The Ultimatum ~ Draco Malfoy

Chapter 13

Late November, 1998

Something about him had changed over the following weeks, and not being able to pinpoint exactly what it was was rather unsettling for June. It was something about the way he looked at her, she thought. Because she no longer felt his hateful gaze every time she saw him, shooting daggers at her with his eyes as his mind whispered all sorts of spiteful things about her. That all went away, replaced by a certain look she couldn't place.

She noticed it for the first time when she was sat on the far end of the Slytherin table at dinner, sucking furiously at her straw, her cheeks hollowing, in attempt to gather the very last drop of pumpkin juice left in her tall glass. A feeling of being watched caused her to look up, breaking her concentration as her eyes met his across the long table.

The second time was at the library. She was in the middle of reading a very descriptive, hot, erotic scene, her cheeks warm and pink, when she felt his eyes on her again. He stood before one of the bookshelves to her left, browsing flippantly through the books as he smirked tellingly into the rows of books, as if he knew exactly what she had been reading. She had quickly covered the words with her arms in mortification, her cheeks even hotter with embarrassment, as he stood several feet away, not even looking at her.

Then there was the most recent occurrence, during Potions, when she ripped her trousers on her way down to pick up the pestle that flew out of Tracey's hand at some point during her very vigorous grinding of Valerian root. Tracey had asked June to pick it up for her, and of course, her trousers had ripped, the sound literally tearing through the room. Her eyes went wide as her hand flew to cover the large tear at her bottom, blood rushing up to her face. She scanned the room, mortified, to see if anyone else had heard or, god forbid, seen. To her relief, most people seemed too busy  brewing their potions to even notice, and the few who might have noticed were polite enough to act indifferent, turning their heads away respectfully. As she rose to her feet with a heavy exhale of relief, her palm still glued to her bum, she heard an amused snort behind her. Her head whipped around faster than she could blink, her neck cracking at the straining motion, and there it was again. That stupid grin of his.

December 1st, 1998

It was around six o'clock in the afternoon, and the sky had already turned dark, when she left the young Slytherin's room. His name was Roy, and he was a very sweet boy, perhaps too sweet for his own good. Not only was he far behind in almost every class, he also didn't have any friends. He had a hard time fitting in with the other selfish and vile Slytherin kids, and often fell victim to bullying. One time, June had found him sitting alone in the library with a history book open, and offered to help. Since then, she had continued helping with his homework every week, also using the time to help him work on his confidence and self worth, help him get through the rough patch.

She passed another bedroom on her way back to her own, the door slightly open, when a flash of ivory caught her eyes. Pausing her steps, she turned back around and peeked through the crack, only to see the lower half of Draco's back as he pulled his green quidditch shirt off. It was dark, but she could roughly make out his silhouette as he threw the shirt on the bed to his right, and she eyed his now bare back curiously. It was the first time she'd seen him without a shirt on, and she had never noticed how toned he really was, the muscles in his back contracting and relaxing as he moved. She found it strange to see him like this, relaxed and in his own skin, without that intimidating stance and repulsive sneer.

The small beads of sweat still apparent on his skin after practice glistened in the faint light coming in through the windows from the depths of the Black Lake. She followed a droplet as it moved from his broad shoulders, dipping low, low, down his back. Once it reached the arch of his back, it picked up speed from the increased slant, quickly disappearing into the waistband of his white shorts.