Muffliato (Draco Malfoy)

7 - HOGSMEADE

Alora Lin

It was now November. The chill breeze caused a rustle among the orangey yellow leaves dangling from the trees beside the Ravenclaw tower.

We were getting ready to head out for another Hogsmeade trip this weekend, and luckily, I would be able to make this one since I hadn't scored myself a detention.

Anthony and I spent the morning finishing up an essay for History of Magic. We didn't want the assignment looming over us for the rest of the weekend, so we thought it best to get it out of the way so that we could thoroughly enjoy our time at Hogsmeade stress-free.

Cho, Padma, and Marietta had set out for Hogsmeade already; we agreed to meet them at the Three Broomsticks later on that afternoon. 

Anthony and I were now ambling down the path that lead from the castle to Hogsmeade.

"I'm glad you didn't get yourself another detention," Anthony smiled, looking at me as we walked side by side. "The first Hogsmeade trip of this term composed of me trailing behind Cho, Padma, and Marietta as they gawked over Cedric Diggory."

"I wish I could've been there to see that," I laughed. "I would've much rather preferred spending an afternoon with you than spend another afternoon trapped in detention with Malfoy."

"That bad is he?" Anthony raised his eyebrows.

"A nightmare," I exclaimed, trying to suppress the heat that was rising to my cheeks at the mention of his name.

I don't know what's gotten into me since that day Draco saved me from falling down the stairs. 

For the past few weeks, every time he walked by me in the corridors or entered a crowded classroom, I would always be able to spot him immediately. It's almost as if my brain had a built-in alarm that would go off whenever it detected his platinum blonde hair in sight. 

Oftentimes, I would catch myself staring at him–watching the way his hair bounced as he walked, the smile that would spread across his face when he witnessed a first year getting bullied–

"Alora! You there?" Anthony broke me out of my daydream.

"Huh? Oh yeah, sorry about that," I chuckled, nervously tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. "What were you saying?"

"We're here," he chuckled, pointing at the building beside him.

My daydreaming had led me to saunter mindlessly; I hadn't even noticed that Anthony had stopped walking and I was now a few feet in front of him.

"Right, the Three Broomsticks," I forced a laugh before entering the pub as he held the door open for me.

Upon entering, obnoxious sniggers echoed from a nearby corner of the room. Anthony and I glanced over to see none other than Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle snickering with butterbeers clutched in their hands.

"Of course," I rolled my eyes, lightly shaking my head.

But before I could look away, Draco's head turned towards the entrance of the bar, and his gaze landed on me. Those familiar butterflies rose in my stomach as I stared into his bright blue eyes.

As much as I wanted to look away, I couldn't.

It wasn't until Anthony tapped me on the shoulder and pointed us in the direction of Cho, Padma, and Marietta's table that I broke eye contact with Draco.

But as Anthony was pulling me away from the front door, I couldn't help but gaze back at Draco to see that his eyes were still on me. For a second, a naive part of me thought that he would break out into a grin and wave. But the realistic part of me knew better and was thus not surprised when his expression hardened, and he turned away.

I wasn't at all surprised at his behavior, so why did I suddenly feel so... disappointed?

"Finally! It's about time you two joined us," Padma beamed, scooting over to make space for Anthony and I.

"Sorry, Alora here kept daydreaming and walking at the pace of a slug," Anthony teased before glancing at me and playfully nudging me in the shoulders.

"Oh hush," I laughed, lightly punching him on the arm before walking over to the bar to order two jugs of butterbeer for Anthony and I.

As I sat back down between Padma and Anthony with two butterbeers in hand, I heard the bell swinging over the front door ring as someone entered. I didn't think to turn around to see who walked in until Cho groaned, "Look who just walked in."

Marietta looked in the direction that Cho was pointing in before muttering in disgust, "Panty liner." 

"Who?" Anthony questioned. His eyebrows furrowed as he spun around in his chair.

Pansy had just walked into the bar with her Slytherin friends close behind. Her eyes scanned the room. The moment they landed on their desired target, a flirtatious smirk spread across her face and she began to strut.

"Hey Draco," she spoke at about an octave higher than she normally does.

He looked her up and down with a grimace plastered on his face before rolling his eyes and returning to his conversation with Crabbe and Goyle.

Pansy forced out a giggle before placing her hands on the table and placing herself on Draco's lap. "Oh Draco, I love it when you play hard to get."

"What do you think you're doing?" he spat.

"Well there's not much room at this table to fit all of us! Why not save some space and share a seat," she smiled, placing a hand behind his head and gently stroking the back of his neck with her thumb.

"Ugh, get off me," Draco demanded, pushing her off without warning.

Crabbe and Goyle sniggered at Draco's actions, while Pansy's friends awkwardly shuffled their feet. Not wanting to admit defeat, Pansy swept some hair behind her shoulder before continuing, "Fine, be that way. With some more alcohol in your system tonight, maybe you'll change your mind. See you at the party, boys."

With that, she began making her way back to the front door as her friends scrambled to keep up.

"So, party at the Slytherin common room tonight?" Cho smirked, looking at all of us excitedly.

"Absolutely not," I stated. "I've already gotten way too many detentions this year, and it's only November. I can't afford any more."

"Aw come on, Alora. Loosen up!" Anthony exclaimed, swinging an arm around me. "If we get caught, then everyone gets caught. And they can't give detentions to everyone."

I looked around at the table; Anthony's eyes were wide with anticipation while Padma was giving me puppy dog eyes.

"Ugh, fine," I gave in.

My friends cheered as they clinked butterbeers and began discussing what kind of outfits they would wear as well as how we would sneak down to the dungeons.

With Anthony's arm still around me and everyone else deep in conversation, I couldn't help but glance over my shoulder at the table that had been the center of our attention only minutes before.

To my surprise, Draco's eyes were already on me.

A jug of butterbeer was clenched tight in his fist as he stared at me blankly. I felt my insides burn as he gazed deep into my soul; I couldn't tell if it made me feel frightened or invigorated.

I was almost scared to blink, as if that would break our eye contact and cause the fluttering of my heart to finally cease. But once I did, his eyes had already darted elsewhere: down to Anthony's hand, which held a tight grip on my waist.

-

a/n: apologies for such a boring chapter! it's mainly meant to be a filler cause the next one is gonna be ~spicy~ also if anyone has any constructive feedback to help me improve my writing, please don't hesitate to leave it in the comments!