The One

Don't Let Her In

Draco's POV:

I watched her dash down the stairs angrily and my heart turned with an unsettling hopelessness. She had no idea how about the real story, and she wouldn't even let me explain. It made me so angry that I couldn't help but sneering at her back as she exited the shop. She couldn't be angry with me if she didn't let me speak! Well if we weren't friends anymore, than it was no longer my fault. My thoughts were interrupted by a hand on my shoulder. I knew that firm grasp very well.
   "Why are you talking to that filthy little mudblood again? You know that you're not supposed to, or there will be consequences, Draco. " His pale eyes, so much like mine, held my gaze sternly. I avoided his look and my gaze sunk down to my feet. I couldn't meet the disappointment in his eyes, especially since my cheeks were already burning with shame. I knew very well what Father thought about mudbloods. But Sally, wasn't like the mudbloods he described. Father, of course, couldn't know that.
   "Yes, father." I mumbled. He scoffed in reply and walked down the stairs, so I followed him.
   "Have you met any other Hogwarts students yet?" He asked as we pushed our way through the mass of people, his long blond hair stark in contrast to the other wizards in the room.       "Purebloods?"
   "I met a boy at Madam Malkin's who seemed nice. He had rather old clothes and was very quiet, but he said that his parents where wizards."
   "What was his name? Perhaps I know these parents of his." My father asked, his voice lighter in tone now. He seemed satisfied that I had gotten to know someone of a good lineage. It made my heart lighten slightly.
   "I don't know. I was finished before he could answer. But his parents are dead, so you probably don't know them." I answered meekly after glaring at a red-haired boy who had walked right into me as we made our way down Diagon Alley.
   "I used to know a lot of dead people, Draco." My father said beside me, his grey eyes once again pinned on mine. I gulped and looked away into the road filled with witches and wizards.

Dinner that night was unusually quiet. I picked my food with my fork, not really very hungry after the encounter from earlier in the day. My heart was as filled with as much guilt, anger and regret an eleven year-old could feel, and both my parents seemed deep in thought as well. Dinner at home often included large discussions between my parents about purebloods and muggleborns... Or mudbloods, as I was supposed to call them. It just didn't sound quite right in my head, not when I thought of Sally. Up until I met her I hated them, like my Father did, but she phad proved everything Father ever said about mudbloods wrong. She wasn't stupid, daft and incompetent, on the contrary, she was just as good at magic as I was.
My mother didn't like mudbloods either, but she didn't hate them, not like Father. She was always quite quiet when the subject came up actually. Maybe it was because she wanted to avoid upsetting Father. Maybe she too was a little bit afraid when he got angry. Well, who wasn't? He could be a very scary man. He'd never laid a hand on me like I'd seen Blaise's father do, but the anger and disappointment in his eyes was scary enough. Still, he cared about me and he had always made sure to educate me to be like the man he is. That's why I tried to listen to him when it came to Sally. I really didn't get why I shouldn't be allowed to be with her though. As I've said, she wasn't like the other mudbloods. But every time I told Father that, he just discarded me and said that they were all the same, it was in their blood. But the thing is, if I didn't have Sally, then I had no one but Blaise, Crabbe and Goyle left. Crabbe and Goyle were complete dummies the both of them, but they were big and strong, so they were good to have at hand. Blaise was smart like me, and we could have fun together, but it was never like with Sally. With her I could be myself, I could laugh and have fun without being told to straighten my back and to shut up all the time. Besides, as I'd said before, if I would have to marry someone when I got older, it would have to be her. She was the only girl I knew who I wasn't disgusted by. Speaking of marriage, I'd noticed the necklace around her neck earlier that day.