tick-tock | a drarry tale

IX.

Pansy's words replayed in Draco's head over and over again for the rest of the week, and the week after that.

Pansy was with the Death Eaters, the Dark Lord himself, and they want us to join them. Already?

Draco wiped a hand over his face, sitting in the midst of his clothes.

There was a knock at the door, Pansy entering shortly after.

"You're still packing?" she snickered as she made her way toward him.

"Uh." Draco came back to Earth, looking down at his unpacked clothes. "Yeah."

Pansy shook her head, and took out her wand. She murmured a few words, and everything flew into Draco's bags.

"Why are you doing it the Muggle way?"

"I never noticed I was," he snapped, sitting up.

"Well, the train is leaving soon. And I wanted to make sure everything was okay-"

"Everything isn't okay, Pansy!" Draco whisper-shouted, cutting her off.

"Oh, is this about their proposal?"

"Yes, it is," Draco huffed, grabbing his bags. "Let's just get to the station."

Pansy grabbed his smallest bag and together they made their way through the castle and out to the grounds.

"I thought you would be excited," Pansy mumbled. "Joining them, I mean."

"We're only 5th Years, Pansy. How could they trust us?"

Pansy shrugged, looking forward. "They'll find a way, I'm sure. But we have to give them an answer soon, I'm getting owls nonstop."

"Why are you getting owls and I'm not?" Draco asked as they neared the Hogwarts Express.

Pansy shrugged again. "Maybe not to look suspicious, we are Slytherins after all, we alw-"

"We always look suspicious," Draco mumbled the rest as he gave his bags to the nearest worker.

The man bowed as Draco's bags were given to him and then he vanished into the storage compartment.

"Alright, let's go get our seats," Pansy said, but Draco didn't listen. He looked around the platform for a particular Gryffindor.

Would he even be leaving? Usually him and the Weasel stay behind for holiday break.

As he was losing hope and started to follow Pansy, he saw the boy waiting to get on board a few meters down.

"You go ahead," he said to Pansy, and left her in the dust. "Potter," he addressed him quietly.

He looked around them, Potter's friends were no where in sight. Harry turned at the sound of his name and saw Draco. He smiled at him, causing both of their stomachs to flip.

Over the last few weeks, when Draco had been ignoring Pansy's proposal, him and Potter had been growing closer. They went on a few more "dates", which just involved them sneaking around under his invisibility cloak. They were growing closer, and Draco liked it.

The whole train ride back was uneventful. Draco didn't see Harry even once. He didn't get a chance to say goodbye.

Now, he must face his father. Face the questioning, face the proposal. Unless Pansy had been joking all along, but that's probably not the case. They must be growing impatient...

"See you," Pansy waved slyly as they were getting off the train.

Draco knew fairly well that he would be seeing her a lot over break, and not just for a friendly visit. He took his bags that were set out and looked around at all the unfamiliar faces.