Blaire Zabini || Draco Malfoy

8 - Does it Hurt Terribly, Draco?

"Ooooo, I hope we are going to be studying unicorns!"

I winced as Pansy screeched in my ear. We were making our way down to the hut at the edge of the forest for our first ever Care of Magical Creatures lesson, much to Draco's disdain.

"Whatever it is, I'm pretty sure it's going to be a royal waste of our time," he drawled derisively, walking a few steps behind us. "Dumbledore's finally lost it, hiring the gamekeeper to teach classes. Next he'll be getting the giant squid to tuck us all in at night."

I glanced over my shoulder at him, not bothering to disguise my wearied sigh.

"What?" He spat defensively; his eyes narrowing at me, daring me to challenge him. "You're not seriously trying to tell me that getting the students to purchase killer books was a great teaching move?"

I rolled my eyes, looking away. I was getting fed up with his constant whinging. He was acting more like a prima donna everyday.

I would like to say our friendship was hitting a 'rocky patch', but that would sadly be a generous description. It was already the beginning of our second week at Hogwarts and yet Draco and I had barely exchanged two words since our return.

Because it was difficult to have a conversation with someone whose mouth was surgically attached to someone else's lips at pretty much every available moment.

I hated that I missed him. I hated how pushed out I felt. He made me feel disposable like I never ever mattered to him.

But I wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of knowing that I felt that way. In my opinion, he and Pansy were completely suited to one another, and so who was I to stand in the way of a match made in unicorn puke.

"Everyone gather round, gather round!" Hagrid called jovially as we approached cautiously. "Now, firs' thing yeh'll want ter do is open yer books-"

"And exactly how do we do that?" Draco scoffed loudly.

He reached inside his bag and withdrew the large furry copy of his Monster Book of Monsters which had been bound shut securely with a belt.

"Hasn' - hasn' anyone bin able ter open their books?" Hagrid said, looking crestfallen as Neville Longbottom got eaten alive. "Yeh've got ter stroke 'em, look."

And he grabbed Hermione Granger's copy, demonstrating to the class with his giant hands how to stroke the spine, resulting in the snarling book to instantly purr like a content cat.

"Oh, how silly we've all been!" Draco sneered. "We should have stroked them! Why didn't we guess!"

"I... I thought they were funny," Hagrid said uncertainly.

"Oh, tremendously funny!" Draco spat, as Pansy giggled next to him. "Really witty, giving us books that try and rip our hands off!"

"Give it a rest, Drac," I muttered under my breath, irritation sparking in my stomach at his childishness.

But Draco wasn't listening, spurred on instead by Pansy's evident delight of his cruelty.

"God this place has gone to the dogs," he continued as Hagrid sloped dejectedly away to grab whatever magical creature was awaiting us from in the forest. "Wait until my father hears that Dumbledore's got this oaf teaching classes."

Pansy, Crabbe and Goyle howled with laughter, all three of them clutching their sides as tears poured down their cheeks.

"Shut up, Malfoy!"

For the first time in my life, I found myself wanting to applaud Harry Potter; he only said what we all wanted to say, after all.

"Careful, Potter," Draco snarled, a cruel smirk spreading across his face, "there's a Dementor behind you."

Pansy gave a loud shriek of laughter as if Draco had just said the funniest thing. At this point, I couldn't contain the loud snort that had bubbled up in my throat. Draco whipped his head towards me, hurt flashing in his grey eyes.

"What was that for?" he asked later when Hagrid had returned with this ugly looking bird.

"You and Pansy acting as though you weren't quaking like fucking babies," I scoffed, not even bothering to hide the bitterness from my voice.

"At least I didn't faint like Potter!" He hissed, frowning as Harry started riding the Hippogriff like a king. "Fucking show off."

I then watched on in disdain as Draco let jealously get the better of him; resulting in a pissed off Hippogriff lashing out at him ("You're gonna regret this! You and your bloody chicken!").

Pansy wailed hysterically as Hagrid carried him away ("It's killed him! It's killed my boyfriend!").

Complete drama queens.

*****

"Does it hurt terribly, Draco?"

"It comes and it goes. Still, I consider myself lucky. If it wasn't for Madam Pomfrey, another minute or two and I could've lost my arm. Couldn't possibly do any homework for weeks."

I slammed my plate down on the table, causing both Draco and Pansy to look up at me with startled expressions.

"Why in the absolute fuck are you wearing a sling?" I muttered, plonking myself abruptly down opposite them. "Aren't we in a wizard school? Quit acting like some sort of dramatic Muggle."

"I NEARLY LOST AN ARM!"

"It was a fucking scratch, Draco." I scoffed, aggressively stabbing my fork into a pasta shell. "And quite frankly, one that you deserved."

"It was an unprovoked attack!" Draco spluttered, his eyes almost bulging out of their sockets as he glared at me. "And you're supposed to be my friend, so a bit of loyalty wouldn't go amiss."

"Loyalty?!" I spat, followed by a loud bark of laughter. "Are you fucking kidding me, Draco? Tell me, how many of our classes did we share a desk together last year?"

"Um," his face coloured, clearly realising where I was going with this. "...all of them?"

"And in how many classes are you sharing a desk with me this year?"

He at least had the courtesy to look shamefaced; voicing the next word quietly. "None."

"Yeah, exactly. The second you found someone to shove your tongue into you've dropped me like a hot potato." I snarled, looking him fiercely in the eye, daring him to blink. "You know, since day one I've always considered you my best friend. But I guess I was wrong."

"Blaire, don't." Draco said, his face suddenly looking panicked as Pansy started whimpering beside him. "You know you are my best-"

"Save it, Draco. Best friends don't ditch one another in the way that you've gone and ditched me."

I turned my attention back to my food. Pansy was sobbing loudly now and I could tell Draco was finding this whole situation difficult; looking between Pansy and I as if he didn't know which one of us to placate.

In the end, I made it easy for him. Getting to my feet, I picked up my plate and, tossing my head back, moved down to the other end of the table.

I was done with these fucktards.

*****