unwritten: a draco malfoy fanfiction

chapter 12

Last night doesn't even feel real to me. I'm still trying to process what happened. I roll over in bed and stare at the high ceiling in my room. Ginny is still sleeping and Hermione's bed is empty like it has been for weeks.

I feel all tingly inside, but calm at the same time. I fell asleep last night the easiest I have since I've been here. I could almost still feel Draco's arms around me. I smile at the thought of last night.

I've been trying to hold onto that memory and feeling, so I don't think about all the other stuff. Like, what happens now? Draco was practically me and my friends Hogwarts enemy for seven years. It is easy for me to move on from that because of how I feel about him. My friends haven't seen the side of Draco I see, so they will never accept him. I don't think Draco would ever accept any of them either. Despite him being fake mean to me he definitely wasn't being fake mean to the rest of them. He can be sweet to me, but I know he really does have a mean streak. I can't even make up any excuses for why I still feel the way I do when he treats the people who are basically my family like dirt.

Deep down I never hated Draco and I never stopped caring for him. He was there from the beginning, but the others don't know that and will never understand.

As much as I care about Draco, I can't betray everyone I love for him. We can't just walk around the castle holding hands, but I also can't ignore my feelings for him. I can't just push him to the side like nothing ever happened.

I let out a frustrated sigh. These are the exact thoughts I have been avoiding all night, but we both have to face them eventually. I roll out of bed and start to get ready for the day. Ginny stays asleep, thank goodness. I snuck in the room really late last night and I know she is going to have questions for me. If it were Hermione she would be following me around all day, so a part of me is thankful this is happening while she is gone.

I finish trying to fix my messy curls and sigh in frustration. I slip on my Gryffindor robes and quietly leave the room. Neville is sitting in the common room alone hunched over a book.

"Morning Liv," he says looking up at me smiling.

"Morning Neville," I say. I walk behind the couch and lean over his shoulder to see what he is reading. "What are you looking at so early?"

"Oh, I was just reading some interesting stuff I found in the library about the sorting hat." I give him a weird look.

"Really? What is there to know about it? Didn't even know there was a book on it."

"There is a book on just about anything in this school, but I was just curious on to uhm why exactly I was put in Gryffindor," he says the last part softly and looks away from me.

"Neville, why wouldn't you belong in Gyrffindor?"

"It's just sometimes I don't feel like I'm brave enough to be here, like you or Harry." I smile sadly at him.

"The sorting hat put you here with us for a reason and I don't believe it made a mistake. You have been through so much and even stood face to face with the woman who murdered your parents. I could never be brave enough to do something like that. You are stonger then most of us put together Neville and you keep all of us together." He looks up at me and smiles slightly.

"You really mean it?"

"Of course I do, you don't need to read a stupid book to validate whether you belong here or not. If anything, I'm the one who questions why I am in Gryffindor..." I say trailing off.

"Thank you Olivia. You know I actually read if you ask the hat why you were put in your house it will only tell you if it thinks you truly need the guidance."