on the surface, the two couldn't have been more different.
he was cruel, arrogant, and cold; she was quiet, mellow, and kind.
however, the two students would soon be made aware of how they wore matching scars on their skin and in their souls.
//
"...
It was a couple weeks into the school year, and Draco was already basking in all the new attention he was receiving from girls because of his "summer glow-up" as Millicent and Pansy had called it. He liked how he felt when girls clung to his every word and giggled when he looked at them. Sure, it was empty affection, based upon his external appearance, but Draco could hardly tell the difference at that age. It was still affection, no matter how shallow or conditional it was.
In this state of inflated ego and constantly increasing need for approval from the girls around him, Draco stumbled upon two small, blonde girls. He had noticed how the two of them were looking curiously at him, Crabbe, and Goyle. One had flaxen hair and eyes glazed over. This girl seemed to stare straight through him. The other girl had golden blonde hair that fell down her back in long waves, and her eyes were a baby blue. She wore a long, silky dress, and her slightly puckered lips and bright eyes instantly drew Draco in.
He ignored the other girls in the corridor that were sending him playful smiles or stealing glances at him. His new target was this little blonde girl who was unusually comfortable maintaining eye contact with him.
Draco sauntered up to her and immediately invaded her space. Her bright blue eyes widened, and she backed up a couple steps in reaction. The flaxen haired girl beside her let her eyes drift over Draco curiously, but he thought she didn't seem all there from her faraway stare.
"Like what you see?" Draco taunted the blonde girl in front of him. Her chest seemed to heave with deeper breaths as she finally stopped her scrabbling and stood her ground. Draco smiled at that -- she wasn't one to back down easily.
"Excuse me?" she squeaked and narrowed her eyes. Her left hand was inching towards her pocket, but Draco didn't immediately notice this.
"You were staring. Don't worry, I get it. It must be pretty overwhelming to be this close to me," he said with a cold laugh and mischievous glances sent back at Crabbe and Goyle.
"And why would it be overwhelming to be near you? Because you called Hermione Granger the m word?" the blonde asked with her eyebrows knit together and lips pulled into a frown.
Realization settled on Draco's face at once. He scanned the girl's appearance again and backed away with an icy glare sent her way. She blinked in confusion, but her cheeks slowly warmed in white hot embarrassment over the way Draco was staring at her.
"No, no, that's not what he meant. He meant it would be overwhelming to be near him because he talks a lot," the flaxen-haired girl said with an amused smile dancing over her face but disappearing before Draco had enough time to process it.
Draco shot that girl a nasty scowl before he stepped around them and tugged Crabbe and Goyle after him by their ties. He couldn't believe he wasted his time talking to a mudblood, a pretty mudblood, but he felt nauseated nonetheless. His father would be so disgusted to learn that he had spoken more than one word to a disgrace like that. Yet, for some reason, whenever Draco closed his eyes, he kept seeing the little smile that girl had been wearing before he had mistreated her. When his eyes were closed to the darkness of his world, that girl's golden hair and bright eyes shone in his vision.
He tried to shake this interaction off for the rest of the week, but his scowl and short temper reminded him of what a bloody awful job he was doing at that.
//
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