blurred lines [draco x reader]

24 ౨ৎ | drenched

Although you regretted leaving Cedric like that, you couldn't keep suppressing your feelings any longer. The rain grew heavier, the cold droplets seeping through the gaps in the tower's walls, leaving you shivering. You slid down the wall, wrapping your arms tightly around your knees. The steady rhythm of rain pelting against the castle grounds masked the sound of footsteps echoing up the staircase.

When the figure stepped into the moonlight streaming through the Astronomy Tower's arches, his face came into view.

Seeing him made everything worse. You stared at him, your expression blank, though the pain inside you felt suffocating.

He leaned against the railing on the opposite side of the tower, his gaze piercing yet unreadable.

"Why are you here?" you muttered, wiping at your damp eyes.

"Why are you crying?" Draco asked, his voice low.

You scoffed, looking away. If he couldn't figure it out by now, he was more of an idiot than you thought. The idea of having to explain it all to him—telling him how deeply you'd fallen in those three months only for it to mean nothing—felt comical.

When you didn't answer, he gripped the railing tighter, his knuckles whitening. With a frustrated sigh, he asked, "Why'd you run off?"

"I don't owe you an explanation," you shot back, refusing to meet his gaze. "Just leave."

"I don't even know why I try," he muttered under his breath.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. I shouldn't have bothered—it's clearly a waste of time."

"Then go!" Your voice rose, cutting through the sound of the rain.

His jaw tightened, but he didn't move. "You know," he began, his tone sharper, "you have no right to be upset with me. Not after everything..." He trailed off, letting out a bitter laugh. "Forget it." He turned toward the exit.

"How dare you," you snapped, rising to your feet. "I don't have the right to be upset with you? You used me!"

He froze, then spun back around, his eyes blazing. "I used you?" He stalked closer, his sneer almost feral. "Don't you dare forget how this started. You used me to get Diggory back. And guess what? You got exactly what you wanted."

"You know nothing," you muttered, your voice trembling.

"Oh, shut the fuck up, Y/N. For once, stop lying."

You shot to your feet so quickly that he instinctively stepped back, though his expression remained firm, his jaw clenched.

"Oh, alright, since you think you know everything!" you shouted, your voice breaking as the words spilled out like a dam finally bursting. "Did you know I never even wanted to go to the ball with Cedric? Did you know that every time I see you with Pansy, it makes me feel sick to my stomach? Did you know—"

"You kissed him, for fucks sake!" Draco roared, cutting you off. "While we were together!"

The accusation made your heart stop. Your brows furrowed, confusion and fury flashing across your face. "What are you talking about?"

"Don't play innocent with me!" he snapped, his voice shaking now too. "At that bloody Hufflepuff party. Ringing any bells?"

"Absolutely not!"

"Don't lie!" His voice was raw, teetering between anger and anguish. "Diggory told me himself. After Charms on Monday, he told me how it 'just happened.' How you pulled him in, how you kissed him. He said he didn't know why it happened, and then he had the audacity to apologize—"

"And you believed him?" you yelled, your chest heaving. "You didn't even think to talk to me about it?"

Draco folded his arms, his gaze hard and unyielding. "How could it not be true? From the start, all you've ever wanted was to end up back with him!"

You stood there trembling, fists clenched so tightly your nails dug into your palms. You could've hit him right then and there. Instead, you forced yourself to steady your breathing, though your voice dropped to a cold, wounded whisper.

"You want to know why I left the ball?" you said, the weight of your words hanging heavy in the air. "Because he tried to kiss me. And I couldn't do it. I couldn't because all it would've done was remind me how badly I wished it was you."

Draco's face faltered, his mask of certainty cracking, but you didn't wait for him to respond.

"You took his word just like that...," you spat, brushing past him, your shoulder knocking into his as you bolted toward the stairs.

"y/f/n—"

But you were already gone, running down the spiral staircase as fast as your legs would carry you, the sound of your footsteps swallowed by the storm outside.

Draco stood frozen in the tower, his breath hitching as the weight of his mistakes bore down on him. The truth struck like a curse, sharp and unforgiving, tearing through every shred of certainty he thought he had. The pain clawed at his chest, leaving him gasping for air.

For a moment, he couldn't move.

"Shit," he finally breathed, and then he was running.

The storm howled around him as he sprinted down the tower steps and into the rain. Water lashed at his face, soaking him to the bone, but he didn't care. His lungs burned, his legs ached, but nothing—not the storm, not the cold, not the ache in his chest—mattered.

Nothing but you.

When he found you, your figure illuminated by the dim, flickering light of the castle lanterns, he called out desperately, "Y/N—please—"

But you spun around, your voice cutting through the rain like a blade. "NO!"

The fury and heartbreak in your tone made him stop dead in his tracks.

"No! You don't get to do this, Draco!" you shouted, your voice raw and trembling.

He stared at you, helpless and silent, as the storm raged drenching you both.

"You have no idea what that night felt like!" Your voice cracked, and tears mixed with the rain streaming down your face. "Hearing that you asked her. Watching you blow me off like I didn't matter. Do you have any idea what it's like to look someone in the eye, someone you—" Your voice faltered, breaking under the weight of the words you couldn't bring yourself to say. "Someone you care about, and pray—pray—that it's some kind of cruel mistake?"

You stumbled over your next words, the sobs ripping through your chest. "You believed him so easily..."

The silence between you was deafening, broken only by the relentless pounding of the rain. Draco's mouth opened.

You exhaled sharply, shaking your head. "Just... leave it, Draco. What's done is done."

Your shoulders slumped as you turned away, retreating toward the castle with uneven, hurried steps, the rain mingling with your quiet sobs.

Draco stood rooted in place, his chest rising and falling unevenly, the cold finally settling into his skin. His heart clenched, guilt wrapping around it like a vice as he watched you disappear into the darkness.

And for the first time, he understood what it meant to truly lose.