PRECEDENT : Draco Malfoy II

24

I'm in the library when someone sits across from me. Panic shoots through me so I don't look up. Mandy certainly would have made her presence loud and known by now. It's Friday night, and Terry had asked me earlier this week to sneak over to his dorm since he knew no one would be around.

I chickened out.

It's not like he and I are dating. It's not like I slept with Draco. It's not like we did much more than take our tops off, and it's not like what happened between Draco and I means anything. I certainly hope it doesn't, at least. We aren't like that, he and I. There is a dreadful thing happening inside my stomach when I see him, a thing I hate. Little more than lust inside me. Yet, I am stuck, and I am stuck thinking about it for hours.

He kisses me like he argues with me. It's teasing, in a way, and ongoing. There's some new issue each time, but we keep coming back to the same place we began. The rage is a familiar place, and I don't want to find that same familiarity in a spot between his arms.

I know what it is. The thing. That wicked fact which pushes me into the hands of someone so terrible. Terry isn't mean. I like that Draco treats me terribly, somewhere deep down. There are few expectations, and I know what to expect. A betrayal from Terry would crush me. A betrayal from Draco? Couldn't happen. You would have to trust someone for the twist of a knife in your back to be a shock. No, I do anything but trust Draco.

"Hey, Marty," a voice that isn't Terry says. It isn't Draco either.

I look up. It's Ron Weasley. There have never been more than ten words shared between us, and nearly all of them were last year when he helped me in Hogsmeade. I stare up at him, blinking. What could he possibly want?

My mouth opens, "Hermione isn't here. I don't know where she is."

"Oh, yeah 'Mione," Ron offers. He crosses his hands and leaves forward. "Listen, Hermione and I were talking. Well... Harry wants to start a Defence Against the Dark Arts Club. You know, we'd all learn together? Hermione and I, well... I thought you might like to come."

I pause, looking him over. He seems more uncomfortable than usual. Hermione must not have had the time to talk to me and put him up to it.

"I'm rubbish at practical casting," I respond, shrugging.

"Exactly," he agrees. "That's why you should come more than anyone else. We're meeting at the Hog's Head Inn tomorrow."

Then, I look at Ron. He jumped into action when I was attacked. He and his twin brothers came to my rescue when no one else did. If there is anyone in this entire school that I would trust, it's him. Before any muggle-born, even. Certainly before any Ravenclaw.

Perhaps that is why he came and not Hermione. Granger and I would be rivals if I was good enough to compete. Besides, she's a bit too irritable to be persuasive.

"Okay," I agree.

"Don't go spreading this around," Ron offers. He stands up, turns but hesitates. He looks back at me. "You know, Fred still wishes he could throttle the git who attacked you. If we get you trained up enough, hopefully you can beat him to it."

Then, Ron leaves the library. For the rest of the night, I ponder the offer. Thinking about every way it could go wrong, doing a cost-benefit analysis because if it goes right, it would go so very right.

So, in the morning, after breakfast, I queue up for the Hogsmeade trip. I don't go with the other Ravenclaws, which isn't abnormal, but at least this will make it easier to peel off from the group. After checking out a bookshop to bide my time, I show up to the Hog's Head Inn, where two dozen or so witches and wizards are gathering outside. I join the crowd, filing in next to Terry. He stands with Michael and Anthony.