UNKNOWN | D.M (UNRAVEL BOOK 4)

[ 07 ]

After the eventful dinner, Aine headed upstairs with her brother, Aion along with her friends. It was about time they all meet him after the last time they saw each other in the courtyard of Hogwarts. It was something Aion had been dreading since he wasn't sure if they would welcome him, he didn't get a proper chance to get to know any of them besides his sister and this was finally the time. Thankfully, Aine's friends were open to him and quick to accept their story. He surprisingly was able to click well with the Weasley twins, along with Hermione who he hadn't expected. She was able to keep the conversation flowing smoothly and even helped him adjust to the boys who were a little bashful at first, but had slowly opened up to him the more they talked.

Halfway through their little teen rendezvous, Aine had sneaked out with George after noticing the many eye contacts he was giving her, indicating that he wanted to have a personal conversation with her. They went to the end of the corridor, near the window to have a little chat, something Aine was very certain about what he was going to ask. Sure enough, the first sentence that came out of his lips made her think she was right.

"Have you... Have you given a little thought about your feelings..?" George shyly brings it up and Aine winces. During the time they haven't seen each other, she had been taking time to sort her feelings. Especially the feelings she harboured for George and had processed his feelings for her. She nodded slowly.

"Yeah, I did. Actually," she replies, her fingers fiddling with one another as she took a deep breath. George's gaze on her never left and he only straightened his back at her answer. She sighs, brows crumpling together as she looks back at him, "And— I can't accept it... Your feelings for me, I can't reciprocate them..."

A dull bitter chuckle came from George and Aine's heart dipped at the hurt smile he had given her, "Right, figured." 

"I'm really sorry, Georgie. I really, really did try and I've thought it through but I just can't. Because my heart—"

"Has another person in it?" he finished for her and her eyes widened. She bobbed her head again sadly.

"Yeah..." she muttered back. She knew that she had to say this, but now that she has come out with her true feelings and she felt awful and for a moment, she had despised herself for doing this. She never meant to hurt him, he was someone precious to her after all. 

"It's Malfoy, isn't it?" he questions, a hint of resentment in his tone and Aine bit her lips. 

She wasn't sure before, but after spending time with Draco over the holidays or in general. She thought that he was always someone she wanted to be together with because she could see herself in him at times, but also how her heart longs for him mysteriously. The way he treated her differently than his other friends, the way he could open up to her and how she could with him too. They were able to converse on deep topics and yet joke around one another. 

Sure, there were a couple of times that he was mean and spiteful, but whenever she was at her lowest, he was somehow always there. She saw how he changed, the minimal attempts at trying to become a better human, to try his best even though he couldn't change who he has grown up to be: the person his father wants him to be. To show that he was more than what his father had moulded him to be.

Whenever Draco openly display his affection for her, Aine liked it. She has seen who he was, who he had been taught to be and who he wants to be. And with every side of him, she has come to appreciate and love. He wasn't perfect, and neither was she but being by his side felt so right at times that she was caught off-guard and grew to become curious. Whenever she was with him, he could make her feel all sorts of emotions: anger, irritation, sadness, happiness, excitement, calmness, relief and love. Her heart was always fluttering whenever she was with him. It was a ticklish fuzzy feeling that she didn't mind.