Choose Me Instead II Draco Malfoy x Reader

Halloween

"Maybe, and I mean just maybe – please don't be insulted by it – it is you, Hermione," you managed to get out between laughter. "Potions aren't your strong suit."

The brown-haired girl shook her head. "No, no, no! It's not my fault that he is utterly incompetent when it comes to teaching. There's a reason why that man has the word 'slug' in his name!"

The girls around her started laughing again. Hermione had been ranting about their potions teacher and his (in her opinion) unfair grading system for the past ten minutes, gesticulating wildly.

"Hard to believe you fought against You-Kn-, you fought against Voldemort but can't get along with Slughorn this year," you snorted.

Hermione wagged her finger at you. "See, this is the point: Voldemort was almost predictable compared to him!" She threw her hands in the air. "He just does as he pleases, trying to ruin my future career!"

Before she could continue her rant about you, Ginny nudged you with her elbow. "The ferret is staring at you," she nodded in the direction of the door. "Look."

You followed her gaze and saw a group of people standing in a small circle. All Slytherins and to your surprise, some even wore costumes. Among them was Malfoy – and you felt a small sting of disappointment when you noticed, Malfoy wasn't paying attention to you. Instead he stared at Zabini like that guy had just personally insulted his mother. Frowning and confused, you wanted to turn to your friends again when suddenly the little Greengrass reached for Malfoys arm. For a split second you could have sworn that you saw him flinch.

Huh.

"He's not staring at me," you finally said to Ginny, trying to sound unbothered.

"Well, he was! Just until now!" She took another sip of her drink.

You shook your head. "I don't think so."

"Yeah right," suddenly a grin appeared on Ginnys face. "Just a coincidence. The same way it's also a coincidence that he always sits right behind you in class and the two you keep staring at each other the whole freaking day."

"We do not!", you protested. "You're talking nonsense."

"Come on, Y/N, it's painfully obvious!"

Were you really looking at him that often?

"Malfoy?", Hermione chimed in with a frown on her face. "Really? Don't you think that's a little beneath you, Y/N?"

You stared at her, suddenly at a loss for words.

Beneath you.

"My drink is empty," you cleared your throat, thinking of how to get out of here. "I'll be right back." Before anyone could say any more, you disappeared in the crowd.

The Room of Requirements was filled with people. Almost everyone had come to the Halloween party – an idea that originated somewhere in Hufflepuff – wearing the funniest costumes. You had looked forward to this night. It was your favorite season of the year; the beautiful colors surrounding Hogwarts, the crisp air in the mornings, rainy days spent in the library, and of course – Halloween. Despite it being a muggle tradition, you still liked to celebrate it and so you were excited when you heard about the party. The amount of students that appeared in the end made you worried that the teachers or Filch would break this up sooner or later. But two hours in and nothing had happened so far.

The table with the drinks was awfully close to the group of the Slytherins. Malfoy and Greengrass had stepped aside and you awkwardly brushed past them, keeping your head down. They didn't seem to notice.