Harry Potter And The Imaginary Cringe

Draco Malfoy x Reader

Words of comfort

It was a regular Thursday evening. The Great Hall was filled with children excitedly talking to each other, fusing into one big buzzing sound. On regular days this sound felt nice, comforting even. But you've had a raging headache since the early hours of the day, which only seemed to get worse when met with a lot of noise. You rubbed your temples as you tried to focus on your dinner, while simultaneously blending out the chattering and laughing of your fellow classmates. Not even slightly successful, you decided that skipping a meal once wouldn't kill you.

Quickly, you gathered your things and headed to the Slytherin common room, in the hopes of some peace while the rest of your house was still eating. You still expected some people to be in the common room but didn't really care to much about it, since it always seemed to be silent in there, no matter the body count.

"Venomous" you mumbled, while snuggling into your cloak. Were you getting a fever? You thought about going to Madame Pomfrey in case, of a worsening condition. The door in the stone wall swung open and you entered the common room. Uncaring for your surroundings you draped yourself over one of the cozy green couches and closed your eyes. As expected it was quiet here. You were actually alone in the huge room so the only noises to be heard were the crackling from fire place and a few numb sounds from the Great Lake.  A relieved sigh escaped your lips. It was good that nobody was here, since it would have been impossible to lay here without being talked to.

The school had decided to make you a Prefect, which was a huge honor but since Parkinson and Malfoy kind of ... abandoned their duties as Head girl and boy. The smaller kids split up to ask the other Prefects (for some strange reason mainly you) what to do. You couldn't quiet recall, how long it's been, since you've had just a moment to yourself. Just as you were about to fully enjoy your rare but welcomed loneliness, you heard the door open again.

You didn't even open your eyes to see who entered. Only the thought: "Don't talk to me. Don't talk to me. Don't talk to me," floated through your head.

To your joy, you could only hear the rustling of fabric somewhere, which you interpreted as someone simply sitting on one of the other couches. As you were about to go back to ignoring the other person you noticed something else. The person made noises. Nervous noises.

Little mumbles, slight shifts on the couch, tapping on the floor. And those small unimportant noises, you already knew that, would drive you insane. You turned your head and opened your eyes to see Draco Malfoy sitting a few metres afar. It felt like there was something wrong with that picture in front of you. First of all it was strange to see Draco all alone, without any companion. It felt like he always had his little posse around.

Except for that he seemed a little wrecked. You noticed how he generally seemed more nervous this year, but as he sat there he seemed almost jumpy. More like a scared forrest animal then a sly, arrogant pure-blood wizard. He didn't seem to have noticed your presence or registered you as asleep. This way or another, he didn't pay much attention to you. At this point he stood up and paced around the huge room.

You felt a little unsure of what to do. Malfoy looked incredibly worried and you kind of wanted to help him. But you hesitated. Being in the same grade as Draco, you knew the boy well enough to know, that he would never accept your help. Heck, you'd probably get insulted, while trying to do some good. Besides that, he had a ton of other people he could talk to. Pansy or Goyle or Zabini. They were all people, who seemed much better fitted to play Malfoys personal therapist.

Thinking about it, you noticed that Draco walked around alone more often.

No. That wasn't right. He just disappeared once in a while. His friends would look for him and ask around if anyone has seen him, just for him to suddenly sit in the common room or the library on his own. Maybe they got into a fight? Is that why he's nervous?