My Father's Only Rule || DRACO MALFOY X SNAPE'S DAUGHTER

Chapter Fourteen: The Backfire

 December 1994 - Hogwarts

I hadn't authentically smiled around Cedric in a week. I couldn't stop thinking about Draco, but I hadn't seen him because he started distancing himself from the group. But as Cedric was walking me to Charms class, I realized something. I couldn't let it go on any longer.

Even if it wasn't allowed. I still wanted him. And as long as I was with Cedric, I'd only long for Draco. And that wasn't fair to Cedric. I can't explain why it hit me in that moment, but it just had to be done. We were walking to class, getting the usual amount of attention. Then I stopped right in the middle of the hall.

"This isn't going to work," I said. Naturally, this caught Cedric by surprise.

"What?" he said.

"I mean us," I said. I was practically spitting words out. "It's not going to work. We should break up." He stared at me.

"Are you joking?" he asked.

"No," I said. I looked up at him in full seriousness. He looked heartbroken. "You can tell everybody it was you that broke up with me if you want. Or you can tell them my dad gave you a hard time. I don't care. But we have to break up." He looked at me, speechless. Before saying anything else, I raced off to charms.

"Grace, wait!" he hollered. But I was gone. At first, I was sad. He was my first boyfriend. And he was great. But I was the problem. I liked someone else. I loved someone else. And I knew he loved me. And I was willing to keep it a secret from the world. But Draco wasn't in charms that day. And he wasn't in any class.

I was laying in bed that night. I had been crying a little. Just because I had broken up with Cedric for someone else didn't mean that I wasn't a little sad about losing him. Jane busted into the room with a smile.

"Now that we both have dates to the ball, I think it's time for a shopping trip," she announced.

"You have a date?" I asked. "Who?"

"Blaise asked me," she said, smiling her mouth off. "Just now. In the common room. It was amazing." Of course. I think we all saw that one coming.

"Oh, that's great. I'm happy for you." But I didn't sound happy. She walked over slowly and sat on the edge of my bed.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Cedric and I broke up," I said.

"He broke up with you?" she yelled. "A week before the ball? That's so rude."

"No," I said. "I broke up with him."

"Oh," she said. We let the silence sit as it sank in that I was the rude one. "You wanna talk about it?"

"Not really," I said.

"That's ok," she said back. "Well, we'll find you a date. A week isn't too short notice. Before you started dating Cedric, every guy wanted you. I'm positive someone will ask you. Is there anybody you want to go with?"

Draco. Nobody but Draco.

"I don't know. Maybe Draco," I said. "As friends, of course," I added. Jane gasped.

"Oh," she said sadly.

"What?"

"You didn't know? He asked Pansy already." My heart dropped and shattered into a million pieces.

"He did?"

"Yeah," she said. "That's why he's been ditching us. He's been hanging out with her."

"I thought he found her annoying," I said.