The change in Draco was subtle, but, Juno was in tune with these sorts of things. He greeted her in good humour the first Friday back at Hogwarts following the Christmas break, but she could tell something had changed. He was a little more deflated, but more poised all the same. His jaw was tense, his shoulders raised, his fists clenched, like he was waiting for something - like he was constantly on the defence. His skin had gotten paler, and his cheeks more sunken, the sockets of his eyes purpling, as though he'd hardly slept a wink the whole two weeks they were gone. He was distressed, she knew it - no one else could tell, but she could see it from a mile off, and she felt a wave of sadness that, while she had been at home enjoying a lovely break with her family, Draco had been suffering in a cold and painful household.
"I can't tell you how glad I am to see you," He huffed as he took a seat beside her. She looked at him, studying his features, her eyes skimming from the peak of his forehead to the dip of his chin, all along the valley of his cheeks, through the ocean of his eyes, lingering on his lips, and then back to his eyes again, offering him a ghost of a sad smile;
"Was it really so bad?" She asked. He shrugged, turning the corners of his mouth up slightly, as if this one movement could convince her that he was okay - it didn't. She threaded her arm through his, squeezing it tightly in her own, resting her head on his shoulder. He took a deep breath in, casting his eyes on the water, collecting himself before he spoke. Juno's gentle touch meant more to him than she could imagine, it warmed him in every sense of the word, it grounded him - offering him just a sliver of comfort after such a horrible two weeks. He needed it - he needed that comfort more than anything, for someone to just acknowledge him, to make him feel as though everything would be okay, even if it wouldn't. He'd been that comfort for his mother over the last few weeks, she'd needed it more than he did, but now, the simple embrace of someone he was confident genuinely cared about him - he basked in that feeling, melting into it, savouring it, ignoring every other thought he should be having, just for that moment.
"Let's just say, I'm relieved to be back," He chuckled, she noted the sadness in his words.
"Come on, let's go for a walk, I don't fancy sitting here all afternoon. We can smoke-" Juno suggested, jumping to her feet, offering her hand to Draco to help him stand.
"Oh, thank you, by the way-" She shot him a questioning look, "for the present, it was lovely. I needed the smoke, and I suppose the muggle book wasn't too horrendous," he teased, nudging her as they began walking aimlessly towards the forest. "I didn't get you anything,"
"It's okay, you paid for the drinks when we went to Hogsmeade," she shrugged.
"And listen, about Blaise - I really don't think tutoring him is a good idea, he's never committed to a girl in his life - he just pretends to like them so he can get in their knickers-"
"Believe it or not, I am actually capable of tutoring someone without taking my knickers off. That would be counterproductive, can't imagine we'd get much studying done-"
"Juno, I'm serious-"
"So am I, Draco. There's such a thing as actual tutoring, whereby we just study, and we don't have sex. I am very willing and able to not fall into bed with someone just because we're studying together-"
"But Blaise, on the train he was saying you were fit-"
"Oh, and because he thinks I'm 'fit' that automatically means I'm going to drop my knickers, does it?"
"No- but-"
"But, what? Blaise's intentions mean nothing - just because he might want to have sex with me, which I highly doubt he does, seriously, doesn't mean I'm going to have sex with him at the drop of a hat. I do have a say in this, you know-"
"But that's-"
"Even if I did have sex with him, it's got nothing to do with you, Draco - I value you, you're my only friend, but that doesn't mean you have a say in my sex life-"
His cheeks were reddening as the conversations continued, a mixture of embarrassment and frustration.
"I just don't want you to get hurt, okay? You're worth so much more than a meaningless shag and getting tossed to the side-"
"I get that, Draco, I do," she turned to face him, gripping his hands and looking intently into his eyes, "and it means so much that you care, okay? I know you're not usually the friendship type, so it means a lot that you care enough to say this - but, I can look out for myself, okay?"
"Okay," He sighed, admitting defeat. She nodded, and smiled at him, giving his hands another squeeze before she dropped them, and continued walking alongside him. He hated the fact he felt cold without her hands in his, he hated the fact he instinctively wanted to reach out and interlace their fingers, he hated that he was becoming so dependent on her, like he couldn't survive without her - she levelled his emotions to the perfect balance, with her beside him he could handle whatever the world threw at him - he couldn't bare to think of the time when she wouldn't be around, even though, deep down, he knew it was looming.
"Also, meaningless sex isn't such a bad thing-" she giggled, he shot his brow up as he looked at her. "You act as though being cast to the side after sex is the worst thing ever - but as a matter of fact, most people want the sexual gratification without the strings attached. A one night thing isn't always going to leave someone heartbroken. Newsflash- girls can have sex without becoming attached-"
"I wouldn't know," he shrugged cockily, "Every girl I've slept with has come crawling back, always begging for more."
"Oh, shut up," Juno laughed, swatting his chest.
"You talk as though you've had a lot of sex, Juno Lovegood,"
"Are you suggesting I haven't?"
"Have you?" His heart thundered, he realised he didn't like the thought of her being with anyone else.
"A bit," she shrugged, "like I said, we all have sexual gratifications we need fulfilling - I've never had sex that meant anything,"
He felt somewhat relieved at this, the thought of her being intimate with someone made his stomach churn, he felt as though her intimate moments were reserved for him, not in a particularly sexual way, but in the sense that a thousand men could have seen her naked body, but he wanted to be the only one to have seen her naked soul. He wondered if she felt the same.
"What about you?" She probed. She too felt her heart palpate - she knew he'd had a lot of sex but something in her couldn't stand to think about it.
"I'd say the same, I've had a lot of sex that meant nothing-"
"What about Pansy?"
"I stopped that as soon as I knew it started to mean something to her," he shrugged. She felt a little lighter after hearing this - she wanted to be the only one to see his vulnerabilities, the only one to truly see him in such an intimate light. She liked to think the connection they had was different, more raw and deep rooted.
"All this sex talk," Draco sighed, theatrically, looking at her with a smirk, "if sex is so meaningless then what are we still doing with our clothes on-?"
She spluttered and choked as he double over laughing. "Draco!" She scolded, shoving him playfully.
"I'm kidding! Unless-"
"Meaningless sex is with meaningless people, you don't have sex with people you care about - that's when it gets complicated-"
"I'm not hearing you deny that you want to have sex with me-" He sang.
She rolled her eyes and trudged on, "Shut up,"
Just as he was about to continue teasing her, he heard her gasp and start jogging towards the woods.
"Juno?" He called after her, taking large strides to catch up to her, "I'm kidding, you don't have to run away, I'm not going to try and fu-"
"Draco-" She cut him off, motioning to the ground. "He's hurt-"
Juno dropped to her knees, and Draco's eyes landed on an injured creature. She scooped the creature in her hands, inspecting it carefully.
"It's a young augurey, he's still alive, but, he's been attacked so violently-" she began to well up as she applied very slight pressure to the bleeding wounds of the magical bird, her voice cracking as she spoke, curling her bottom lip under her teeth. Draco crouched beside her, soothingly rubbing circles over her back, turning her head towards him and wiping her tears.
"Hey, hey, it's okay, these things happen in nature-"
"No, augureys aren't hunted for prey, and they're extremely shy - they're hardly seen out of their nests, something has attacked this poor little thing for no reason-" she sniffed, he ran his thumb across her cheek again, collecting the tears that fell.
"I'm sorry, Juno," he tucked the hair that fell into her face behind her ear, pulling her head into his chest in an embrace, careful not to touch the creature. "Things in the wizarding world are getting darker, that doesn't stop at people, the creatures are taking sides too,"
"I hate it," she cried, "why do the innocent have to suffer,"
"I know," he hushed into her hair, rocking her body against him soothingly. He felt a surge of guilt as he watched one of the only people he had ever come to care about cry over the very thing he had become an essential part of.
"We need to take him to Hagrid, Hagrid is better at this than me, he can fix him, he can make him better," she whimpered. He nodded helping her to her feet, quickly escorting her to Hagrid's hut.
Draco knocked at the door, constantly checking over his shoulder to ensure no one would see them. He could deal with Hagrid, but he couldn't deal with any of the blabbering students. The rickety door swung open to reveal the familiar half-giant, his hair as unruly and unkempt as ever, Draco had to try hard to mask his sneer.
"Juno! Well I wasn't expectin' you this evening- Oh, what's goin' on?" Hagrid eyed Draco suspiciously. Juno wordlessly lifted the injured augurey. "Oh dear, you best come in. Come on, mind yer step, pop him on the table-"
Hagrid kept shooting Draco quizzical looks. "I found her," Draco huffed, "I may not be a hero like Potter," he sneered, "but I couldn't leave a girl crying in the forest,"
"Right then," Hagrid shrugged, placing two ginormous teacups in front of the two guests. "Drink that, Juno, it'll help with the shock- help yerself to tea, young Malfoy," Again, Draco had to mask a sneer, it dawned on him just how much he cared for Juno for him to be sat in Rubeus Hagrid's hut drinking tea.
"Can you fix him?" She asked, her voice soft, and sad, another pang of guilt struck at Draco's heart.
"I can sure try - Merlin, it's nearly curfew, you two best be off back up to the castle now. I'll look after him Juno, don't you worry, I'll send you updates when there is some,"
He ushered them out of his house, Juno and Hagrid exchanging goodbyes as they departed, Draco stood awkwardly with his hands buried in his pockets, nodding as Hagrid offered him thanks and a wave.
Once Hagrid had turned back into the hut, Draco took Juno's hand in his own, and lead her back down to the lake.
"You okay?" He asked as they stopped, taking her face in his hands and inspecting it. She nodded, giving him a smile.
"Sorry," she mumbled
"Don't apologise," he pulled her into his chest again, and she wrapped her arms around his waist, his chin resting atop her head.
"I hate seeing creatures hurt, especially when it's so unnecessary," Draco merely nodded, swaying their bodies together, "Thank you for taking me to Hagrid's and staying with me, I know that wasn't your thing,"
"Anything for you, love," he mumbled against her hair.
-------
A few days later, Draco found himself making his way back down to Hagrid's hut. He couldn't believe what he was about to do, and he was sure it would raise suspicions, but he needed to know. Hurriedly he knocked on the door, Hagrid opened it, double-taking at the fact Draco Malfoy was on his doorstep for the second time in a week.
"Malfoy?" He ask, his brows furrowing, "Not got no more hurt creatures for me, have yer?"
"No," he snarled, trying not to survey the half-giant and his home with distaste. "I came to check on the augurey-"
"Didn't think you'd know what it was." Hagrid chuckled, turning his body to the side and motioning into his house, revealing the little bird that was awake and preening his feathers on the table. "He's recovering just nicely, waiting for all his wounds to fully heal and he should be good to go, that's if he wants to go, I think he's got used to being a domesticated-"
"That's all I needed to know-" Draco interrupted.
"Why have you-?"
"To make sure an oaf like you is actually doing his job properly." Draco spat, but Hagrid eyed him suspiciously. He sighed defeatedly, "How much for you to keep this to yourself?"
"What?"
"How much-?" Draco dug around in his pockets.
"No, no, nothing. You don't have to pay me nothing, I won't say anything - not that I really understand what's gone on here-"
"Great," Draco huffed, before taking off back up to the castle, satisfied that Juno would feel a little better knowing the injured creature would be just fine.
Later that evening, Juno heard tapping at her window, pleased to see Draco's owl trying to get her attention. She let her in, feeding her a treat as she retrieved the little note he had sent her.
"Your little friend is doing fine - go and visit him at Hagrid's. I don't know much but I'd say the Augurey I saw earlier was a pretty healthy Augery.
Love,
D x"