dislike ↠ draco malfoy

seventeen

I slid into my seat on the Hogwarts Express. It was officially the start of the holiday break, and I was going home to see my dad. Pansy Parkinson and Daphne Greengrass were sitting across from me. Daphne was running a brush through her long blonde hair and Pansy was staring absentmindedly out the window.

The compartment door slid open. I looked up and smiled. It was Draco. "Hey, guys," he muttered and sat down beside me, closing the door shut behind him.

The train began to rumble and it started to move forward. Looking out the window, I could see that snow had begun to fall around us. I adored the holidays. They were my favorite time of year. Snow and delicious food and warm nights cuddled up next to the fire.

"So, Draco," Pansy said, ripping her eyes away from the window to look at him, "I heard what happened at Slughorn's Christmas Party."

"What?" he sputtered.

She rolled her eyes. "You were trying to crash the party."

"Right," he muttered nonchalant. "Yeah, just having fun, you know."

"Well, good," she spat, "Slug Club is honestly the stupidest thing I've ever heard of—" She looked at me. "—no offense."

From the look on her face, it seemed like she really did mean offense, but I ignored her.

I heard the whirring of wheels as the trolley lady approached us. "Anything from the trolley, dears?" she asked in her usual sweet voice.

"Licorice wand, please, and a Chocolate Frog," I said and handed her my money. She gave me the sweets and I sat back down.

Pansy and Daphne got sweets, but I noticed that Draco didn't get anything. He simply sat there, looking very lost in his own thoughts.

I peeled the packaging off my Chocolate Frog and it leaped forward and landed on Pansy's knee.

She shrieked, "Get it off me!"

I fought back the urge to laugh and reached down and grabbed it. "Sorry," I mumbled. "My bad."

I looked down at the card that came with the Chocolate Frog. One it, there was a man with a long, silver beard and spectacles. It was the smiling face of Albus Dumbledore. Guilt suddenly struck my heart. Draco was supposed to kill Dumbledore... I grimaced and tucked the card away in my bag.

* * *

When the train reached King's Cross Station, I stood up and reached for my trunk, but it had shifted during the train ride and I couldn't reach it. I jumped up and down on my toes, but my hand merely grazed over it.

"Need some help?" Draco asked.

"Yes, please," I replied.

He was more than half a foot taller than me, so he got my trunk out with ease. He handed it to me.

"Thanks," I muttered.

He gave me a small smile. "No problem."

"See you next year," I said playfully.

He furrowed his eyebrows. "What?"

"Get it, because when were coming back, it'll be a new year," I explained.

"Oh," he said and laughed. "Yeah, I guess I'll see roy next year."

I smiled at him and set off. I got off the train and scanned the platform for my dad, and when I saw his face smiling up at me, I bounded toward him.

I flung my arms out and embraced him, dropping my trunk on the floor. "I've missed you so much," I breathed into his chest.

"I've missed you too, pumpkin," he said with a smile as he released me. "The house felt so empty without you."

"Hello, Richard," a drawling voice said from behind us.

I whipped around, and I was staring at a man who had long, pale blonde hair and grey eyes. Beside him, was a woman with blonde and black hair. I recognized them immediately from the beginning of the year. These were Draco's parents. I looked over and saw Draco was standing by his mother, looking uncomfortable.

"Lucius," my father said. "I haven't seen you since seventh year."

"You two know each other?" I asked in a small voice.

"We went to school together," my father answered.

I looked between them. I had no idea that my dad and Lucius Malfoy has been at Hogwarts at the same time. There was clearly tension between them, I could see it in their faces.

"I heard your daughter was sorted into Slytherin," snarled Lucius. "You were probably so disappointed."

My dad put a protective hand on my shoulder and pulled me closer to him. "I'm proud of her. I don't care that she's in Slytherin."

I smiled. I had been afraid that my dad was going to hate me for being in Slytherin.

"I heard about you wife," Lucius drawled. "That was rather... unfortunate."

"Don't you dare talk about my wife!" My dad snapped.

"That filthy Mudblood got what was coming to her," he spat.

Anger boiled up inside me. Draco had said that his father was a horrible person. My dad tried to lunge at Lucius, but I grabbed his arm and yanked him backward. "Not now, Dad, please..."

Lucius chuckled darkly. "You need your daughter to control you, Richard?"

"Father," Draco said in a hoarse voice, "let's just go. Please."

I stared at him, and he looked back at me sadly.

Draco's mother gripped Lucius's arm. "Let's not make a scene here, dear," she hissed.

He took one last look at my dad before grabbing his wife and son and leading them away.

"I don't care that you're in Slytherin, Eva," my dad said. "But please don't go hanging around with people like that."

"I won't," I lied.