Yearning ➸ Draco Malfoy

𝖳𝗁𝗂𝗋𝗍𝖾𝖾𝗇

My heart stopped in my chest when I heard him say those words, my breath catching in my throat.
I didn't know what to say, or how to feel. My initial reaction was happiness, it felt nice knowing someone had feelings for me. But then my logic came into play, and told me that this wasn't a good idea and it was a sure fire way of getting hurt.

I gulp, and look at him apprehensively, "You do?" I ask, somewhat dumbfounded.

  He smiles at me, a smile that made my heart melt. "Yeah" his eyes shone slightly in the light, "I really do"

He sighs heavily, "But I know how you feel about... us. And how we would be better as friends. I am by no means trying to say we should be in a relationship, your father just died!" He takes a deep breath, "but I know I would not be able to live with myself if I didn't tell you how I felt. This may be the worst time to declare it, but I truly do care for you"

I don't know what came over me, but I laughed. His eyes fill with panic, and he still had a small smile on his face, he was unsure about my reaction.

"I'm sorry for laughing. It's just you have the weirdest way of showing that you care about me" he chuckles at that, "fair point"

My heart was won over, but my brain wasn't entirely convinced. "when did you know?" I ask, my eyes narrowing slightly as I tried to keep a neutral expression even though I could feel my cheeks heating up. He chuckles softly, and turns his gaze to the lake, an unreadable expression on his face. "When did I know I liked you?" He bites his lip slightly, "the first time you ever talked to me," he laughs at the memory, "you stood up for yourself, but your face was so red the whole time." He looked over at me, his eyes warm, "and from that second onward I made it my personal goal to always make you blush." I couldn't help it when the corners of my mouth came up, and a warm fuzzy feeling filled my body.

But my head was still nagging at me, telling me this was all too good to be true. I hold his gaze, thinking. Finally, I let my brain unleash all of its questions, "why date Pansy then? Why act so hot and cold towards me? And why did you have to be such a prick to me?"He laughs, his eyes crinkling in the corners. "It was the only way to get you frustrated," he narrows his eyes slightly, "and when you're frustrated," he gently touches my cheek with his hand, "you blush"

I shake my head, "that's not the right answer"

He raises an eyebrow, "you really are smart, huh?"  He runs my cheek softly, "you really do blush quite easily" I roll my eyes, swatting his hand away playfully, "answer the question!"

He sighs, his face turning serious, "alright. I started out so hostile towards you because I didn't really know how to act. To be honest it scared me that I liked you so much. Someone like me doesn't deserve someone like you," he pauses, "because you know how attractive I am-" I shove his arm lightly, giggling at his comment. He smirks at me and clears his throat, continuing, "I thought that maybe if I acted like you were some awful person I would start believing that and not develop feelings for you," he shook his head, and looked at me, "but I just couldn't believe that. It's impossible to believe that you're a horrible person."

I narrow my eyes thoughtfully, taking in what he said. "And why Pansy?" I ask. He bites the inside of his cheek, his eyes clouded. He runs a hand through his hair, I could tell the question made him uncomfortable. I raise an eyebrow, "be honest." He sighs, "alright" he clenches his jaw slightly, "I deserve Pansy. On paper, we should make a good couple. She Slytherin, I'm Slytherin. She's pure blood, I'm pure blood," he looks over at me, a hint of sadness in his gaze, "you deserve so much more than me. I'm bad, you're good" he shook his head, a sad expression in his eyes "you deserve better"