Life at Hogwarts had always been a bit rough for you. For one thing, you were a Slytherin. So that meant lots of people were going to hate you because of the house you were in.
However, you were also a Muggle-born. Which left many people very conflicted on their feelings towards you. Some people liked you, some people disliked you, some people didn't have an opinion on you. Then there was Draco Malfoy.
Draco hated you. He hated the fact that you were a Muggle-born Slytherin. To him, it messed up the order things, jumbled up the status-quo. Lots of his friends, including Crabbe and Goyle, tried to get him to talk to you, initiate a conversation with you. But he wouldn't hear of it. He would even go so far as to get up and walk out of the room whenever your name was mentioned.
You on the other hand, tried to talk to him. You always tried to strike up a conversation with, even if it was a simple hello. But all he did was ignore you, talk to someone else, or give you a rather dirty look. It sucked, it really did. All you wanted to do was try to make another friend and talk to him, but he was being too much of a dick to even give you a chance.
However, that changed pretty quickly. One day, word had gotten around that Draco was giving you even more of a hard time. Apparently, he was spreading rumors around school saying that you lived in poverty and that the only reason why you even got in was because your family had practically begged Dumbledore to admit you.
Sadly, you let the rumors get the best of you. You spent the whole day Friday hiding in your room, hiding from people who bought Draco's lies.
Suddenly, he was shoved into your room by Pansy and Marcus. Draco was practically thrown against the wall and when he tried to turn around to shove past them and leave, Marcus quickly pulled the door shut and held it there.
"Marcus! This isn't funny, let me out!" Draco yelled through the door.
He pounded on the door but it stayed shut.
"Not until you talk to (Y/N) and actually get to know her, you arrogant twit!" Marcus yelled back.
Draco's posture slumped and he huffed at the door.
"Fine!"
He angrily turned around, his cold grey eyes meeting your slightly scared (y/e/c) ones.
His eyes slightly softened when they met yours.
"Hi." he muttered.
You swallowed thickly but kept your eyes on him. "Hi."
Awkward silence descended into the room. For about five minutes, none of you said a damn thing. That is, until you finally spoke up.
"So you're spreading rumors about me, huh?" you spoke softly.
Draco sat down on the bed opposite yours and rolled his eyes.
"Whatever. It's not like they're true anyway."
You frowned at him. "That doesn't mean it still doesn't hurt. I've done nothing to you, I don't see why you need to be so rude towards someone you've never even talked to before."
He narrowed his eyes at you, his cold eyes suddenly becoming colder.
"You know why I act how I act towards you."
You positioned yourself on your bed and so you were sitting in front of him with your legs off the edge the bed.
"Because I'm Muggle-born? That's literally the stupidest reason for someone to hate me."
"You don't get it, do you?"
"Oh, I get it. I don't belong here because I'm not a pure-blood racist with intentions of going dark-side once I graduate. I don't belong here because I'm not rude and judgmental like the vast majority of the people in this house. I don't belong here because my heritage makes me a minority to all of you. Trust me, I get it. I get it all. You're not gonna tell me anything I don't already know, Malfoy."
Your tone had become like ice and your eyes were now burning angrily into his. Draco stared at you, surprised. To be perfectly honest, he hadn't expected you to say anything like that to him, ever. He had always taken you as that shy, sensitive girl that no one really noticed.
Apparently, he was wrong.
You stared at him with a straight face, now surprisingly confident.
"If you can think of one reason to legitimately hate me, without using the excuse of my race as a reason, then you can go. But for now, I challenge you to tell me why you hate me."
Draco stared at you with his mouth open. He couldn't think of any legitimate reason to hate you, honestly he couldn't. Now that he really thought about it, he only found reasons to like you. He suddenly liked the fact that you were so nice to everyone, even to him when you two first met. He found that he liked the fact that you were so patient with people, even if they gave you the hardest of times. Somehow, he even liked it when he would see you defending yourself against someone who had made racist remarks at you or said anything rude to you at all.
Draco's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as his gaze hit the floor. Now that he thought about it, he found that he liked the fact that your hair always looked so soft. And in the light it looked even softer, silky smooth in fact. He found that he liked how your smile could always make someone else smile, even though you hardly showed your teeth in a smile. He found that the way you carried yourself was with confidence, even though you were extremely quiet and he really liked that.
Within a matter of minutes, his whole perspective on you changed. Suddenly, he didn't hate you. He actually liked you. Really liked you.
Draco lifted his head up and faced you, where you were waiting patiently for an answer.
"I got nothing..." he trailed off softly.
You smirked. "See? That wasn't so hard was it?"
He chuckled and looked into your eyes. "No, I guess it wasn't."
You nodded and sat there, unsure of what to say next.
However, Draco spoke up again.
"I'm sorry I've been so rude to you." he gave you a shy smile.
You smiled back at him. "It's okay. Forgive and forget, right?"
He smiled at you a little wider, his eyes taking in your wondrous appearance.
"Yeah...forgive and forget..." he trailed off, still looking at you.
You noticed him staring and started to blush while nervously tucking some hair behind your ear.
"What are you staring at?" you asked him.
He gulped a bit and leaned forward so that his elbows were on his knees, but he was still staring at you.
"You." he responded quietly.
"Do I have something on my face?" you giggled out.
He gave you a side smile. "No. I just think you're really pretty that's all."
You widened your eyes slightly and swallowed quickly.
"O-oh..." you stuttered, "Thanks..."
Draco clasped his hands together and looked at you nervously. The question he was about to ask you was taking a big risk on his part, but somehow he wanted to do it anyway.
"(Y/N) I uh...I know this is going to sound really weird right now, but um...You uh, wanna go out sometime? Y'know with me?" he asked hopefully, his heart now pounding.
You raised your eyebrows at him.
"You went from hating me to wanting to take me out on a date that quick?" you joked.
He let out a small laugh and stood up, walking over to your bed and sitting next to you.
"I know. It's uh, it's a little weird. But I do actually like you..." he trailed off.
You stared at him, waiting for him to finish his sentence.
He suddenly turned his torso to face you, taking one of your hands in his.
"Look, go out with me one time. One time. If you don't like it, then we can never speak of it ever again and just be friends instead. Okay? One date, that's all I'm asking."
You sighed and stared at him for a bit. Now that you thought about it, he was pretty cute. And he did seem to like you. Might as well take the chance, right?
"Okay." you said, smiling at him.
He raised his eyebrows and smiled at you.
"Okay, I'll go out with you." you said, a little louder this time.
He smiled widely at you and gave you a quick peck on the cheek.
Draco walked out of your room with your hand in his, where your friends waited for a sign that everything had gone well with you two.
It did.