In The Safety Of Magical World

Chapter 8

" Finite! "

Hermione pointed her wand towards the paper bird that wouldn't leave me alone. Immediately, the spell was broken and it fell to the table, inanimate. The piece of parchment unfolded, displaying the note for everyone to see. We sat in silence, staring at it.

" He seems to get seriously obsessed with you, mate. " Ron was the first one to interrupt the quiet. " Are you still sure you don't want Dumbledore to know about it? It might get worse. "

" Ron's right, Thomas, " Hermione said, putting her wand back into her pocket. " It's high time Dumbledore found out about Draco's behavior. He's not going to blame you, don't worry. "

I didn't say anything. It wasn't the blame I was concerned about. I simply wasn't that kind of person. I was used to dealing with problems entirely on my own and not even my parents knew when I was going through a tougher time. If it was possible to hide my going away to Hogwarts, I would do it, but the two wizards arrived in front of my family and disclosed the news for everyone to hear. And to complain to the headmaster that one of his students was making sexual advances towards me was weird and in a way, unacceptable to me.

" Incendio! "

Harry turned his wand to the note and momentarily it was on fire. Orange and yellow flames quickly consumed the paper right on the table. Startled, I jumped back from the sudden blaze.

" Aguamenti! " Hermione yelled, jets of clear, icy blue water from the tip of her wand extinguished the mini fire. " My God! Are you mad, Harry? Setting our common room on fire! "

" I hate him, " Harry spat out spitefully and walked to the window with his back at us.

And if at that point it wasn't yet clear to me that Harry was taking Malfoy's attention to me to heart more than anyone else, the following night he made it crystal clear to me. That late autumn evening was the first time we fought. When the boys' dormitory was empty – Ron and Neville were still working on their delayed home assignments – Harry had a breaking point of some sort and surprised me in a way I would have never expected.

" Why is it that you don't want to let Dumbledore know? " he asked, sitting on the edge of my bed.

" For what? What will Dumbledore do to him? Shake a finger in his face and say " Bad Draco, don't do it again? " How does that solve anything? Malfoy isn't a 2-year-old. "

" Well, at least you'll be doing something! If you don't do anything about it, Malfoy will start to think you're actually enjoying him making passes at you. " He fell silent for a moment as if considering something. " Maybe...that's true? Do you enjoy this kind of flirting? "

I poked my index finger at the temple. " What? Are you nuts? Of course, I don't. "

" Then why don't you want it to stop? " Harry got agitated, his eyes lighted up like a fire inside an emerald. " Thomas...do you...do you like Malfoy? "

" Are you stupid? "

" That's not an answer. "

" Ask a silly question and get a silly answer. "

We stared each at other, both stubborn. I started to feel attacked and nagged. As sweet as he was, Harry began to irritate me. I wasn't going to allow my peer to scold me as if I was his child, especially after knowing one another for a relatively short period of time.

" Why would I sleep with you if I liked him? Why would I reject him if I had sympathies for him? "

" Your actions speak differently, Thomas. You know you have possibilities to make him stop pestering you, yet you're refusing them. Why? "