Blood Traitor- Draco Malfoy x Hufflepuff reader

16

It's time for my next potions class. Great... the last lesson was when I had my outburst. Not that I regret it or anything, I just don't particularly want to face Malfoy. Dragging my heels behind me I start to walk to the classroom. I wish that I didn't have to go. After what seems like forever, I am in the potions classroom. Reluctantly, I sit down trying my best to subtly turn away from Malfoy, making it perfectly clear that I want nothing to do with him. Honestly, I hate him more every day. Throughout the entire lesson, I refuse to acknowledge his presence unless I absolutely have to. To my dismay, I am forced to work with him again. While we work, I allow myself to make comments about the potion brewing so that neither of us makes any mistakes, however, this is definitely not a friendly conversation. Why on earth would it be? I absolutely loathe him! Occasionally Malfoy tries to make some snide comment but I somehow miraculously manage to ignore him. By the end of the lesson, we have successfully brewed the potion. Obviously, Malfoy gets more praise than I do due to Snape's clear bias. Once everyone is dismissed I walk towards Hannah and Susan; infuriatingly, however, Malfoy stands in my way. Pushing past him I meet my friends. Normally he would retaliate but today he's doing quite the opposite. Why? Is he scared of me? No, it's not that. I know when he's afraid. It's almost like he's beginning to admire me.No! He would never!

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Care of magical creatures. It's my first lesson today. I know that it will be my favourite subject. I desperately want to work with them when I'm older.

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As I suspected I was extremely intrigued by everything we learned and never stopped listening. Somehow I even found myself stroking and riding a hippogriff. At the end of the lesson, however, everything took a bad turn. Of course, it was Malfoy's fault. He completely disrespected Buckbeak the hippogriff and ended up getting hurt. Obviously, he then started threatening to tell his father. If Lucius is involved then Hagrid will definitely get the blame. One thing that Lucius will never admit is his family's ignorance.

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Before I know what I'm doing I realise that I am waiting for Malfoy outside the hospital wing. Don't bother asking me why because I won't be able to tell you. Once I see him I instantly regret my decision and start to walk away; unfortunately, he notices me.'Hey blood traitor! You waiting for me?!' Sighing I turn around. 'I was but I'm not going to talk to someone who uses that kind of language. Goodbye.'Before I can get away Malfoy snaps.' I'm only stating the truth, it's not my fault you won't admit it.'Inside my veins, my blood is boiling but Malfoy isn't worth my time. After that brief moment, the two of us go our separate ways. I hate him. No, hate isn't a strong enough word, I despise him.

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Next period is defence against the dark arts. Ever since Lupin started teaching us it's been great. Today, however, I'm nervous. We're learning about boggarts and I do not want everyone in the class to see that the (L/N)s are my biggest fear; everybody will judge me. After we have all practised saying the incantation (Riddikulus) everyone lines up to try with a real boggart. Deliberately, I try and stand at the back of the line, however, I know that Malfoy will have the same intention. To avoid unnecessary confrontation I let him stand behind me, it's still highly unlikely that I will have to attempt it anyway. However Malfoy does something that I would've never anticipated, he pushes in front of me. Most people in the class would view this as mean-spirited and self-entitled but I know that he is actually being incredibly kind. In order to decrease the risk of my embarrassment, he increased the risk of his.

'Thank you.'

I mouth, a small smile on my face. Malfoy smirks but I can tell that behind the smug facade he's scared.

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Class is finished. Luckily I didn't have to face the boggart due to Harry accidentally making it take the shape of a dementor. Of course, I was concerned for Harry but as soon as I knew he was okay a wave of relief hit me; I wouldn't be humiliated in front of the class. For some reason, however, part of me is disappointed; facing this boggart would have made the (L/N)s seem less scary. It seems like Malfoy and I are experiencing identical thoughts again because as I am leaving Malfoy whispers.'Meet me here tonight. We can face them together.'Of course, I'm not going to trust him, Malfoy has done this to people before; all I would have to show for it would be deducted house points. Nobody remembers the last time that Hufflepuff won the house cup and I certainly don't want to put our chances in jeopardy by trusting Draco Malfoy of all people. Shaking my head, I leave with Hannah and Susan and the three of us go to our common room until tea.

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Tea is wonderfully ordinary. Once it is over everyone slowly breaks away from the table and goes back to their dormitories. On this particular night Hannah, Susan, Cedric and I are the last four Hufflepuffs to leave the common room. In fact, the only other person in the room is Malfoy. As I leave with my friends he calls something about tonight. Obviously, I choose to ignore him.

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I can't sleep. All I can think about is what Malfoy said. As much as I hate to admit it, he did have a fairly good idea. A way to face our fears without the classes judgement. Midnight. The perfect time. I probably won't get caught. Quickly and quietly I try to sneak to the defence against the dark arts classroom. Malfoy is already in there he seems to be building up the courage to approach the boggart. Once the cupboard door swings open, I see Lucius Malfoy; if I didn't know any better I'd think it actually was him. The representation of the figure is repeatedly expressing an extreme amount of anger and disappointment towards Malfoy. Timidly, Malfoy says the boggart vanishing spell, his voice trembling. Suddenly I see something that I could have never imagined, Lucius Malfoy has house-elf ears and is wearing an old sheet. It is an extremely ironic situation. Unsure of what to do I step into the room. Malfoy turns giving me a genuine smile. It seems like he's glad that I came.'Well done.' I smile.'Your turn.' Is his simple response. Nervously I step towards the boggart. Instantly it changes to replicate the (L/N)s. They stand in silence, raise their wands and glare right at me. Fight or flight mode engages. If I flee then Malfoy won't let me hear the end of it. Fighting is the only option. Trying my best to seem confident I say the incantation. To my relief, their wands turn into bananas and they start dancing like chickens. Draco's genuinely smiling and giggling at the sight.'I knew you could do it (Y/N)'Wait! Did he just call me (Y/N)? He's never called me that. Malfoy notices my confusion and quickly says:

'Anybody who can face their attackers like that deserves my respect...don't tell anybody about tonight though.'

'Thank you, Draco and I promise that I won't.'

Both of us are overwhelmed with emotion. We hug. Perhaps we shouldn't be enemies.