Malicious: Book Two (Draco Malfoy)

Chapter 7

A dozen roses lay on my bed. Again, it was so typical but I loved it. A small note lay hanging slightly from the plastic they were wrapped in, so I took it between my fingers and lifted it towards my face to read it.

Evelyn, not even these roses could reflect the beauty of you, and the way you make me feel.

~Draco

I smiled at his gesture. Who would've thought such a seemingly heartless man could be so loving, so romantic?

Well, I certainly didn't until then.

"Roses?"

I turned to see Pansy. I gave her a cheeky grin and replied, "Yes, roses. From Draco."

She looked a little disappointed. Perhaps a small part of her still 'loved' him, but that was not for me to interfere with. Draco liked me and the feelings were mutual - I would not let Pansy get in the way of that.

"That's great," she said. She didn't sound sarcastic; her words held meaning behind them.

Soon, it was time to head to class. Potions.

I cursed under my breath. Muse sat next to me in that class, and I knew Draco wouldn't be happy about it. After all, he was pretty annoyed when he shoved me into the corner of Slughorn's cupboard and said that I'd replaced him.

I was faithful in Draco. And I had decided that I would also pretend to be a part of the Dark Lord's side. He would assume I would do as such, since I was a Slytherin and well. That man had always expected the Slytherins to be bad since he was.

Despite the comment I overheard Ron Weasley make in our first year about the fact that there wasn't a person in Slytherin who wasn't bad, I knew it wasn't true. We weren't as cunning and courageous as we were always made out to be - many of us were frightened and cowardly, just like Voldemort had made us out to be.

I knew it was risky to pretend that I had a magical bone in my body, but I wasn't giving up. I was doing this for Draco. One way or another, Voldemort would find out that I am a squib and murder me, so it was better to die fighting.

I entered the Potions class, seeing Slughorn nowhere in sight. I caught a glimpse of Muse sitting at our desk and I almost audibly groaned. You see, it wasn't that I disliked Muse. I got along with him well. I just thought that maybe his intentions weren't friendship, and I was loyal to Draco.

"You okay?" A voice sounded in my ears as an arm snaked itself around my waist.

I jumped a little, but I knew who it was instantly. I moved to push myself further into the blonde-haired boy's embrace, loving every second of it. His familiar smell hit my nose - peppermint, perhaps, and some sort of scented shower gel, but I couldn't exactly pinpoint what it was.

"Yes," I replied, softly, "I just... Muse."

I knew he'd understand, and he did, "Want me to kick him out of his seat? I'm fed up of sitting next to Goyle."

I nodded without making a sound, and Draco began to walk forwards. His arm slipped down my side as he pulled away and I followed him silently.

"Hey, Muse?" He called out. I knew that tone - he was trying to be friendly.

"Yeah, uh... Draco, right?" Muse said back. I felt myself cringe as he tried not to make it obvious that he knew who Draco was. That's what annoyed me most about Muse. He often pretended that he was higher than us, especially people like Draco who were well-known throughout the school, in all of the houses and years. But we always knew that Muse would be insignificant compared to him - what, a new boy with barely distinguishable traits? He wasn't even that great looking, especially comparing him with Draco.

I breathed out, and thought: This is exactly why I'm a Slytherin. Even if I'm technically not.

"Would you mind swapping seats with me?"

Muse didn't look very amused. I giggled at my own pun, and the boy glared at me before getting up and plonking himself down next to Goyle.

"You laughed?" Draco questioned as we sat down.

"I just thought of something funny," I informed him with a shrug, "I'm happy now, though. I'm with you."

A few moments of silence passed, and Slughorn still hadn't arrived to class. I didn't care what was holding him up, especially when Draco turned to me and said, "I'd forgotten. I believe I totally forgot to ask you a vitally important question."

I gulped, but nodded.

"Will you be my girlfriend?" He asked, then added, "Again?"

"Of course."