Enchanted By The Thought

TWENTY FIVE: UNCOVERING THE SNAKE

I'm selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best.

With Christmas around the corner, everyone was busy with their preparations. But Beth couldn't find a single happy thought in her; Draco's dismissal had hurt her far more than she was willing to admit. Had she done something wrong or had he figured out that she wasn't what he'd hoped? She spoke to no one of her situations with Draco and knew her friends were getting suspicious of her lack of activity. But she always dodged their questions, not wanting to explain what had happened.

"Beth, you can't keep avoiding us forever, you know." Maggie told her as they all laid on their beds, getting ready for the weekend. Her Potions grade had gone up and now she didn't need Draco's tutoring sessions anymore. She was pretty sure that if she saw his face, she would end up crying. She'd done a good job at avoiding him and it wasn't really difficult.

Draco had seemed to be avoiding her too and she'd even noticed how he'd walked the opposite way just to avoid her. It stung, deeply, but she didn't know what she'd done. "I know." She answered, putting her hands under her head. "I just want to avoid it for now."

Kat sat on the edge of her bed, scowling. "What happened? You haven't spoken a word about Draco lately. You two in a fight?" Beth could sense the hopefulness in her friend's tone and she sat up, glaring.

"Why? Hoping to snatch him?" She answered rudely and Kat looked shocked.

"No, I wouldn't get with weasel if the world depended on it." She replied just as rudely and shot a look to Maggie, who glanced away guiltily.

Beth crossed her legs, sighing. "I don't know what his deal is. I feel like he's finally figured out that I'm not good enough and he's moved on." She muttered.

Kat bit her lip, thinking. "Maybe it's not even you." She answered, trying to be helpful. "Maybe he just has bigger things to focus on, you know?"

Beth shrugged, picking at her blanket. "Yeah. I guess." She mumbled quietly.

Maggie joined her friends and she sat next to Kat, watching Beth sadly. "Draco doesn't deserve you, Beth. You deserve better than that asshole."

"I love him." Beth whispered, looking up at them. "I love him more than I love Harry."

At her words, her friends drew away, their eyes wide. She waited for their rejection, the same rejection her brother had given her. "You've already lost Harry because of it, are you willing to lose more?" Maggie questioned and at her words, Beth felt a pang of loneliness. Her twin had also been avoiding her, unable to look her in the face. He'd cut her off from him and even his emotions seemed to be faint, guarded.

"You guys accepted it, Harry should've been able to. I mean, Draco's not even that bad. Sure, he's tormented those who aren't his friends but that's about it. He hasn't killed anyone.  He hasn't hurt anyone."

Kat looked ready to explode and she opened her mouth but a glance from Maggie had her shutting up. She gritted her teeth and looked away from Beth to calm herself down. "You don't know him." Kat hissed in a low voice, her eyes full of anger. "You have no idea, no clue and yet you're still defending him. He really doesn't deserve you and I really hope that you'll figure that out soon because it's killing me, keeping this from you."

Beth's eyebrows drew together and she looked at Maggie, who was staring at the blanket. "What do you mean?" She asked, feeling like she was walking on the edge of a cliff and was about a second from falling over the edge. "Katherine, what's that supposed to mean?"

Kat flared up, opening her mouth but Maggie beat her to it. "Draco was the one who took my virginity."

~

Maggie explained how she'd had a summer fling with him. "I fell in love with him." Maggie admitted, her cheeks flushing. "He was different when he wasn't around his friends or around his parents. There was a new side to him, one that he kept hidden from prying eyes. I felt so privileged to see that part of him, you know? He bought me flowers, bought me cute, small presents. Like this necklace." Her hand lifted to her throat, where a small golden chain peeked out from her collar. "He didn't like call me his girlfriend but we were kind of dating."

Beth's chest felt like it was being stabbed over and over with every word from Maggie. Her world felt like it was tipping upside down and she had no control of it. But she listened to her friend's story, knowing that it was probably the first time Maggie was talking about it. "I couldn't believe it, not at first. I mean, Draco Malfoy was actually decent. He invited me over to his house for dinner and he wanted me to meet his parents. When we got there, Narcissa and Lucius were delighted to meet me but instead of introducing me as Maggie Brownhill, he introduced me as a distant cousin of the Gaunts. It was then I realized that Draco may have loved me but he didn't love me as much as I had loved him. It was a painful wakeup call and Draco practically told his parents a bunch of lies about me. They liked me but only because I was a pureblood, you know the Gaunts inbred to keep their line pure. After dinner, I wanted to go home and I was preparing a speech about how I couldn't see Draco anymore but then he showed me his house; he has his own wing, did you know that? Then things lead to other things and yeah. I thought that perhaps he loved me but then Blaise arrived the next day and Draco practically threw everything back in my face. So I left and I've never given him a second thought."

Beth sat on the bed, her legs crossed, her heart shattering for her friend. Despite the story and how she knew that she should be comforting her friend, her selfish thoughts got in her way. "You don't love him anymore, do you?"

Maggie scoffed and rolled her eyes. "My love for him is dead and buried. Don't worry Beth, I'm not competition. Collin is the only one I love. Draco doesn't mean a thing to me." She shrugged. "I'm sorry I kept it from you guys, I just was embarrassed to think he was different."

Beth was jealous. She was beyond jealous. Draco had done the horizontal tango with her best friend but he'd rejected her. What was the difference between them? She knew she was more prettier than Maggie and knew that her body figure was more alluring- her mind instant backpedaled. She felt guilt bloom in her chest and she felt terrible for thinking such shallow thoughts. Maggie was a beautiful individual and she knew that Maggie was just as attractive as her friends. Draco had managed to twist her into someone she wasn't. Was this how Pansy thought? She shuddered. "Maggie, it's fine. I never pressured you because I wanted you to tell us when you were ready. Is that why Kat was so intent on keeping me away? Because you guys were afraid that Draco would hurt me like he'd hurt Maggie?" She asked.

Kat looked torn and sent Maggie a helpless look. "I can't." Maggie whispered and shook her head. "You tell her."

"I can't speak a word about it." Kat snapped back. "You know what'll happen if I do. Just tell her, for her sake and for ours."

Beth glanced back and forth, dread pooling in the pit of her belly. "Tell me what?" She answered.

Kat opened her mouth but once again, Maggie beat her to it. "Draco has a mission and he has to kill Dumbledore."

Beth sat there in shock, allowing the words to run through her mind. "H-how do... how?" She dumbly asked.

"Draco told Kat and his friends and then make then do the Unbreakable Vow so they can't speak a word of it. I only found out because I overheard Draco talking to Kat and Blaise in the library. Don't tell anyone, Kat's life is on the line. Otherwise, I would've told someone." Maggie rushed and Kat looked annoyed but grateful. Beth felt like there was something off, something else that they weren't telling her but she didn't question them. Perhaps it was the insecure part of her, the part that Draco had created. There were so many secrets hidden around him, she was unsure of what to believe. Maybe he'd been lying to her this whole time; maybe he didn't love her at all. What if she was just a game to him? Next time she caught him alone, she'd corner him and confront him.

The thing about this was that despite all that had been revealed about Draco, she still loved him.