CURSED: FROM THE BEGINNING [D.M]

-(14) you're the most gorgeous thing

warning: sexual scenes

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DRACO lifts his eyes up from the book he was reading and groans out loud, "We've only been back two days and they give us this shit load of work?!"

"OWLs, my man. OWLs." Theo pats him on the shoulder before continuing to walk back and forth in the common room they were gathered together that evening, studying Potions for the class test Snape had scheduled for tomorrow.

"But this is just- absurd. This is just purely absurd", Pansy whines out.

"There's nothing we can do about it, though", Blaise deadpans with a simple shrug. "Isn't that right, Zilliah?"

Oh, great! Now they're on first name basis. Exactly what was needed for Draco's easily bruise- able (if that's even a word?!) ego. He rolls his eyes and tries to focus his attention back on the book in his hand.

"Zilliah?", Draco hears Blaise call again. Fuck man, now you're just showing off. Well, actually he is just calling her name but still- like.. it's irritating the hell out of Draco.

He snaps his head back up as Blaise calls out her name for the third time- that's too fucking much- but soon understands that he had only done so because.. she had fallen sleep right there on the couch beside him. When did she even-

"Zilliah, wake up!", Pansy shouts, throwing a book at her.

It hits her right across the stomach and she yells out in pain, startling as she wakes, clutching the area. "The fuck?!"

"You fell asleep", Pansy states.

"DUH!" Her eyes are furious.

"We have a test tomorrow incase you forgot", Blaise mumbles out at her with a chuckle as Theo returns the book back to Pansy.

Zilliah heaves a frustrated sigh and sits up straight, cross legged with her face in her hands. "The only time I'll be able to sleep peacefully will be the day I die."

The group raise a small laugh and get on with their work.. well, except Draco.

He has always noticed that she looks like she doesn't get proper sleep on most days. There are prominent dark circles under her eyes that no one seems to care about. He understands she is not just joking but that she is hiding the truth beneath complaints and humor. A defense mechanism. Seems like he wasn't the only one.

Zilliah catches him staring and puts on a questioning face. He adverts his glance back to his book instantly.

He has not spoken more than five words to her the whole time they were back at Hogwarts- like literally just five words that went 'Have you seen Pansy anywhere?'- nothing else. Everytime he saw her in his vicinity, he would carefully slip away.

Pretending to not care. That was his defense mechanism.

He is aware of what the fuck he is doing and how horrible it is. He was making her run in circles with him and he knows it is indeed very hard to deal with. But he cannot cave in. He cannot.

He shakes his thoughts off and focuses on the instructions to make a pepperup potion.
More time pass as the group brainstorm through the portions. Pansy even ends up quitting halfway. She retires to her room saying she'll deal with that which comes when it comes.

But Draco couldn't think like that. He was the Malfoy heir. And he couldn't- shouldn't- be a disappointment. It's especially Snape's class so he is a thousand percent sure that if he performs poorly even in the slightest way, the news will fly to his father's ears. Lucius had never in his life congratulated Draco for his excellence in studies- second only to Granger- but one slight mistake and he knows he'll never hear the end of it. He couldn't afford that. He couldn't give Lucius anymore reason to control him- he already has enough.