Even Royalty Falters || Draco Malfoy

Chapter 25 - TriWizard Tournament

No matter how hard I tried to avoid Draco Malfoy, he always seemed to be wherever I didn't want to see him lately.

After Rita Skeeter's controversial and false article covering the World Cup, the Ministry's been thrown into mayhem. My parents were too occupied to even see me off to Hogwarts, my brother Archer had come instead.

Draco waved at me as he boarded the train with his gang, Pansy clinging onto him as usual. I wonder if she had caught on onto our change of hearts. I didn't wave back. How could I when my family and the Weasleys were under fire because of Rita Skeeter misinformation and there was not one mention of Lucius Malfoy? Had he not been a death eater? Why was he clear of the media when the Dark Mark made front page?

"Ugh, Malfoy. Glad I didn't have to deal with any of them when I was in school," my brother narrowed his eyes at Draco.

Can I really blame Draco though? "I better get going, you have stuff to tend to when you get back," I said, giving Archer a quick hug before boarding the train. Hermione, Harry and Ron still hadn't arrived yet, I figured I'd save us a cabin.

When I reached for the door to one, my hand was slapped away by pug face.

"That's our cabin, Whitewing," Pansy sneered, "Come on, Draco, we don't talk to losers," she tugged at Draco's sleeve slightly, but he wasn't listening to her.

His eyes were on me. His gaze was hard, and for a second I thought he had gone back to the Malfoy who would've blasted me across this train without a second thought. He shook his head and told his friends to go in without him, "Pansy, please. I have this handled," he said through gritted teeth when Pansy pouted. Realizing Draco wasn't going to sit down, she eventually gave up and left, but her eyes never left me.

"I heard about what's happening at the Ministry," he started when he pulled me into the next empty compartment.

"And?" I couldn't tell what he was getting at.

"And I just wanted to say I hope it doesn't change things. I know your father was mentioned in that article and mine wasn't, but that's not something I can control," he blurted out, taking me by surprise.

At times, I had expected little of our friendship. After all, we were still so different in so many ways. But here he was, convincing me otherwise. I gave him a small smile. "Ok, I was mad about that but you're also right that you can't control that...I hate when you're right," I confessed, resting my head on my right hand.

"What else for you hate about me?" He teased, reaching across to grab my other hand. A smile tugged my lips.

The compartment door slid open to reveal Harry, Ron and Hermione standing there, all giving Draco the dirtiest glares one could muster.

"I should go...just know that I'm not like him," Draco excused himself, whispering the last part so softly I barely caught onto it.

The air turned awkward as my friends sat down. I looked down at my hands, pretending to be interested in my nails, unable to meet their eyes.

"So, you and Malfoy, huh?" Ron smacked his lips together. "Not going to drop him anytime soon?"

"I..." Do I tell them or do I not? "We're just not enemies anymore, ok?" I sighed.

"Oh, Aunt Amberly won't like that," Ron retorted.

"Don't you dare tell my mother," I finally met Ron's gaze.

"Then tell us why at least? One year you're shooting hexes at each other and the next? You're all buddy buddy with him. You changed towards him since the memory charm, Cress," Ron's gaze softened. "Besides, you can't turn a blind eye to all the crap he still gives us!"