after dusk - draco malfoy

x. | ten

THE FOLLOWING WEEKEND, JUST AS PROMISED, I met Draco at Honeydukes at One O'Clock. I wasn't sure what it was but from the second I saw him that day, my stomach plummeted, almost filled with butterflies. Why am I nervous? It's only Malfoy. "Good afternoon," he greeted me with a smile on his face.

I smiled back but the lump in my throat stopped me from being able to reply. We began walking towards the Three Broomsticks and the silence was beginning to become painful. I cleared my throat and tried to make conversation. "So, uh - how are you finding Defense Against the Dark Arts?" I questioned, hoping it would be a good way to start a conversation. "Are you getting the hang of things now?"

He opened the door open to the pub and followed me in. "It's a lot more understandable now you have explained it all to me," he admitted as we walked over to the bar. "Two Butterbeers, please." The woman behind the bar, who I remembered was called Madam Rosmerta from when I was in here with the twins, nodded her head and began preparing the drink.

She put both the drinks on the bar and smiled at Draco. "That's four sickles, please," she told him and he handed her the exact change before picking up both drinks and guiding me over to a table by the window.

As I sat down, I took off my gloves and I started to rummage in my pockets for my money. I held out two sickles for Draco to take but he shook his head. "No, it's fine," he said, gently pushing my hand away. Feeling his hand touch mine was a strange feeling but one I couldn't get enough off.

I shook off the strange feeling in my stomach and I pushed my hand back, wanting him to take the money. "I haven't had a chance to properly thank you for helping me with getting back on top of my grades, so this is my way of doing so," he dismissed me, pushing back my hand a second time.

I let out a sigh of defeat and shook my head. "Well," I spoke up so quietly, that even I had to strain my ears to hear it. "Next time, I'll be getting the Butterbeers," I told him before taking a sip from my drink.

The corner of his lips curled slightly. "Next time?" He repeated with a playful light dancing in his eyes. He took a sip of his Butterbeer and raised his brows at me.

I struggled to get my words out, just opening and closing my mouth before clearing my throat again and mentally giving my head a wobble. "I mean, that's if you want," I suggested, in a very small voice that didn't sound too confident. "You don't have to."

A laugh left his lips before putting his drink down and shaking his head at me. "Of course I would," he reassured me and I let out a breath I didn't even know I was holding. My stomach eased and I smiled at him. "Same time next weekend sounds good to me," he suggested, to which I just nodded my head, my smile still plastered on my face.

After that, the conversations between Draco and I flowed quite naturally. I quickly took a liking to his laugh and his smile, trying to be funny as much as possible to hear his laugh again. I didn't know at the time, but he loved me making him laugh and smile - he didn't get that a lot without finding his own entertainment which tended to be picking on other people.

It was that day that I had decided I wanted to change Draco Malfoy for the better. He was such a sweet and charming person on the inside, deep down, but he refused to let people see that side of him. He refused to let everyone but me see it.

He had built up very high and thick walls to that person he was. As high and as thick the walls were, I was going to do anything in my power to knock them down. Neither of us knew it but I had already started to get through to that side of him.

The sound of his laughter sung in my ears and he shook his head at my comment about Blaise being a better Quidditch player than him. "Blaise might be on the Slytherin team but he is the worst chaser I have ever seen," he replied, shaking his head. My stomach lurked, slightly. Blaise was meant to be his friend and he was talking bad about him behind his back.

Draco finished his Butterbeer, letting out a sharp exhale as he put the glass down on the table. "Come to think of it," Draco started but my mind dreaded what he could possibly tell me, thinking he was about to drag his friend through the dirt, again. "He's actually improved a lot since last year."

I had felt a little bit better that he praised him, afterwards, but part of me believed he'd noticed my facial expression change or something. However, I was wrong. I hadn't even changed facial expression, my smile never left.

"Oh, would you look at this?" I heard a girls voice sound, the tone sounding very taunting and not very friendly. I turned my head to see Pansy Parkinson walking over to us. I dreaded the conversation to come and I slowly felt my smile leave my face. "Is this a little date?"

"No," Draco rushed out, shaking his head. "She did me a favour, so I repaid her by buying her a Butterbeer," he added on, clearly not liking Pansy's presence. "Now, please do us a favour and leave us alone."

Pansy laughed out loud, sitting next to Draco. I could see a flirtatious look in her eyes and I quickly downed the rest of my Butterbeer before picking up my things. "Where are you going?" Draco asked me, making me stop in my tracks.

I looked at Pansy who raised her brows at me, waiting for an answer. I moved my eyes back over to Draco and took a breath in. "I told Ron and Hermione I would meet them so we could go see the Shrieking Shack together," I spoke, confidently before turning around again.

I heard Pansy snort behind me. "Blood-traitor," she mumbled under her breath. It took every ounce of me not to turn back around and knock Pansy's jaw out of place but my moral compass got the better of me.

I exited the pub, trying to make it seem as though I hadn't given either of them a second thought. It hadn't been long before I found Ron and Hermione. When they asked me where I had been, I gave them a quick, poor excuse. Neither of them had questioned it, though.

From there, we began to make our way to the Shrieking Shack but all I could think about was how much I was enjoying my time with Draco before Pansy arrived. Maybe Malfoy wasn't as bad as I thought. Perhaps he was just a damaged boy who tried so hard to fit in that he became the person he was pretending to be?

That was the day the story between Draco and I begins. Neither of us knew it but we both placed ourselves into one another's heart without even realising.