I ignored Draco for the next week. Or two. I kind of lost count of how long it had been. After that boy thought he had to be mean to me once he realized someone was watching him, I lost respect for him. He clearly never had any respect for me anyways. One moment he seems interested (in whatever way that meant to him), and the next he pretends he hates me. Or is he actually pretending to be interested and he really does hate me? Eh. Who the fuck knows and who the fuck cares at this point.
Iris had been telling me that I seemed down recently, and being the meddler she is, she kept trying to pry some information out of me. I didn't budge. I was not in the mood, and it wasn't any of her business anyways.
I was on my way to visit Dumbledore to update him on the situation. I hadn't done so in quite a while, and I'm sure he was getting curious seeing as though He Who Must Not Be Named is confirmed to be coming back.
I marched up to the second floor to Gargoyle Corridor, to where I was able to enter his office. "Ah. Young Granger. What a surprise." He announced me to the empty room, his back facing me.
I step forward into the middle of the circular room, still intrigued by all the pictures and knick knacks along the walls. "I've come to speak with you about the situation at hand." I say, trying to seem as serious as possible, knowing that the words that just came out of my mouth most likely sounded extremely idiotic. "The Draco Malfoy, situation." I elaborated.
"Ah, I see." Professor Dumbledore finally swiveled himself around to lay eyes on me. "And what seems to be the issue here."
"Other than the fact that he is a menace to Hogwarts, he seems to single me out." I huff to myself. "I don't know how much more I can do. I have tried to be nice to him. I have tried standing up to him. I've tried acting like him to see if he approves. It's just not working."
Dumbledore stood in his thoughts a moment. He raised his eyebrows, pursed his lips a bit, and began to fiddle with a ring on his desk. "Keep trying Miss Granger." I wait for more of an explanation. He said nothing else.
"But Professor," I chime in. "Draco Malfoy is a villain, specifically my villain, and I have no idea what I've done to provoke that."
"Now, now. He is not a villain. Draco Malfoy is just a boy. A boy that needs someone to understand him." He looked down at me. "You seem to understand him. I can assure you, he is not a hopeless boy."
"But I feel it is hopeless.." I shake my head and sigh. I didn't know what else to say to convince him that Draco was terrible and would never show anyone his good side. Whatever "good side" may or may not be buried underneath that black heart of his.
"Miss Granger... Didn't he tell you face to face that he liked your attention?" Bewildered, I nod. How did he know that? No one was in the room when that happened. "And didn't Draco Malfoy tell you that he was glad to see you when you saw him in the infirmary?" I nod again. He smirks. "I know things, things you may not realize I know."
"But Professor, he only told me those things when no one was around. Who knows if he meant well by those words."
"That is the exact point I am trying to make... Get him away from his peers. See how different he is with just you. I can almost guarantee that things will change if you do that." He began to turn around, as if he were done with this conversation. "Go make a change, Miss Granger."
I took the hint and left his office. He literally put it right back in my hands again. No plan. No advice. What was I supposed to do now? Nothing else I had tried seemed to be working. I had no choice but to heed Dumbledore's encouragement and see what happened.
It was getting a little late after dinner and I figured I'd just go right back down to the dungeons to the common room.
My mind stopped wandering once I noticed Draco standing at the doorway to the Slytherin common room. Why was he just.. standing there? Maybe there was too much commotion in the common room for his liking. He doesn't seem to be too fond of too many people, ya know. His white hair stood out against his dark robes. He played catch with himself using a green apple: throwing it up in the air with his right hand, and catching it back in his right hand when it fell back down. He took a bite, looked up, and saw me.
"Well, well there she is." The corner of his mouth turned up. "The fun Granger is back."
I stood next to him, in front of the door. I wanted to just chant "Pureblood" and ignore him and walk away, but I knew I couldn't. I turned to him. "And what about me, exactly, makes me the 'fun' one?"
"It's fun to make fun of you of course." He chuckled to himself. How immature.
I smile sarcastically. It wasn't funny at all. I pick up some footsteps headed in our direction, interrupting our lovely conversation. Around the corner comes Pansy, frolicking on her way to come bother Draco.
I notice Draco roll his eyes when he noticed her. I thought I could hear him huff a little too. That's when I had the best idea I had had all year. Or maybe it could be the dumbest idea yet.
"Draco. Why don't you and I go to the Yule Ball... together?" I struggled to get that last word out.
He just looked at me. "What?" Don't worry Draco, I was a little confused, too.
"C'mon. It'll keep you from having to go with Pansy," I nod in her direction as she's almost upon us, "and of course you can make fun of me all you want there."
He contemplated for a moment and then had the look on his face as if he were about to say 'HELL no.'
"Yeah, okay." He shrugged it off.
"Really?" I think I was just as surprised at his answer as he was to my question.
"Yeah. That's a good plan." He turned as Pansy had just arrived and opened the door to the common room, scowling at us a bit. He began inside, and turned to me, "Thanks." He continued to his dorm.
I stood outside a moment more to let them ahead of me. What just happened? Am I crazy? Going to a DANCE with Draco Malfoy? Could this be the end of me? Or could this be the best thing for me? For Draco, I mean. Oh no, what would Hermione think of me? Shit, I didn't think about her seeing me with him. Fuck.
~~~
Knock... Knock... I heard a tapping at my window. I look over at Iris who was fast asleep in her bed. I look over at the window, which to no surprise was hard to see out of because it was the middle of the night. "Lumos." My wand lights up, allowing me to make my way over to the window. I find an owl, knocking his beak against my window to wake me up.
"Here little fella." I whisper as I lift up the glass, allowing him inside. In his claw, he was clutching a letter. Whose owl was this? I grasped the letter from his talons and opened it.
Meet me at the Astronomy tower. Now.
That's all it says? I look back at the owl in front of me. He was actually HUGE. Was this Draco's owl by chance? There's only one way to find out.
I quickly change into my sweatpants and a hoodie, trying not to wake my roommate up. She would turn into a living demon if I woke her up in the middle of the night.
I swiftly make my way to the Astronomy tower as instructed. I was there in what felt like no time. I'm glad there was no one roaming the halls on the way to put me back to my dorm.
"Yes?" I make myself known when I see that head of silver hair on the body of Draco Malfoy, in the same position he was in last time I came up here.
"There she is." He stated, now showing me his side profile. "The fun Granger."
"Why did you want to see me?"
He turned around now to face me. To gaze at me. And to be honest, I can admit that I was in awe of what I saw before me. His strong stature in front of me. I could see his chiseled jaw from where I stood, and the moon shining behind him made the rings on his fingers gleam at me. Without a word, he made his way closer to me. I looked up into his blue eyes. He looked down into mine.
Within moments, his hands were tracing the skin on my wrists and making their way up my arms. I could feel his grip on my back, pulling me closer. Now I could smell him. How did he always smell so good?
I rest my hands around his neck, as if we were slow dancing. Draco's hands, his cold yet soothing hands, made their way around to my neck and up to my face, not lifting a finger. He pushed a few strands of hair out of my face, and cupped my jawline. He held my face in his palms as if I were the most precious thing he could ever touch. A chill went down my spine, and I relaxed into his arms, allowing my head and body forward.
Our lips pecked each other, and he slowly pulled away just enough to where our noses were touching. His eyes were normally so cold and spiteful, but in this very moment I saw a different Draco than the one I grew up with. I saw contentment in his eyes.
He pulled me into him once more. He kissed me slowly and passionately. His fingers steadily made their way through my hair. A breathy moan escaped from my lips, which seemed to make him kiss me even more intensely.
My fingers ran up into his messy silver hair, and I gripped it hard in my palm. I heard a light moan on his breath. Merlin, how is he this sexy?
He pulled away, out of breath, just enough to get a good look at me and smile.
"My father can't hear about this." He advanced forward to my lips once more.