Secret Desires- Draco Malfoy

It's fine, I'm fine

Draco had a pit in his stomach. He hadn't seen Chloe for hours now, and he couldn't get her off his mind. She never seemed to get in trouble, and Draco never had to worry about her before. She always got things done with ease and grace, so seeing her struggle so much against the red beast she created from the depths of her own mind sent chills down Draco's spine.

He didn't want to seem too worried, as to seem weak in front of any of the students and teachers. He secretly scoured the halls and common rooms for where she could possibly be. Stopping girls on their way into the bathrooms, "will you tell Chloe she needs to come out of there?" in hopes that one would say they told her, but all the girls left the bathrooms saying she wasn't in there.

Draco trailed outside still looking for her. She loved sitting under the fountain so he checked there. several students huddled and sat under the water on the concrete slab. It was a common sight to see Chloe surrounded by crowds, but she wasn't there either. He checked by the Quidditch course, and the bleachers, still no sight of her.

He took a deep concerned breath, now knowing he had to travel to Hogsmeade to make sure she was still around. he walked along the gravel trail into town, looking along the grassy hills for a glimpse of her. He made it to town and looked in the windows of every shop as he strode past, still trying not to seem too worried incase someone saw.

He had just a few more places to check before he was out of ideas, when he walked past The Three Broomsticks. He glanced inside as he slowly crept by, and out of the corner of his eye he thought he saw her, way in the back away from anyone to see. he quickly stepped backwards a few steps, his eyebrows raised with relief.

He stepped inside and made his way to her. She had her back to the rest of the room facing the wall. she had a large mug of butter beer in front of her, with 3 empty scattered around the side of her. Draco stood next to her, watching her trying to think of what to say. "There you are.." Chloe jumped, "oh hi.." she said looking up at him embarrassed.

he took the seat across from her, "jumpy today, aren't we?" he laughed. she took a big gulp of her drink, wiping the foam off of her lip, "i guess so.." she fake chuckled. She was pretending to be ok, like what happened in class hadn't happened but it was obviously an act. He noticed how tense she looked, her face twisted in stress and shame. "i've been looking for you everywhere" Draco whispered in an angered and concerned tone.

"mmm yeah sorry about that," she shrugged and smiled. "i just wanted to be alone.." she said subtly to show her annoyance at his presence. "well," Draco glared at her, "you've been alone all day. and so have I because of you." he said trying to keep his facade of not caring about others, not wanting her to see how much her absence upset him. Chloe sat across from him and chuckled at his selfishness.

the air was heavy around them, silent. "what was that about in class earlier..?" Draco quietly asked not wanting other patrons to hear. Chloe took another big swig of her drink while glaring at him. she forced a laugh, "oh that? that was nothing.." she explained, lying. "I guess my imagination ran away with itself.. i didn't want something lame to appear like Weasleys spider." Draco looked at her suspiciously, not believing her. "it's fine!" she laughed as she softly offered, "i'm fine.." still laughing forcibly.

Draco could sense her unease when he noticed her fidgeting around. "are you drunk?" he asked. "what!" she spat the question out, "noo! no no no no no! noooo." she laughed genuinely now. Draco stared at her glancing at her empty mugs and back to her as silent evidence. "ok maybe just a little.." she confessed. Draco waived over one of the waiters and ordered himself two mugs. "what are you doing??" Chloe asked wondering why he was still hanging around after she had been sooo convincing.

"well, people usually only drink alone if there's something wrong." he said rolling up his white sleeves. "and since you made it clear that everything is fine, that you're fine.. there's no need for you to drink alone then.. is there?" his eyebrows raised in a checkmate. Chloe realized she couldn't fight him on that, even though she wanted to be alone, that something was in fact very wrong with her, secretly.

"i guess you're ri...." her words trailed off as she was distracted by him chugging down one of his large mugs. His adam's apple bouncing up and down with each massive gulp, his pale fingers tightly gripped around the handle. "woah," she said in amusement. "i have some catching up to do," Draco smirked as he wiped his face of the sweet foam.

As much as Chloe wanted to be alone, and dwell on her undisclosed anguish.. it was nice to have Draco around to distract her. After a while Chloe seemed to have forgotten what was bothering her in the first place, Draco had somehow eased her so much. Who would have thought that such a snobby, arrogant, bully could bring comfort to anyone?