[1] Gasoline ✗ Draco Malfoy

seventeen

Chapter Seventeen;

"Seohyun, can I talk to you?"

If there was one thing Seohyun hadn't expected to happen to her as she studied in the library, it was to have none other than the rumoured Chosen One, Harry Potter himself, approach her while her head was still buried in her textbook. She was so shocked by his appearance that she jumped high into the air, almost overturning her bottle of ink in the process.

"Harry," she spluttered, as he sat beside her. Obviously, she was going to have to talk to him whether she liked it or not. "Of course. Whatever do you need?"

Since they had nothing but one thing in common – an interest in a certain blonde-haired Slytherin – Seohyun already had a sinking suspicion as to as to what he wanted to talk to her about.

Harry rested his elbows on the table and leaned in closer. "Malfoy. What's he up to?"

Seohyun groaned inwardly. At least he's not here to berate me over being friends with Draco.

"And why should I tell you?" she asked conversely, flipping over a page in her textbook.

"He's up to something, Seohyun, in the Room of Requirement! I don't know what it is and you're the only person I can think of who might actually know what is going on in there -"

"What about his friends – Blaise, Pansy, Crabbe, Goyle? Surely I'm not the only person you can think to approach to interrogate about wherever Draco goes in the Room."

Harry rolled his eyes. "I'm the last person those four would talk to about what Draco's up to, Seohyun."

"I don't know. Crabbe and Goyle look stupid enough to trick into telling you."

Harry's hands suddenly clenched into fists.

"Seohyun, come on!" he exclaimed, in the loudest voice he dared use in the library. Even still, Madam Pince's beady eyes appeared from behind a bookshelf, narrowed in disapproval at Harry's raised voice.

Harry steeled himself with a large inhalation of breath and when he continued, his words were just as forceful, only in a quieter tone that Seohyun had to lean in to hear him.

"Seohyun, you can't joke around here. Malfoy's a Death Eater, and I need to know where he goes and what he's up to so I can tell Dumbledore – I don't know what he could have brainwashed you with, but you need to consider –"

Seohyun's grip around her quill tightened until she nearly snapped it in two.

"Harry!" she hissed from between clenched teeth, her voice deadly calm – more terrifying than if she yelled. It was the calm before the storm. "Shut. Up."

Seohyun was shaking. She could have tolerated any slander over her established friendship with Draco – apart from being accused of being brainwashed. She had to place her quill down on the table, she was so afraid of snapping its fragile form.

Never before had she been so infuriated over anything said to her. Brainwashed?

Seohyun turned and right then, she couldn't care if Harry was the Chosen One – if he had already killed You-Know-Who, it couldn't have been any less important. She glowered at him and had to fight to keep her grip away from her wand.

"I am not brainwashed," she said calmly, resisting every urge to yell. "Do I look brainwashed to you, Harry Potter? I can assure you, even though I do not speak perfect English or do not grasp a complete understanding of Hogwarts culture, I am not brainwashed. Do I look like a Death Eater to you? My father was brought here to help in an international agreement to defeat You-Know-Who! If Draco was a serious threat to us, no doubt I would have reported it at once.

"Instead, you have only once again proven to me how arrogant Gryffindors can be. I do not claim to be perfect, but what I can say is that I have bothered to understand Draco. And if you did too, then you might be able to look past your ongoing hatred of each other and work together!

"So, no. Even if I did know what Draco was up to, I would not tell you, because of the way you just accused me and him. Goodbye, Harry Potter. I hope our next conversation is much more pleasant than this one."

And with that, Seohyun snapped her textbook closed and stormed out of the library, leaving a flabbergasted Harry Potter behind her.

Seohyun vented as she stormed down the corridor, the open stares of other students passing completely over her head. She didn't even notice them – everything was a blur, apart from her own two feet hitting the ground with a fierce passion.

"Seohyun, hey! Stop."

Someone stood directly in her path, warm hands resting on her shoulders. They were familiar – Seohyun couldn't explain how she knew it was Draco who stopped her before she looked up, and found his grey eyes gazing upon her with concern.

"Easy there, Park. Calm down – you're like a Bludger, knocking people down all across Hogwarts." He surveyed her quickly. "What happened?"

He cast a glance around and, noticing that nearly everyone nearby was staring, led her into a nearby empty classroom. The door closed softly behind them.

Seohyun didn't know if it was because his cool eyes were such a relaxing shade that she began to calm down, but as soon as she saw him, her body began to lose all its tension.

"It's Harry," she muttered, and quickly retold him what had happened.

Draco flinched as Seohyun recounted her tale, his whole body going stiff. When she finished, he didn't speak for several moments. He even looked a little uncomfortable.

"Why didn't you tell him?" he muttered. "What I am. I am a threat, Seohyun, the biggest threat walking in this castle."

"I know that, Draco," she sighed. She raised an eyebrow. "Are you saying I should have told him?"

"I don't know." He closed his eyes. "I'm – I'm really grateful you didn't, though."

Seohyun bit her lip, bemused by his response.

"I didn't tell him," she said lowly, "because even though you're roped into whatever task you need to do, it's not of your own free will. And I understand the consequences if things go even remotely out of hand." She took his hand. "Draco, I might have just made a mistake there. Maybe it would be better if everyone knew – maybe that way would be the only way to get the others to listen to you. But I also remember that I made you a promise, Draco Malfoy, and I'm not going to betray you so easily." She smiled. "I'm on your side."

He stared at her, speechless. Then he did something that made Seohyun's entire body freeze and left her unable to function and unable to think, because everything in her body was devoted to attempting to understand what exactly was going on.

Draco Malfoy had embraced her, and held her so tightly it was like she was his lifeline. Stunned, it was several moments later before Seohyun reciprocated the gesture with shaking arms.

And they stood there in the darkness of the unused classroom, simply holding on to one another, leaving Seohyun breathless and confused and nervous and exhilarated, all at once.