Our Little Secret || Draco Malfoy

Chapter 1.

I sighed and leaned my head against the window, hugging my knees to my chest and watching the raindrops chase each other across the window panes. I searched the cloudy skies for any sign of Apollo, Draco's owl, carrying the letter I so desperately wanted to receive.

We were almost two weeks into the summer holiday, and I still hadn't heard from Draco. A part of me was worried that something had happened, what with the incident at the Ministry and his father being a Death Eater, but I doubted that Draco would be involved with that. He was too young and not as well-trained as an adult wizard.

Fleetingly, I wondered why I had been told by Snape to not come downstairs today - not that I would have wanted to, anyway. I could hear indistinct female voices from the drawing room, but they had soon come and gone. I watched as two women, one with silvery blonde hair and the other with wild raven hair, pulled up their hoods and apparated away from our street quickly. There was a quiet knock on the door, and a soft but firm voice floated through the room. "Isabelle?"

"Go away." I responded in a flat voice, not looking away from the window.

I heard Snape sigh and tap my door with his wand, unlocking it. "Dad!" I exclaimed angrily, turning to look at him as he walked into my room. "Isabelle, please, just listen. I know you think you love Draco but you shouldn't. He is more dangerous than you would believe." I turned away from him, closing my eyes. "You don't know anything, Dad. I love him more than anything in the world. And he loves me too. You just don't understand." 

He was silent and the next words that came out of my mouth were ones that I regretted instantly. "My real Dad would have loved him just as he is." The silence that followed was heavy, and one look at Snape's face showed how deeply I had hurt him. "Dad, I didn't mean that... I'm sorry..." I said, my voice quivering. Snape swept from the room and I buried my face in my arms, crying.

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I waited all summer for Draco to send for me to visit him, but no word came. No word came at all, for that matter. For the entire summer, every letter I owled him remained unanswered. I was mad but also worried that something had happened. After the incident at the Ministry and the public announcement that Voldemort was indeed back, things were tenser than ever. I had been in contact with the Order, and they promised that I would be protected, and I told them that I didn't want protection - I wanted to fight. If there was going to be a war, I didn't want to be sheltered in some secret hideaway. I wanted to be out there, fighting alongside my brother and the people that had supported my parents.

I smiled at my owl, Athena, who was hooting cheerfully at me from her perch on my windowsill. "You're such a trooper, lady," I said, tossing her an owl treat and returning to my latest letter to Draco. I paused, my quill raised over the paper as I let out a sigh. I never put my name on the envelopes or the letters - Draco knew my handwriting. Things were risky enough in the Wizarding World without someone knowing that Harry Potter's sister was in contact with Draco Malfoy.

"I think about you every day. I think about the secrets we share in the library, the way you watch me in the halls, how you kiss me when it's been far too long. I miss you terribly, Draco. Living here with Snape is like living in a prison cell with the man who tried to murder your family. I want nothing to do with him, and he wants nothing to do with me, but there's a mutual hatred for each other. I'll have some kind of escape once September rolls around. I'll see you soon, my love." I finished, stuffing the paper into an envelope and simply writing "Draco" on the front.

"You know where to go," I said to Athena, attaching the letter to her leg and stroking her cheek. She nipped my finger affectionately before taking off through the open window, flying high until she was a tiny, dark dot in the clear blue sky. I sat in the windowsill, sighing as I watched her go, jealous of her wings. What I wouldn't give to be able to fly far, far away from this place and never look back. This room that I had grown up in, spent hours upon hours playing with Snape in, learning basic spells and reading as many books as I could get my hands on. But now, the room held nothing but pain and resentment.

I found myself imagining more and more as the days passed what life would have been like if my parents hadn't been killed by Voldemort - would my room still look like this? Would it be bigger? Would Harry and I have shared a room? Tears filled my eyes as the thoughts of what might have been raced through my mind and I tried to push them away, focusing instead on my impending escape back to school, back to my brother and my friends, and back to Draco.

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When September rolled around, I was beyond nervous to come back to Hogwarts. I was excited to see Draco, but I wanted to know what had kept him from writing me all summer. The night we all returned to the school, we assembled as we always did in the Great Hall for the Start of Term feast. I kept glancing at the hall entrance, watching for Harry, who had stayed behind while the rest of us were exiting the train. And to my pleasant surprise, so did Ginny. I always knew she fancied him, but I had a good feeling about something finally happening between the two of them this year.

"Will you stop eating? Your best friend is missing!" I turned my head at the sound of Hermione's shrill voice and caught the tail end of her hitting Ron with one of her books. "Oi! Turn around, you lunatic!" He said defensively, nodding towards the entrance. We all looked and saw Harry walking into the hall, trying not to draw attention to himself - kind of a hard feat to accomplish when you're Harry Potter, and even harder when your face is covered in a mixture of wet and dried blood. "He's covered in blood again...why is he always covered in blood..." Ginny murmured, and Ron whispered back, "Looks like it's his own this time." Harry sat down between Ginny and me, and Ginny immediately handed Harry a napkin to dab against his bleeding nose.

I leaned over when Dumbledore stepped up to give his speech and whispered in Harry's ear. "What happened on the train?" Harry glanced at me and mouthed the word, "Draco" before turning back to watch Dumbledore. My eyes widened and I wanted to question him further but I knew I wouldn't be able to without raising suspicion. I glanced over at the Slytherin table, searching it quickly for the face that I hadn't seen in nearly three months and I was shocked when I did. Draco was slipping into a seat, also late, virtually unnoticed, but he didn't look like the Draco I knew. He looked like he had seen hell and lived to tell the tale. His face was cold and his eyes burned like ice. He looked like his father, but younger.

Once the feast had ended, I caught up to Draco outside the Great Hall as he walked out, only a few stragglers left now. "Hey, Draco!" I said, my anger rising a little when I saw the dried blood on his shoes. Harry wasn't lying earlier - Draco did attack him on the train. 

Draco turned and I shrunk under the venomous glare he gave me. "What do you want?" He said in an icy voice. I stared at him for a moment and shook my head, moving closer. "Were you busy this summer?" I said casually, reaching for his hand. Draco stepped back, looking me up and down. "What's it to you?"

I couldn't understand why he was acting this way towards me - like we were enemies again. "Draco, what's gotten into you? Did I do something wrong?" I asked, confused. Draco rolled his eyes, glaring at me. "The only thing you're doing wrong is talking to me. I don't know why you kept sending me all those bloody letters over the holidays. The lack of response should have been enough for you." Draco's angry and annoyed tone shocked me, and I felt myself getting angry too. "I sent you all of those letters because I wanted to talk to you! I had no one in that prison I'm supposed to call home, and I thought you'd understand that. I love you, Draco!"

"Well, I don't love you. I never did."

His words were like a knife in my heart and a kick to my stomach. "You're lying." I said in a shaky voice. Draco stared at me, his eyes dark and empty, and shook his head. "How could I ever love a filthy Potter?" He said coldly. 

Tears spilled onto my face, and I started to walk away but turned back for a moment. "Hey, Malfoy," I said in a hateful voice. He looked up at me and I reached up, undoing the clasp on my beloved star necklace and throwing it at his feet. "Fuck you." I whispered loud enough for him to head, turning and hurrying away in the opposite direction, my body shaking with sobs.

(A/n: Fuuuuuuuck. That wasn't fun to write in the slightest, I promise you. But holy cow, what a way to start off the Half-Blood Prince! Thank you so much for reading, my lovelies! I hope you loved this chapter and if you did, make sure you add Our Little Secret to your reading list/library or subscribe to me so you can get notified every time I update - Mondays and Thursdays! Love y'all! - H xx)