Mine

[11]

Draco and I walked into the Great Hall together hand in hand. We got a lot of stares from people, especially Gryffindors and Slytherins in our year. As we approached the Slytherin table I saw Pansy glaring daggers at me, her arms crossed in front of her. I sent a smirk in her direction, settling down next to Draco.

"Pansy looks so angry I think her head might actually explode." Blaise said with a chuckle. The smirk on his lips didn't reach his eyes and I winced internally as I remembered Draco saying Blaise was into me. "So, are you two going to be the new 'it' couple now?"

"Oh, most definitely. Look around and try to spot a hotter couple. You won't." Draco said cheekily, slinging his arm around my shoulders. Draco's spirits were much higher than I'd seen in a long time, and it brought a smile to my face. Even if this chipper, cocky attitude was to only last for the night, I was glad to see him smiling. I did feel kind of badly though that Draco was boasting to Blaise. I knew I shouldn't, especially since it wasn't like Blaise had told me how he felt and I chose Draco over him. I wonder if he had actually told Draco or if Draco just suspected it...I shook my head, reaching for some food. None of it mattered.

* * *

Later that night I found myself making my way back into the common room after showering. I smiled to myself when I found only Blaise in the common room, seated on our usual couch near the fire.

I plopped down beside him, resting my cheek on his shoulder. "Doing alright, Blaisey?"

"Mhmm, you?" Blaise murmured, resting his cheek against the top of my head.

"I think I'm doing pretty good." I said back.

"Gemma, now that it's just you and me, I've got to ask." Blaise said, lifting his cheek and turning his body so he could look at me. "How did that come about? I mean, I'm your best friend and I feel completely blindsided so I feel like there must be some things I didn't know."

"You're Draco's best friend, too." I pointed out.

"Well, yes, I guess so. But he's not really the type to sit down and talk about his feelings with me. In fact, in all the time I've known him I haven't once heard him express having actual feelings for someone." Blaise said. "And I'm not saying that he doesn't actually have feelings for you. I mean, he's changed a lot since he dated Pansy for the hell of it. He's not that same person anymore which is why I know you must actually mean a lot to him."

I smiled a little bit, nodding my head. "You don't want to see me get hurt," I said. Blaise nodded. "Well," I sighed, "the super short version is that after that last party we had last year, Draco and I ended up kissing while he was helping me clean and then we sort of just started hooking up occasionally. And honestly, that was really it. It was absolutely meaningless, no strings attached. I mean you're close with both him and I, you didn't suspect anything was going on."

I could tell Blaise was shocked to learn his two best friends had been hooking up without him knowing for so long, but he just nodded slightly. "Right, yeah. You guys acted the same as always till like a month before Christmas break."

"I just, I was there for him." I shrugged. "I know you saw how out of it he was. So, one night I found him upset and I was just there for him. No questions asked, no badgering. I just held him and made sure he knew he wasn't alone. And that's when we became super close, seemingly overnight. And it's also when I started to have feelings for him."

"So then when did you two become official? Don't tell me you've been together for weeks and didn't tell me."

"No, no." I chuckled. "I ended up telling my mother that I had feelings for Draco and that sneaky bitch invited him and his mum over for tea one afternoon. I didn't even know they were the expected guests till I got downstairs! Anyway, Narcissa was asking me about boys and I ended up making some comments basically hinting at the fact I was sleeping with Draco and – gah, I mean my dumb ass literally told them I was fooling around with someone and Draco felt the need to throw in that the person was a Slytherin. I think the most important part, though, from that story is that Narcissa was saying how it seemed like I liked this boy and my mom mentioned how she actually knew who I liked and it sort of clicked for her and Draco at the same time that the person I was sleeping with and the person I liked were the same person.

So, long story short, Draco told me he liked me too and then he took me by surprise by kissing me in front of Ginny, Potter, Ron, and Hermione, and then kissing me again in front of my brother, although that was a genuine accident. And yeah, then we became official." I huffed out a breath looking at Blaise. "And that was the short version."

"Wow." Blaise said, his eyes telling me he was deep in thought, processing all of this.

"I know that look. What are you thinking?" I asked.

"I just never would have imagined you two being together." Blaise said. I waited for him to say more. With Blaise being the closest mutual person between Draco and I, and someone who had been closest to Draco longest out of everyone here, I knew he would have valid thoughts on the situation.

"I wish I had seen the looks on those Gryffindors faces when he kissed you." He chuckled. "I could see him doing that to get a rise out of them a couple years back, but he really isn't the kind to show any affection normally. It was really nice to see the two of you smiling together at dinner. And even though both of you are my friends, if he hurts you, I'm taking your side."

"Well thank you for that. And I will hold you to it if that happens. But a wise Gryffindor told me that if you don't take the risk because you're scared of getting hurt, you'll only hurt yourself more by not knowing what could have happened."

"She is a wise one, that Granger." Blaise murmured, looking at the fireplace. I hummed in response, curling my legs beneath me and resting my head back on Blaise's shoulder. We stayed like that for quite a while, to the point where I had begun to doze off, my head falling to Blaise's chest and his arm wrapping around me. The sound of the common room door quietly closing made my eyes flutter open and both Blaise and I turned our heads slightly to see Draco walking in.

He looked just as confused to see us as we did seeing him sneak in this late. "Draco?" I said quietly, sitting up.

"Why are you to still down here?" Draco asked, giving us a look. I think if he hadn't been so caught off guard by us seeing him come in, he probably would've been jealous. Blaise removed his arm from around me and sat up.

"We were just catching up." Blaise said.

"Where are you coming from this late?" I asked with a frown.

"I just needed a moment alone. You should get some sleep." Draco said, extending a hand out to help me off the couch. Draco pressed a kiss to my forehead, and I mumbled a quiet goodnight to him, waving to Blaise as I headed up to my dorm.

As I crawled beneath my covers, I couldn't help but wonder if I should be concerned. It was well past curfew and based off of experience, the only reason I could think of for him to be out of the Slytherin area this late at night would be to be sneaking around with me in the Room of Requirement. But maybe he just went there to ensure he'd be alone to have some peace. I had done that quite a few times myself. What I did know was that we still had a lot to learn about one another.