Fire & Ice - A Draco Malfoy fanfiction

Chapter 36 - So you didn't hex your friend?

You lost her and it wasn't because she was hard to hold, or love, or touch but because she was made of your absence, of all the things you ignored and all the beautiful poetry you read but failed to understand.

- Robert Drake

I hadn't slept much that night. Daphne came back in the middle of the night. I just pretended to be asleep to not cause any more drama. I had to wait until she was ready to hear my explanation. There was nothing more I could do.

But in the morning I realised that that would take a little while. She barely even looked at me and was out the door without saying a word, not even to Tracey. Tracey was caught in the middle of it, which was quite inconvenient too. I just encouraged her to go after Daphne, because she needed a friend much more than I did at the moment.

And that was not even the worst part. The worst part was that the entirety of Slytherin house seemed to know about the situation, which meant that it was only a matter of time before it spread around the castle. People would start assuming things.

I shot everyone a death glare if they stared for just a little too long when I walked down the hallway. Rumours or not, they had to respect me.

I purposely took a seat on the other side of the table to stay out of Daphne's way for a bit and took out my Charms book to not look like a complete loser. Luckily it was Friday, meaning that I had a weekend to look forward to, most of which would probably be spent in the library.

Draco walked past and glanced my way quickly. I shook my head softly, telling him to move on. I could not make this more uncomfortable than it already was. Sure, Daphne couldn't be mad at me for catching feelings for him, those were not things I could control, but she had every right to be angry about me making out with him whilst he was taking her out on dates, flirting with her and giving her hope.

The day just sucked.

"You look like you're having a cracking day", I heard on my way back from Ancient Runes. I looked to the side to see Benjamin walking next to me.

"Well hello, Benji", I said.

"So, I know you didn't want to talk about it last time", he sighed. "But I feel like you could use a friend right now."

"And why's that?"

"Come on, Eleanor, I've heard the rumours."

"Already? I had hoped for them to die rather than spread", I grunted. It wasn't even noon yet.

"So they're true?" he asked. We walked into the Courtyard, away from the ears eager to eavesdrop.

"Depends on what the rumours are", I said, taking a seat on one of the benches and putting my bag down.

"They're saying that you're dating Draco Malfoy and that your friend got really jealous and that you had a huge fight. One girl in my year said that your friend gave Malfoy a black eye and that you got so mad that you hexed her and that she doesn't dare to be around you anymore because of it."

I blinked a couple of times. Well that wasn't exactly what I had expected.

"No, those rumours definitely aren't true", I said. "Or well, most of it isn't."

"So, what did happen?" I sighed. I could talk to Benji. He was there for me at my lowest without asking questions, so he deserved to be trusted.

"I'm not dating Draco, but there have been some things going on in the past few months. We have ... made out a couple times", I said, cringing at my explanation. "And Daphne found out and now she's really angry with me."