in a low voice.

I exhaled loudly, rolling my eyes. "I wasn't going to harm them, Potter," I said. "I just... I don't know... I was really pissed. But I would never hurt kids. That's just... wrong..."

Potter kept staring at me blankly. He opened his mouth to say something, but we were interrupted by a student.

"Hello," the student beamed, "Are you both the flight candidates?"