"I can't believe you just ditched me like that!"
"Oh grow up, Draco; as if I wanted to spend the rest of the journey watching you being fawned all over by Pansy. And can I just remind you of last year when you were too busy sticking your tongue in her gob to bother even to acknowledge me?!"
"I told you I was sorry! And it's not my fault she can't keep her hands off me!"
"Just shut up and pass me the gravy will you?"
We were at the welcoming feast having just heard Dumbledore announce the news we already knew about.
Draco was in a double grump because not only had I abandoned him to go party with Cedric, but it turned out we were too young to enter the tournament.
"Well you've made your point," he said haughtily, pouring the gravy all over my dinner himself. "I can see how I hurt you now and I'm sorry. So let's put this ridiculous thing to bed."
"What?" I asked, raising my eyebrows. "You mean you want me to stop hanging out with Cedric?".
"He's a seventeen year old wizard!"
"Yeah, and a hot one at that; who, by the way, has heavily hinted that he's into me."
At this point, half the contents of my plate were now swimming all over the table due to Draco having drowned it.
"You are fourteen!" He spluttered, his eyes almost popping out of his sockets, not seeming to care that gravy was dripping onto our laps.
"And four months older than you," I reminded him coolly, vanishing the mess with a quick flick of my wand, "but that didn't stop you grinding up against Pansy at every available opportunity when you were just thirteen."
Pansy looked up from his other side, her face starting to crumple as if she were about to start fucking wailing or something. Merlin, that bitch would probably cry if a puppy came running in and jumped up at her.
"That's different." Draco said stiffly, refusing to meet my eye.
"How?!"
"It just is."
"Fuck you and your double standards; and quit acting like an over protective dad. You're just embarrassing us both."
Draco didn't speak to me for the rest of the meal.
But I didn't care because I was too busy catching butterflies from the furtive glances being exchanged between myself and a certain grey eyed Hufflepuff.
It was official; he was a god.
The prefect party had been unexpectedly raucous, with loud music and food fights, and when I had enquired to Cedric if they weren't worried about getting into trouble, he just chuckled and pointed out that the prefects were the 'police'.
"Cool," I had grinned as he passed me a bottle of Butterbeer. "I could get used to this."
He introduced me to his fellow prefects who all seemed to look up to Cedric as though he were their king, so therefore greeted me like a queen.
He had respect from every single one of them; all of whom were clearly keen to please him in any way they could.
And yet Cedric did not come across as arrogant or conceited for it. Far from it, in fact; he was charming in every way, never treating anyone as though he thought they were beneath him.
And on top of that, he was fucking gorgeous.
I felt so happy, that I didn't even care when I caught Draco giving Pansy a full on goodnight kiss outside the entrance to the girls dorms.
Didn't stop me from muttering "hypocrite" under my breath, though; and 'accidentally' slamming them with my bag as I passed.
That night, I dreamt of perfectly chiseled cheeks, tousled dark hair and bright grey eyes.
Cedric.
*****
Only one day into our fourth year and Draco managed to piss off a teacher and get himself turned into a ferret.
The day had started off pretty predictably.
"You're not really going to start dating him, are you?"
I rolled my eyes as Draco dished scrambled egg onto my plate. There was a slight look of panic in his eyes and I wondered if he feared that I was going to do to him like he did to me.
"Please, can we not go on about it?" I sighed heavily, pouring us both a pumpkin juice.
"Everyone fancies Cedric," Pansy cooed, looking over to the Hufflepuff table, gooey eyed, "he's really dreamy, and the way he flies that broom-"
"All right, all right, I get it," Draco muttered bitterly; a furious scowl etched upon his face. "Diggory is a bloody god; let's all worship him and bow down at his perfect Hufflepuff feet."
"I wonder how big his feet are?" I mused as I glanced across over at the Hufflepuff table, but unfortunately being unable to see Cedric's feet in view.
"You know, there is such thing as being too obsessed!" Draco spat, his cheeks colouring furiously.
"Oh, really?" I smirked, "So tell me, Drac; how is Harry Potter today?"
"He hasn't come down yet," Draco answered, not even realising the trap he'd just walked into. "Which is odd because he's usually halfway through his breakfast by this ti- what's so fucking funny?!"
"Chill, Drac," I chuckled, "or should I just call you Mrs Potter?"
He threw a piece of toast at me and so I flung a forkful of scrambled egg back, which missed him and splattered in Pansy's hair.
She cried, of course.
*****
It had been a long day of lessons, including one where we had spent the entire duration trying to avoid getting viciously attacked by one of Hagrid's Blast-Ended Skrewts. Creatures of which he intended for us to rear over the year.
"Well, I can certainly see why we're trying to keep them alive," Draco had bit sarcastically. "Who wouldn't want pets that can burn, sting and bite all at once?"
For once I didn't argue with him; because even for Hagrid this was just beyond idiocy. I was beginning to wonder if Dumbledore even gave a rat's arse about the health and safety of his students.
So, by the time dinnertime came around, I was ready to have a quick, uneventful meal before retiring down into the dungeons to chill with my magazine.
But Draco had other ideas.
"Weasley! Hey, Weasley!"
"That was right in my ear!" I hissed grumpily as we made our way into the Great Hall.
But Draco wasn't listening, instead, he was gleefully removing a copy of the Daily Prophet from inside his robes and brandishing it in the air for everyone, including the golden trio over at the Gryffindor table, to see.
"What?" Ron Weasley spat, his fork hovering in midair, clearly annoyed he was being interrupted during feeding time.
"Your dad's in the paper, Weasley!" Draco continued loudly as he unfolded the offending item. "Listen to this!"
I closed my eyes in disdain whilst he recited the entire article about how Arthur Weasley was an embarrassment to the Ministry.
"And there's a picture, Weasley!" He said, holding up the paper for everyone to see. "A picture of your parents outside their house - if you can call it a house! Your mother could do with losing a bit of weight, couldn't she?"
I shook my head as Draco continued to publicly fat shame someone's mother and walked away towards the Slytherin table. I was hungry and I wasn't going to let Draco's dramatics delay me any further.
I tried to zone out the argument that was going on as I helped myself to some rice; when a loud bang and several screams caused me to halt and look up.
Where Draco had been standing, now stood a small white shivering ferret.
Standing nearby was that freaky new Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor, his wand pointing threateningly at the terrified looking furry creature.
It took me a second to work out what had just happened; and by the time I rose shakily to my feet, that Mad Eye bastard had flicked his wand, forcing the ferret to fly up ten feet into the air, before it fell back down to the ground with a loud smack.
I felt a bolt of fury shoot through my stomach as he did it again and again, squeals of pain emitting from the terrified creature. Draco.
Draco was a dick for what he did, yes; but he didn't deserve this kind of punishment or humiliation.
Pansy was wailing to the side, begging Moody to stop as tears streaked down her face; but he wasn't listening to anyone, clearly enjoying torturing Draco too much.
I angrily removed my wand, about to hex that fucking git myself, when Professor McGonagall stepped in and immediately turned the ferret back into an extremely dishevelled and battered looking Draco.
I felt my heart twist as he shakily got to his feet, wincing; his pain and humiliation evident on his face. I immediately began to move towards him, ready to do my best friend thing and get him the fuck out of there.
Before I could reach him, however, he had already turned and fled; pushing through the gathered laughing crowd as Pansy continued to wail behind him.
Hatred burning in my stomach, I turned towards Moody who I was disgusted to witness was shrugging unapologetically; the golden trio grinning at one another smugly behind him.
I wanted to march right up to them and spit on each one of their faces; to humiliate them in the way that Draco had just been.
"Fuck you all," I muttered under my breath, turning to go after Draco instead. My best friend needed me more right now.
By the time I had reached the dungeons, Pansy was sobbing alone on the sofa with Draco nowhere in sight.
"Where is he?" I asked, looking around as if he might appear.
"I-In the d-dorm," she stuttered through her tears, "h-he doesn't w-want to see anyone." She paused to let out a loud dramatic wail, covering her face in her hands. "My p-poor Drakie - it was h-horrible!"
I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes and tell her to get a grip. Instead, I strode determinedly across the common room towards the boys dormitories, ignoring her protests that he was insisting he wanted to be alone.
"Drac, it's me," I called, knocking softly on his door. "Let me in, please."
Seconds later, the door clicked open to reveal an extremely morose and ashen faced Draco.
"If you've come to laugh then you can fuck right off," he muttered bad-temperedly, wheeling on his heel and sloping back over towards his four poster bed.
Taking that as an invitation, I followed him in, closing the door behind me before joining him where he was perched on the edge of his bed; his head hanging dejectedly.
I looked around with interest; this was actually the first time I'd ever stepped foot in Draco's shared dormitory, funnily enough never before wanting to jump at the chance to see where Crabbe and Goyle rested their ugly heads at night.
It was disappointingly unremarkable, having pretty much the same features as the one I slept in; four beds with a window that looked out under the lake so that the room was always cast in an eerie, yet calming, green glow.
"I'm not going to laugh at you, Drac," I sighed, nudging my arm against his in a gesture of comfort. "I just want to make sure you're okay."
Draco looked at me, startled; his grey eyes widening in surprise. "You're not going to tell me that I deserved that?"
I shook my head. "No, because you didn't. It was horrid and cruel, and I want to murder that bastard for ever doing that to you."
"Really?" Draco responded, his eyebrows raised bewilderedly.
"Drac, you're my best friend, of course I want to kill anyone that hurts you."
Something flickered in his eyes, and then, quite unexpectedly, his hand found mine; light fingers entwining with dark fingers.
And, just like before, a wonderful warmth spread through me, and I found my lips tugging into a small smile which he instantly returned; his silver eyes twinkling into mine.
"You're my best friend too," he murmured, a pink tinge rising to his cheeks, "just so you know."
"Good." I smiled, before lowering my voice into a coy conspiratorial whisper. "And do you know something else, Drac?"
"Oh?" He asked, his voice piqued with interest as I reached up to move my lips closer to his ear.
"You, Draco Malfoy, make a very cute ferret."
*****