Shoulder to Shoulder // A Draco Malfoy Short Story

𝓕𝓮𝓫𝓻𝓾𝓪𝓻𝔂

"Okay so what now?"

Jinx's voice soothed my stormy mind as we played muggle chess. It was a game I truly adored as a child and I hadn't played it since. Jinx pulled it out just an hour earlier and convinced me to play thirty minutes ago.

"Put that there and you can take my queen," I advised sweetly. I was beginning to accept that small attraction I had towards Jinx. I was being much kinder to my friends, writing them letters more frequently and people have started to notice. I don't get as many hateful glares anymore. 

"That's too easy," Jinx giggled. The large candle in between us flickered as her breath hit it. I smiled and moved her piece for her.

"Maybe, but sometimes easy is nice," I knocked my queen off of the board with her piece and winked at Jinx. She just rolled her eyes and started picking up the pieces. "So, Valentines day is coming up. Doing anything?"

"Well," Jinx's face flushed. "Not really. If we aren't asked to do anything, my friends and I usually sit around with treats in someones dorm room."

"Oh?" I nodded, Jinx hummed in response.

"You should come." Jinx smiled before snapping her head to mine. "I mean, if you have nothing else planned. Don't feel pressured into coming,"

"Maybe. I'll let you know." I helped her put the game away.

Do I really want to go hang out with her friends on Valentine's Day? I was thinking about asking her to hang out up in the tower. I'm not quite sure yet, but I better decide fast, I only have a couple weeks.

Δ

"Hey Malfoy," Melody sat herself next to me in Charms class.

"Johnson," I gave her a small nod and turned back to the work in front of me.

"So... how's life?" 

"Real or fake answer?" I joked.

"Fake," Melody smiled and scribbled notes down on her paper hurriedly. Class was almost out.

"I'm fan-fucking-tastic." I chuckled and peeked up at the board. Melody let out a short laugh and shook her head. "You?"

"Real or fake?"

"Real," I shrugged.

"Grateful. To you," Melody smiled at my confused expression. "Jinx has always been a happy, go-lucky girl but she really has brightened up a bit since you,"

I looked down at my unmoving quill and glazed over what I was writing, my thoughts stuck on Melody's thanks. I never noticed until now, but Jinx does seem more active, brighter. Like her color isn't dimmed anymore.

Δ

Jinx was snuggled into bed and I was next to her bed, sitting in a large plush chair with a thick book in my hands. The pages were delicate but the story invigorating.

"...and when one of them meets the other half, the actual half of himself, whether he be a lover of youth or a lover of another sort, the pair are lost in an amazement of love and friendship and intimacy and one will not be out of the other's sight, as I may say, even for a moment..." I read aloud.

"Draco?" Jinx interrupted as I turned the page.

"Yes?" I looked up at her from behind the large book.

"Do you suppose we have other halves?" Jinx's fingers played with the loose thread in her quilt. I paused for a moment, my thoughts caught. I wanted to say her, but I was still unsure.