Stay || Draco Malfoy

five

Every day this week, I go down to the Great Lake as soon as the sun comes up and Draco always comes half an hour later. We now have an unspoken arrangement to meet and skate together. At first, I was reluctant to let him join me, but now it's kind of nice having company if I'm being honest. He does not bring up the kiss, so I pretend it never happened. When we go back to the castle for breakfast, he always enters first and I go after so no one sees us together. No one knows about our early morning meetings.

Today though, when we go back for breakfast, we both stop at the steps leading up to the school. Like usual, Draco walks up the steps himself but stops when he gets to the third. He turns and looks at me expectantly.

"Are you coming to breakfast?" He asks as if we always go in together.

"W – what?"

"Breakfast," He repeats slowly. "You have to eat, Delilah."

Hearing my name come out of his mouth comes as a great shock to me. I don't think I have ever heard him say my name before.

He is still watching me, so I go up the steps with him and we walk in silence to the Great Hall. Instantly after we enter, the cheerful chattering stops and the whispers begin. People don't even try to be subtle about their staring.

I walk over to the Gryffindor table where Hermione, Ron and Harry are sitting and strike up a conversation, ignoring everyone else.

~

By the end of the day, everyone is talking about how Draco and I are dating. People are suddenly stopping me in the halls just to say hello, or to ask if I'm pregnant (which I'm not). I brush them off every single time and tell them that we are not together, but do they listen? No. Everyone at Hogwarts believes what they want to believe, even if it may not be true.

"I've never known a Gryffindor to date a Slytherin," a girl says loudly as she passing. I pick up my books and go into the girls' dormitories so I can do my homework in peace.

~

On Monday morning, when I stumble towards the window as soon as I wake up, I see that the Great Lake has melted completely. I rub my eyes and pray that it's just the morning fog playing tricks on me, but the image before me doesn't change. The sun is shining bright rays over the lake as it comes up from over the horizon and I see that all the ice has melted.

The moment that I have been treading had finally come. Spring has finally come and everything that hints that winter is still here has disappeared overnight. There are even a few pink flowers growing over the usually frosty grass.

I want to yank those flowers right out of the ground. I want to step all over them so that they die.

Even though I cannot skate anymore, I want to go out anyway. I think of Draco and the kiss we shared one morning as the sun was coming up. Then it hits me.

Could the rumours be true? Are we dating? We meet every morning and talk about things I usually don't talk about with anyone else. What does it mean?

I look out the window once more and put on my cloak. If I go down and wait, no one will know. He could come, but maybe he won't. It's stupid, but I cling on to the small possibility that maybe he enjoys our meetings as much as I do. No, the word 'meetings' sounds much too formal. Our dates. Friendly dates, of course. There's nothing that suggests we're anything more than friends, other than that kiss.

Why am I obsessing over him? He's a Slytherin and I'm a Gryffindor. We are apart of two very different houses. We could never be anything more than friends, and being friends is already a traitorous act itself.