Monsters

thirty one

"What? How- do you think he's going to tell anyone?" Theo asks as he looks towards me with a worried look.

"Probably his friends, maybe the Weasley's.. I don't really know who else he speaks to." I say.

"It doesn't matter." Malfoy says. "They'll be scared of you when they know so no one will bother you." Blaise laughs and nods his head in agreement but I shrug my shoulders.

"Not sure if that's something I want but I guess it's better than people bothering me about it."

"You'll get used to it." Blaise admits. "It's weird at first but you get used to it."

"My own brother doesn't believe me so I don't expect anyone else to."

"Potter is a piece of shit." Draco says with a smirk. "He doesn't deserve you."

"I've been telling her that but you know how it is with family." Theo says.

"Yeah I think we all can relate to shitty family." Draco says as I sit on his lap on the couch.

It seems as though everything is going wrong at the moment but I think it's only going to get worse later. I'm just thankful that I have these guys to be there with me. I've always had Theo but now I have Malfoy and Blaise. Even Pansy is here right now but I'm not sure why. She hasn't said a word since we got in here but she's been watching us. I look over to her and wait for her to say or do anything. She just looks down at the ground.

"Thank you." I say suddenly. The boys all look at me to see who I'm talking to and their eyes gaze onto Pansy.

"Don't mention it..." she says and nods at me.

"So you guys are good now?" Blaise asks, looking from me to Pansy.

"No." Pansy says sharply and I shrug my shoulders.

"Just the right place at the right time." I say.

"But she's still here." Theo points out and laughs a little.

I shrug my shoulders again hoping that Pansy would jump in but she didn't. Instead, she just muttered something under her breathe and walked out of the room.

"That was weird." Blaise says and everyone agrees.

—

Draco suggested that I don't go to class but I have to. Acting as if nothing happened is the best idea but avoiding everything and everyone will just bring us more attention. Blaise and Theo tried to help me explain that to him but he just kept saying "if potter told anyone... they might not like you." In the end, I won by saying I was just going to do what I want anyway. He huffed but gave in. He's in 3/4 of my classes anyway so what's his problem?

I take his hand as we go to leave the room of requirements because the anxiety kicks in. The only good thing that has come out of this is we don't have to hide our relationship anymore. He squeezes my hand gently as we leave the room, followed closely behind by Theo and Blaise. Pansy saw us walking down the hall and she smiled weakly at us. I smiled back but part of me is wondering why she's changed her opinion all of a sudden? Why she's acting... civil?

The class was already nearly full of students and Professor Snape was standing at the front of the room writing something on the board. I sit down in my usual spot and Draco sits beside me. Theo sits at the table beside us with Blaise. I look around nervously to see Harry and Hermione sitting at a table not to far away from ours and Ron sitting with another gryffinfor kid on the other side of us. I feel cornered.

"Try to focus on the class and not what they're doing." Draco nudges me to pull my attention back from the Gryffinfor's.

"I feel cornered. Look how they're sitting." I say.

"I already saw that when we walked in." He says as a smirk grows on his face. "You're fine. He wouldn't be stupid enough to cause a scene in class. Especially not Snape's class."

"Right..." I say. I'm not sure if he's right but I'll just go with it because you'd have to be crazy to do something like that in Snape's class. He's not very pleasant.

Professor Snape starts teaching his lesson on whatever potion we're making today but I'm barely paying attention. My mind keeps drifting off into memories.

"Hi Hermione." I call out to my brothers best friend in our second year of school.

"Um.. hi Maya." she says to me.

"What are you doing today? I was thinking maybe we could hang out since you're my brother's best friend."

"No offense Maya but I don't think we should be friends." Hermione says.

"...why?" I ask.

"Well you and Harry aren't that close and it might be weird for him." She says as she looks around the hallway to see if anyone's looking. "Plus you're a Slytherin."

Those words stung. She said them in such a tone that it sounded like an insult when it shouldn't be. I was only 12 years old and I was being told by everyone in my life that being Slytherin meant I'm evil or there's something wrong with me. That night I went back to the dorms and Pansy was there. She asked me what happened and when I told her she got really angry.

"Pansy it's okay... maybe she's right. Maybe I don't deserve friends because i'm S-"

"Don't you finish that sentence, Potter." She shouts. "You aren't evil. Holy shit you're the nicest person I know. The house you're sorted into doesn't make you a bad person. Not all Slytherin's are bad."

"But then how come my brother won't talk to me and his friends hate me...?"

"Listen, you don't want to be friends with them anyway. They only look out for themselves." Pansy says.

The next day I remember hearing rumors that Hermione woke up with warts all over her face and had to spend the whole day in the hospital wing.

"Potter, am I boring you?" I hear Snape call out and it snaps me from my memory. I look up at him and then to Draco.

"No. Sorry sir. Just tired." I explain.

"Ah. Well how about you try sleeping tonight so you can pay attention in class tomorrow."

I nod and to my surprise, he walks away and continues the lesson instead of giving me detention.

"You okay?" Draco whispers.

I nod and he takes my hand under the desk.

The rest of my classes I managed to pay attention but by dinner time I was exhausted. We barely slept last night but Draco's used to not sleeping since he spends most of the nights working on the cabinet. At dinner I was basically falling asleep on my plate. Theo had to hold me up at one point.

"I'll take her to bed and then I have to go to the room." I faintly hear Draco say as he lifts me up off the bench and helps me stand beside him.

"No. I want to come with you." I whine.

"You can come tomorrow night but you need to sleep." He whispers in my ear.

"Fine." I mumble. I know I need to sleep but I just want to be with him.

He walks me back to the Slytherin common room and then to my dorm. He knocks first, probably incase Pansy is there, before opening the door. The room was dark and empty. Pansy was probably still at dinner.

Draco sets me into bed and picks up my pajamas that I set on the chair beside my bed and hands them to me.

"I'll see you tomorrow at breakfast." He whispers as he kisses my forehead.

"Okay." I whisper and watch him walk out the door. I quickly change into my pajamas and no sooner did I lay my head on the pillow was I passed out.