Under the Willow Tree | Draco Malfoy

chapter 13: dainty handwriting and soft words

Draco Malfoy | 4th Year

Draco was sitting in the Slytherin common room and actually trying to study the History of Magic for once when Pansy saw him sitting alone and decided to approach him later that week. Because he was intently focused on his textbook, Draco didn't even notice Pansy's presence until she had already dropped onto the black leather couch beside him. He glanced up at her with a blank expression before forcing a smile onto his face. "Can I help you?"

"I've been thinking a lot about our latest hint," Pansy started and lopsidedly smiled at him. "About how we both have pureblood soulmates."

Draco stiffened but did his best to maintain his previous smile. Pansy scooted closer to him on the couch and slowly smiled wider. "Well, I hate it when people aren't direct, so I'll just be honest with you... I think we could be soulmates, and I fancy you. A lot."

He sat back in his seat momentarily and blinked at her. Her bold statement was honest and confident, which should have been appealing to him, but for some reason, it truly wasn't.

Despite those intrusive thoughts, he gave her a fake grin and nodded. "I'd like that too, Pansy."

To really sell his point, Draco put a hand on her leg and shot her his most dazzling smile. It seemed to work because Pansy looked as if she might faint, and that made him want to roll his eyes, but he couldn't. As much as he hated to admit it, he needed her. So, when she batted her eyelashes at him and asked him to be her date on the next trip to Hogsmeade, he nodded, but not because he wanted to. Because he had to.

—

Days passed by, and Draco still hadn't heard from his anonymous pen pal. He was starting to grow worried. Maybe something had happened to them. Maybe their Gran had passed away — he didn't know how old this Gran was but surely she might have been elderly. Dying grandparents was only the beginning of Draco's endless concerns, and he just managed to reel himself back in that day in time for potions. He knew Professor Snape was a fan of legilimency, but Draco was not a fan of others using legilimency on him.

Luckily, Draco and Briar had practiced occlumency with one another at a young age. They had trained using some of the books they had found in the library at Davies Manor, and they tested one another using their self-taught legilimency skills, which were honestly barely passable at that young age.

Although Draco didn't fully understand the benefits of such a skill at the time, something in the back of his mind reminded him that he didn't want anyone rifling around inside his brain. No one needed to be in there. Not Briar Davies, not his mum, and certainly not his dad.

So, Draco managed to keep his troubling thoughts at bay for his potions lesson, but as soon as he marched into Defense Against the Dark Arts, the floodgates of mental chaos opened once again. Theo was sitting in his usual seat already, but he was staring into space while he twirled his wand around his fingers carelessly and hummed along to some random song.

With a couple nervous glances in Theo's direction, Draco plopped into his seat beside him and tried to subtly remove the piece of parchment from the place where he had left it during the last lesson. While Theo continued to daydream and twirl away, Draco pulled the note into his lap and unfolded the beige colored sheet.

To his relief, that familiar and dainty handwriting has returned beneath his own practiced text. Like a wild animal that hadn't eaten in days, Draco devoured the few scraps of texts from this mysterious person. He stared down at each word with perfect attention and a racing heart.

to: my pen pal <3

I am a girl, but anyone can like the color pink if they want to! What's your favorite color then, if not pink?

Oh, Muggle music is lovely sometimes! I wish I could give you a mixtape. Maybe if we ever meet up, I can burn you one, so that you can hear some of my favorite songs! In the meantime, I love "Oasis" and "The Beatles" a lot. Ooh, and I like this one band from the States too. They're called "The Beach Boys".

My birthday is coming up soon. Is yours coming up soon as well? Or did you just have one recently?

I like writing back and forth with you like this. It makes me feel as though we're sort of friends, even if we've never even seen each other's faces. I don't have many friends, but that's okay. I like talking to you though, so I can't wait to read your reply.

After he read through the notes from this person over and over again, Draco flipped the page over and picked up his quill. He couldn't wait to reply to everything she had said. He smiled because he now knew she was a girl. It both made him feel strange to know he was talking to a girl, but part of him also craved the innocent attention of this princess. She was kind and gracious and nothing like what he had experienced before, and he couldn't get enough. He just wanted more and more of her, and that frightened him.

Who was this girl that had completely captivated his heart with only her dainty handwriting and soft words?

Draco ached to learn who she was, but he wasn't ready for the mystery of their written conversation to fade, so he wrote in his neat, elegant style, drawing her up another message.

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