Blaire Zabini || Draco Malfoy

45 - The Best Gift Of All

Draco could hardly believe what was going on.

Blaire, his best friend, had been lost to him to Longbottom - of all people!

Okay, so he had deliberately been pushing her away, and of course he wanted her to be happy. He wanted nothing more.

But Longbottom?!

And from what he had been overhearing, she was also getting very cosy with Granger during those pathetic Slug Club meetings. A Mudblood!

Next thing she'll be off announcing her engagement to Potter and declaring herself pregnant with Weasley's kid.

Who would have predicted his best friend would become such a Gryffindor lover?

And here he was stuck trying to fix this stupid cabinet until all hours. It was lucky he had his own room as it made his absences a lot more inconspicuous. But it also meant he got little to no sleep and he thought the tiredness was surely going to kill him.

What he would have done to just have one night when he could forget any of this shit. One night when he could be with Blaire again, maybe even play games like they used to, and then to lie down with his body pressed against hers as he closed his eyes and slept... beautiful blissful sleep.

But he couldn't. He had to keep her away as much as possible, no matter how much it pained him.

So he kept his head down and just got on with it.

Except, she never made it easy.

*****

On Christmas morning I picked up the gift I had carefully chosen and wrapped, and walked over to the boys dormitories.

I knocked, even though I knew he wouldn't answer. And when I was proven correct, I left the gift down by his door and walked away.

It was a lonely Christmas. Just like the year before, Draco and I were pretty much the only ones who stayed on at Hogwarts; even Harry pissing Potter had somewhere better to be than here.

I could have gone home and spent Christmas with Bernard, but when he owled me about it, he kept stressing the fact that it was going to be a very busy Christmas for Smith's Cauldrons. I could take a hint, so I opted to stay.

When I went down to see Hermione and Neville off, I couldn't help but notice that Draco wasn't amongst the leavers and a glimmer of hope flickered inside of me.

Because I didn't believe he'd just stopped caring. He had obviously been asked to do something and was making sure I wouldn't find out, probably in some 'noble' way of trying to protect me or something.

And I understood it, to a degree. And I also hadn't forgotten Narcissa's warning to stay away for his own safety as well as mine. But the fact that whatever he was doing was clearly killing him anyway, I just couldn't stand back anymore.

However, Draco and I being the only ones left in Slytherin just highlighted the lengths he was taking to avoid me.

He was never anywhere to be seen; not at meal times, not in the common room, not even in the library. And when I did see him, he would hurry on by as if in a rush, acting as though I wasn't even there.

So, when I woke up on Christmas morning, I was determined to confront him. There was no way I was sitting through an excruciating Christmas lunch pulling crackers with Trelawney and making polite chit chat with Snape by myself.

Getting comfortable on the common room sofa, I pulled out my magazine, and waited.

He emerged late morning; scowl set on his face as he made to walk determinedly past me as though I was merely part of the furniture and not a human being he'd been fucking only four months previously.