Even Royalty Falters || Draco Malfoy

Chapter 18 - Buckbeak

"Potter. Potter! Is it true that you fainted on the train?" Draco mocked as his fellow housemate pretended to black out.

Ron scowled at him and urged Harry to ignore him. Because I sat opposite if Harry, I met my eyes with Draco's before he turned back to his own table, and he paused for a second, winked at me and faced back towards Pansy, who was once again pestering him about something.

My heart skipped a beat. Did he really just wink at me? Ugh, probably to throw me off. I shrugged it off as I looked back down at my plate of food. Despite the worrisome news Sirius Black's breakout has caused, this year at Hogwarts would hopefully be a peaceful one. After all, it was safe here with the dementors.

I never fail to realize how fast time flies when I leave the Great Hall after our welcome ceremony every year. More and more new faces flocked the hallways each year, and we were one step closer to become the seniors.

"Surprised you haven't fainted again from all the dementors stationed around," a sneer sounded from the less packed part of the hall.

"I might faint from the amount of arrogance and cockiness emitting off of you right now," I said, as a couple first years hurried out of my way.

"Whitewing, we meet again," Draco smirked as he stalked up to me.

"Wasn't counting on it, but fate seems to have it otherwise," I pretended to polish my wand, knowing these hallway encounters rarely ever ended without them being pulled on each other.

"That reminds me, we didn't really get the chance to blast each other to the hospital wing last year, did we?" He pulled out his wand as well. Our bickering drew in an audience of first years looking on, some in awe, others in worry, as the second years assured them it would become a daily thing they saw.

"She's the Gryffindor Princess, do you really think she'd let that Slytherin cockroach blast her down the hall?" Someone told a first year.

Draco raised an eyebrow in a challenge, "Petrificus Totalus!"

"Protego," I shielded, "Everte Statum," I didn't give him a chance to fire again, knocking him back. I walked over to him until I was standing over him, my wand pointed at his face.

Draco had grown since I had last seen him when the last school year ended. No matter how I hard I tried over the summer, I couldn't shake off the memories I had created with him.

"Blast him! Blast him! Blast him!" The students in the hall chanted, but I hesitated and I'm sure he could sense it because he took the chance to scamper back.

"I'd rather not waste my detentions on you this year," I ended saying, tucking away my wand and heading towards the Gryffindor common room. Several sighs of disappointment arose from the crowd.

"If I ever had the chance to do that, Cress, I would've sent him straight to his grave! Forget about Madame Pomfrey's," Ron snickered, earning a hard nudge from Hermione.

"She would've gotten in so much trouble!" She defended, holding Crookshanks, in her arms.

I nodded in agreement, but I knew I didn't do it to get out of trouble. I knew if I was given the chance again, I would've stepped back again. I couldn't bring myself to harm the boy who had a completely other to side him, the boy who had saved my life. In the moment, I was suddenly so determined to uncover the other Draco again.

"Ron, you should learn how how keep your stupid rat in your pocket if you're you're afraid of him becoming dinner!" Hermione snapped as Crookshanks launched for something that had scurried across the floor.

Ron wrestled his pet rat out of Crookshank's mouth, absolutely horrified, "maybe you should feed your cat! Everyone's pet rat is going to dinner if you don't train it," he looked much more relieved as Scabbers twitched ever so slightly showing that it wasn't dead.