Persuasive

seventeen

Christmas morning

"I'm not going in there." Draco mumbled to me as we stood outside of the Gryffindor common room.

Yesterday, I finally convinced Draco to come with me to the Gryffindor common room for Christmas after Harry recommended us to come.
The only reason Draco said yes is because I promised him i'd buy him anything he wanted after.

Harry glanced at where we were standing and came over to us.
"Hello Avalon." he beamed as he ignored Draco. "Come on in."

Draco rolled his eyes at Harry and scoffed.
"So you're not going to invite me in?"

Harry quickly shot his head towards Draco and crossed his arms.
"I'm gonna try my best to be nice to you but I don't know if it will last."

Draco scoffed and before they could start growling at each other I yanked Draco's arm and pulled him inside of the common room.

As soon as we stepped inside, I took a good glance around the whole room. The room was vivid and blissful, filled with decorations everywhere and a warm fireplace by the couches.

Even though i'm a Slytherin, stepping inside of the Gryffindor common room made me feel warm and welcome.
Even Draco knew it, but he didn't dare to admit it.

We trudged our way inside as Harry followed behind us, everyone's eyes glued onto us.
Two Slytherins, the Malfoys, stepping inside the Gryffindor common room.

Everyone stopped and stared, waiting for our next move. We all stood in silence as Draco and I glared back at everyone in the room.

"What are you all staring at?" Draco snapped as he fumed with anger.

"Stop." I hissed as I nudged him with my elbow.

I tried smiling at everyone but they all just looked puzzled to see us. Seeing us in here was probably the last thing they'd ever expect.
I roamed my eyes around the room to see Ron's whole family, and a few other Gryffindors chattering.

"Well come on guys, don't be awkward." Harry muttered sheepishly.

"More guests for Christmas! Woohoo!" Fred Weasley exclaimed as he put on his Santa hat and trudged over to Draco and I.

"I hope you got us presents." George smirked as he nudged my shoulder.

Shit.

"Of... course we did!" I lied, trying to come up with something.

"You don't have to lie, we know you didn't get us anything." Fred snickered.

I chuckled and glared over to Draco, who looked like he already wanted to leave.

"Loosen up." I whispered to him.

Everyone started chattering again and my body started to ease up.
Maybe hanging out with Gryffindors wasn't so bad after all.

Draco seemed to think otherwise.
"Can we leave already?" he murmured, his face looking unpleasant.

"Fine, leave then. But i'm staying." I responded.

He looked at me one last time before he hurried out the door.
I watched him walk away, thinking if I should chase after him.
But then I remembered I came here to have fun.

So I tried dancing along with all of the Gryffindors, as they put on their Christmas music. I saw Ron dancing freely with his brothers, smiling cheerfully at his parents.
I glared over at Neville, who I haven't talked to since first year, as he was singing with Luna.

All of a sudden, I slightly jumped to the sound of Blaise's voice come up behind me.
I turned around, and to my surprise I saw Blaise grinning at me, wearing an ugly Christmas sweater.
"Missed me?"

I gasped and let out a little chuckle.
"How did you get in here?"

"Draco stormed away from here and I sneaked in while he was walking out." he replied, as he wrapped his arms around my waist.

"Nice sweater." I scoffed.

"Wore it just for you."

I kept thinking about our kiss last night, and how magical it felt.
But something about it was off, something about him was off.

I wanted my first kiss to be with someone I truly liked, and Blaise wasn't someone I truly liked.

He noticed me blank off into space and waved his hands in front of my face.
I snapped back into reality and chuckled at myself.
"I'm sorry, I was just thinking."

"You didn't get to hear me saying how pretty you are." he smirked as he moved my hair out my face.

I don't know why but I pushed him away, and felt extremely uncomfortable.
"I'm sorry Blaise I cant-"

"Can't what?" he whispered as he came closer to me and grabbed my waist.

"Stop touching me." I bellowed as my eyes burned into his.

"Or what?"

My lip quivered and I could feel my breathing start to get abnormally fast.
"Or.. I'll get my brother to make you stop." I muttered.

"Go ahead. You're brother won't stop me." he scoffed. "Not when your body looks like that-"

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" I snarled as I pushed him away from me. "Leave me alone."

At this point, everyone in the room stopped and stared at us, not saying a word.
Fred and George hurried over to us and towered over Blaise.

"If she said leave her alone then scram." Fred hissed as he glared into Blaise's eyes.

"Come on Avalon... seriously? You're gonna make this a big deal?" Blaise mocked as he backed himself away from Fred and George.
"Alright fine, i'll go."

And with that, Blaise scurried out of the common room without looking back.
Everyone stood there, glancing at me making sure I was okay.

Fred and George patted me on the back and tried comforting me.
"If you need me to beat his ass for you I will." George assured as he nodded his head.

I chuckled and looked up at them.
"Thank you."

"Ugh don't thank us, we'd stand up for you any day." Fred smirked.

I hugged them both, and when we were done George handed me a letter.
"By the way, this is for you. We found it laying outside of the Gryffindor common room." George said as he handed me the letter.

That's strange. A letter.. from who?

I quickly ripped open the envelope and peered inside.
What I saw shattered my heart into a million pieces.

Merry Christmas Avalon.

-Tom Riddle