A Heavenly Betrayal (Draco Malfoy Love Story)

The Exception

It was incredible how much the atmosphere inside Hogwarts had changed since last year. Not only because the OWLs and their stress were behind them, but because of the departure of a certain Professor Umbridge. Everything was back to normal now; the year of rebellion was well behind them. Harry was captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team and Dumbledore, the rightful Headmaster. The only memories of her passing left were the white scars on the back of every DA member’s hand: ‘I must not tell lies.’ Their new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Slughorn, was not the most interesting teacher but at least he was competent, unlike most of their previous ones. Being naturally gifted in that subject, Harry was his new ‘pet’. He also seemed to like everybody in the DA, since they weren’t rookies at it either. He would constantly award their houses points, leaving Slytherin seriously behind in the race for the House Cup. They were also behind concerning the Quidditch Cup. Two weeks ago, Gryffindor had beaten them quite easily. To nobody‘s surprise, the Slytherin seeker had been mysteriously absent. His replacement had been pretty poor; many thought he had never even caught a single glimpse of the Snitch.

Next week, it would be Hufflepuff against Ravenclaw. Davies, their captain, was already going crazy. It was his last year at Hogwarts, and he wanted to win the cup with all of his might. Today was their last practice before the match, and Davies made an incredibly long speech about everything from team spirit to trusting your broom. Seeing that he didn’t stop, the team thought it best to shut him down and just get on with the practice. Throughout the hour, he continually fumbled with the Quaffle, missing the hoops. Bradley, one of the other chasers, kept stealing the Quaffle right under his nose, and Maria’s partner would send Bludgers flying in his direction. Soon, the whole team starting picking on their captain and it turned into a sort of game. Davies, getting the message, started playing acceptably. But as the team didn’t stop harassing him, he had no choice but to surpass himself. Even the seeker, Cho, stopped looking for the Snitch to help bother Davies. The whole team was playing against him, yet Roger still managed to score a few goals. He called the practice off unusually early under the excuse of ‘keeping energy for the game’. Starving, Maria ran off to the Great Hall after a quick shower. 

On her way in, Hermione spotted her and, for once, she was the one to come to her. 

"I’ve told Ron and Harry about… you know," said Hermione. "I hope it’s okay."

"Yeah of course, so what did they think?"

"Well, you know them. They weren’t surprised at all." She frowned at the memory. "They even seemed glad, now that there’s proof." 

"Potential proof, Hermione. We’re not sure yet."

"I know, but there’s something else that happened way earlier this year. At first, I didn’t think it meant anything, but now, I think it says a lot." 

"What’s that?" Maria asked, her heart beating slightly faster.

"Well, in the Hogwarts Express, right before getting off, Harry was looking for me and Ron – we had to escort the first years - but instead he found Malfoy talking to Crabbe, Goyle and Pansy Parkinson in a dark compartment. Harry then stupidly put on his invisibility cloak and went in. Although Malfoy seemed frightened, the others were impressed by whatever he had been saying. Harry understood that it had something to do with You-Know-Who, but when Malfoy was asked for further explanations, he refused to answer. By that time, the train was almost empty and only Malfoy and Harry were left in the compartment. Harry made some noise, Malfoy heard him: he body-binded Harry and the cloak fell off. He kicked him in the face and put the cloak back on. If I weren’t for Tonks, Harry would’ve gone all the way back to King’s Cross." 

"It does, indeed, make sense." 

Maria was frowning. She did not like what she had just heard; it made everything seem more real. It also outraged her that Malfoy had done such a thing when he had willingly protected her earlier this year. But then again, Malfoy did hate Potter. Or did he just have something to hide?

"So, if anything else comes up, could you please tell us? Ron, Harry and me?" Hermione pleaded.

"Yeah. Same here."

"Alright. And thank you for your help."

Maria grunted something like ‘no problem’, still thinking.

"See you around."

Hermione waved and left the Great Hall, leaving Maria to her thoughts. Everything fitted perfectly together, except for one thing: Malfoy’s change of character. She had always thought that being part of the Dark Lord’s privileged club would have pleased him. Why was Malfoy not bursting with joy and ego? There were many possible answers to this question. She thought that the two most likely to be true were that it either wasn’t what he had expected or that he was forced to by none other than his father. It was impossible to know which was right without talking to him. She doubted anyone else knew, for Hermione had told her that he didn’t even mention it to his fan club – Crabbe, Goyle and Pansy. She secretly hoped that her second guess was right, because it would mean that Malfoy wasn’t bad or dangerous after all, just a show-off. On the other hand, her first guess meant that he willingly joined, even if he didn’t know what it was all about. 

She silently ate her dinner, half-listening to Cho’s blabber. Something was wrong with her; before, she would have laughed at Malfoy’s state and said ‘Good for him, the sissy got what he deserved.’ But somehow, now he didn’t seem so much of a sissy anymore. It felt as though she had a rock in her stomach, but she didn’t stop eating for she didn’t want to draw negative attention. She didn’t only pity the Slytherin, she was also wishing he had crossed paths a long time ago and tried imagining what it would have been like. ‘Would we have been civil to each other? What would he have been like, freed from his father’s grip? Is he truly arrogant, or just for the sake of his last name? Would Harry have avoided a broken nose? Maybe he would have joined the DA, and we would have spent time together…’ Although she always denied it – even to herself – she, for some unfathomable and completely ridiculous reason, enjoyed his company, but only when there was nobody else to impress or to insult. His family was definitely deranged, but what if he was the exception?