Nyctophilia ➳ Draco x Reader

XVIII;

WORD ALWAYS GOT AROUND HOGWARTS. That was a fact that you couldn't avoid, even if you tried. For some people, such as Harry Potter, this was a very bad thing. For others, it would be very rewarding. However, Draco Malfoy couldn't decide if the talk among the students was actually benefiting him or not.

Yes, now the students were talking about the Malfoy boy and the Phoenix girl even more than they were before. Many theories were floating around, one of them was that they broke up their relationship after the argument at lunch that day. Another rumor said Phoenix broke Draco's heart and the Hagrid situation was revenge. The students of Hogwarts weren't that creative nor observant.

But those rumors all have one thing in common: they believe that Draco Malfoy and (Y/N) Phoenix are or were somehow romantically involved with each other. It was just like how it was only a few days before. With all the talk fired up again, Phoenix was undoubtedly avoiding Draco- for more reasons than one- again.

Don't get him wrong, Draco loved the attention from everyone. However, was it rewarding if he didn't have Phoenix's attention?

He is Draco Malfoy. Nobody- not even a prat like (Y/N) Phoenix should ignore him. Draco isn't the person people ignore- he's the person people admire, fear, and adore.

Now he couldn't stop thinking of that audacity of hers. It was just like first year again, when Harry Potter denied his handshake. How dare he? And how dare her?

Draco wasn't going to let this girl slip out this easy, no- he absolutely will not face that sort of humiliation again. It was not in a Malfoy's nature to be disrespected like that... For she is not greater than him, and he will not let her think so. Her ending their argument by claiming he was pathetic was the last line she will cross, and now it is Draco's turn to fight fire with fire.

And this feud would only begin with their regularly scheduled lesson in Potions.

The silence in the class was currently the most deafening sound in the world. All that was heard was the flipping of the book pages and the occasional scratching of a quill on parchment. Nobody dared to utter a word in Professor Snape's classroom- not even the favored Slytherins.

However, Draco couldn't focus when a certain girl across from him seemed to be... stuck. While the rest of the students have moved on a whole chapter, she hadn't flipped a single page since class started. It was a rather odd sight, since she hadn't moved her eyes away from the pages yet her parchment was completely blank. She seemed to be in deep concentration, with the quill ready to write in her hand and her brows furrowed. But still, the rest of the class was way ahead of her. Draco included, who actually finished the assigned pages a while ago and was now studying her.

He observed her lips pressing together, something he noticed she did when she was frustrated or upset. Draco raised a brow, confused on why she wasn't advancing to the other chapter of the Potions book. For him, it was quite easy. After all, term just started and usually the work beginning term wasn't too hard. She shouldn't be struggling at all.

Soon Professor Snape finally stood up from his desk, alerting everyone's attention. Especially those who were struggling from trying to not fall asleep- they were quite awake now. In his boring voice, like always, he informed the class of the potion they were making today. Draco didn't listen much to the lecture, but of course he was quite excited to finally brew something up after such a long and exhausting break.