Double Trouble || Draco Malfoy x Reader

something there that wasn't there before || chapter fifteen

As much as I hated to admit it, I no longer hated Draco Malfoy. In fact, he was really starting to grow on me.

"Here you go..." I said, heaving another book onto the pile he'd already collected. He agreed to accompany me to the library that afternoon, which landed him as my very own human book-bag.

"Don't you think you have enough?" Malfoy asked, peering over the stack of books in his arms. "I mean, this is a pretty hefty pile."

"Yeah, just give me another minute." I hummed, gliding my finger along the smooth, wooden shelves. There was nothing that entranced me more than the smell of old parchment and leather-bound books.

"You said that five minutes ago." Malfoy sighed.

"That's your problem, not mine." I said, not even sparing him a glance over my shoulder. "Ah!" I plucked another book out from the Astrology section. "Now, do you think this one?" I asked, holding up the one I'd just picked— "or this one?" I raised the one in my other hand.

"That one," Malfoy said, dipping his head to the one in my left hand. I glanced down at its cover and hummed. "You know what— I think I'll get both!"

Malfoy groaned when I toppled the two extra books in his arms.

"Good thinking, Malfoy." I grinned, giving his shoulder a sarcastic pat. Malfoy raised his brows in what was probably a silent— "You're not welcome."

"Ahem..."

A small, older figure cleared her throat from behind us. I turned around and recognised Madam Pince at once. "The library is closing for the night." She said, but the second she realised who she was speaking to, she appeared confused.

I didn't blame her. At the start of September, she had to kick both Malfoy and myself out of the library for fighting in front of everyone. We weren't allowed back in for a solid month.

"Oh?" She sounded surprised. "Well, it's nice to see you two are finally getting along?"

"Trust me, Pince." Malfoy drawled, "I'm only here because she threatened to make me sleep on the floor."

"It's true," I shrugged.

Madam Pince was simply speechless. "Well, goodnight to you too." I said on my way past her, smiling. When we left the aisle, I glanced over my shoulder and saw her still standing in the same stoic position.

Malfoy and I looked at each other and started to laugh.

~

Apparently our walk back to the dungeons was a bit slower than usual, because the lights went out before we got there.

"Oh god," I murmured. We were still in the middle of crossing a set of moving stairs, since the library was on the third floor. "No doubt Filch and his stupid cat will already be sniffing the corridors."

"Just stay quiet and we'll be fine." Malfoy muttered. When the stairs stopped shifting, we climbed down them and fortunately ended up on the floor we were meant to be on. It was relatively dark, but at the end of a certain hallway, a bright light emerged.

"Or not—," he said, and before I could ask what to do, Malfoy grabbed my hand and dragged me straight into a nearby broom cupboard. The door slammed after us, and it was loud enough to alert the person down the hall.