Draco Malfoy and the Girl Who Hid

17

"Where were you last night mate?" Blaise asked Draco, as he sat up squinting into morning light that passed through the curtain the Draco had pulled apart.

"I didn't feel like a party," Draco sighed, adjusting his tie in the mirror.

Blaise looked around but all the other boys were fast asleep. "Is everything alright?" The Draco that had returned to Hogwarts this year was different from the boy Blaise had known at the start of summer.

"Fine," Draco muttered.

Blaise did not believe him but let it go. "Can I ask you something?"

"Hmm?" Draco lay back on his bed.

"Don't mind," Blaise prefaced. "But what's going on with you and Avery."

"Avery?" Draco repeated.

"Yn Avery." Blaise clarified.

"Oh," Draco frowned in recognition. "Don't know what you mean Zabini."

"I'd rather you not say anything at all than lie," Blaise added in disappointment.

Draco sat up, bring his knees up on the bed. "There is nothing going on Blaise," Draco sighed.

"But you want there to be," Blaise hypothesised.

"No," Draco meekly replied. "I don't know. I just can't explain it. It's like I need to know what she is thinking all the time. But I don't know why."

Blaise nodded but waited for Draco to vocalise more.

"I feel like this is a test. They are trying to trip me up. See if I falter. Anything to get rid me." Draco's hands were shaking. He clasped them tight.

Blaise was concerned. "Who?"

Draco snapped out of it. "Doesn't matter. Besides we are both too broken. Two broken people can't fix each other."

"First of all, you can't think like that," Blaise said. "Second, you don't know that she is broken. She seems pretty stable to me."

"Can't I," Draco looked up. "You know my family Blaise. I hardly think that they would be pleased if I started professing my love for a girl that I have only met a handful of times."

"Love?" Blaise exclaimed. "Fuck," he jolted from the bed. "You like actually like her."

"It won't matter." Draco shook his head.

"It matters to you Draco. Anyhow it's not all that bad. She's a pureblood. Her family has upheld the traditions. They are wealthy and reputable. Your parents know hers. It's actually not all that bad. The fact you like her is a bonus. It's a better situation than most people in our position. Merlin only knows most of the arrangements hate each other."

"She's not the problem," Draco grunted.

"You're not all that bad," Balise chuckled. "A bit grumpy at times but that can be overlooked."

Draco glared at him. "The Malfoy name comes with a lot of baggage. I don't think I could ever stand to see the people I love suffer. I find it difficult enough with my mother. I would never willingly bring her into all that."

"Draco mate. Can you not even say her name. You are thinking too far ahead. You are not marrying her tomorrow. You're still a kid. You both are. This is the stime to enjoy yourself and figure out what you want. Anyway, you don't even know if she likes you. So don't go planning too much."

"No," Draco sighed. "I'm not letting her near my messy life. Besides, she's stubborn and angry. She fights to the nail about everything. She' spoiled and entitled and impatient."

"Sounds a lot like someone we know," Blaise chided Draco.

Blaise held up his hands in surrender when Draco glared at him. "What are you going to do then. Ignore her. Impossible. Darco you are too competitive to not be jealous and too driven to not seduce her. I know you. All you can do is think about her. Where is she? How is she? Who is she with? What is she thinking? Why is she doing that? It will only distract you. I think it will be less of a distraction if you succumb to it rather than fight it. Who knows she may help you in the end?"

Draco pondered what Blaise said as he fled the interrogation and headed to breakfast.