The Girl Who Lived (Draco Malfoy x OC)

The Flame

January 25th 1997

Ron passed Harper another cushion to make herself comfortable. It had been four nights since she cracked her skull and rib at Quidditch and she was nearly as good as new. Though it took two extremely long and lonely nights in the hospital wing. Plus the absence of a particular someone she was hoping would visit her. Her and Malfoy hadn't had a chance to see each other besides passing each other in class. That's if he actually attended the class. He'd been skipping more classes than usual in the past week. The thrill of being secretive was lost on her now that she had to put on an emotionless mask every time she saw him.

Harper sighed as she gazed into the fireplace. Ron and her were lounged on one of the couches in the Gryffindor common room, sharing some quiet time together. His mood was at an all time low after breaking things off with Lavender on the weekend. Lavender was so distraught she moved dorms, swapping her bed with Ginny's. It was unquestionable why Harper 'picked' to remain Ron's friend after the break up. He'd done so much for her in the past, and simply, she loved him more.

On the upside, Hermione had come around to Ron again after he apologised for supposedly mistreating her. Ron still didn't get what he did wrong, but he knew things were better at least.

"Do you think Lav will ever stop hexing me when she sees me in the castle?"

"Of course, once its out of her system and she moves on, you will be safe again," Harper assured.

She continued to watch the fire, the smell of the burning logs soothing her system. It wasn't a surprise to the girl who lived when she found out it was one of her amortentia scents. The hot ribbons of light danced and swirled mesmerisingly in the furnace. Though dangerous, Harper considered fire an almost beautiful element. She nearly scoffed at the memory of Crabbe saying she feared it. It shone before her with a glory, the warmth an almost welcoming aura. But she could only look at it from this distance, any closer and it would snarl and bite at her, like a savaged dragon. She tilted her head, understanding how everything could burn to a crisp just from one single nip of fire.

That's when Harper decided, Draco Malfoy was like fire. So warm, so beautiful, so welcoming. The human embodiment of an inferno.

"That feebleminded jerk," Hermione's miffed voice struck the air. She plopped down on a chair, her dulcet features twisted into a snarl. "I tried to give Malfoy detention for being out past curfew tonight and he couldn't have been ruder!"

"Can a prefect give another prefect detention?" Harper asked.

"He gave up his prefect duties," Ron interjected. "Snape gave it to Zabini."

She raised a brow, it was the first she was hearing about it. Her heart dipped, why wouldn't Malfoy mention that to her? She couldn't remember if he was wearing his badge the last time they saw each other. Then again they spent more time kissing than talking.

"Malfoy loved being prefect," she frowned. "Why would he give that up?"

"There's a lot of benefits, but he was bad at overseeing all of his duties. Maybe Snape forced him too?" Hermione thought.

"Beats me," Ron shrugged. "Slimy git keeps skulking around the castle late at night though. Have you noticed?"

Hermione frowned while Harper feigned innocence. There'd been a few late night rendezvous' between them that Ron could be thinking of.

"How do you know? This was the first time I caught him on my patrol," Hermione said.

"He keeps going to the Room of Requirement," Ron said and then it was Harper's turn to frown. They had never used that room together before. "I only know because Lav and I used to... use it for... alone time, ahem."