Fire & Ice - A Draco Malfoy fanfiction

Chapter 14 - It is rain that waters flowers, not thunder

"She is a paradox. She is faithful and yet detached. She is committed and yet relaxed. She loves everyone, and yet no one. She is sociable and also a loner. She is gentle and yet tough, she is passionate but also platonic. In short she is predictable in her own unpredictability."

- Unknown

I shivered as a cold wind brushed past us on the way to the quidditch field. I linked my arms with Daphne and Tracey to enjoy the extra body warmth.

"Slytherin better win", Tracey grunted. "It's absolutely freezing." It was November and winter sure had come early this year. Although I'd like to play quidditch, I was very happy I didn't have to be on a broom right now.

"They will. Draco will catch the snitch, I'm sure of it", Daphne grinned.

"Yeah, sure you think that", I chuckled. She narrowed her eyes and shrugged.

"How are things with you and Malfoy anyway?" Tracey asked. I hadn't told her that I had seen Malfoy and Pansy in Hogsmeade because I didn't want to make a big deal out of it. They weren't dating so I couldn't make a problem of it, but I sincerely hoped Malfoy wasn't playing with her feelings.

"I'm not sure", Daphne shrugged. "He's been kind of cold actually. He doesn't really flirt anymore." Well, at least he wasn't leading her on. The sad look in Daphne's eyes was painful to watch, though.

"I'm sure he won't be able to resist your charm eventually", I said, giving her a warm smile.

"Eleanor, can we talk?" I heard. I turned around to see Benjamin walk up to us. We hadn't spoken since that one night after Astronomy.

"Sure", I said, unlinking my arm from Daphne and Tracey and following him. He was wearing his quidditch uniform and the match would begin in just a couple of minutes.

"Shouldn't you be warming up?" I asked.

"Nah, I'm just a reserve. Got plenty of time to warm up in a bit", he shrugged. It was quiet for a while and I was not sure what to say.

"Okay", he mumbled eventually when we had reached a secluded spot. "I just wanted to say that I am sorry. I shouldn't have reacted so harshly."

"No, no, it's me who should be sorry. I had no right to pry into your business like that and definitely not so bluntly. I just thought I had noticed something and got excited, but it was foolish of me to jump to conclusions over nothing."

Benjamin shrugged, not sure what to say.

"The thing is," he said eventually, "that I'm not sure if you're really wrong. I just ... I thought about it a lot after our talk and ... I don't really know myself. I just need to figure it all out first."

"Hey, that's okay. Take as much time as you need and trust your own instincts, okay?" Benjamin nodded, but he still looked ... scared.

"I just don't want to be different", he mumbled, looking down. Seeing him so hurt broke my heart.

"Hey, come here Benji", I said and pulled him into a hug. I wasn't much of a hugger, I hated it when people hugged me, but in situations like these, I felt like a hug was necessary.

"You're not different because you possibly like boys, okay. You're still Benji Evans, the Gryffindor reserve chaser and the only Gryffindor I really like", I chuckled. "You deserve happiness just as much as anyone else, maybe even more so. Please don't let your doubts keep you from being happy. It seems like a big deal now, but one day you'll look back and you'll see that everything turned out okay."