Around us || Draco Malfoy

46

We walked into the room of requirements, trying to blend into the mass of people. There were a couple of Ravenclaws and few Hufflepuffs but most of the students were from Gryffindor, which made me and Leona stand out quite well.

"Esme, you decided to come" I heard a kind, high voice saying behind me. And as I turned around I saw Cho Chang standing in front of me.

We had never been very close with Cho, but since of the on and off romance they had with Cedric, we used to hang around with him together.

"And I brought a friend" I said, putting on a smile and nodding towards Leona. Cho just smiled and went to greet Harry, while my forced smile dropped to my normal expression.

"They don't want us here" Leona whispered to me as her gaze wandered around the room – and around the people that were throwing us weird gazes.

"No they don't" I said, walking next to the other students that had already lined up in front of Harry. "Ain't that great?" I chuckled, earning a grin from Leona.

If the way you were always greeted was with caution, we Slytherins had learned that might as well use it for an advantage. It was sometimes easy to get things done your way, when the other half was scared to say anything back.

"Um welcome, it's great to see this many of you here" Harry opened the lesson, his voice stuttering a little. God he was so awkward, but apparently he knew what we were dealing with so I guess it would be worth all the awkwardness.

"I thought that we'd go straight into it and start with actual spells, unlike Umbridge" Harry continued and the Weasley twins cheered him on.

Harry then introduced the spell of the day, which was actually a useful one. Getting rid of the opponent's wand. A disarming charm.

"Expelliarmus!" Granger was the first one to try, her charm only dropping the wand of the wooden practice doll and not sending it flying like it should.

"Great, Hermione. That was a good start" Harry said, smiling at his friend.

As the line went on and everyone tried their first tries, no one came in as close as Hermione. Shocker, I know.

I almost chuckled when it was my turn to stand up against the doll. It sure wasn't my first time using this spell. Guess having a super talented big brother came in somehow handy.

Cedric used to teach me combat when I was younger. Everytime he learned a new spell in class, he couldn't wait to teach it to me too. That was the reason I had always gotten outstandings on defense against the dark arts.

I walked up to a good distance and lifted my wand up, pointing it towards the wand the doll was holding.

"Expelliarmus!" I said, and in one flick of a wand I sent the other wand flying through the air and just to boast a little I reached to catch the wand midair.

I heard a few quiet gasps and someone even clapping. I walked up to Harry, who was staring at me, confused.

"I hope you'll be able to teach me something Cedric didn't have the chance to" I smiled sadly as I gave the wand to him.

"He'd be proud of you" Harry answered my smile and I walked away, giving the space for Leona to try. I hope he was right. That was really all I'd ever wanted – Cedric's approval and love. And I did always have that, until now. Now I could never be sure of that again.

"Seriously, what are we even here for if you can already do that?" Leona asked, pointing her wand at the doll. She said the spell, but absolutely nothing happened.

"Right that, my dear friend. That's why we're here" I chuckled and patted Leonas back as she walked up to me, a frown on her face.

"Oh shut up"

                                           

Few weeks passed and I still felt stuck. Like everything else around me was moving, growing and getting better, but I stayed there not able to move from the situation.

I had to accept the fact that there was nothing that could bring Cedric back and I had to learn to live with that. And even though every minute of every passing day without him hurt, the pain was tolerable now. It was the kind of pain that hurts like hell at first, but eventually turns you numb and gets easier to live with.

But seeing Draco in class everyday was like stabbing daggers into my chest every time I saw him. He was still here, he wasn't gone. But everything that there was between us was. I had to make sure it stopped existing, otherwise it would hurt me even more.

I hadn't been in love that many times to know if you'd ever stop loving someone. And even though I didn't want to admit it even to myself, the daggers in my chest were not from anger. No – they were love. But who knew love could hurt like this?

"Join us – if you want obviously" Adrian Pucey surprised me by stopping me with putting his gand on my back as I passed the seat he was sitting on. I was walking between the long tables of the great hall when Adrian caught my attention. He was sitting with few of his friends, already dressed in the quidditch robes for todays match.

It was a big game: Gryffindor versus Slytherin. Draco talked about it already a month ago, when we were still in speaking terms.

I didn't manage to come up with a smart enough excuse, so I shrugged and let Adrian's hand guide me to the seat next to him.

"Nervous about the game?" I asked him as I moved the food to my plate. I felt eyes burning to my head, but I tried to keep my gaze on Adrian, since he was the only one of the group I really knew.

The dark haired prefect was a year above me, just like all his friends were too. He was actually surprisingly kind and fair, even though he did come from a pureblood Slytherin family.

It had been my intention to also apply as prefect, but since the last year ended like it did, Pansy actually got the place next to Draco as the year 5 prefects. Draco didn't really talk much about being a prefect – other than how happy he was that he topped Potter at that.

"Pathetic, scarface couldn't even get a spot as a prefect. Even a mudblood did"

That had been one of the many times I needed to correct his choice of words, but I still let him be proud that he got the spot – I knew it meant much to his family, especially his father.

But obviously there was some quite big things I didn't know about his family – especially his father. Which resulted in that I was now sitting with some other people and he was eating quietly with Grappe and Goyle.

"Did you hear a word I just said, Diggory?" Adrian pulled me out of my thoughts, making me turn my gaze towards him. His lips were curled into an amused smile as I shook my head.

"I'm sorry, I–" I started to say, but he brushed me off with his hand in the air.

"It's okay, truly" Adrian smiled and I smiled back before turning my gaze back to my plate. In the corner of my eye I saw one of the other guys, a brown haired boy called Mason give Adrian a quick meaningful look, which resulted in Adrian opening his throat with a small cough.

"So, you're coming to the game right?" He asked and again, made me lift my gaze back to him.

"If you're asking nicely" I grinned, earning a small chuckles from all the boys.

"Well at least I really hope so" Adrian smirked as he pushed himself off the table after realising that the other team members were already leaving.

"Fine, I'll be there" I said and saw him answering with a kind smile.