It was well past midnight, my eyelids began to feel heavy as soon as I entered the common room, and I sighed when I spotted Malfoy sitting in front of the fireplace. But I'm pretty sure he didn't notice me yet.
The blonde just sat there, watching the fire crackling away; definitely lost in his own thoughts.
Unfortunately, he snapped out of them before I could successfully sneak past the couch he was sitting on.
Of course this had to happen. As if I didn't already endure enough today.
His eyes fell on me; he seemed surprised to see me, but his facial features relaxed quickly. "Coming back from seeing your boyfriend?" He asked nonchalantly, his eyes still on me.
I scoffed, turning around and trying to look as unbothered by his presence as I could. Suddenly, I didn't feel tired anymore. At all, actually. It felt like the energy started flowing through every vein in my body as soon as I heard his voice.
"Quite the opposite, if you must know." Remembering what happened, my hand almost automatically went to cover the forming scars on the other hand. His eyes followed the movement of my body, falling down to my hand and then back up to my face.
"What's that?" He asked, ignoring my answer to his own question completely as he looked back down onto my hands.
"Don't think that's any of your business," I clarified, my eyebrows raised as he got up from his spot.
He huffed, circling the couch he was sitting on, and then casually leaning against the back of it. "What happened?" His voice was calm, his grey eyes looking at me in a way they haven't in months.
I shook my head, looking at my covered hand for only a mere moment. "It's not like you care-" I began, but he interrupted me with an eye roll.
"-What happened, Y/n?" My brows shot up in confusion, not expecting to hear my name out of his mouth. I looked at him, my eyes full of surprise, and almost unconsciously, my hand slipped off the back of the other one.
He broke our eye contact to look at the scars on my hand, and I watched his brows furrow as he tried to understand what was going on. Then, within seconds, he was standing next to me, taking my hand in his and carefully leading me towards the couch.
"It's nothing, really," I began, shifting uncomfortably at how close we were sitting on a couch that was so, so big. I grimaced as his finger slowly traced the first letter carved into my skin, and he looked at me, shaking his head.
"Shut up, it's clearly not nothing," He said sarcastically, and I huffed in defeat. "I assume this is Professor Umbridge's doing?" He said, his eyes still fixated on the words.
"Only one person in the school who could be as insane as this," I grumbled, growing annoyed again. "Do you still think she's bringing order to Hogwarts?"
At that, he let my hand slip out of his, and he looked up from my hand into my eyes. "Since when do you talk to me, anyway? Pretty sure you left that in year four, no?" I snapped, remembering how he had been acting ever since I first saw him. "As far as I know, you probably wanted this to happen."
"Wanted this to happen?" A sarcastic laugh escaped his lips. "The last thing I want is to see you get hurt, you complete idiot."
"I'm an idiot?" I laughed, shaking my head. "You're the one who's been acting like a complete idiot since term started!"
I really wanted to stay calm; I didn't want it to seem like I cared about any of that. It was just so damn easy for him to rile me up.
A small smirk grew on his face, and I groaned at the sight of it.
"Look, I know me ignoring you must've broken your little heart-" He joked, and I glared at him with narrowed eyes.
"Shut up," I hissed, hoping he would take the suggestion.
"I just thought it would be better for both of us," He shrugged after the words left his mouth, and I raised an eyebrow, prompting him to go on. "I couldn't stop thinking about you and your stupid face all summer. And not because your disappointment of a brother was all over the papers," He sighed. "I thought if I would just avoid you, it would all go back to normal up there." He was pointing at his head while the last few words left his mouth.
By now, my gaze was lingering on the fireplace. I was listening carefully, but I knew if I would look at him, he would never let me forget the blush that would form on my face.
"But I forgot what it's like to spend time with you. To be this close to you..." He trailed off, his hand grabbing my shoulder to turn me around. He was forcing me to look at him, his thumb at my jaw, making sure I wouldn't turn my head.
Then he sighed, letting go of me after a few seconds passed. I enjoyed the touch of his fingers on my skin and shivered slightly at the absence of it.
"My father-" He began but interrupted himself by clearing his throat. "I know he wouldn't, you know, approve of... how close we were last year," He said quietly, it was almost a whisper, but I sat close enough to hear him. "If he knew, he wouldn't like it."
I smiled softly at what he was saying. "Your father?" I asked, and he nodded. "Well, how about you leave this one up to you?"
His eyes were glued to the floor since I started talking, but he looked up at me now. He was thinking, clearly, but he wasn't saying anything.
"What is it that you want, Draco Malfoy?"
There were a few moments of silence before he replied.
"You."