friends with benefits - draco malfoy

chapter thirteen

i sat draco on the edge of his bed, and started looking around his room for a first aid kit. 'not even gonna thank me?' he asked, and without even looking at him i could tell he was smiling. 'shut up' i replied, finding a first aid kit kicked under his chest of drawers and pulling it along to the bed. i stood on the floor in front of him, flicking open the lid of kit and pulling out some antiseptic and cotton wool. i tipped the antiseptic on and started dabbing his face. he flinched back, wincing in pain. 'oww' he moaned. i grabbed his jaw and pulled his face back sharply, starting to dab again 'don't be such a baby' i replied, pouring even more antiseptic on to the cotton 'i need to clean the wounds'. i pulled back from him a bit and tilted my head to the side, looking at him. 'what happened to you anyway?' i asked, id asked him quite a few times already on the way here, but he'd not replied to a single thing i'd said until we reached his room. 'cruciatus curse' he shrugged, trying to ask nonchalant. 'what?' i gasped 'why? what did you do? oh draco, how could you be so stupid, you know umbridge is so strict with punishments'. i could feel my heart pounding in my chest, how many times had he been hit with it? i'd assumed he'd had a fight with someone, maybe even fell off his broom in quidditch. how could he be so stupid?

'me?' he asked witheringly 'i took the fall for you. you could at least be grateful'.
'what do you mean, you took the fall for me?' i asked, staring at him waiting for a response. he clearly decided it wasn't worth replying to, and started drumming a tune on his leg with his fingers instead. my brain started whirring. draco 'took the fall for me', i'd been told that it was safe to leave my hiding space. i looked up, and kissed him hard on the lips. 'you're such an idiot' i breathed 'what did you tell umbridge?'.
he grinned at me. 'i told her i hated you and set you up, trying to get you in trouble', he laughed 'so uhh, you might want to calm down with that'. i bit my lip, my need to laugh and smack him battling it out. i settled for neither and sat down next to him with a sigh. 'you shouldn't have done that, you got hurt'. i picked up this hand that was still drumming on his leg and started sliding his rings up and down his fingers, fiddling with them while i thought. 'i know' he said 'but it was my fault you got in trouble in the first place'.
'no it wasn't' i said earnestly 'you didn't make me say anything, and now we have to pretend to hate each other'. i groaned, smacking my head into his shoulder in frustration. 'i didn't think that would be a problem for you, all you ever say is that you hate me anyway'. i rolled my eyes, honestly despairing at his stupidity. 'i haven't hated you for a long time draco' i said softly into his neck, scarcely breathing while i waited for a response. what was i thinking? he didn't see me as anything other than a casual hookup, it would have been easier for him if i did hate him. 'i've not hated you for a long time either    y/n' he replied, rubbing his thumb across my palm in small circles.

i sat up 'what do you mean?'
'oh come on' he smiled 'you really think i would have gone to all this trouble to get you out of trouble if i didn't care about you? as pansy would say read the room y/n'. i giggled, pansy did always say that. i leant back against him, glad it was at least friday and i didn't have to face umbridge until monday. 'i can't go back to hating you draco' i sighed and he squeezed my hand. 'i know, but we have to. if she knows i was lying we'll both get in to even more trouble'. i knew he was right, even if it sucked. 'we'll just have to be secret about it. you can sleep in here some nights, it's lucky i have my own room, and we can see each other on weekends and after school'.
'but what will we do during school? ignore each other? argue? fight?' i asked, smacking draco on the arm out of annoyance when he started to laugh 'it's not funny' i huffed, but he took no notice, snickering to himself. 'sorry, sorry, sorry' he chuckled, grabbing the fist i was smacking his arm with with his hand and wrestling it away from him 'ow' he shrieked, and i started to laugh now too, wrestling him. he let me knock him down to the bed, and i started to smack the mattress next to him, '3,2,1 touch-' i started, before getting cut off as he flipped me over effortlessly and sat on me. he lifted up three fingers, and put them down one by one. 'touchdown, i win' he smirked and i stuck my tongue out.

'look, let's just not over do it' he said, suddenly going back to the conversation from before. 'just act like how we used to, ignore each other and maybe make the occasional dig. definitely no fighting'. he paused for a minute. 'although, clearly, you wouldn't stand a chance'. he cracked his knuckles with exaggeration, grinning at me proudly. 'yeah, yeah, you're so strong, whatever, will you get off me now' i muttered, and he got off me with a laugh. i looked at the ceiling, well aware that he was staring at me but not wanting to give him the pleasure of a response. 'you're cute when your huffy' he said, breaking the silence finally. i shot up, staring at him. 'that's so weird' i said and he shrugged 'what is?'. i could see him inwardly cringe, almost like he was doubting himself. it was weird to see draco malfoy so self conscious, when he normally evidently couldn't give a shit about anyone. 'you being nice to me when you're usually such a dick' i said, smiling at him. he evidently relaxed, gently whacking me over the head with a throw pillow. 'hey! you might be surprised by my nice side' he protested, and i flopped back on the bed with a giggle. maybe i might.