friends with benefits - draco malfoy

chapter fifteen

i hung back after snape's lesson on monday, taking as long as possible to pack up my stuff. snape had asked for a 'word' with draco after the class, and after him staring at me in the great hall the other day i wanted to be sure. the entire class had gone now apart from me, and i could hear snape tapping his foot impatiently. why wouldn't he just start? i thought to myself angrily. like he'd read my thoughts, he cleared his throat and said pointedly 'we'll just wait for miss l/n to leave the classroom'. great. i took the hint and gathered up my stuff, waltzing out the classroom with my head down. i closed the door behind me so they couldn't see me, but stayed standing for a minute, leaning against the door and pretending to check my timetable for my next class in case anybody seen me. the door was thick and the conversation was muffled, making it difficult to catch what they were saying.

seen her staring....better not be messing around with girls....don't forget the responsibilities that start this summer....he wouldn't like it....you're not thinking.... dangerous

what responsibilities could he possibly have? i almost laughed out loud. snape was taking it a bit seriously, draco is a 17 year old wizard with a family wealth enough to buy the full of the north of england. what responsibilities could he ever even have to think about. i'd relaxed a bit now, from what i could hear snape wasn't on the watch for umbridge, or threatening to tell her. i did wonder who wouldn't like it though, maybe his dad? from what i'd heard about him he was very particular. the only thing that was bothering me was wondering what snape could have meant by it being dangerous. i'd have to ask draco when i managed to get him alone later. i'd not spoke to him all weekend, but this morning when i'd came back from the bathroom there was a letter on my pillow telling me to meet him in the astronomy tower tonight after dinner.

i went through my day as normal, trying to remember exactly what snape had said so i could ask him to explain absolutely everything later. the more i thought about it though, the less sure i was that he'd actually said dangerous. he could have said anything.
facetious, suspicious, ambitious. he could have said any fucking word ending in a ous.
i sighed, working my way through my questions in my last class of the day. i just had dinner to get through then i could meet draco and sort it out this whole mess. i would rather just take the punishment from umbridge and be able to talk to draco in school.  it had only been a day but it was fucking with my nerves too much trying to hide it. blaise leant across the table and nudged me, making my ink smudge across the page. 'for fucks sake man' i moaned, trying to blot the ink quickly. 'sorry' he smiled 'i just wanted to say, the yule ball is coming up isn't it'.
'i guess so' i replied, more interested in fixing my work 'why?'.
'wanna go with me' he asked. i looked up, staring at him like he was mad. he could have grew antenna and wings and i would have been less surprised. 'no's replies curtly, looking back down to my work. 'god loves a trier' he laughed 'maybe you'll change your mind' he added optimically, grinning at his friends across the classroom.

i headed to lunch, making eye contact with draco across the room for the first time since friday night. it only lasted a couple of seconds, but it at least confirmed that i was definitely meeting him tonight. i ate quickly, keeping an eye on him to see when he was going to leave. i wanted to let him leave first, then follow after 10 or so minutes later so it didn't look suspicious. i tried to keep up a steady conversation with luna and neville, acting like i hadn't noticed when draco stood up and left the room. i forced myself to wait as long as possible, but i only waited about 7 minutes before i announced i was going to study and left the great hall.

i checked nobody was following me as i headed up the cordoned off stairway to the astronomy tower. i paused when i got to the door, uncertain for a second. draco was sat on the windowsill, staring out. he hadn't noticed me yet, i could easily slip away without him seeing. as if on cue he spun around and smiled at me. 'are you gonna stand there all night? or actually come over and say hi' he laughed.
'what did snape want today?' i said, getting straight in to it before he managed to distract me. 'oh he just wanted to' he hesitated 'ask if i could tutor another student, you know with me being the highest grade in the class'.
'you're not the highest grade, hermione is since the last test. and don't bullshit me, i listened outside the door'.
'you did?' draco asked, and i heard the panic start to creep in to his voice. 'what did you hear?'
'something about responsibilities, and disappointing him', i willed myself to bring up the dangerous point, it was the only thing that had bothered me about his conversation, but i couldn't do it. i was already too unsure that that's what i'd actually heard. draco reached hand out, and when i took it he pulled me towards the windowsill. 'no', i said when he tried to get me to sit. 'it's too high, you shouldn't be sitting up there either'.
'what? you think i'd let you fall?' draco asked 'trust me'. i sighed and decided there was no point protesting. there's no arguing with some people. i hoisted myself up on the window opposite me and he put his arm around my back. 'see?' he said pointedly 'i've got you, you're not gonna fall'.
'no but you might' i grumbled. 'anyway, i wanted to talk to you. can i not just take the punishment from umbridge? dumbledore has got some of the other members of the ministry in now so the most she can really do is give me lines. i don't want to keep pretending you don't even exist to me in school'.
'y/n it's only been one day' he reasoned.
'i know, i know' i replied, 'and it's already hell. please just let me take the lines'.
draco sighed, before kissing my forehead hard. 'y/n, please just leave it. it's not just umbridge. there's things you don't know about me and my family, and i don't want you to get hurt'. i paused, looking at him. 'is this what snape was talking about today'.
'just leave it y/n' he pleaded, taking my hand and trying to distract me by fiddling with my fingers. 'but i don't want you to get hurt either' i protested.
'i won't' he soothed, rubbing his thumb across my hand, 'just as long as we keep pretending'.

fine' i whispered after a while 'but you have to explain everything to me'.
'y/n i can't-' he started, before suddenly tilting back over the window sill. 'draco!' i screamed, reaching out to grab him. he laughed, sitting back up effortlessly 'just kidding'.
'you're such a dick malfoy' i hissed, hitting him gently. 'hey!' he laughed grabbing my hands in his 'less of the malfoy'. he kissed me and i melted inside. i don't think i'll ever get used to him kissing me like he actually cares about me. i didn't realise until i was lying in bed that night that he'd distracted me so much i'd forgot about making him explain.