𝐀 𝐏𝐎𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐈𝐍 𝐒𝐋𝐘𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐍 ↬ 𝔡.𝔪𝔞𝔩𝔣𝔬𝔶

06 | r u n n i n g

{W} here should we go first?" I asked, practically jumping with excitement.

"Let's take a look at the brooms!" Draco suggested.

"Yes!" I exclaimed, grabbing a hold of his arm and rushing forwards, despite his attempt to manage a peaceful walk.

"On a separate note," I remarked, "New sweater?"

"Good eye, Potter." he laughed as he got pulled along, and I stopped at the edge of the crowd, standing on my tiptoes to try to get a glimpse of the showcased broom. Scoffing at my efforts, Draco pushed through the crowd, pulling me through until we were right in front of the glass.

"Draco!" I whisper-shouted, trying to scold him while mouthing apologies to everyone.

"You wanted to see, right?" he shrugged, smirking.

I rolled my eyes, although my smile never died down. The broom was absolutely beautiful, it was like a gift from heaven. I could see the admiration in Draco's eyes as well. We both loved Quidditch. For years, we had played in his backyard, once resulting in getting a sprained ankle. Remus gave me quite an earful then.

Click.

Flash!

I whirled around, my grip on Draco's arm tightening. He immediately stood in front of me, searching. We heard it. The sound of a camera.

Another thing to mention, I loathe cameras. Over the years, I had been printed in the paper for a huge number of scandals and fake news. They followed me, took pictures when I wasn't expecting them. It made me feel wronged, violated of my privacy, and utterly disgusting.

Draco knew, for he had been printed alongside me a year ago. He had been the one to comfort me when I holed myself in my bedroom.

There. I spotted him, Ruel Fluke, a reporter for the Daily Prophet who constantly harassed me. The camera was aimed at my direction, no doubt to cook up another wretched story.

I pulled on Draco's sleeve to get his attention. "I see him," I whispered.

Draco followed my line of sight until he set eyes on Fluke. "Fight or flight?" he asked quickly, studying my expression.

"What?" I asked, taken off guard.

"It's your call, Potter."

I knew for certain that if I picked fight Draco would slather Fluke with witty insults until he was humiliated. Draco was quite good at that.

And it would feel amazing to call Fluke out on what he was doing.

But, what I also knew was that Fluke wouldn't just stop it at that. To get back at us, he would provoke us even more. He was like a child that way, and it would trigger a cycle of hate and bothersome annoyance.

"Let's run." I said, pulling Draco into a sprint. We dodged our way through the mass of people, turning corners and almost tripping several times due to the cracks in the pavement.

"He's chasing us!" Draco huffed, drawing ragged breaths.

My stomach was lit with butterflies, exhilaration coursing through my veins. "Come on!" I yelled, speeding even faster. We ran and ran and ran.

Passing Ollivanders, I pulled Draco into the next alley I saw. Breathing heavily, we hid until Fluke passed by, red-faced and sweating profusely. My heart was pounding, the blood rushing through my ears.

We both burst out laughing, the kind of laughter that sucks up all your air and gives you the best kind of joy possible. It had been a while since I had last heard Draco laugh this way.

After a while, we calmed down a bit. Although I was still a bit delirious, slightly giggling whenever I caught sight of Draco's face.

I jumped at the sound of loud knocking, making Draco snicker.

"Harry! Harry!" an unfamiliar, but very hearty voice called out in between the knocks.

Harry?

"Happy Birthday!" the voice cried, and I rushed forward, adrenaline pumping through my system.

No way. My birthday had been yesterday. Could it be?

A boy walked out, with the same hair color I had, roughly the same height, and even though I couldn't see his eyes from here, I knew.

It was him.

Harry Potter, my twin brother.

Okay, so let me go on a rant here.

Draco Malfoy admired Harry Potter. All the stories he'd heard since he was young, the rumors, Harry was a legend. Let's also not forget that Draco was the one to attempt to befriend Harry when they first met. Draco wanted to impress him. And the only way he knew how was to state the beliefs he grew up with, and believed were right. He was modeling himself after the most impressive person he knew-- his father. And we know how Lucius Malfoy felt about certain wizards.

I think that it was confusing for Draco. You can't say that his parents didn't love him. They did, you can see that in the last book, where they abandon their wands during battle to search for him. Narcissa chose to lie to the Dark Lord rather than risk losing her son.

So how could Draco see that the people who raised him, who loved him, were wrong?

Now, I'm not saying how he was raised excuses his behavior. I'm saying it explains it.

Sidenote: I feel like Draco would have the cutest jealousy reactions.