𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐞.

VIII

The words had barely left Draco's mouth before he tackled him to the ground. My eyes grew wide in horror when he rolled them over and hurled his fist at Harry. He groaned in pain as it collided with his nose, smashing his glasses onto his face. My first instinct was to run toward them. It baffled me how no one was around to witness this. Malfoy sprung up and in a second, he grabbed my wrist and pulled me against him. I wiggled between his grip, but it only seemed to get tighter the more I tried.

Harry reached out to grab at him, but Draco simply sent him a swift kick to the stomach. He fell back on the grass, coughing by now. I tried to reach my hand out, but his strong arm didn't allow me.

"Did Melanie tell you about our first kiss, Potter?" He asked as he looked down at Harry who was clutching his nose. I struggled against him, vigorously trying to escape him.

Potter stared up at him; a fiery exclamation of wrath and disdain. "You slimy–"

He was quickly interrupted by Draco's deep chuckle as his hand shoved me closer to his chest. "I'd have to tell you, the way she sounds is very tempting for my liking. You should've heard her, Merlin, what a beautiful sound."

My stomach churns with sorrow while watching Potter struggling to haul himself up. It was a scream of help that burst out of my mouth. "Stop it, Draco! This has to stop!"

There wasn't a single bone in his body that cared. "Touch him again and I'll string him up by his loins." Draco calmly whispered in my ear. It passed a puzzling thought in my brain.

He simply pressed himself against me and pecked my cheek before flinging my body away; disappearing around the corner. I quickly turn to Harry, falling to my knees as my hand stretched out to grab him, however, he pushed it away and stood up.

I shrugged miserably as I piled myself from the ground while watching Harry wiping off the small dirt stuck on his uniform. "Harry–"

"–No," He spoke harshly, glancing everywhere else but me. "I've heard enough. You've been hiding this behind my back. You knew how I would feel about it, but you did it anyway."

My eyes drooped down, anxiously fidgeting with my shirt. It felt like a needle jabbing through my stomach. "You were the one who told me to get close to him, to find any evidence."

"I didn't mean this!" He suddenly snapped and turned to me. "I wasn't talking about you willingly giving yourself to Malfoy!"

I took a deep breath and noted his round eyes, two angry points. "What exactly are you expecting me to do, I can't do anything! He won't leave me alone. I'm stuck, Harry."

Harry stood still for a couple of seconds, gazing around for an answer until he gave a shallow nod of acceptance. "Fine, I'm going to Dumbledore."

"But Dumbledore will—"

Potter blew a whoosh of air, almost annoyingly as he cut me across. "I know, Melanie. He'd just give him two months' worth of detention."

And with that, he walked away.

It was Christmas the next day. Everyone was bolting back and forth to the girl's dormitory, carrying their items of baggage down the Great Hall. A couple of girls, such as Parvati, giggled their way out of the chamber once she caught me sitting on my four-poster bed.

Everyone was well aware of Lavender's best friend, Parvati. It didn't come as a surprise if she told her about the incident with Malfoy. It left me completely uneasy with myself, how easily it was to spread any rumours.

Ginny and Hermione were both packing while watching the girls leave outside the door. I sighed as I gazed over at my friends.

Hermione furrowed her brows, continuously folding her clothes in fine order. "What was that about?"