𝐚 𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐩 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐚𝐧 {a Draco Malfoy story}

chapter four

Rose

     It didn't come to me as a surprise that during the next couple of weeks, Draco was either seen studying or practicing quidditch. Every now and then he would relax or attend a Slytherin party, but it was rare to see him doing the wild things that Harry, Hermione and Ron would do. 

     We had all came to the conclusion that Umbridge wasn't teaching us anything useful to protect us from Voldemort - Merlin knows I need help with that. Harry would spend some time with me during the weekends and we would practice defensive spells and charms. 

     There were a couple of times he and the other two friends would run off all of a sudden, sometimes being joined by Ginny, Neville, and a couple Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff students, but it never bothered me much. I was a Slytherin, I understand if they didn't want to be around me as much.

     I can't lie and say it didn't hurt a little bit, though. My house does not define me.

+++

     I came to realize that Draco Malfoy had the best marks in every class, second only to  Hermione Granger. My marks were a little down at first, but I quickly became the only person who could beat Draco in charms (and Transfiguration at times) - probably thanks to Harry. I had to study a lot, and I invested a great amount of time in the library.

     I was studying for a Transfiguration exam when I saw Draco's shadow towering over me.

     "You had a good paper 3 inches ago," he stated.

     "Your opinion wasn't needed, Malfoy. What do you want?"

     "I can't believe I'm asking you this, but could you..." He looked around the library and took a seat next to me. "Could you help me with the Cistem Aperio spell? I can't seem to get it right and, well, you seem to have the hang of it."

     I let out a small chuckle and smirked at him. "Draco Malfoy is actually asking me for help? This is new. What next, Dumbledore's going to shave off his beard?"

     He rolled his eyes, annoyed, and got up. "Forget it, Esparay. Forget I even asked."

     I felt a little bad for him, so I said, "No, it's okay. Sorry for laughing. I'll help."

     We spent the rest of the hour working on the charm until he got it right. I gathered my things and headed to the common room, Draco by my side. It appears as though he doesn't despise me as much as I thought he did.

+++

     The weather did not improve as the day wore on, so that at seven o'clock that evening, when Draco and I went down to the quidditch pitch for practice, we were soaked through within minutes, our feet slipping and sliding on the sodden grass. 

     The sky was a deep, thundery grey that were quite similar to Draco's eyes, and it was a relief to gain the warmth and light of the changing rooms, even though the respite was only temporary. We found Crabbe and Goyle debating whether or not they should fake an injury to get out of flying.

     "...but I bet Flint would fall for a broken wrist. The work of the Beater is all in the arms," Goyle said out of the corner of his mouth.

     "Flint isn't that much of an idiot. He would know," replied Crabbe.

     "Alright everyone, listen up," said Marcus loudly, emerging from the Captain's office. "I know it's not ideal weather, but there's a chance we'll be playing Gryffindor in conditions like this so it's a good idea to work out how we're going to cope with them. Rosalind, you seem to know more about charms than anybody else in this room - Malfoy, Zabini, quit laughing like that - is there a charm we could use to keep the water off our faces?"

     "Yeah, I believe there is. Impervius," I responded.

     "I think we all ought to try that," said Marcus. "If we could just keep the rain off our faces it would really help visibility - all together, come on - Impervius! Okay. Let's go."

     We all placed our wands back inside the pockets of our robes, shouldered our brooms and followed Marcus out of the changing rooms. 

     We ran through the deepening mud to the middle of the pitch; visibility was still very poor even with the Impervius Charm. Light was fading fast and curtains of rain were sweeping the grounds.

     The practice was a complete and utter mess. No one could see anybody else and I'm quite certain I saw Zabini fall off his broom once or twice - all right, I may have pushed him the second time for being an irritating arse. 

     The surprised look on my face was only caused by Draco muttering something I'd never heard him say before.

     "You look especially ravishing with wet hair, Esparay."

+++

     The next couple of weeks up until the break were interesting, to say the least. Draco and I had found a new enjoyment for spending hours on end at the library simply doing nothing but working on homework or studying, occasionally asking a question or two. 

     It was a shame that the only person I could have a knowledgeable conversation with was Draco Malfoy, who I was told to avoid several times, but it made the thrill of being around him that much better. 

     There was one specific moment, though, that I couldn't get out of my head. I decided to tell Hermione, because there's no one else I could go to other than Pansy, but I made the decision to tell her after I told Hermione.

     I saw her walking to the Gryffindor common room when I stopped her.

     "Hermione, I have a problem that only another female would understand. Do you have a couple of minutes?" I asked, jittering with excitment. 

     "Of course, Rose."

     We walked onto a patch of grass near the black lake, and I began speaking quite fast.

     "I don't know if this is just because it's never happened to me before, but Draco's been messing with my head." She gave me a confused look, and I continued. "See, we've been spending time studying together a lot. We rarely speak, though. But this one time, from the corner of my eye, I could see him looking at me. He wasn't staring, exactly, they were more like stolen glances."

     Hermione smiled and linked our arms as we got up and headed back to the school. "Rose, I may not be very fond of him, but it seems as though Malfoy cares for you."

     I tried processing that information, but I couldn't. I don't think he liked me. I mean, I didn't like him. That's for sure. There's no way we could ever be anything more than friends because it would affect many things, one of them being my safety.

     Is there?

+++

You can love me later for the extra Drose content. 

~Kiana