{Half A Hero} Hufflepuff!Reader

Chapter 14: Underestimated Authority

Draco would not leave you alone. You blankly listened to his schemes against the 'Rebel Legion', you mentally tagged.

This was your fault. You did ask about his day.

You wanted to catch up on some more letters to send to Dad that wont be delivered. Umbridge read them though. You knew this, because every time you made joke in that letter it was told to a teacher as her one joke. Thief.

So, you decided to be more situational with the jokes. It was fun to watch at dinner. At the beginning of the week she was begrudgingly the funniest at the teachers table, only to lose all humor in one jokeless letter.

Only Snape had been bold enough to be the party pooper, against Dumbledore's wishes. He always told Mcgonagall about your jokes, because you would test them on him, then write. You appreciated it. He didnt even know that you knew about the letter stealing or the jokes.

"That's why you have to help me."

"I'm going to tell you what it told Harry, Ok?"

He let you take his hands in yours. You looked him in the eye, which you noticed was very difficult for him to do. He tried, though. You rubbed your thumbs on the back of his hands, and you didnt like that he visibly calmed down.

"No."

"Come on!"

There were heatwaves coming off his shoulders, distorting some of the background. He radiated his upset. He looked everywhere but you, with a frantic air, and hoped to find answers. It was only a matter of gravity to turn him into an upset puddle.

"Slow down." You said softly.

"How? How the fuck am I supposed-"

"We are werewolves, not swear wolves."

He was imploding now. Draco always chose this over shouting at you more. Because you knew how to make him cry, and you had mentioned you weren't afraid of using that influence.

You wanted to hold his hands again. The chance of him pulling away with the ick made you withdraw. You went too far this time. You should have been less blunt.

You bluntly addressed his behaviour and that maybe he should opt out if the kitchen was getting too hot for him.

"You're wrong."

"Am I?" You snorted. "I can see clearer than you. The way you've been acting-"

"You know nothing about me now, Y/N. You know nothing about what I've had to do. What I've become. You have to pick a side."

"No. I don't."

"Y/N." Draco said, a hurt softness touching it. "Please. This is our war, just as it's yours."

Your ministry warned otherwise. Your father's job hung in the balance. You'd have to be obtuse about it. Lie, maybe.

"I'm a foreigner, remember?"

That was good. Echo an allegation. A previously mentioned threat here and here. Make it seem like there were reasons out of your control.

"Besides, Voldemort's power trip was mostly directed at the British. My father wasn't as touched by the horrors yours had seen. This isn't our war."

"But if He-"

"He can't do anything to you if stand and fight back." You said, then added. "If that's what you believe in."

"What do you... you say it as if it's that easy."

You knew you were down playing the danger. The risk. All of the hard work of avoiding a self appointed god (small 'g' intended). But you couldn't handle seeing him like this. You mustered up your most understanding tone.

"Look, Dragon. It's up to you, whether you continue to be the snitch Umbridge wants, or to live the life you hadn't asked for and make the most of it. I can't guarantee that I'll be with you all the way. But I am here when you need me. Just not for this. Not for information on your nemesis. Who, by the way, you would be besties with if you didnt act like such an ass all the time."

As you walked away with the heaviest feeling you've felt in a while, you locked eyes with the Devil herself.