DRACO:
I first met Carina Hadley when I was 11.
She crashed into me, a fireball of energy as she ran into platform no. 9 ¾ and slammed right into my back, her owl hooting endlessly as its cage crashed to the floor.
"Look where you're going would you?" I sneered at the dark haired girl, who lay smacked on her bottom, looking up at me in a daze.
"Draco?" my mother's voice called from beside me, as she fussed over me to see if I was hurt. It was while I was pushing my mother's hands away that she carefully got up and walked to her owl cage.
"I'm sorry." She said in a timid voice before turning around and walking off, getting lost in the sea of parents and students that dotted the platform.
*
CARINA:
I first (readily) spoke to Draco Malfoy when I was 11.
He was the one who ran to the Slytherin Table and plonked down next to me, smiling widely like all his dreams had come true, his platinum blond hair flopping down on his forehead and in direct contrast to the slicked back hair I had smashed into that morning.
"I'm Malfoy." He had introduced himself, his grey eyes shining, "Draco Malfoy."
"Carina." I had replied back, smiling back because his grin was infectious.
**
DRACO:
The first time Carina complimented me, I was 12.
It was after my very first Quidditch match, the one against Gryffindor when the idiot Lockhart had somehow made Potter's bones turn to jelly instead of fixing it.
We lost that match, and though I do this begrudgingly, I take the blame. I was too busy laughing to notice the snitch two centimetres away from me.
Flint never let me hear the end of it that night.
It was after the entire house had dejectedly walked off to bed, and the celebratory decorations strung around the common room, done in the morning well before the match, were forgotten too that I had found myself sitting cross-legged on the carpet before the fire. I had just assumed everybody had gone off to bed, it was pretty late, but I couldn't sleep.
"Malfoy?" a soft voice had asked, making me jump up and glare.
Carina stood there, a robe over her pyjamas, hair wild and eyes droopy. She stared up at me questioningly. "What are you doing up?"
"I could ask you the same thing." I had replied, sitting back down and facing away from her.
To my biggest surprise she plopped down beside me, sitting so close I could hear her soft breathing over the cackle of the fire in front of us.
"Are you sad because we lost?" she asked, looking at the side of my face, as I refused to look at her.
"What makes you say I'm sad?" I had sneered, still not looking at her, but I could feel her stare hot on the side of my face.
I felt as her shoulders shrugged, brushing against mine in the process, "Just felt like you are sad."
I hadn't replied, wondering why she was up and asking me so many questions.
It was after a few minutes, after she had stopped staring at me and started facing the fire too that I heard her soft voice whisper, "For what it's worth, I think you're a fantastic flyer."
The corners of my lips had turned up.
*
CARINA:
The first time I came to know Draco Malfoy was a good person deep down, I was 12.
Our second year had just gotten over and all the Slytherin were in the common room, celebrating the fact that it was our last night in school till next year.
I was seated on one of the armchairs near the windows, in the corner, a book in my hand and a smile on my face as I spoke to Daphne Greengrass, my fellow roommate and only friend in this school.
She was very excited about the fact that the next time she came to Hogwarts she would be accompanied by her younger sister, Astoria.
I looked up as a flash of pale blond hair flicked across my line of sight and watched as Draco Malfoy sat down on the armchair next to mine. Engrossed in a conversation with Blaise Zabini.
It wasn't until hoots started sounding off and everybody turned in our general direction that I looked around cautiously and my gaze settled on Draco Malfoy who was smirking abashedly.
"Do you guys really want to see me summon the snake?" Draco drawled, his voice sounding extremely happy.
My gasp of fear was drowned by all the other Slytherins yelling and cheering Draco to actually do it.
"Yes C'mon Malfoy!" Flint shouted, "Show us!"
"Okay." Malfoy shrugged standing up, but my hands had already gone to pull the back of his robes as he stood in front of me.
"Please Draco no." I whispered, not knowing if he heard me, but I couldn't scream it out. I was a Slytherin, if I said I feared snakes everybody in the common room would dissolve in laughter.
Thankful for being in the corner and the fact that no one could see my hand pulling back Malfoy's robes, I whispered, "Don't" again, almost desperately.
Draco's hand stilled in mid-air, his wand held out ready to cast the spell, but the he abruptly turned around halfway to me, his eyebrow going up questionably at me. I was sure I did not succeed in keeping the fear out of my face.
He turned back ahead, his hand still out in front of him and for a spilt second in which I braced myself for the appearance of the black snake, I was sure Malfoy hadn't given my whimpers any heed.
But then he did the one thing I was sure he would never do, he listened to me. Instead of casting the spell he lazily put his wand-hand down and laughed out loud.
"How do you people plan on making it disappear if I summon it?" he drawled loftily, looking around the faltering expressions on all the surrounding faces.
I had merely let out a breath of relief when Flint perked up, "I'm sure Snape must've told you the spell to make it disappear too Malfoy!"
And the fear was back.
"No he didn't, Flint." Draco countered, lazily, sitting back down on his previously occupied armchair, "I'll do the spell when one of you learns to send it away."
As the crowds melted away from around us, Draco turned to me, giving me a small smile, one which I weakly found myself returning.
It was next day, on the train when he told me that he did know the spell to send it away, but I smiled up at him anyway, because he still hadn't summoned it.
**
DRACO:
The first time I realised Carina cared about me, I was 13.
It was the first day of school and I had just gotten an ugly gash on my hand by a Hippogriff. A lot of people had already come by to see me, mostly Crabbe, Goyle and Pansy surprisingly, but I'm sure that's just because she had a stupid crush on me. I hadn't thought about Carina Hadley since the start of summer nor had I noticed her on the first day of classes.
It wasn't until someone with honey coloured hair stepped through the infirmary doors after dinner that night that I did a double take. Carina Hadley stood there at the door, her hair shining in the dusk light filtering through the windows.
Carina's once midnight black locks were now honey coloured and highlighted with red streaks here and there. She no longer looked the same, in fact it looked like a lot had changed over the summer as she stood a bit taller and carried herself with a lot more grace. Puberty had definitely hit her hard and done a fabulous number on her.
"Hey." She softly murmured as she neared me, immediately causing me to shut my gaping mouth.
"Carina?" I choked out, my voice giving away the fact that I was too shocked to act normal.
Her hands instantly, started smoothening her hair, "You're the 5th person today that hasn't recognised me." She said quietly, but a bright smile lifted her expression, a faint blush colouring her cheeks.
"You...You look..." I faltered, "You look a lot different."
"Different good or different bad?" she asked, biting her lip a bit, as she surveyed me on the hospital bed, her eyes going over the sling my arm was in at the moment, Madam Pomfrey was sure it would be fine by tomorrow, so I wasn't worried.
"Different good." I acknowledged as the realization hit me hard. Blond definitely suited her, I had found myself thinking.
"Thanks." She said, a bit more confidently now, "How are you?"
I shrugged with my uninjured side, "Madam Pomfrey says I'll be fine by tomorrow."
She nodded with a serious expression until a mischievous smile made its way to her face, "I remember getting my hand fractured when I was 6."
"How?" I found myself asking, squinting to imagine her with a sling on her arm.
She laughed, "A girl pushed me off the top of a slide."
"Oh." I said, not really knowing what else to say, "Did you get back at her?"
Another laugh bubbled out of her lips, "Of course I did! She has a scar on her left eyebrow now."
I found myself laughing out loud too, and just as I was going to ask her what exactly had she done to give the girl a lifelong scar she continued.
"I remember using my fracture as an excuse to get out of doing things long after it had healed." She said, her hazel eyes twinkling, "Mum pampered me to the extent that I actually got bored eventually and gave it up."
Another bout of laughter escaped our lips, "Thanks for the advice" I added cheekily in the end.
"No problem." She said, "I'm glad you're okay."
"Thanks." I said, then tilting my head to the side, "Thanks for coming up here too."
She shrugged, "It looked pretty nasty back in class."
"You were in class?" I found myself asking, desperately trying to remember if I had seen her at all.
She laughed softly, nodding, "Did you know Ron Weasley actually introduced himself to me on the train ride yesterday?"
"What?" I asked laughing loudly now, that git really had no brains. "What did you say?"
"That I was glad I wasn't stupid enough to be in Gryffindor." She choked out, laughing too now.
*
CARINA:
The first time I realised Draco Malfoy cared about me, I was 13.
I was making my way down the steps to the dungeons when Goyle crashed into me, and I missed the next step, narrowly avoiding rolling down the rest of the steps as my arse hit the stone cold step below Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle.
"I think I broke my arse." I mumbled as I felt the stone walls around me to get up.
"Goyle! You idiot!" Malfoy's cold drawl came up behind me, as a pale hand wrapped itself around my shoulders, helping me up.
"Sorry, Hadley." Goyle murmured looking down.
I nodded at him, "Why were you running down the steps anyway?"
The trio exchanged looks, as Malfoy's hand slipped from my shoulder all together and he looked down.
I stood up straighter, trying to dust the back of my robe and skirt as Crabbe and Goyle made their way back down, followed by Malfoy.
It wasn't until my hand came back from cleaning the back of my skirt that I got a good look at my palm in the dim lighting of the stairway, a loud gasp escaped my mouth as my stupid brain whispered, looks like you really did break your arse.
"What happened?" Draco's voice was suddenly closer as he climbed up the steps he had just gone down, Crabbe and Goyle forgotten as they continued on their way, bickering among themselves.
"I broke my arse." I murmured so quietly, I'm sure he hadn't heard it.
"What?" Draco asked again, yanking my hand to look at what I was staring at, and the sight of blood on it made him freeze.
"I didn't realize it was that bad," he started, "Where does it hurt?"
"Huh?" I asked wildly, as my brain tried to comprehend the fact that I was bleeding but nothing really pained that much for me to.
"You need to go see Madam Pomfrey." Draco exclaimed, starting to pull me up the stairs, "Where does it hurt?"
I stumbled behind him, vaguely wondering why were my legs paining, not for the first time today, but I was sure they had been aching since this morning and had no relation to my fall.
"Nothing does" I murmured faintly, still walking behind Draco blindly.
"Do you need me to carry you?" Draco asked, his pace fastening, as he led me up stairs, "What do you mean nothing does?"
I shook my head, looking down at my legs and missing a step, a cry escaping my lips as my knee hit the edge of a step and I fell to a kneeling position, my hand still tightly gripped in Draco's.
"Carina!" Draco exclaimed again, before he swooped down and positioned his arms under my knees and back, picking me up in bridal position. "Hold up okay? We're getting there."
The hallways were mildly crowded with students lingering about after the last class for the day, enjoying roaming the castle before curfew hit. We got a lot of weird looks as Draco struggled to carry my weight and run up the stars to the hospital wing.
"Madam Pomfrey!" Draco shouted as we burst though the hospital doors, my face still screwed up in concentration as I whacked my brain hard to come up with any sort of explanation.
Madam Pomfrey came running out of her office and hurriedly had Draco put me on a bed, asking me what's wrong and glancing down at my red stained hand.
"Goyle pushed her while he was running down the dungeon steps and she fell and hit her bum, I think." Draco tried explaining before he was ordered to get out of the room and she turned to me with a serious expression.
I got my first period that day.
Needless to say when Draco sauntered in that evening after dinner, I was beyond embarrassed.
"Hey." He said as he sat next to me and a sense of déjà vu hit me as I recalled meeting him here, just a few months ago.
"We've spoken more in this infirmary than outside in all our years at Hogwarts." I muttered, pulling the bed sheet around my folded knees.
He laughed, "You look well." He commented, his eyes skimming over me.
"Your cheek looks a little bruised." I murmured, almost leaning forward to run my fingers over it, it was then that the slight yellowing that I had noticed soon turned to pink as Draco flushed.
"Who slapped you?"
"No one." He replied quickly, "So what did Madam Pomfrey say?"
I narrowed my eyes, "You're lying."
"And you're avoiding my question." He shot back, not taking his eyes off my face, "You look a bit pale."
I rolled my eyes, looking away from him as he asked again, "What happened?"
I shrugged, "It's a bit funny actually..."
"I don't think you bleeding after falling down the steps is funny, Hadley." He stated.
"Well you see..." I started softly, looking down at my hands, "I got my period."
"I'm sorry what?" he asked leaning forward a bit, a concerned expression on his face, I looked up at him then, and exhaled
"I got my period." I said, in a stronger voice, and studied his expression as it went slack for a minute before the flush from earlier returned.
He opened his mouth, and when no words came out just nodded, "Okay."
I stayed silent, not really knowing what to do.
"Are you in pain?" he asked after moment, making me look up at him again.
I cocked my head to the side, then said, "A bit yeah."
He nodded, "Want me to call Pomfrey?"
I shook my head, "It's bearable for now, she already gave me a potion."
We were both silent for a moment before a smirk lifted Draco's lips, "You're right you know?"
"Hmm?"
"We need to stop having long conversations in the infirmary and more outside."
A laugh bubbled up inside my chest, "I will, if you will."
He nodded, smiling a bit.
**
DRACO:
The first time I complimented Carina, I was 14.
It was the night of the Yule Ball and I was in a sticky situation as I scanned the crowds of students dancing on the makeshift dance floor for the honey coloured hair belonging to Carina Hadley.
It was after I had dejectedly walked to the table serving refreshments to get away from the crowd that I had bumped into her.
The silver dress she wore had so many ruffles running down her waist and near her ankles that it looked like she was floating instead of walking. I smirked.
"You clean up nice, Hadley." I drawled going up behind her, "I almost didn't recognise you."
Carina rolled her eyes as he turned around to face me, her eyelids glittering and her lips painted the lightest pink there is. "You don't look bad yourself, Malfoy." She countered, deliberately looking me over, slowly.
My smirk widened, "C'mon we have to go." I said, already starting to pull her arm, tugging her away with me.
"What?" Carina exclaimed, before she stopped and yanked her arm back, "It's my day off Malfoy!"
I stopped, and stared at her. Her face was now flushed and an irritated expression had come over, replacing the usually disinterested one she wore.
Since the day we decided we needed to socialize more, an unlikely partnership had formed between us.
She'd followed me one day, and seen me almost beat up a first year, but had intervened before I got more than punch on his face. She had then petrified me and healed the kid. It was only after she had wiped away his memory of the incident and sent him away that she let me go.
I had realised she was amazing at healing spells then, and as it was in my best interest, since I could really use someone who was that good in charms and healing I had promised her that I wouldn't beat people up much anymore and that if it ever got out of hand, I would call her and help the poor person.
Needless to say, I still bullied people who pissed me off and me calling her to help them was something done more because I wanted to disturb her and less because I wanted to keep up the stupid promise.
She knew that, but she helped the poor sods anyway.
"Fine." I murmured, "The kid just has a broken nose anyway, nothing major."
"What!?"
I turn around from her shocked face, stalking out of the great hall, smirking to myself when I heard her reluctant footsteps follow me out.
"What did they ever do to you this time, Malfoy?" her annoyed whine echoed up the stairs as we climbed.
I shrugged, "This time it wasn't me." I clarified.
I could almost feel her rolling her eyes, "Pansy thought she pulled me into an empty classroom but that guy was there, hiding under the last bench, when he refused to go, she decided to hit him."
Carina lowly whistled, "Remind me to not sit next to her tomorrow."
I snorted, pulling the classroom door open to reveal the young boy, leaning against a wall, his bloody nose cupped in his hands and his white shirt splattered with his blood.
"Are you okay?" Carina instantly rushed to his side, but he physically recoiled from her, causing her to huff out.
"I'm here to help you." Carina said softly, pulling out her want from under her dress, "Show me so I can fix it."
Wait, under her dress?
"No." the boy whimpered, his eyes landing on me standing in the doorway, I rolled my eyes.
"She's here to help you kid," I drawled, "Or do you want to go to Madam Pomfrey and explain what happened here?"
Pansy would beat him to pulp if he did that.
He hesitatingly lowered his hands and I heard Carina's sharp intake of breath, "Okay," she softly said, "Hold still, this might hurt for a second."
She levelled her wand with his broken nose and softly said, "Episkey" a muted crack sounded in the air and the boy moaned out in pain.
Carina still hadn't moved as she patiently waited for him to stop groaning in pain, and I started to move further into the classroom, coming up to stand right behind her.
The boy stopped groaning in pain then and his eyes fearfully looked up at me. I stared back with a blank expression.
"Let me clean up the blood for you okay?" Carina said, softly again, her head turning to look up at me for a moment. The boy nodded, going still as she pointed her wand at the dried blood and whispered, "Tergeo."
The blood spots immediately vanished, leaving the shirt in its previous non-bloodied state.
Then Carina stood up, looking down at the boy critically, trying to see if he had any other injuries. After a moment, she turned around to face me, "You owe me." She deadpanned,
She spun around to face the boy slowly standing up again, "What's your name?"
"Dennis." He whispered, leaning against the wall for support as he stood.
Carina nodded, then mumbled, "On my word." I nodded, as I started walking to the door. I heard a barely whispered 'Obliviate', before a flash of silver darted past me, grabbing my hand and hurrying off down the stairs.
I followed Carina all the way to the entrance hall, but stopped abruptly when she turned towards the stairway leading to the dungeons instead of going back into the great hall.
"Where are you going?" I asked, my legs taking me towards her on their own accord.
"Back to the dormitory." She said, "Unless you and your girlfriend hit more children I need to tend to?"
"She's not my girlfriend." I immediately shot back, my eyes widened as she softly laughed.
"Does she know that?" Carina asked easily, the bored demeanour she usually had disappearing as a playful smile made its way to her face.
I stopped short again, watching as she lifted her silver dress and kept walking down, "Carina?"
She stopped too, turning back to me and letting the dress fall from her hands, "Draco?"
A smirk made its way to my face again, "You just called me Draco."
Carina raised an eyebrow, looking unimpressed in the dim lighting, "Isn't that your name?"
I shook my head, walking down to stand just above her, "You always call me Malfoy."
She nodded, "Is there a reason we're stating the obvious?"
I shook my head again, then took a hold of her arm and started pulling her up, "Why are you leaving so soon?"
"I've had enough social interaction for one day." She muttered, but stumbled as I pulled her back up to the entrance hall.
"Fine we won't go back to the ball." I stated and continued pulling her towards a staircase.
"What the fuck?" she cried harshly, trying to pull me back to stop, "Where are we going?"
I ignored her, but started to pull her a bit more gently,
"Where are we going?" she whined again, "Where, Dray-"
"Shut up." I cut her off midway, then stopped and glanced down at her, her hair was starting to come out of the elegant bun she had put it in, and her cheeks were tinged red with annoyance, "I've had enough of the ball too."
"Dray-"
"We're going to the astronomy tower." I cut her off again, and smirked as a new thought just made its way to my mind, her face instantly turned wary.
"Why are you smirking like that?" she asked cautiously, her eyes then beginning to dart around our surroundings.
I rolled my eyes and started my journey up again, my hand still clamped around her forearm, "Call me that more often."
"Call you what?" she asked, "Draco?"
"No."
"Dray." I answered as we neared the last hallway heading to the tower. Pulling her as my pace fastened.
"Okaayy." She said, unsurely, "Dray." She tested the name.
I looked back at her and smiled, "No one calls me that."
She nodded, as we reached our destination and I let go of her arm to go sit near the ledge, looking up at the twinkling night sky. Carina sat beside me, her arms wrapping around her thin frame and that's when I realised we were practically sitting outside in the middle of winter. I sighed as I started taking off my velvet suit jacket.
"No don't." Carina said, "I like the cold."
I looked at her with a questioning expression, but decided to drop it and resumed staring at the stars.
"So why are we here?"
I shrugged, "Thought you didn't want any social interactions, the common room would be full of it."
"No" Carina said, "I was gonna go up and read."
I nodded not really knowing what to say. So we sat in silence for a long time until she cleared her throat.
"Can I ask you something?" Carina asked in a soft voice, and I looked back at her, she looked very pale in the glow of the moon.
"What do you want to do when you're done with school?" the question was mumbled but Carina gave me a very curious gaze, as if trying to figure me out.
I shrugged, "Never actually thought about it."
We lapsed into silence again.
"Who..." I stopped, "Who did you go to the ball with?"
Carina turned her head to me, "Adrian Pucey."
"Pucey?" I scoffed, "Why did you say yes to him?!"
Carina looked up to me with an incredulous expression, "I barely know anyone else in this school."
"You know me." I replied without hesitation, "and Daphne."
"And Pucey." She added.
"Well it's your own damn fault." I shot at her, "You look disinterested in life in general, at times, even look like you're bored. Except maybe in class, there you're attentive." I stopped as a small smile lifted her lips.
"Been looking at me a lot have we?" she teased, but I just scoffed.
"I can't believe you went with Pucey!"
"Who else was I supposed to go with?" she asked me, "He asked me and I said yes, he just wanted to go with someone to make some girl he likes jealous or something..."
"Who does he like?"
She shrugged, "Don't know don't care."
"See!" I snapped, "This is why you don't know a lot of people!"
"Why do you care?" She shot back at me, "What's it to you?"
I faltered then, "I don't know." I told her truthfully, staring at her flushed face.
She huffed out a breath and broke our eye contact, "I don't get you Draco Malfoy."
"What's there to get?"
"You're an asshole to everyone else but me." She said, then stayed silent for bit as I processed what she said, "Actually no," she restarted, "You're fine to your posse and maybe Pansy..."
I couldn't help it, I burst out laughing, "Posse?"
"Yeah." She said, "Crabbe and Goyle?"
But I was still laughing, it took me a moment to calm down and my eyes fully opened to see a calculating look on Carina's face as she next spoke, "You know."
"Hmm?"
"Deep deep deep down." Carina stated, "You're actually a decent person, good even."
"What no!" I snapped, annoyed, "I'm not a good person!"
"You are, Dray." She laughed softly, "You are."
*
CARINA:
The first time I realised I hated Draco Malfoy, I was 14.
The Triwizard Tournament was in full swing as the second task had just gotten over a few weeks ago and I was climbing up the stairs with Daphne for breakfast one Sunday, when we bumped into Draco.
"Hey." I said walking up to him, a rare small smile made its way to his face as he saw me approach him, and he stopped entering the great hall to turn towards me.
"Hey." He replied back and nodded towards Daphne who just took that as a cue to walk ahead of us.
"Where is your posse?" I asked, looking around him, but his short laugh made me face him again.
"Pigging out in the Great Hall." He answered as we neared the huge doors of it.
I laughed, and entered the Great Hall followed by him but stopped short when my eyes swept over where Daphne was sat.
Right beside Pansy Parkinson.
Don't get me wrong, I don't hate her, but god the girl never shuts up.
As if hearing my inner thoughts Daphne's gaze turned towards me, her eyes twinkling with laughter as she beckoned me over.
I shook my head, gesturing towards Pansy with wild eyes.
"What's wrong?" Draco asked, going to sit on the table but stopped next to me, a questioning look in his grey eyes.
"Nothing" I replied, "I'm not hungry after all." With that I turned and almost walked right out of the hall, before an arm wrapped around my elbow.
Daphne pulled me back with an amused expression, "Where are you going?"
"Uh..." I stalled, my eyes pleading with her, "I'm not hungry."
"You skipped dinner last night too." She muttered darkly, pulling me to the table behind Draco who mumbled a greeting to Pansy and sat down to eat immediately.
"Behave." Daphne hissed in my ear as she pushed me in between Draco and Pansy, then stood behind me and loudly exclaimed that she's going to the library, stalking off with a triumphant expression.
"Traitor." I mumbled.
"What?" Draco asked, looking at me with an amused smirk on his face, but before I could answer...
"Carina!" Pansy all but yelled in my ear, making me wince, "It's been so long since we've talked!"
"Not long enough." I mumbled, giving her a forced smile as I loaded my plate with toast.
"I have so much to tell you!" She laughed, her eyes alight with the promise of gossip, while I tried to sink in my seat, hoping to disappear.
"You really don't have to." I choked out, turning to Draco with a panicked look.
His smirk just widened before he leaned over and asked, "So Pansy how are things?"
"Ooh Drakie Pooh!" she shrieked in delight, "Did you know Millicent has a crush on a Ravenclaw?"
I cringed at her, openly, causing Draco to laugh out loud and for Pansy to look at us weirdly.
"Didn't Daphne tell you to behave?" he asked, his laugh fading to a smirk, I gave him a flat look.
"Pansy can I just eat?" I asked exasperatedly.
"But I have to tell you so much!" she pouted.
"Yes Carina!" Draco egged, "be nice and listen to her, like how I am!"
"You aren't exactly the poster child for niceness, Dray." I replied back to him, my eyes narrowing.
"What are you both on about?" Pansy asked, still looking at us weirdly.
I gave her, what I hoped was a convincing smile, "We'll discuss Millicent later, Pansy!"
"But I wanna do it now!"
"Shut up Pansy!" I muttered, looking up at the ceiling already exasperated.
"What up?" she asked, looking at the enchanted clear sky ceiling with me, making me groan before the sound of a thousand owls flapping came up and my eyes almost watered in relief.
"Look the mail!" I exclaimed way more excitedly than normal, and from Draco's shaking shoulders I'm sure I looked like an idiot doing so, but I let it slide, because anything is better than listening to Pansy ranting about each and everybody she knows. Trust me when I say there are a lot of people she knows.
Frowning I turned to Draco to whisper, "How the hell did you ever date her?"
His face morphed in shock and annoyance, "I didn't!" he protested,
I was just about to clear away his doubts when a brown barn owl fluttered down in front of me and held its leg out for me.
Smiling a bit, as I looked at my mother's owl, I carefully took the parchment and started unrolling it just as the owl took flight to what I'm sure is the Owlery to rest after a long journey.
"Good news?" Draco asked, as he saw the huge smile that threatened to fall off my face, I nodded.
"The best!" I affirmed, looking over the parchment again.
"What is it?" he asked, picking up some toast from my plate.
"My mother is getting married!" I said, trying very hard not to scream.
Draco smiled then, the rare smile he usually keeps reserved to some people, it reached his eyes, "That's great news!"
I nodded, enthusiastically and was just about to say something else when Pansy shrieked, looking at the parcel in her hands and took off running.
"Well that was greater news." I nodded at Pansy's retreating back, causing Draco to laugh out loudly at my exhilarated expression.
"To whom?" he asked, trying to look into the parchment to figure out, I yanked it away, giving him a playful glare.
"Why aren't you telling me?" Draco almost whined his eyebrows scrunching up, and I was just about to answer him when a sudden thought lodged itself into my brain.
He's Draco Malfoy.
I cannot tell him my mother is getting married to a muggle.
So I swallowed my hesitation and put on a bright smile, ready to ward the conversation to a different topic when a loud whooping filled the air. Right as I looked up to see what the commotion was about my eyes landed on the light brown mop of hair of Archer Medallion, running his way up to me calling my name over and over again.
I raised an eyebrow as I eyed his appearance, for some reason he still had his Durmstrang coat worn on a Sunday, "You look happy, get laid?"
A scowl made its way to his face, his brown eyes briefly flashing to the Ravenclaw table, more specifically, to the back of a pretty Beauxbatons, brunette.
His eyes hardened a bit, as his euphoria dulled to irritation, "Not yet."
My lips twitched and with one look from Archer, I was sure he saw that.
"You don't happy." He easily countered, his eyes scanning between Draco and I, "Blondie didn't give you any, I assume?"
It was my turn to scowl now and I briefly glanced at Draco to see him looking at us with an inquisitive gaze, Great! Now he'll have more questions.
"What are you doing here?" I ground out at Archer who had already given up on our conversation and was now staring back at the Beauxbatons girl, I sighed.
"Medallion!" I exclaimed, trying to swipe the parchment out of his hand to get his attention, but his hold on it just tightened.
"I almost f-" Archer snapped back to me, then shook his head, and handed me the parchment.
I silently exchanged it with the one I was holding, looking at the excitement creep back into his eyes as he looked at me.
No sooner had my eyes landed on the first two words and Draco had loudly exclaimed his confusion, the parchment almost slipped from my fingers, a heady grin breaking over my face and my feet acting on their own accord and making me stand.
"Hadley?" Draco's deep drawl called again, but it sounded very far away as I felt my blood pounding in my ears.
I turned to see Archer with the same expression on his face as me, only he could afford to be coherent.
"I can't believe Ed finally grew the balls to ask Rachel."
I numbly nodded, my eyes still straying to the piece of parchment in my hands.
"What's going on?" Draco asked, annoyed at the exchange that wasn't making any sense to him.
Archer had just turned to answer Draco's question when a pretty brunette walked up to us, her eyes warm and her face smiling.
"Archer?" her sweet voice asked.
"Blair." He responded, looking a little lost.
"Can I talk to you?"
Archer was nodding even before she finished her sentence, and that bought me out of my trance, still smiling slightly, I turned to Blair.
"Hey Blair."
"Hey Carina." She answered, "Did you like the perfume I gave you?"
"The what-?"
But I didn't bother answering Archer as I turned to Blair, "It's wonderful, merci."
She smiled a wide smile and turned around, her hair flapping behind her.
"Um, Arch?" I called, looking as Archer had made no move to start behind Blair.
"How did a perfume exchange happen?" was his counter.
I rolled my eyes, "Do you want to discuss why I'm accepting gifts from Blair or do you want to talk to Blair alone?"
His eyebrows shot up, looking down at me, he eyed the parchment I was still holding, then set the one in hands on the table and turned to leave, but before he could, he gave me wide smile and said, "Why aren't you owling Will about that yet?" his head tilting towards the parchment he had handed me.
My eyes snapped back to the parchment, skimming over all the details properly for the first time, as soon as Archer's broad back was turned to me.
It was after I sat down and began writing a letter, that Draco spoke up.
"How do you know him?"
"Archer?" I murmured, not looking up, "He's one of my best friends."
"Your friend?" Draco spat, and I looked up to see an incredulous expression on his face, "You don't make friends so easily, I know you."
I nodded, "I've known him since I was 12 Dray."
"How!?" his incredulous expression still hadn't wavered.
I sighed, "His grandmother lives near my house, he's there almost every summer and some other breaks too."
Draco seemed to process this information slowly, then nodded, almost mutely.
"Who are you writing to?" Draco asked, then, seeing me folding the parchment, "Are you congratulating your mother?"
I winced at the mention of my mother and her impending nuptials, but ignored his latter question for his former, "My friend Will."
Draco's eye narrowed again and his eyebrows pulled together, "Who are you and what have you done to my Rina?"
My cheeks warmed at the nickname as they always did, but I averted my gaze from his face and stared at the folded parchment, "I have friends back home, not many, one or two, people I've grown up with."
"Where do they go to school?" Draco asked, "Durmstrang like Archer?"
I shook my head, The muggle school the next town over, "A different one."
"Is it as good as Hogwarts?" he asked, pompously, and I laughed, shaking my head.
"What are writing to Will for?" he asked, then, "The Archer guy said something about him..."
I nodded, my eyes back on his face, a giddy smile on my face, "There's this competition that takes place every four years..."
"Where?"
"My hometown," I answered, before I could even fathom how much damage this information was going to do, "It's called, The End-Game."
"Never heard of it."
I tsked, impatiently, "That's because it's a secret! Will and I accidentally stumbled near it when we were 10 and have been dreaming about participating since!"
"What do you win?"
My smile slid off my face, somehow saying muggle money didn't sound like the proper answer and only then, the recklessness of my actions caught up to me.
I just told Draco Malfoy about my muggle soon-to-be step-father, my muggle best friend and a very illegal muggle competition.
"Um..." I stalled, thinking hard, "Being called the Masters of the End-Game is a prize enough on its own and I know for a fact that the winners of the last one haven't been forgotten yet."
To my surprise, Draco looked impressed, "Cool! So what exactly do you have to do? Is it like the Triwizard Competition?"
I shook my head, "Not it's..." I paused, trying to find the appropriate word, "tamer than the Triwizard if I do say so myself."
Draco's eager eyes, swept over the parchment, snatching it up to read, "It says you need to register with partners, who is your partner?"
"Will." I answered, "We've waited too long for this, it can't be anyone but him."
He nodded, "So what exactly is the competition?"
I stared at him, his excited eyes and smiling face threw me off a bit, "We are subjected to tasks, which are based on what we fear the most, from heights to depths, to animals to anything and everything."
"And you're certain you'll win?" he asked, his expression only slightly faltering, "What if they have snakes?"
I grimaced, "Well..." I said slowly, "I'll have Will with me so..."
At that Draco smirked, "Sure you don't need me there to take care of it?" he winked.
I gave him a flat look, "You can't use underage magic Draco."
"Okay okay" He held up his hands in a no-harm position, "I suppose it will get you disqualified."
"Yeah." I said, "Something like that..."
He looked down at the table then, taking that as the cue to end this conversation I almost got up only to be stopped by, "So who is your mother getting married to?"
I sighed, "You don't know him Dray, leave it."
"So you're not going to invite me to the wedding?"
I shrugged, "It's not my wedding."
"Atleast tell me the name!" he tried, "I might know him! My family has lots of connections."
"Trust me Dray!" I exclaimed, "You don't know him!"
And with that I got out of the Great hall before he had an opportunity to find out what exactly was the reason for my reluctance.
But he did find out, because my stupid self had left my mother's letter on the table in my hurry to leave.
It was night time when he cornered me again that day.
All the excitement from this morning still hadn't worn off and I found myself stupidly grinning as I looked out the common room windows late that night.
"Edward Johnson?" Draco's cold voice came up from behind me.
My heart dropped to my stomach as I slowly twisted in my seat to look him staring at my frostily, the grey in eyes almost as hard as ice.
I swallowed, then attempted a small smile, "You know him?"
"Of course not." He spat, his eyes flashing with disgust, "he's a bloody muggle!"
I cringed at his tone, "Why are you asking me about him then?"
He threw a piece of parchment at me, and my eyes raked over my mother's elegant handwriting, informing me about the proposal, I looked at the one detail I had missed as my horrified gaze landed on a very childish way my mother had signed the letter, Love, (To-be) Mrs. Edward J Johnson.
I sighed, "How do you know he's a muggle?"
His face turned sourer, "So it's true?"
I willed my face to stay straight, "How do you know Draco?"
"Are you okay with this?" he asked then, "Or is your mother not listening to you about turning into a blood traitor?"
My mouth fell open, "My mother is not a traitor, Malfoy." I hissed, "She can marry whoever she wants!"
"He's a muggle!" he spat again, looking incredulous.
"So what?" I asked, "Do you even know what all Ed has done for her? For me? For us?"
He rolled his eyes, "I know he's filled your mind with filth!"
I blanched, "Don't talk about him that way!" I struggled to keep my voice low, "You know nothing!"
"I know enough." He said, lowly, "You're a blood-traitor too."
"I'm not a blood-traitor." I exclaimed, "I'm just happy that after years, years of being alone my mother is finally happy."
"With a muggle!"
"So what?" I countered, "You know when my father left us?"
He stood silent, regarding me with an angry stare, looking somewhere between furious and betrayed. But that just fuelled my anger more, Who the fuck did he think he was?!
"He left when I was a few months old," I spat, angrier than I had been in a long time, this was supposed to be a good day, "He never came back, I don't know how he looks or if he ever loved me or if he hates me or if he ever even wanted me in the first place!"
Draco still stood silent, I had already gotten off the high-back chair by then, but I stepped closer to him, trying to drive my point home, "My mother, took care of, raised me, loved me, even after the man she was supposed to spent the rest of her life with left her."
"And where does the muggle come in this?" he hissed, it was only after I felt the anger rolling off him in waves that I realised we were standing inches apart, my chest rising and falling rapidly with how fast my heart was beating.
"He was there, Draco." I said lowly, "When my mother needed a job to keep us afloat, he was there, he offered her a job, everything that I am right now, all that my mother is right now, everything that we have right now, is because of him."
"So he did fill your minds with filth!" Draco said, looking a bit satisfied at his conclusion.
"It's not filth!" I growled, "You know not-"
"I can't believe I wanted to be friends with you!" Draco cut me off, his eyebrows rising, "I can't believe I actually am friends with you!"
My face fell, "What?"
His face hardened, "Stay the hell away from me, Hadley."
My lips parted in shock, "You're honestly going to let this affect our friendship?"
"I cannot be friends with a blood-traitor," He hissed, "You're nothing but an embarrassment."
Anger, hot and heavy boiled inside me, "Well, you won't be hearing me missing out on our friendship either, Malfoy."
He turned away to leave, but I grabbed his arm to stop him, leaning close, I whispered, "I hate you."
He snatched his hand out of my grip, giving me a nasty look as he spat, "The feeling's quite mutual."
In the weeks that followed after, my mind finally caught up with the reality of what had happened that night. Draco Malfoy made it very clear we weren't friends right from the very next morning, he didn't even acknowledge me as more than an inconvenience for the rest of the year, and I was more than okay with that. In fact it gave me a burst of confidence, the more he ignored me, the more I came out of my anti-social shell.
The more he refused to talk to me, the more I talked to others, and by the end of the year, I wasn't the girl who just spoke to Daphne anymore. I was the girl who was friends with half of the Durmstrang lot because of Archer and his best friend Milo. I was girl who was good friends with Beauxbatons lot because of Blair. I was the girl that people now smiled and spoke to in the hallways. I was the girl that didn't go out of my way to ignore people anymore.
It didn't occur to me, not until the year ended, that Draco Malfoy never told anyone about my muggle-connections.
Oh he hated my guts, and I was more than happy to let him know the feeling was reciprocated.
We insulted each other, played pranks on each other and went out of our way to get the other into trouble as far as the hospital wing.
But nobody except Daphne and Blaise ever came to know about the real reason why we turned sour in one night.
I didn't know why Draco never made my muggle-connections public knowledge, and as I sat on the train back home I realised that I wasn't just angry at Draco, I was disappointed.
Disappointed that he turned out to be the person every student said he was, and no matter how many memories I had of our stupid conversations, crazy encounters and lame jokes, I realised that the good in Draco Malfoy wasn't just buried deep down, it was restrained deep down by his own self.
**
A.N: So! that's the first chapter!
Let me know what you guys think!
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