"Disappointed you didn't get to see the real show, Snape?" Draco hissed out, fuming as he sat by Evan's side. "Fucking pervert."
"Stop," Evan hissed frantically to him, giving him a glare that would usually have Draco obeying her every command.
"Watch your next words very carefully, Malfoy," Snape said, leaning onto his desk. He glared at Draco, but he didn't break or even bend.
"Just give us detention so we can go," Evan said. She sounded rather calm, the balancing act to his all-consuming rage.
As Snape paced his desk, Evan gave Draco this look. He knew she was begging him to shut the fuck up in her head, but he just stared menacingly at her.
"I think. . ." Snape started. Draco snapped his inflamed eyes back to him. "This may warrant a letter home if you can't learn to control your tongue, Malfoy."
Draco froze, then laughed, because of course. There wasn't anything he could do, anyway. Snape had drafted the letter to his father in his head the moment he walked through the Astronomy Tower doors.
"Draco, shut the fuck—!" Evan started to hiss frantically as he cackled in utter madness. Draco interrupted her.
"This is bullshit," he said. "Clearly you tried very hard to get up there, Professor. I would know, I enchanted the door myself."
"I was informed of your plans of meeting just before I arrived, Mister Malfoy."
"Yeah?" Draco asked, crossing his arms. "By who?"
"You should really be careful of the notes you leave lying around," Snape said, removing a folded piece of parchment from his pocket. It was very same one he stuck into Evan's cloak pocket that morning. Now, it was Evan's turn to be indignant. She sat up and leaned forward, her eyes blazing molten fire at Snape.
"That's mine," she said in angry bewilderment. She even reached a hand into her cloak pocket, as if she was expecting to find the note there. But of course, someone must have found it. "How the fuck did you—?"
"Clearly, it's yours, Miss Blackwood. I have eyes," Snape snapped at her. Draco had to resist the urge to stand up and slam his head into the desktop. Evan was now shifting uncomfortably by his side, crossing her arms over her chest, uncomfortable at the memory of Snape's eyes—as she had not been wearing a shirt when he infiltrated their heated moment.
"What a fall from grace," Snape sighed, his voice laced with venom. "Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy won't be too pleased, will they? Their son. . ." he said, sneering at Draco. "And a muggleborn."
Draco snapped, erupting out of his chair and flying to his feet. The desk chair launched backwards and crashed loudly to the floor.
"GO AHEAD AND TELL THEM, ASSHOLE!"
"Draco, for fuck's sake!" Evan exclaimed. She stood up and grabbed onto Draco's collar, yanking him back down. He kept his eyes trained on Snape, fucking daring him to do it.
"Very well," Snape said with a knowing smile. "Off to bed, both of you. And don't make any stops along the way, or I'll know."
Draco grabbed Evan's hand, pulled her up, and dragged her out of the door. He let go of her once they entered the corridor, then he started blazing down the hall, rushing back to the dungeon to write a letter of his own.
"Why would you do that, Draco, have you gone mad?!" Evan said hurriedly, tearing down the corridor by his side.
"Oh, I'm definitely mad," he replied, not slowing down. He sped up, tearing around a corner.
"Draco he's going to tell your parents," Evan said breathlessly as she struggled to keep up with his pace.
"Let him," Draco hissed under his breath.
As they were both tearing down the pitch black corridor, Evan shoved a hand on the center of Draco's chest, sending him flying back into a wall.
He panted and looked down at her hand, nearly chuckling.
"Oh, how the tables have turned," he said ominously.
"Draco, for fuck's sake, your father is gonna—"
"Freak out? Disown me? Okay," he said frantically, nodding. He barred his teeth, leaning in. "Fucking let him."
"You . . . you can't just . . ." Evan stuttered, shaking her head in bewilderment.
"What?" he interrupted, his chest heaving against Evan's hand. "I can't just . . . have my own life? You're right, I have never been able to. But he's not ruining this, hell no."
As Evan was raising another confused question, Draco slipped to the side and tore away from her. He stomped through the corridors, pelted through the portait hole, and barreled into the Slytherin common room. He was tearing over to the doorway to the dorms when he noticed that Pansy Parkinson was sitting at the table.
"Enjoy yourself?" Pansy scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest. The common room was empty except for her, as Draco supposed the others were still down at the boathouse.
The fact that Pansy was there alone, and wore a knowing smirk on her face, made Draco realize all at once that this was her doing.
"Oh, yes," Draco said in a frenzy, his eyes wide and crazed. "Best night of my fucking life."
Pansy's eyes widened. Draco sneered at her before tearing upstairs to his dormitory.
He was sure Snape's own owl was already in transit. But he hastily ripped a piece of parchment in half and scribbled his own note upon it.
Lucius Malfoy,
It's true.
- Draco Malfoy.
- - -
Note writing became a regular part of Draco's daily routine during the following week.
In lieu of talking to Evan directly, he wrote her a note the next day, slipping it into her hand as they all left for breakfast. He tried to keep it as discreet at possible, using only their first initials and using disappearing ink to ensure that Pansy wouldn't intercept it.
E,
I think it was Pansy who found the note. Just a hunch.
I'm trying to keep my distance until she calms down about it. Not for my benefit, but for yours.
Because I don't care anymore.
Let's tell them all.
D.
Draco watched Evan read the note, holding it under the table at breakfast. As she scanned her eyes down the parchment, she looked completely startled. When she looked up, meeting his eyes across the table, Draco simply smiled at her as her brain exploded.
Draco was realizing that he may not have to spend the rest of his life in a forced marriage at Malfoy Manor, tending to centuries old peacock flocks and popping out platinum blond purebloods. He was positively and recklessly giddy.
The only thing that would make it all better was if Evan weren't so stressed. He didn't like seeing her worry, and he could practically hear it in her reply to his note.
D,
I know it was Pansy. It's more than a hunch.
But I get it.
I don't get why you want to tell everyone, though.
E.
Evan left the note in his potions book, so he didn't find it until the next day as he was leaving for Quidditch practice. It was the last practice they would have before the holidays, so Theo was drilling them hard to make up for their long sabbatical. Draco was completely unfocused. Theo noticed immediately.
"Oi!" Theo called to him, flying over to where he was hovering idly by the empty bleachers.
When Theo reached Draco, he was looking at him strangely. It was if I'm he were a ticking time bomb, or he had been given a death sentence, or he had only months to live.
"What?" Draco snapped in alarm, because Theo was just fucking staring at him.
By now, the entirety of Slytherin house was chattering about his Astronomy Tower shagging, not knowing who the girl had been, but knowing that it had happened. Pansy, having an unbelievably loud mouth and presumably telling all of the upperclass Slytherin girls about it, had undoubtedly mentioned it to Theo as well. Draco waited for the teasing, the congratulatory perverted remarks. Instead, Nott looked at him warily.
"Pansy said you may be in some trouble with Daddy Lucy," Theo said quietly, keeping his voice low as Crabbe and Goyle were just a few yards down.
"Most definitely. But when am I not?" Draco chuckled, turning away and looking out at the mountains.
"Well . . ." Theo said. "If he tries anything . . . you know. . ."
Theo was giving him a knowing look. Draco's light smile dropped, because he knew exactly what he was insinuating.
"Send me an owl," Theo said firmly.
"I won't need to," Draco replied coldly, watching as Blaise zipped by. The gust of wind formed by his passing blew Draco's hair back completely from his face.
"Or just show up," Theo shrugged.
"I'm sure Nott Sr. would love that," Draco scoffed.
"The guest bedroom is quite luxurious, as you'll recall," Theo said. Then he smirked, diffusing the tension. "And bring some goddamn liquor this time, for the love of Merlin."
Draco rolled his eyes, staring at Blaise as he threw the quaffle through the center goal.
"I mean it, Malfoy," Theo threatened, starting to turn around and head back to the goalposts. "Don't be a proud little bitch."
Draco sighed upon Theo's exit, throwing the practice Snitch in the air. He chased after it until the end of practice, eager for the distraction.
That night, when Draco returned to the common room sweaty and exhausted from Theo's Quidditch drills, he slipped another note into Evan's hand. He wrote it hurriedly in the locker room as the others changed. He doubted Theo or Blaise or Crabbe or Goyle knew anything of the monumental decision he had made, right there next to the lockers.
E,
I'm feeling rebellious.
D.
- - -
That next Friday morning, not long after Evan and Draco were caught in the Astronomy Tower, Draco was sprinting down the halls, bumping past unassuming Professors and students as he made a desperate break for the outside air in an all-out sprint.
"Quite rude!" exclaimed Nearly Headless Nick when Draco ran right through his ghostly form. Draco didn't even look back.
He had a quivering red envelope in his hand, the Howler due to erupt any moment.
He could hear the very first sounds of his mother's voice bursting from it. It would be even louder and even more horrible, the longer he waited to open it. He tore through the courtyard, shoving through a group of first year Hufflepuffs, and jumped through the empty concrete window pane and down the sloping hill. Draco crashed all the way to the bottom of the valley, out of earshot of any other students.
When he opened the seal, birds fled from the trees in droves and he resisted the urge to cover his ears.
"DRACO LUCIUS MALFOY!!!"
"Oh—Fucking christ!" Draco exclaimed to no one. He covered one ear, giving the other one the brunt of his mother's auditory attack.
"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA THE KIND OF TURMOIL AND SHAME YOU HAVE BROUGHT UPON OUR HOUSE?! YOUR FATHER NEARLY FAINTED, HE NEARLY DIED ON THE SPOT!!! YOU, MY SON, AND A MUGGLEBORN?!!
God, it was so fucking loud, Draco would be surprised if Evan herself couldn't hear it—even at such a distance.
"IF YOU SO MUCH AS MENTION A WORD OF THIS TO YOUR FATHER DURING THE HOLIDAYS, I WILL LOCK YOU IN YOUR BEDROOM AND YOU WILL NOT SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY UNTIL YOU ARE MY AGE, DO YOU UNDERSTAND?! DO YOU REALIZE WHAT YOU HAVE DONE, DRACO?! YOU HAVE BROUGHT GOSSIP AND DERISION INTO OUR HOME, YOU HAVE LET YOUR TEENAGE DESIRES OVERRIDE YOUR MORALS AND I WILL NOT STAND FOR IT! I WILL NOT TOLERATE THIS NONSENSE!"
Draco was thinking it was nearly over, but it was as if his mother took a deep breath and decided to just keep on screaming.
"AND TO SEND YOUR FATHER THAT LETTER?!! WHAT ON SALAZAR'S GREEN EARTH WERE YOU THINKING, CONFIRMING THE STORY?! HE MAY HAVE BEEN ABLE TO IGNORE IT, BUT YOU DECIDED TO LAUGH IN HIS FACE!! YOU WILL BE LUCKY TO GET OUT UNSCATHED, I PROMISE YOU THAT! ALL WE HAVE WORKED FOR, ALL YOUR FATHER HAS DONE, AND THIS IS HOW YOU CHOOSE TO REPAY HIM—SPITTING ON THE MALFOY NAME?! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA OF THE DANGER YOU HAVE PUT US ALL IN? DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT WE ARE NOW EXPOSED TO?! DO NOT SO MUCH AS LOOK AT THAT GIRL AGAIN! FORGET YOUR FATHER, I WILL BRING THE DEVILS UPON YOUR HEAD! DO!!!! NOT!!!! SPEAK!!!! TO HER!!!! AGAIN!!!!!!!!!"
Then, the screaming wore down and his mother focused instead on their holiday plans.
"Your father and I will retrieve you from the train station tomorrow at noon."
Then, she said, "I love you, Draco."
And finally, the letter shredded itself to pieces in his hand. Draco let out a long, exhausted breath.
Suddenly, as Draco collapsed onto the snowy ground and sat on the edge of the hill, a loud thud sounded right behind him. Draco whirled around, horrified.
"Sorry!" Hagrid exclaimed, as he had just dropped a massive Christmas tree into the snowbank and was fumbling to pick it back up again.
Draco just stared, because dear god, there was no way the oaf didn't hear.
Within the next moment, Draco knew for a fact that Hagrid heard every word of the Howler. He was looking at Draco with a strange sympathy, as if he wanted to say something. He kept opening his mouth and closing it again, holding his tree up while Fang barked by his side.
After a few more rounds of him opening his mouth and then shutting it, Draco could hardly stand it anymore.
"What in devil's name would you like to say, you old brute?!" he exploded.
Hagrid stuttered, and dropped the tree again. Fang darted out of the way as the trunk thumped into the earth.
"Would ya like to come down for sum tea?"
Bewildered, he started to stand. Hagrid looked at him expectantly. Draco shook his head, stunned.
"I see," Hagrid said. His tone returned to normal—the usual dismissive, irritated tone he used whenever their paths had crossed before.
Draco just nodded, scowling at the ground, and turned sharply on his heels.
"Ya know," Hagrid called up as he walked away. Draco only turned back slightly. "You could do a lot worse than Evangeline Blackwood, that's fer sure."
It wasn't that difficult to put together, Draco supposed. His mother screaming at him about muggleborns, the way Draco infiltrated Evan's detention that time . . . he was surprised Hagrid was the only one who had figured it out.
"Yes," Draco said over his shoulder, the. swallowed hard. "I'm quite aware."
"As a matter o' fact," Hagrid then continued. Draco rubbed his forehead before turning around to face him again. "She's great. Always gives me a present for Christmas, the swee' lass."
"And?" Draco asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well. Do ya know what she migh' like?" Hagrid asked, his breath puffing visibly in front of his face.
"For Christmas?" Draco snapped. "How the bloody hell should I know? You've been friends with her a hell of a lot longer than I have."
At Hagrid's silence, Draco sighed and answered.
"Books. Just get her a book," he said, furrowing his brows. "Something about dragons, I dunno."
"Well, fat lot of help you are. I coulda worked tha' out meself."
"Actually, don't get her a book. That's my idea," Draco said frantically, because fuck, he didn't know what to get her for Christmas, either. He hadn't even thought about it.
"Wha' she could really use is some company on the day," Hagrid grumbled.
Draco gave Hagrid a half-chuckle, nodding. Then, at the realization that they were having a casual conversation, Draco shook his head and finally departed, heading back to the Great Hall to finish his interrupted breakfast.
- - -
D,
How bad is it?
E.
Draco sighed down at the note in his hands, reading it on the edge of his bed.
It was quite bad. Probably very horrible.
After Draco finished packing his trunk, he sent her a reply. He tried to keep it lighthearted, because he knew she was terrified. He could see it in her eyes every time she looked at him. He kept smiling at her every time, trying to reassure her, but he didn't think he was doing anything to calm her. She had looked quite tired, the night before they were all set to leave for the holiday. She looked so fucking sad, too.
E,
Aw, look who's worrying about me.
I think mother dearest is just about ready to invite you over for Christmas dinner.
That was a joke. But I wish.
Have a good holiday,
D.
For now it was the best he could do. He would be back after the term resumed, and he would be able to report some good news, hopefully.
Or, at least, he hoped to return in one piece.