The Boy Who Had a Choice (D.M)

Part 8

I was heading up to the astronomy tower for a bit of peace and quiet, I could still feel the ghost of Draco's touch on my body from the make out session we'd had in my room earlier. I turned a corner and saw Slughorn walking in my direction. I groaned internally; the man was a great teacher, but he was quite clearly insane.

"Ahh Miss Dagon, just who I was looking for!" he waved me over.

"What can I do you for Professor Slughorn?" I smiled politely at him.

"I am hosting a sort of Christmas party this Friday in my office with a few of my top students and some other special guests and so of course you are invited. Just a little way for us all to get to know one another better. You are also more than welcome to bring a plus one if you wish, can I count on you being there?"

"Oh, er yeah sure! it sounds fun, thank you." I said faking enthusiasm, this was the weirdest thing ever.

"Brilliant!" He cheered, "it's going to be quite fancy so make sure you dress up. Well, I best be heading off, don't be up too late now Olive!" he waddled off, muttering to himself. I shook my head in disbelief and carried on with my journey up the spiral staircase.

I looked out the window, my head resting on the cool glass as I watched the rain pour down. It was my favourite weather; I found a sense of comfort at the sound of it and the atmosphere it created as I admired the way the raindrops raced down the glass. It was as though the rain could wash away all the badness that ever existed, wiping the earth clean leaving nothing but flowers, sunshine and happiness in its path. But for now, it left a sky of darkness looming out ahead and an empty feeling in my chest. Something bad was coming, I could feel it in my gut. There was a rumour going around that Draco had tried to hex some poor girl in Hogsmaede the other day, I didn't know what to believe and I didn't dare question him about it. Between worrying about him and all my classes and the quidditch team I felt so mentally and physically drained that it was an effort to even open my eyes most days.

I only made my way back downstairs when it got too cold for me to sit up there without shivering. When I walked into the common room, I spotted Draco right away, sat on the sofa reading one of my books. The sight warmed my heart, making it flutter only to send it into an icy rage as I realised that he was sat with Pansy, her feet resting on his lap. I had no right to be jealous, he had made it very clear from the start that this wasn't a relationship but it didn't stop me wanting to rip pansy's hair out and ram it down her throat, especially after the way she had spoken to me before.

My gut twisted as she laughed at something Draco said, flicking her hair over her shoulder. He looked up at the sound of the door closing, his eyes twinkled as saw me and waved me over. I sat down on the other side of him, resting my head on my knees as I pulled them up to my chest.

"Hey you, where have you been?"

"The astronomy tower" I replied quietly

"I should've guessed, you okay?" he asked noting my bleak expression. I just nodded, giving him a small smile.

"Well anyway, as I was saying Draco" Pansy butted in "I've heard that Slughorn is having a party with all of his favourite students this weekend."

"Really?" he said turning to look at her "Do you know who's going?"

"I think Potter was invited but it's probably just a bunch of other suck ups in his class too" she uttered.

"I've been invited" I offered, their heads snapped to face me "I saw Slughorn earlier in the corridor and he asked if I wanted to go so, I said yes" Pansy's eyes narrowed at me.

"Are you serious?" Draco said, his eyes bright and wide.

"Of course, I'm serious Malfoy" I scoffed "and, he said I can have a plus one, you wanna come too?" a small smile tugged on his lips, his face shining with what looked like pride or amazement, I couldn't tell.