𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐆𝐎𝐍𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐃 - 𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘱𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯

03. | Home

Sorry for the late chapter! I wasn't feeling the greatest yesterday and was unable to upload.

*.·:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:·.*

I step into the corridor, fighting to stay steady on my feet. I pull the door shut behind me, remaining silent the whole time.

"Jaylene."

I'm surprised he knows my name. More than that, I'm surprised how warm I feel inside as it rolls off his tongue. I keep my head low, praying he can't see the pink spreading across my cheeks. I'm thankful he's taller than me at this moment.

"I wanted to-" His words catch in his throat. He coughs, clearly struggling to speak. "I wanted to a- apo-"

"Apologize?" I look up slowly, confused as to why he would apologize. I'm shocked he even knows the word.

"Yes," he breathes, holding my eyes steady. "For the behavior of Pansy earlier. Along with Crabbe and Goyle. It was rude of them to disrespect what you believe in like that."

"Yes," I agree. "You need to tell your girlfriend to watch her words. I would hate for her to say the wrong thing to the wrong person."

"She's not my girlfriend," he mumbles.

My heart leaps. And I beg it to stop. I don't want to get excited about that, I don't even know why I would. It makes me feel like a blubbering fool.

"You need to tell her that. The way she was on you at the Yule Ball," I say, trying to hide the shaking in my voice.

He looks surprised. "I didn't know you went to the Ball."

"Oh. Well, I did." But I didn't stay long, I silently add to myself. "But you don't need to apologize. I know you don't really care."

Something in his face changes. So quick, I wouldn't have noticed if I hadn't spent the past four years of my life around him. But I know his resting face; and that was not it. He almost looked hurt. But why would he?

"It's- You're right." He clears his throat again, adjusting the thin black sweater covering his pale frame. "I don't. But you're a Slytherin. We share that between the two of us." He holds his hand out to me. "When we're at Hogwarts, it's House before blood. Before everything."

I place my hand in his. It's cold, but his grasp is firm. "I suppose."

He laughs, so low and quiet I almost miss it. He gives my hand a quick shake. "I'll try to keep Pansy, Crabbe, and Goyle from bothering you anymore. They don't hold the same loyalties to House that I do. We can't all be fighting with each other if we want to win the House Cup."

Of course that's what this is about.

The train whistle, high and loud, pierces through the car. Draco disperses into the crowd right as my compartment's door opens, and my friends come spilling out. Franchesca thrusts my robes into my hands and follows me towards the front of the door. The little glimpses I get of Hogwarts through the windows makes me grin.

"What did he want?" Harry asks, coming up on my right side.

"Hello again to you too."

"Jay, I'm asking a serious question." He places a hand on my arm, briefly pausing me in my tracks.

"He was apologizing. For Pansy, Crabbe, and Goyle."

Harry scoffs, stepping off the train and offering me his hand to help myself down. I take it, leaning against him gingerly as I hop down the stairs. "Likely story, Jaylene. What did he really want?"