Blood Traitor- Draco Malfoy x Hufflepuff reader

20

Oh Merlin's beard, nothing seems to be going right recently. With everything that's going on this seems petty, however, it's a big deal for Hufflepuff. Apparently, we're playing Gryffindor in Quidditch due to Draco's 'injury'. It's fake, I know it's fake, but that, of course, doesn't stop him from milking it dry. Now I remember why I hated him. Why did I ever think he was different from what he is. Arrogant, selfish and cowardly. Badgers are stronger than everyone thinks but that doesn't mean that we are ready to take on Gryffindor at such short notice. Everyone knows that they're the best at Quidditch. On top of that, there is also the fact that we've had virtually no time to prepare, not to mention the awful weather. Malfoy knows that winning the house cup is incredibly important to me, I wanted to show everyone that us badgers are more than the other house's rejects. Obviously, I now know that I was fooled. If Malfoy actually wanted to be my friend he would show at least a little bit of understanding when I tell him things. Instead, he completely disregards everything. Of course, that friendship is over! All I can do now is work as hard as possible to beat Gryffindor. ************************* The next time I see Malfoy is at tea. Still fuming, I try to control myself. Breathe in. Breathe out. Nevertheless, I'm still absolutely furious about what happened. Just as I start to calm down Malfoy subtly calls me over. Firstly I ignore him however he grabs me as I start to leave the hall. By the time he does this, ignoring him isn't enough, I need to give him a piece of my mind. Discreetly I mutter: 'We need to talk.' Hearing this Malfoy and I go to find a place to talk. Eventually, we get to a room that neither of us remembers seeing before. It has two chairs and is just the right size for the two of us to talk in. Then again I'll be doing most of the talking. Sitting down I continue to glare at Malfoy. Putting his hands up in fake surrender he nervously says: '(Y/N) no one can see us here.' As he says this he is shaking. 'I don't care, Malfoy!' I spit violently 'You've reminded me that you're just an arrogant liar!' Slowly, Malfoy's facial expression changes. Sadness seems to overcome him. 'What? Why would you say that?' I can tell that he seems genuinely upset about what I said. But that still doesn't mean that I can forgive what he'd done. 'Quidditch!' My words are becoming more venomous 'I know your arm isn't broken!' Malfoy then says something I did not expect: 'I just wanted to watch you defeat Gryffindor.' Now it's my turn to be confused. 'Why would you want that?' I ask not buying his excuse. Surely he's lying, when it comes to Quidditch he doesn't think about anybody else. 'You always talk about how people underestimate Hufflepuff students. They wouldn't do that if you hit Potter with a bludger and knocked him off his broom.' Even though this seems like something that Malfoy might say the excuse still doesn't make sense. Why would he give another team the opportunity to beat Gryffindor, Slytherin's arch-rivals? Unless he's actually being selfless for once. But that's not in his nature. My head hurts now. Slowly, I relax and decide that I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. Just this once. Thanking him, I make my way towards the door. It has been a long and confusing past few weeks and I need to get some sleep. ************************* Seeing Harry the next day is rather tense. When it comes to Quidditch, saying that he's competitive would be the understatement of the century. All of the Gryffindor team are. If Oliver Wood is your team captain I imagine that it would be extremely hard not to be. Harry and I have a relatively normal conversation, however, I can tell that all that he can think about is beating Hufflepuff. On the other hand, I am not that competitive and would much rather keep my friends in Gryffindor. Although you must not misunderstand me; I will play my absolute best Hufflepuffs are not pushovers and we never will be. After the awkward conversation finally ends, sending a wave of relief through me, I ironically make my way to the Quidditch pitch for practice. ************************* Our practice went fairly well however we are all extremely nervous about the actual match. Nobody can deny that they are an amazing team, deep down we all know that beating them will be near impossible. Merlin's beard! This is stressful. All of us will just have to do our best to beat the Gryffindors. If we all play our part then we have a chance at triumph. ************************* The Quidditch match did not go as planned. We won but in the worst way that we possibly could have. Nothing went to plan from the beginning. As suspected, we had to play in a terrible storm which is never ideal. At first, we were losing, none of us were too disheartened though, it was a difficult game at the best of times and that isn't even taking the weather into account. Part way through the game Oliver Wood calls timeout. Using this opportunity we also discuss strategy. Feeling slightly better we take off again and play. However during the second half of the game is when the worst thing imaginable happened. Dementors came onto the pitch. At the time none of us knew what in Merlin's name was going on. It only became apparent afterwards. Harry fainted at the sight of them and had fallen off of his broom. Unfortunately, Cedric, who is the Hufflepuff seeker didn't realise this at the time and caught the golden snitch. Anybody who is even remotely familiar with the rules of Quidditch obviously knows that this meant that we won the match; however, everyone on the team agreed that the victory is extremely unfair and none of us would feel morally in the right if we were to accept it. Because of this, Cedric went to talk to Madame Hooch, the referee. Seeing Cedric walk back sadly, we all know it's bad news. Filled with guilt we go back to the common room. Yes, we wanted to win but not like this.

At first, the team were planning on going to go see Harry and apologise. However, Hermione warned me that he was not in the best spirits about it so we decided to leave it. None of us wanted it to seem like we were rubbing salt in the wound. All of us still feel absolutely awful about what happened. No matter what Madame Hooch said it was not a fair victory or at at least it really didn't feel like it. Of course, Gryffindor hates us now even though none of this is actually our fault, we did everything that we could to change it. Due to our guilty consciences, our team make a pact: we will lose when we play against Ravenclaw and give Gryffindor a fighting chance. Of course, normally we would never agree to reaffirm the stereotype that our house is weak however we always vow to do what's fair and put the needs of others before our own. Unless it directly endangers us of course. Sacrificing our chance to prove ourselves is hard but we know we must do it for the sake of Gryffindor. After all, we've seen how much time they put in and they seem much more desperate to win than we are. ******************************* The fateful day arrives. Everyone has predicted the outcome. Unfortunately, for the most part, everyone has predicted correctly. Nobody ever seems to have any faith in Hufflepuff. All of us try our best to act nervous. Obviously, we aren't really. Why on earth would we be nervous when we're trying to lose. However, nobody can know this. If they did Gryffindor would take it as an act of pity. The game is played. Ravenclaw win. Crowds of people cheer; after all, everyone seems to love Ravenclaw. Even Hufflepuff stand to support the victors of the match. Defeat is never fun even when it is planned. Staring into the crowd my eyes are drawn to the Slytherins. At first, I am unsure why nevertheless I keep staring. That's when I notice them: a pair of eyes, filled with suspicion. The eyes of Draco Malfoy. ******************************* Reentering the school after the match I am pulled aside. Unsurprisingly I see Draco. When the attention is taken away from our general area he leads me through the corridor and into the room that we first discovered a few weeks ago. In fact, the encounter has a very similar feel to last time. On the other hand, it's Draco doing the interrogating this time. "You weren't playing your best today!" He rightly accuses. Not wanting to have to lie to him, I simply nod. "Why?" This question is fair enough. Whenever we discuss houses I always talk about wishing Hufflepuff would be appreciated more and receive more credit than we do, but just because it's a fair question doesn't mean I should give an honest answer. Could you imagine Draco's reaction if I did? He would practically explode. Hufflepuff and Slytherin are complete opposites. Like I said before Hufflepuff believe in putting others needs before our own, on the other hand, people in Slytherin tend to be more likely to do whatever it takes to make it to the top; no matter who they have to knock down. Even though Draco is rather kind when you get to know him you can definitely tell that his views are the latter. Telling him that I did it to help Gryffindor would definitely end in unnecessary torment. What could I tell him instead? Sprained ankle? No that's too cliche. Tired? That's no excuse. The truth will come out one way or another. What if he leaks it? He won't, I can trust him. "If I tell you the truth then you have to swear that it will never leave this room," I demand confidently. "I swear that it won't," Draco assures me. "Okay then" I take a breath in "I didn't play my best because the team unanimously agreed that our win in the match against Gryffindor was unfair and they deserved to win the Quidditch cup more than we do. It's obvious that if Harry hadn't fallen off of his broom he would have caught the snitch first". As expected Draco sneers, nevertheless he does try and hold it back and I can tell that even though it is in extreme contrast to his own personal opinion he is still making a conscious effort to accept and support my decision. "Very well" Looking closely at his face I can see a small smile forming. When we're alone Draco seems so compassionate. If only he didn't feel the need to wear such a hideous mask when out in public. ******************************* To my surprise, Draco was true to his word. Nobody who wasn't originally in on it knows about our deliberate loss. I'm not naive, he kept his mouth shut for personal gain no one could ever know that he socialised with (Y/N): the notorious blood traitor. Just about everyone who knows the truth about his family knows that he would be in my position if they did. He's scared of what I'll leak if he tells anyone. It's an extremely irrational fear as I keep telling him that our meetings are confidential and I genuinely mean it. Apparently, he still doesn't believe it though. Don't get me wrong, it works for me; he keeps his mouth shut and due to the fact that he won't listen to my honest assurances, it's guilt-free. Sometimes I secretly wonder, could it perhaps be more than fear that stopped him from telling? Could our genuine friendship be beginning to reform? Do I want that to be the case?