dislike ↠ draco malfoy

six

After the Quidditch game, there was a party in the Slytherin common room. Someone had stolen food from the kitchen and someone else had conjured up a flag that read, Congratulations, Slytherin!

"Care for a pumpkin pasty, Hastings?" Draco Malfoy said, holding out the sweet.

I took it from him. "Thanks, Malfoy. Congratulations on the Quidditch game, by the way. You were the only person on our team who actually did good." I bit into the pumpkin pasty, by mouth filling with sweetness.

He took a bite of his own pumpkin pasty. "Thanks, Hastings. You didn't have to insult the entire team though, that was rather unnecessary."

I crossed my arms and smiled. "It was all good fun, Malfoy. Plus, everyone seemed to enjoy it."

"You shouldn't be judging people on their Quidditch skills when you've never even been on a broomstick," he snapped.

I rolled my eyes. "I told you, I don't have a desire to play Quidditch."

He looked me up and down. "Come outside and ride with me," he declared at once.

I laughed. "Excuse me?"

"Come outside and have a go on my broomstick. We'll see if your as good as I am," he challenged.

"Deal," I said. "I bet I'll be even better than you."

"You will not be better than me, Hastings," he drawled.

"We'll see about that," I said with a grin.

He grabbed my hand, which took me by surprise. He pulled me out of the common room. As soon as we were outside, he let go of my hand.

"Isn't it past curfew?" I asked.

"Yeah, but it's fine. I'm a prefect. I'll just say that I was out doing nightly checks," he replied.

"What about me?"

"We'll say that you came with me, I guess."

"Alright," I said.

We walked outside to the Quidditch pitch and to the changing rooms. I watched Draco grab his broom and walk back over to me.

"Riding a broom is easy. You just let it guide you," he said.

"I'm scared," I said in a small voice. "What if I fall off?"

He chuckled. "You won't fall off." He looked at me. "I can ride with you, if you want, just for your first time."

I nodded. "That would make me feel a lot better."

He mounted his broom. "Get on then."

I got onto the broom behind him. He shot forward without warning. I let out a scream and wrapped my arms around his waist. "Gosh, Malfoy! Let me know before you start flying next time!"

His laugh echoed through the air. "Sorry, Hastings. Guess I got a little too excited."

My eyes lowered from the sky to the ground, which was about 75 feet away. "Woah, we're really high."

"Not afraid of heights, are you, Hastings?" Draco asked.

"Of course not!" I flushed.

The broom zoomed forward again, and I tightened my grip around his waist. My face dug into his back. My hair flew behind me. The wind hit my eyes, which made them water. Flying felt amazing. I felt like a bird.

Draco circled around a tower before descending onto the ground. We got off of the broom and he looked at me.

"Did you like it?"

"It was amazing!" I exclaimed. "I felt so... free!"

"I'm glad you liked it," he said. "Now, you have to try it by yourself."

I shook my head. "Maybe later, Malfoy. I'm tired."

He rolled his eyes. "Fine."

He set off and I followed behind him. He tucked his broom away, then turned to face me. "I'm glad you liked it, Hastings."

"Well, thank you for letting me ride on your broom," I said.

"It was nothing," he replied dully.

"Let's go back to the common room," I said.

When we got back to the common room, Pansy Parkinson was sitting on the couch, her arms crossed.

"Stop right there!" she exclaimed, as though she was a Muggle police officer.

I scowled at her. "You alright, Pansy?"

She stood up. "No, I am most certainly not alright! I saw you two leaving together!" she pointed at us accusingly, then turned to look at me. "Why are you hanging out with my boyfriend?"

Draco gave a loud sigh.

"I'm sorry," I said. "I didn't know that you two were dating. Besides, we didn't even do anything interesting."

"We're not," Draco stated.

I looked at him. "What?"

"We're not dating," he said.

Pansy looked at him, clearly hurt. "We've been on and off, Draco. But we're still together."

"We're not, though," Draco said. "Jealousy isn't pretty, Pansy."

I suppressed the urge to smile. "It really isn't."

She ignored me. "What were you two doing?"

I was about to answer, but then Draco snapped, "None of your business, Pansy." He turned around and stormed up the stairs.

She scoffed. "I can't believe you. I told you to stay away from Draco. Are you deaf or something?"

I rolled my eyes. I really couldn't believe her. "No, I'm not deaf, and I can hang out with whomever I want."

Before I could do anything else, Pansy brought up her hand and slapped me across the face. Her long, black nails almost scratched my eyes.

"Hey!" I shrieked, clutching my face. "What the hell?"

"Bitch," she sneered and then stormed up the stairs.

I stared at her back in astonishment. Had she seriously just hit me? I grabbed a blanket from the couch and pressed it on my face. I was bleeding. I would have gone to Madam Pomfrey, but it was late, and it was only a scratch.

I waited a twenty minutes before going up to the dormitories, hoping that Pansy had already fallen asleep. Luckily, she had. I settled into bed, my face still burning from the slap.