Apple Of His Eye (A Draco Malfoy Love Story)

CHAPTER 5: I Got Stamina

By the time the first day of classes rolled around, I was pretty used to the school. I knew most of the secret entrances and turns, and how to get quickly to each class. I was on good terms with all the paintings and ghosts, which proved useful when I needed directions.

Pansy, who I was on good terms with now, shook me awake, yelling about being late. I groggily turned onto my side, muttering "5 more minutes..." but she pulled me up and I begrudgingly began to get ready. The green and silver Slytherin robes complimented my pale complexion perfectly, and the skirt and blouse hugged my figure flatteringly. Pansy began to apply her makeup, even though she already looked flawless, and I sat at the foot of the bed reading while I waited for her to finish.

As she applied a deep lipstick colour to her lips, she made light conversation. 

"Excited for classes?" 

I shrugged nonchalantly, "I doubt I'll be much good, but they can't be that bad can they?"

I had gotten comfortable with the idea of  being in Slytherin, and the fact I hadn't heard from my parents about it sure helped. No one in Slytherin was in any way scary or mean, at least not any more than the other houses. I wondered where the whole prejudice against them began. I know that most of Slytherin comes from esteemed upper class purebloods, and that their parents scorned upon muggle borns, but none of the kids seemed to care that much about blood status other than Draco, who used any excuse to call other students mudbloods. 

Draco was complicated. On the outside, he was cruel to everyone, even me. He would make blood supremist and sexist comments to others, bully the other houses, constantly hex and curse other kids, and I was no exception. He would pressure me to stop eating, he would constantly make snide remarks to me, and countless hexes and pranks. Once, I woke up to find he had shrunk all my clothes 4 sizes too small, and since I'm not very good at magic, I had to show up to all my classes in embarrassingly small uniform more fitted to a small child, which provoked mny giggling and whispers, making me incredibly uncomfortable. The worst part was when I bumped into my sister and her gang. Yikes, that was painful. But I knew he was misunderstood, and no matter how much he pushed me away, I would always be there for him. Sure, he had some flaws, but he wasn't as bad with me as with the other students, and maybe I could fix him. I know all his cruelty comes from trauma, and his own issues, so he really cannot be blamed in the slightest. And.. well.. the good outweighs the bad. He's fiercly protective over me, and wouldn't let anyone hurt me. When he wants to.. he's as sweet as can be, and is so charming. But I would never dream of being with him romantically. Everything would go wrong. He would eventually break up with me, and I would lose my first and only friends. I would be utterly alone, terrorized by my sister and her gang, mocked and laughed at and all by my self.

I stood up from the side of the bed and dragged myself lazily to the mirror, standing next to Pansy. I took a few hairclips and held my hair up and tied it together, creating an imperfect yet attractive messy bun. "Blimey, that was quick", said Pansy, watching as I tied my hair up. I nodded my head, brushing a strand of hair behind my ear. I usually hid my face with that strand, but this sudden boost of confidence came rushing over me, so I decided not to.  I took one last look at myself in the mirror, and wondered if I would ever be like other girls, makeup, perfect hair, always knowing what to say.

As we sat down with the others at breakfast, I noticed Blaise staring at me, looking me up and down. I had noticed this for the past few days, but I couldn't imagine for the life of me what was the cause for it. Maybe there was something stuck to me? Feeling his eyes burn into me, I looked down to see if there was something askew, and in my embarrassment, tripped, and faceplanted onto the breakfast table. Landing on a huge array of ketchup, brown sauce, maple syrup, pancakes, waffles, jams, and my face in a bowl of porridge, I closed my eyes tight as I heard the entire hall go completely silent. 

After what felt like an eternity of silence, my sister yelled out, "pass the syrup wouldya Y/N?" 

The entire hall erupted in deafening laughter. I lifted my face from the porridge, it dripping from my hair, to see the entire school staring and laughing at me, even the teachers. Blaise was looking worriedly at me, which only made me more embarrassed. I felt like I was going to die right there and then. Draco, noticing Blaise looking at me, began to join in with the others, laughing cruelly, and the other Slytherins followed his lead. Only Blaise and Pansy refrained, although Pansy looked like she really, really wanted to. My heart in my throat, I began to get up. I was covered head to foot in food, and as I got up, a single piece of bacon fell off my head, onto the floor. I finally managed to stand up. My face was red as a tomato, and as I took a step forward to leave the hall... 

I tripped on the piece of bacon. This only fueled the laughter, and I was so embarrassed I didn't notice the bottom of my skirt tuck into my blouse. I walked past each table of students, all screaming with laughter, my face an unnatural shade of red, my skirt tucked into my blouse, covered head to toe in breakfast food. 

I looked at my sister as I passed her table, my eyes begging for mercy. She slanted hers evilly, and before I could react, used her wand to levitate me to the ceiling of the hall, hooking me by the skirt to a piece of wood. 

As she got high fived and cheered on by other students, I finally began to cry, which only caused more laughter. The teachers refrained from doing anything, probably because they had always believed my sisters bullying accusations, and thought I had done something terrible to deserve this. They all turned a blind eye and went to their respective classes. Eventually, after laughing until their ribs hurt, the students too began to file out of the hall, leaving me hanging from the ceiling, desperately struggling. Draco sneered at me before exiting the hall, rightfully mad at me for allowing Blaise to oggle me. Blaise looked up at me apologetically as Draco pulled him from the hall, and Pansy didn't care all that much.

After a couple hours of hanging there, my weight became too much to hold me up, and my skirt tore completely, sending me hurtling down, the only things breaking my fall being the house banners hanging from the walls and ceilings, which I burst through, getting more and more tangled as I fell. By the time I hit the floor, I was a mess of red, blue, green and yellow fabric with human limbs. 

I rolled around on the floor of the hall for what felt like ages before finally freeing myself of the banners.

I ran to class, not wanting to lose any more house points. I burst through the door of the transfiguration classroom, causing everyone to look at me. I then realized that I had yet again embarrassed myself dreadfully. I had forgotten to go back to my dorm and change clothes, meaning my blouse, hair and face were covered in food.. and the remains of my torn skirt were back in the Great Hall. Professor McGonagall looked at me disgustedly. "10 points from Slytherin for being late, 10 points from Slytherin for being such a nuisance.. and 20 points from Slytherin.. for looking like that!" 

Oh no. Even through my embarrassment at my worst nightmares coming through today, I realised I had placed an even bigger target on my back for taking 40 points from the house. Slytherins were extremely competitive,  and they didn't take things like this lightly. I ran out of the class, trying to pull my blouse as far as it could go.