dear draco,

twenty-five

"I said," Neville says quickly, looking desperately from Alecto to me and back again, "I said, when – when I broke the glass-"

Alecto creeps towards me like an animal stalking its prey. "I thought you were being quiet today, Princess."

"So what?" I mutter.

"So what? You decided to sit back and let your little friends take the blame for your actions, did you?"

"That's not true," interrupts Neville again. "She would have stepped forward if we had let her-"

"What're you going to do?" I ask Alecto. "Expel me? Or try to make me perform the Cruciatus Curse on some innocent children, which would you prefer?"

Deathly close to me, she grins into my face, revealing pointed yellow teeth. "I won't send you off to the oaf Hagrid with the rest of your friends, that's for sure," she sneers.

"He's not an oaf," I say huffily. I'm horribly aware of the entire class on the edge of their seats, listening in. "Do what you want, I couldn't care less."

Alecto sighs dramatically. Her breath reeks. "I had higher hopes for you at the start of the year Young, given how your father went down-"

I stare daggers at her. "Don't bring my dad into this."

"Why not? Because he knew that muggles are scum and you don't?"

"Because he's dead."

Alecto doesn't flinch. I hear Draco take a breath. "Turns out you're just as arrogant and self-righteous as Longbottom here," says Alecto, gesturing carelessly towards Neville, who clenches his fists. "Clearly your father didn't raise you right, Young."

"You didn't even know him."

"Well it's obvious, if you're friends with someone like Longbottom. Your father clearly slipped up somewhere. Or is there Muggle blood on your mother's side? Is that it?"

"Why does it bother you so much?" I ask angrily.

"Oh, I can just tell who has Muggle blood," replies Alecto airily. She taps the side of her head. "Affects them up here."

"Oh yeah?" says Neville, clearly unable to contain himself any longer. "How much Muggle blood have you and your brother got, then?"

With a loud whip and several yells of protest, Alecto slashes through the air with her wand, and suddenly, blood is gushing from Neville's left cheek. He groans and slumps forward, clutching it, and I realise I have leapt up, my chair has clattered to the ground, and my wand is in my hand.

"What are you going to do, Princess?" Alecto asks, her chest heaving. "Fight me?" She stares at Neville, fire in her eyes. "Get out!" she yells suddenly, not even turning to the rest of the room. "Class dismissed! Leave! Longbottom stays!"

Everyone leaps to their feet, impatient to leave Alecto in her rage. "Are you joking?" I ask, pushing through people to get to her. "Look at what you've done to him! He needs to go to the hospital wing."

Alecto jabs her wand into my chest. "Leave, Young," she growls, "or you'll need to go to the hospital wing."

I can feel Draco's eyes on me all the way out of the classroom, until we reach the door and he is forced to step in front of me. As the class file quickly out of the small room and the crowd disperses, he whirls around to face me.

"What the hell was that?" His pale cheeks are flushed with anger, his knuckles white. When I can only stare at him, he goes on; "You know how cruel the Carrows are, but you still insist on winding the two of them up. Are you crazy?"

I blink, still trying to register Alecto's outburst. "You- you're angry at me? Did you even hear any of the things she said?"

"I'm angry because you can't take any criticism, because you always feel the need to retaliate!" He impatiently pushes away hair that has fallen into his eyes. "If you could just sit there and take it like a normal person, and not be so defensive all the time-"

"Defensive?" I say incredulously. "And criticism? Is that what you call it? That was verbal abuse in there, I had every right to defend myself!"

"You're putting yourself into danger," says Draco irritably. "They wouldn't pick on you so much if you didn't have to be so – so brave about everything."

"Oh, what do you know?" I say, glaring at him. I glance back at the door, anxious for Neville to come out so I know he's okay. "I'll bet you're best friends with the Carrows-"

"Exactly," says Draco, stepping closer to me. "I know them, and I know what they're capable of. They were there that night, on the Astronomy Tower. You don't get it, they're ruthless. They could kill you-"

I scoff. "She wouldn't have killed me back there, don't be ridiculous. Remind me why you care?"

Draco steps away immediately. "I don't care, obviously. But if your new boyfriend could do a better job at protecting you, I wouldn't have to intervene."

"My new-" I start. "Do you mean Neville? Wait, are you jealous of Neville?" Draco's face drops, and I go on. "Neville, someone you've bullied since literally day one! I don't believe it, he's going to be so happy when I tell him-"

"Don't flatter yourself, or Longbottom," he cuts in, his voice icy. "It's my responsibility to see that the Carrows stay here, and if some idiot messes that up for me, there'll be trouble."

My throat goes dry. Maybe I was wrong. "Well, I'm not your responsibility," I reply evenly, leaning against Alecto's door. "So don't tell me what to do."

Draco glares at me. "You're impossible," he says harshly. "Listen, Be- Young. I know it must have been hard, getting over your father's death. But you can't take out your anger on people as dangerous as the-"

Draco falters at the expression on my face. "Getting over his death?" I say slowly, incredulously. Suddenly, I have no desire to restrain the rage that has been collecting inside me. "Are you serious? Your dad was in Azkaban for a while, Malfoy. Which I'm sure must have been hard on both him and you, and I'm sorry it happened. My dad is dead. He's gone forever, and I'm never going to see him again. I'm not going to 'get over' that, I'm just going to learn how to cope with it." A tear leaks down my cheek and I brush it away, embarrassed. "You and I have barely spoken in the past year, so don't pretend you know what's going on in my life. You don't anymore."

Draco's face has completely paled. "That's not what I meant."

"Oh, really?"

"What I mean is, you need to stay out of trouble. And stop making it, too."

"And what I mean is, stop telling me what to do."

Draco's jaw is clenched. "You just – you really don't get it, do you?"

I cross my arms tight. "Don't get what?"

"Forget it." He shoves a hand through his hair. "Just forget I ever said anything."

The door behind me opens and I stumble backwards, turning around to face Neville. The gash on his cheek is still bleeding and he looks utterly miserable. I take his hand in mine in a futile attempt to console him. By the time I turn back around, Draco has disappeared.