first light | d. malfoy

03

Draco Malfoy

The welcoming speech Dumbledore gave was identical to those from previous years, causing me to zone out, focusing rather on the dark haired girl sitting at the next table over. I watch as her eyebrows furrow slightly every so often as she listens to the old man drone on and on. She licks her lips from time to time, making my thoughts run wild.

Her eyes began traveling around the Great Hall, probably from boredom, until they meet mine. I expected her to react in some way, any way really, but she continued to match my stare with as blank an expression as mine. This felt like a competition; who would look away first?

The little blonde next to her grabs her arm to get Lilith's attention, causing the latter to look away from me seemingly hesitantly. She instead looks in the direction of Pucey, who is discretely making his way toward the pair. The sight made my blood boil. I had told him to stay away, I made it clear she was off limits.

Dumbledore concluded his exceptionally long speech and went on to dismiss everyone in the Great Hall, causing me to essentially jump out of my seat and walk in the direction of my target. Once I walk the short distance, my hand immediately grabs hold of the back of Pucey's neck, and I pull him from the table. Glancing at Lilith, the neutral expression remains on her face as she watches me drag Pucey away from her.

"I thought I told you to stay the fuck away?" I seethed the moment we were out of earshot.

"Fuck off, Malfoy." Pucey attempts to shrug off my hand, but is met with no success. The grip on his neck only tightened as I continued dragging him through the halls free from other students until I reach an empty classroom. Spotting the wand in his pocket, I grab it while shoving him into the classroom at the same time, closing the door immediately after my hand leaves his neck.

"Colloportus," once the door is locked, I throw Pucey's wand to the side, not really caring where it falls or in how many pieces. The charm should keep him occupied for a while, at least until someone comes by and frees him by reversing the spell. Even now I could hear him banging on the door. Surely one more spell couldn't hurt. "Silencio."

The newfound silence made me smile. Of course, the silencing spell would only make it harder for someone to find him, but it allowed me more time to complete my task without any difficulty.

"Warned you to leave her alone. Maybe this'll teach you to listen," I leave him with a final message before walking away from the classroom and back towards the Great Hall in hopes of running into Lilith.

Turning the final corner before the Great Hall, a tall body stops me in my tracks. Upon realizing who the figure was, a sly smile takes over my lips.

"Well, well. Just who I was looking for."

"What did you do to Pucey?" She looks up at me, green eyes darker in the poorly lit hallway.

"Took care of him for you. Didn't seem like you wanted much to do with him, darling."

"I didn't ask for you to do that, darling." The word left her lips like venom. "I don't need you to do anything for me, Malfoy."

"What, no 'thank you?' No, 'wow Draco, you're my knight in shining armor?'" She looks at me with disgust, the first expression besides neutral that she's shown me.

"No," she turns and begins walking away from me, speaking over her shoulder as she continues on, "and stay away from me, Malfoy. I mean it."

My own tongue juts out to lick my lips as I watch her hips swaying while she walks. Everything she just said went in one ear and right out of the other while I watched her, thoughts running wild again. She was delusional if she thought I would stay away from her.

-

After casting a locating spell, Lilith, much to her dismay, is the one to find Adrian. Upon opening the door, she found the boy propped up against the adjacent wall, asleep. Rolling her eyes, she walks over to the boy and gently nudges him with her foot to wake him up, which he does reluctantly.

"Lil?"

"Don't call me that. Get up." She looks at him with a glare in her eyes as he slowly picks himself up off the floor.

"Knew you'd be the one to find me, Lil." He attempts to hug the girl, but she pushes him away before he has a chance to do so.

"That's because no one else gives a shit about you anymore, Pucey. And again, don't call me that."

"C'mon, you can't be mad at me forever, sweetheart." The nickname made the girl shudder. She was beginning to regret opening the door. She should have left it locked until some professor stumbled upon the classroom. For a split moment, she thought she wouldn't have even minded if no one had ever discovered that Adrian was trapped inside. She quickly pushed those thoughts aside.

Saying nothing in response, the girl turns around and leaves the classroom, hearing Adrian following behind her quickly. His arm gets tossed around her shoulders and she shrugs it off the moment she feels the contact. Yet, Adrian persists and throws his arm once more, causing Lilith to stop in the middle of the hallway.

"Don't fucking touch me." The words leave her lips like venom, and for a split second, Adrian appears worried. He had never seen her look so angry. His arm leaves her shoulders, and he raises his hands in defense while slowly backing away.

"Relax, I'll leave you alone for a bit. Maybe you need some time to cool off and then we can talk. You'll see. See you soon, sweetheart." Then the boy turns and walks away from the girl, leaving her alone in the hall. Once more, thoughts of hexing the boy cross her mind, and just as before, they are shoved to the side. The girl turned and walked in the direction of her dormitory, feeling watched the entire journey there.

The girl wasn't wrong. She was being watched. Every step she would take from that point on would be observed by a certain platinum blond. Not only did Draco have to keep her safe for the ritual, but he felt a desire to keep everyone else away from her for his own selfish reasons.

He had decided in that moment that he would have her. No one but Draco could even dream of having her for themselves. She belonged to him, and he would make sure she knew that soon.