midnight of the masquerade | d. malfoy

sixteen ; spilling secrets

Draco

I was waiting for Blanchard in a small booth at the back of The Three Broomsticks. I was about to bail as I kept thinking to myself if she ditched me, when a braided and snow-covered Slytherin came in through the door.

She brushes off clumps of white snow off her and takes a glance around the room, when she finally catches my eyes. Blanchard grows a smile and gives me a small wave, I return her with a grin.

She slumps herself next to me and instantly asks something while taking off her brown leather jacket, revealing a pink knit sweater. "Why do you always do that?"

"Do what?" I ask still grinning.

"That. Right now. You always smirk."

I shrug, "It runs in the family," I stretch my arms out and place my hands behind my head causing me to lean on them.

"Or is it just a Draco Malfoy thing?" She says intriguing me.

I manage a snort and move up in the seat.

"So..." She says with one eyebrow raised. "I didn't just come here for no reason. What's the first thing you want to know?"

I release myself from my position and lean in closer. Questions start to form in my head, but I decided to play it safe in the beginning. "What do your parents do for a living?"

The question surprises her more than expected. "Well. They're both Aurors. Or I guess were." She exhales deeply and slouched her shoulders, "My mum died from a mission. I was only at Hogwarts for the first year when I heard the news. Apparently she was killed by death eaters. My dad tried to save her but they just made him watch."

The calmness in her voice almost frightens me, as if she'd had to tell the stories many times before that instead of it being a memory, it was a rehearsed line.

"Blanchard you don't have to-" But before I could continue, she did.

"My mum always wore her iconic black leather jacket, black pants, and the brightest silver boots. When I grow up, I'll be an Auror."

I leaned in inches from her, and let out a sigh. "You didn't have to say all that."

She started to laugh; it was quiet and soft. "Well you wanted to know more about me didn't you?" Her kind eyes looked up at me.

I gave out a smile and moved back a bit. "I guess."

"Now it's my turn." She says lifting her shoulders.

"What?"

"You didn't think you can just keep asking me personal questions while you stay in the dark, did you?" She tries to imitate my smirk and does it well.

"Fine." I pout jokingly, making her chuckle.

"What are you going to do when you're asked to become a Death Eater?"

My eyes widened, "How do y-"

"Oh come on. Your family is one of the most famous death eater families out there. You can't expect yourself to not join."

"If I did... Would you kill me?" I say using my smirk as an advantage.

She responds with a smile of her own, "We can make an exception."

I start staring deeply at her eyes, when I make my way closer. I lean in and I can barely feel the warmth of her nervous breath.

She pulls away and I'm not so much disappointed. I guess it was too fast, even for myself. She rubs her arm before looking at me again, "Sorry. I'm just not ready for that." She didn't say it insultingly, and so I understood.

"Don't worry. I wasn't planning on it, but something came over me."

We eventually shrug it off and start talking again. The questions began to become lighter and easier to answer. Apparently her favourite colour is specifically sky blue. Her favourite subject is Transfiguration, and her ancestor is Godric Gryffindor. Didn't get too into detail with that last one, although I wanted to.

"-and then I accidentally turned him into a hare!" Blanchard continued her story of her 'incident' with Seamus Finnigan in class.

I had to laugh at that. Not only because it was on a Gryffindor. Maybe it was.

We were interrupted by the bell at the door. A frozen looking Granger burst in and ran towards us and soon as she saw Blanchard. "Alana! Come with me. Something important is happening." She tried to whisper, hoping that I wouldn't hear. But I heard it all.

"What is it?"

"No time for questions. You'll figure out when we get there." Granger grabs on her arm, nearly making her fall on her face.

But before Blanchard leaves, she turns to me. "Thanks for the time Malfoy. I'll see you at practise!" She held the last word longer as she was dragged out before she could finish sincerely.

I leaned back on the booth and smiled. She was easy to talk to, understanding, funny, and beautiful. Get it together Malfoy. You can't fall for her. But then there's that stupid voice in the back of my head that's always right.