'•° 𝑬𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍 || 𝘋𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘰 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘧𝘰𝘺 𝘹 𝘺/𝘯'•°

𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑇𝑤𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑦-𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑒

°~𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝑯𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝑴𝒆~°

Me and Draco sat down on the grass, our backs against the cold stone wall of Hogwarts Castle, away from people, where it's safe and unaware of our sudden pairing up. We had just finished pulling off a series of pranks on some unsuspecting students without getting caught.

We were still laughing from the previous prank with the Babbling Beverage that causes someone to speak nonsense uncontrollably, which we poured into two Hufflepuff students' cherry drinks. They went from having a normal conversation to suddenly chatting about things they never meant to say, and it was ridiculously funny. We had to run this time because it was the third potion today, and Draco is the first person to ever get caught easily.

'That was hilarious. Who would've known that being able to speak uncontrollably could lead to such a confession like that?'

'That's the magic of the Babbling Beverage'.

'I didn't expect you to know that much about potions just to prank people'.

We calmed down and sat in silence, looking at the cloudy sky. I can't deny it, but I wondered. Draco isn't the Draco I know, even if it means that we have one thing in common with pranks and getting along a little. But why does he despise Harry so much? Is it because Harry rejected him as a friend in our first year? Could it be that it made him feel this devastated when he was a kid?

As we both sat in silence, gazing up at the cloudy sky, a thought crossed my mind.

'Why do you hate Harry so much?' I asked, breaking the silence.

Draco's expression was surprised by the sudden question, then turned cold immediately. He refused to answer my question. His harsh tone caught me off guard, and instead, I snapped, 'That's none of your business' But I didn't give up.

I could sense that he was being defensive, but I couldn't help but push the issue. "I know we haven't really talked, but I think part of being friends in this deal is for us to trust each other a bit like I do now. After all, it is part of the bet, it's not just being friendly."

Hoping to get through to him, I knew he had a reputation for being a Slytherin, but there had to be more to him than that. I wanted to know what made him hate Harry so much.

Draco scoffed at my words. 'Trust? That's just a meaningless word to me. And besides, why would I want to have trust with someone from Gryffindor?'.

'The same reason why you wanted to be friends and agreed to this bet'

Draco shook his head. 'That's not the same, and why do you even care?'

I didn't back down. 'I care because I want to understand. We haven't known each other much because we were always against that, I feel like I don't know the real you.'

'You don't need to know the real me'

'Try me, maybe it won't be as bad as you think'

He sighed. 'I don't hate him' he replied, his voice slightly defensive.

I raised an eyebrow. 'Really? Could've fooled me. You two are always at each other's throats'

Draco sighed and looked away. 'It's complicated.'

'Is it because he gets all the attention?'

Draco's walls started to crumble as he looked away from me. 'It's not just about attention. He's had everything handed to him on a silver platter. He doesn't know what it's like to struggle or face real challenges.'

'He has faced Voldemort twice and now facing Sirius Black, which is also a struggle'

He let out a sigh and looked away. 'At least he has his friends beside him. It is because he has everything I want. The fame, the attention, friends, and family. He's always been the hero, while I'm just a mere Slytherin in his shadow. It's not fair.'