A Heavenly Betrayal (Draco Malfoy Love Story)

Draco's Story

The next few weeks gave Maria a small taste of heaven. Her plan with Draco was - thanks to him - well under control, Quidditch practices were going well and so was the DA. Also, the flow of rumors had decreased more or less considerably; students now simply shut up and scratched their heads whenever they saw Maria and Draco together, which was a huge improvement. In fact, they were seen so often that some of the students had, surprisingly, grown accustomed to it. Of course, the Slytherins still wanted to execute Draco, but at least some of the Ravenclaws were more comprehensive towards Maria. Next thing she knew, girls started congratulating her teasingly; Draco was, after all, quite good-looking. They seemed to also have relatively noticed that Malfoy had changed ever so slightly; but only the rare, more attentive people had observed this and not everybody wanted to admit it. Surprisingly, Luna was a great supporter of Maria, and sometimes she thought that Luna understood her better than herself. She could be very logical and psychosomatic when she wanted. Anyhow, it was reassuring to have at least one friend behind her. 

Draco and Maria were indeed often seen together nowadays; finally starting to resemble a near normal relationship. He always knew just how to make her laugh as she had grown pretty fond of his touchy sarcasm and witty responses, whereas Draco had eyes only for her – much to Pansy’s grief. It was quite moving to see them finally get along on rather better terms than anyone would have ever dared to expect; it stirred a lot of hope in the school. People now had a concrete example of how things might turn out once these dark and disturbing times were over. No pressure Harry; no pressure.

Truth was, they were in love with each other, no matter the many differences, complications or consequences. It wasn’t always that obvious, but they both brought out the best in the other. With Draco, Maria wasn’t the shy outcast; she could be her true spontaneous, funny and bubbly self. She had always cherished a soft rebel inside, and with him, she could simply let loose. On his side, when he was with her, Draco could forget his last name, his dark past; he was no longer Malfoy - just Draco. All in all, the days from inside the Hogwarts castle seemed very close to perfection.

One random day, Draco did something very unusual. It was a Thursday evening and most of the students were still lingering in the Great Hall. He always waited until the older Slytherins left before going up for his meals – he didn’t really fancy getting a beating... or poisoned, or hexed. That day was no exception; however, instead of heading to the Slytherins’ table, he came towards the Ravenclaws’, where Maria was sitting, chatting with friends. A young girl in first year stared oddly at him with a mix of fear and apprehension while he walked by. Draco smirked and gave the little girl a wink; but that only made her grab her things and run away. Draco felt a bit awkward, but didn’t bother too much; he had more important things on his mind. Taking a deep breath, he slowly came up behind Maria as her friends abruptly stopped talking, looking over her shoulder. Wondering what was wrong, Maria turned around and smiled brightly at the sight of Draco, her heart skipping a beat as she completely forgot about her gaping friends. 

"I’ve been wanting to give it to you for some time now, I guess I just never found the time, so I thought I’d might as well do it now."

Somehow, Maria hadn’t realized that he was holding a brand new firebolt. She pounced out of her seat and into Draco’s arms. He held her back tightly.

"Thank you," she whispered sincerely in his ear.

Draco smiled, proud of himself, and glanced towards the table where everyone bore a flabbergasted expression.