Potter's Shadow (Draco Malfoy)

Chapter 32

"Harry!"

He ignored me as he carried on down towards the Quidditch pitch for the final task.

"Harry!" I yelled, my voice cracking slightly in anger, "Harry James Potter!"

Harry finally turned and his eyes lingered on me for a minute at most before he scrunched his nose and shook his head. He turned around and merged into his friends, which was circled by the Ginny and the Weasley twins. Ginny was the only one who stopped before waving her hand for me to join her but knowing I wouldn't be unwelcome I shook my head. It seems Uncle Remus wasn't right about this. I'd been sending him owls regularly with updates, which always returned with a bar of chocolate and the note 'Smile! Chocolate solves everything!' 

I watched everyone continue shuffling down as I looked down at the ground, smiling as I noticed the charm bracelet on wrist. My right hand moved to fiddle with the singular charm on the bracelet, the Draco constellation embedded with emeralds, which I had been promised weren't faux. Draco hadn't been nothing short of perfect since April, it was now late June. He'd invited me into his friendship group and stood up for me against the Slytherins. I spent most of my time surrounded by Slytherins apart from meal times, which Ginny sat with me at. Sometimes I skipped meals so Ginny could sit with her family and ate by myself in the kitchens. Ginny was always willing to talk in our dorm room but the rest of the girls weren't as nice. Draco always seemed to find me when I disappeared upset like he had a tracking device on me. Draco was the one who had bought me the charm bracelet for my birthday, which shouldn't be surprising considering I basically had his name attached to me at all times. The possessiveness.

Twiddling the charm in between my fingers had turned into a calming mechanism. Although it didn't stop me from jumping as an arm fell over my shoulder. I looked to my side and smiled at Blaise, who pulled me into a side hug, "It's his loss. Now let's get you to Draco because I'm not dealing with you if you start crying again."

I couldn't help the small chuckle at the memory of Blaise the first time I had started crying. Blaise was the worst to deal with a crying female. We'd been hanging out waiting for Draco in the courtyard on my birthday, when Harry had turned up looked straight at me and ignored me without so much as a happy birthday. I'd been very good at hiding my emotions at that point but I snapped. Draco tells it back the best as he stumbled across me sobbing into Blaise's robes while Blaise stood stiff as a plank of wood, eyes bugged and gently patting my head as if I was an animal. 

Blaise was serious about avoiding another Rose crying episode because he rushed me down to the arena before one would start and he'd be dealing with me solo. We had barely stopped at the bottom of the stands before Blaise made us move again. For someone who wasn't a seeker, Blaise had very keen eyes but it might just be Draco's platinum blond hair stood out life a flashlight in the dark. The stands weren't too high so it didn't take long till we were weaving our way down the row towards Draco, who was with Crabbe, Goyle, Theodore and Pansy, who was talking to Daphne Greengrass. 

"Draco!" Blaise called to him since he was facing the other direction. Blaise pulled me round in front of him and pushed me a little, "Take your girlfriend before she starts crying again." 

Draco happily opened his arms allowing me to make the last step and wrap my own arms round his waist and cuddle into his chest. It reminded me of the way Harry used to hug me and I guess that familiarity was comforting. The hug was different too, in the way that my body was aware of every inch of Draco pressed against me and the warmth as he pressed a kiss into my hair. 

"What happened, sweetheart?" Draco asked trying, ineffectively, to tilt my head out of his chest so he could look at me. I really didn't want to talk about it again with Draco because as an only child he didn't seem to understand the struggle I felt being ignored by my big brother, especially considering he didn't like my big brother. I just shook my head, which allowed me to nuzzle closer to his chest as I inhaled the smell of his stupidly expensive cologne that he always wears.