Learn to Love » Draco Malfoy x Reader

XVIII

"I still can't believe you said yes to him," Daphne uttered while brushing out a section of my hair. I was sat down in front of the vanity in our room and she was standing behind me, trying to make my hair look more presentable for the evening.

"It was a temporary lapse in judgment," I defended myself while brushing on some powder to my face.

"A lapse in judgment that ended up with you having a public date with Cedric."

"For the hundredth time, it's not a date. He even said it can just be an escort and us spending the evening together. Totally... cordial... no romance at all."

Daphne rolled her eyes. "It starts out with just dinner, then he invites you for a walk in the courtyard, then he kisses you in the moonlight, then before you know it you're back at his room and—"

"Daphne!" I cut her off, actually earning a laugh from her.

"Sorry, y/n, I got carried away there. Still, you know what I mean. Just be careful? You don't need Draco finding out about this."

"What's to find out? That he and I, along with a group of other students in our year, all got together to meet for dinner with a professor? There's nothing wrong with that."

"Weren't you supposed to be on prefect patrol tonight?"

"Cedric got someone to cover it. Quite a few of us are going to the Slug Club, so," I muttered, a bit quieter. I added some blush to the apples of my cheeks to bring back some color; I was looking a tad washed out.

"Cedric this, Cedric that," she tugged on my hair rather harshly, causing me to yelp out in pain. She chuckled mischievously. "Did that hurt? Oops."

"Ouch, Daph, way out of line," I brought my hand to the back of my head to rub the soreness away. It only hurt for a second, but still.

"You kind of deserve it after playing with everyone's feelings this way," she shrugged.

"Cedric is a nonfactor, okay? And to set the record straight, I am positive that Draco feels nothing—"

Before I could finish my thought, I was cut off by a tapping at the door. It was quick but not heavy-handed. Tap tap tap tap tap. In fact, it was quite light and almost like someone had been knocking with just one finger... or a stick maybe?

"Sounds like loverboy's here," Daphne whispered lowly, giving me something of a glare.

Merlin, I'd have to deal with her later. She's been in such a mood lately. Not that I could blame her, I'd been so busy we hardly had any friend time together, but still. She could try helping and not exacerbating the situation.

I gave her a look of acknowledgement before getting up to answer the door.

Much to my surprise, Cedric wasn't there. In fact, nobody was there. It was actually a small black box on the floor and an owl next to it. I bent down to pick up the box and the owl flitted away. I had no idea whose owl it was (but I really never paid any attention to that). It was quite large and had bright orange eyes that seemed to examine mine, as well as a giant wingspan as I saw it soar down the corridor and away from my doorstep.

With the box in hand, I turned back to face Daphne and held up it up quizzically. When she realized what was going on, she rushed over and inspected it.

"What's this? Some jewelry box?" She mused, taking it out of my grasp and holding it up to the light. Closer to the lamp, we could tell it wasn't actually black, but a very dark, Slytherin-like green. Actually, almost too dark to be Slytherin.