Unexpected Bravery (Draco Malfoy)

Chapter 8

He dragged me around the corner and proceeded to pace in front of the wall three times. He was taking me to the room of requirement. I, along with the other students, believed that the room had been permanently locked or destroyed or something, by umbridge last year. Guess that wasn’t true after all.

We entered and the room had turned itself into something, that could be a living room. Sofas and a coffee table surrounding a lit fireplace. It felt warm and welcoming, contrary to the dark and cold corridors. Draco didn’t say anything as he sat in the couch closest to the fire and looked at me expectantly, waiting for me to do the same.

I should probably run now and never be near him again. I know what he is and any sane Gryffindor, not to mention Weasley, would not risk being alone with a Death Eater or a Malfoy for that matter, but here I am moving towards Draco.

He was wearing his normal attire, an expensive looking suit, but it was creased and didn’t look as presentable as I bet it had this morning when He had but it on. His hair was a mess and the bags under his eyes made mine seem like nothing. I had never seen Draco Malfoy look this broken. 

“I think you need sleep as much as I do, if not more.” I whispered softly as I took a seat beside him. He looked at me, and I could see everything, every emotion swimming in his eyes. Fear and regret filled his clear grey orbs. He looked away and put his walls back up again. “How do you do that?” He asked quietly turning back to study me. “Do what?” I sank into the soft cushioning of the sofa, and I could feel every tense muscle in my body relaxing from the warmth of the fire.

“You make it seem so easy.” he sighed and let his head fall back against the sofa. What did I make seem easy? I don’t feel like anything is easy right now, and if anything Draco only made things seem much harder. “Easy?” I question and let my head rest on his shoulder. There is something really comforting about Draco, and even though I haven’t been able to sleep properly for weeks, I can feel my eyes trying to shut.

Draco doesn’t say anything for a while. He is either thinking, or trying to avoid the question and I can’t keep myself awake anymore. I move a bit, my head still resting on Draco, and when I’m comfortable I stop fighting sleep and let myself drift from reality.

 

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I can feel my senses awakening as I lay completely still, slowly waking from the best sleep I had gotten in almost a week. I can feel My pillow calmly rising and falling and I inhale the smell of aftershave and something I can’t quite pinpoint in my sleepy state of mind. It smells fresh with a bit of a soft edge to it, and it is strangely calming.  

I finally open my eyes and take in my surroundings. I’m still in the room of requirement, so my pillow is probably still Draco. I look up and realize that my head is resting on his chest, along with my hands. Our legs are entangled and instead of sitting up, we are lying on the sofa. 

He looks a bit better, now that he’s gotten some sleep, and he looks a lot more relaxed than he did last night.

He really is quite handsome, the way his normally tamed hair is swept across his forehead and his sharp cheekbones stand out against his pale but flawless skin. His arms are wrapped around me, keeping me in place. It’s quite nice waking up like this. I have never been the kind of person who likes cuddling. I can share a bed with someone when necessary but I prefer my space, so it makes next to no sense that this is the best sleep I’ve gotten in a long time.

“Staring isn’t nice.” Draco's voice startled me and I nearly fell from the sofa. Luckily Draco was quick and tightened his grip around me and pulled me into him, preventing the fall. “Startled are we?” He chuckled at me, as we settled back into our comfortable cuddle. His voice is raspy and he can’t keep his eyes open yet.

“You smell nice,” He let out with a yawn. I’m not sure he’s in complete control over his thoughts yet, but I'm not about to complain. “Do I?” I ask teasingly. I let my head rest on his chest again, almost near his collarbone, and almost immediately I feel his chin rest at the top of my head.

We laid like this for a while. None of us caring about the rest of the world, not caring about life outside of this room. All we had on our minds was this moment.

 

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“Where were you yesterday?” Luna ask as we were walking towards the great hall for dinner. Draco and I had spent all day yesterday, locked up in the room of requirement. Just catching up on sleep and talking. For the first time in a long while, I felt well rested.

“I felt kind of sick, so I just kind of avoided everyone.” I swiftly lied. I feel bad lying to Luna, but I don’t want to start some sort of drama because I’ve been spending time with him. “Ginny said you didn’t show up to any of your classes, and that you weren’t in the dormitories either.” We reach the doors to the great hall, and I stop to look at her before entering. “I walked around the grounds, trying to get some fresh air. I didn’t feel like roaming the dormitories all day.” I quickly added before pushing the door open, and striding towards the gryffindor table, after saying a quick goodbye to Luna.

“Where were you yesterday?” Ginny ask as I sit down at the table. “I felt sick.” I put a couple of potatoes and some chicken on my plate. I’m not feeling particularly hungry, but I have to eat something. “I didn’t realize I hadn’t seen you till lunch and when you didn’t show up to dinner, I realized I hadn’t even seen you that morning.” Ginny turned away from me and started chatting away happily with Marie and Linette, two gryffindor girls in our year, as I rolled my eyes at her. Of course she hadn’t noticed I was missing before dinner. No one probably had.