A Heavenly Betrayal (Draco Malfoy Love Story)

Senseless

Maria started the week off happily. She was beginning to consider writing to her parents about Draco but every time, decided against it. She doubted they knew who the Malfoys were, but if she told them, they would surely do a bit of research and find... well, not too pleasant information. They would only worry about her and that was not something she wished for her family. She was fine; she could handle herself very well – thanks to the DA - even in these dark times… and even with a supposed life-threatening ‘Death Eater’.

Draco was, for one of the first times in a while, happy too. He didn’t regret telling Maria about his troubling past, and he was even more thankful that she took it relatively well. Whether he was ready to admit it or not, Draco needed her, and not only because he was madly in love with her, but because he basically owed her his sanity. She was the only thing that made sense to him anymore when his life was a huge blur. What with his awkward, distorted past and present, it was nice to have a piece of sanity by his side. If it hadn’t been for her, he would probably have lost his mind and ended up Merlin knows where.

Thus the week passed, but Wednesday afternoon hosted an unforeseen event. Hermione was walking in a corridor, accompanied by Harry and Ron as always. She was in front of them and Ron was talking about the ‘T’ he had gotten on his last potions essay. When she heard that he had mistaken Draught of Living Death for Draught of the Living Dead, she turned her head back to utter spitefully:

"Honestly Ron, you’ve got to start using your head."

At that precise moment of inattention, someone who had been passing by collided with her shoulder, sending all of her books tumbling onto the floor. Under the glares of Harry and Ron, the blond boy helped Hermione pick up her books and apologized politely… which was a first. Hermione tried to act diplomatically, but others were more obstinate.

"Slimy old git," Ron spat rudely, with the approval of Harry.

He then added "Come on." and turned around sharply, dragging Harry along by the elbow. He threw one last dirty look to Draco before looking at Hermione, expecting her to follow too.

"I’ll see you guys in a minute," she spoke quickly as an answer to Ron’s glare.

Draco lifted both eyebrows in surprise; so did Ron and Harry.

"But -" Ron started protesting.

"I said I’ll be just a minute, Ronald," she repeated forcefully.

The duo finally gave in, rolling their eyes in incomprehension, and strolled away, leaving Hermione alone in the corridor with Draco as he too seriously considered walking away. Suddenly, Hermione seemed somewhat nervous and uncomfortable; she didn’t quite know how to act. Usually, when she crossed him, it ended with insults such as ‘filthy mudblood’ or ‘foul loathsome evil little cockroach’. Taking a deep breath, she tried tentatively:

"Listen, Maria’s a good friend of mine, and I just wanted to make sure she was okay."

Draco shot her a wary look. He didn’t like the way Hermione’s question suggested something was wrong, or that her friend was unhappy. This only reminded him how ‘unfit’ he was for Maria. Of how dangerous he was for her... of how broken he’d be without her. Not that he would ever admit that last detail out loud; he was a Slytherin after all, true to his pride.