don't let me go || draco malfoy

fifteen

It's been two weeks since the Halloween party and neither Draco or I have mentioned anything from the night. No words were exchanged about the way we looked at each other, how he made sure I got to my room safely, or that he fell asleep in my bed and woke up with his arms around me. Nothing.

 When I told Pansy and Gabi about this, they tried to convince me that he was just shy and didn't know how to handle his feelings. Even with their reassuring comments, I couldn't help but feel that my feelings weren't reciprocated. Did they go away? No. But I wasn't going to keep wearing my heart on my sleeve.

I stuck true to this and distracted myself with different things. Whenever I wasn't studying or doing homework, I was reading on the couches in the common room and when I wasn't doing either of those things, I was walking around the castle and spending time at the Black Lake. That's where I was at the moment, stretched out in the grass admiring the water as the sun started to set. 

"Val!" Enzo's voice echoed and I watched him and Mattheo walk over to me. "Hey guys," I smiled as they sat down on either side of me. "What are you doing out here?" Mattheo asked brining his knees up so he could rest his arms. "Just thinking," I answered truthfully while I picked at the grass beside my feet. "Everything okay?" Enzo questioned and I nodded. "Just overwhelmed with classes and such."

We dove into conversation about classes and the ridiculous amount of homework that the professors were assigning along with studying for the N.E.W.T. exams. Mattheo had lit up a cigarette and made sure the smoke blew away from us. "Do you think the Giant Squid ever gets lonely?" Enzo suddenly asked as he was peering into the water. "What?" I laughed and he repeated his question. "Honestly, I think so, yeah" Mattheo answered him. "You don't think he's friends with the other creatures in there?" I questioned, adding fuel to the fire. "Well I don't see him being friends with the fish. He probably eats them," Enzo said and I let out a laugh.

"Is that the sultry laugh of Val I hear?" Theo's voice boomed out from behind us, scaring me slightly. He came into view as he walked out from the trees. "Hello Theodore," I greeted and he scowled as I said his full name. "What're you guys talking about?" He asked. "If the Giant Squid has any friends," Mattheo answered seriously and we immediately jumped back into the conversation.

"Enzo, truth or dare?" Mattheo asked suddenly and I let out a snort. "Dare," Enzo said confidently. "I dare you to moan as loud as you can," Mattheo chuckled and I was soon covering my ears as Enzo let out a moan that was cut short by his voice cracking. Theo fell into a fit of laughter while I did my best to stifle mine and pat his head in reassurance. "Theo, truth or dare," Enzo grumbled and dared him to attempt a handstand which nearly broke his wrist trying to do. "Mattheo, truth or dare?" "Truth," Mattheo said which shocked us all. 

"Who do you think is the hottest girl in our year?" Mattheo scoffed, "Easy. Val." My face went flush and Mattheo laughed at my reaction sending me a wink. "Thank you," I mumbled and he just laughed again. "Val, truth or dare?" he asked and feeling a new found wave of confidence, I said dare. He thought for a moment before clearing his throat. "I dare you to jump into the lake," He said smugly and my confidence vanished. "Ohh, you can go make friends with the squid!" Enzo piped up. "You're crazy. There's grindylows and merpeople and a whole bunch of other shit in there!" "Someone's chicken," Theo drawled out as he exhaled smoke.

Him and Mattheo started making chicken noises, Enzo laughing quietly at the situation. What's the worst that could happen? I could get eaten by the giant squid? Fuck it. With a loud huff, I pulled off my shoes and before I could rethink my choice, I ran towards the water and dove in head first. My body immediately shivered as the cold water surrounded me and I came back up sputtering and coughing. 

"Hell yeah Val!" Theo called from the shore and I turned around, still treading water and smiled at them. "Theo, truth or dare?" I slightly yelled so he could hear me. "Dare!" He called back. "I dare you to jump in with me!" and without a second thought his shoes were being flung over his shoulder as he dove into the water. He came back up a few feet away from me, shaking his head to get his hair out of his face.

"This actually feels really nice," Theo said as he swam over to me. "I know right." "Riddle, get your ass in here!" Theo yelled and soon enough Mattheo was popping up out of the water, sputtering a little, Enzo right beside him. "Mate this feels disgusting," Mattheo gagged and I just laughed. "Why?" I asked treading the water, kicking my legs to stay afloat. "I forgot to take my socks off," Mattheo said embarrassed and Theo and I groaned in disgust. 

Enzo was paddling around in circles, laughing at Mattheo until he was dunked under water. I laughed as the three of them started wrestling in the water. We spent the next 30 minutes or so messing around in the lake. Enzo swam around the lake with me on his back as my legs got tired. Mattheo and Theo competed to see who could hold their breath the longest; shoving me and Enzo in the water when we laughed at them and called them smokeys.

As we were walking back to the castle we met the others who were hanging out in the courtyard. "What the hell happened to you guys?" Gabi laughed when she noticed us, the others craning their necks to see. "Just went for a swim," Enzo said. "I feel that Val was thrown into the water," Blaise chuckled. "For your information Zabini, she was the first one to jump in," Theo corrected him. "This is true." We trudged back to the dorms, Theo almost slipping down the stairs.