dislike ↠ draco malfoy

thirteen

"Slughorn invited you into Slug Club, too?" Hermione asked me as she retrieved a book from the shelf. We were in the library studying.

"Yeah," I replied. "Apparently I brewed a pretty good Amortentia." I scratched down an answer in my homework with my quill.

"Who are you going to the Christmas party with?" she asked me.

I shrugged. "I dunno. Can't I just go by myself?"

She gave a small laugh. "I wish, but everyone's going to be with someone. It would look strange if you were there by yourself."

"Who are you going to bring?" I asked.

She stopped writing for a moment. "Well... I wanted to ask...no..." She shook her head.

"What? Who did you want to ask?" I pressed.

She looked slightly uncomfortable. "Well, I..." she faltered.

I nudged her arm. "Come on, Hermione, you can tell me, I won't judge."

Her cheeks flushed furiously. She stammered something I couldn't hear.

I leaned my head closer to her. "What did you say? I couldn't hear you."

"Ron!" she burst out. She clapped her hand over her mouth and looked around to see if anyone had heard, but luckily, we seemed to be the only ones in the library.

My eyes widened. "Ron, seriously? Aren't you two best friends?"

"Yes, but I don't know! I think I like him!"

"You think or you know?" I asked with my eyebrow raised.

"I know..." She was still blushing a deep pink color. "Please don't tell anyone, especially him."

"I won't tell anyone, I promise. But you should ask him to the party," I suggested. "I mean, how could he not like you? You're pretty, smart, funny.."

She hung her head. "He doesn't like me, Eva. We're just friends. Besides, he's dating Lavender Brown." Her face twitched when she said Lavender's name.

"You're so much better than Lavender Brown, Hermione," I said.

"You don't even know Lavender Brown, Evangeline," she replied.

"No, I don't," I admitted. "But you're probably better than her."

"Thanks, Evangeline," she said genially. "But I can't ask Ron to the ball. I mean, what if he says no? That would make our friendship so awkward."

I put up my hands. "Hey, do whatever you want," I said. "But if it was me, I would ask him."

"I'll think about it..." She flipped the page in her book and scribbled something on her parchment. "And what about you? Who are you asking? Do you fancy anyone?"

I shook my head. "No, I don't like anyone."

A thought popped into my head. The strong smell of green apple in my Amortentia yesterday that matched Draco Malfoy's scent perfectly. Why had I smelled him in my Amortentia? I certainly didn't desire him. Did I?

"Are you sure?" she asked pointedly.

"What?"

"You don't fancy anyone?"

"No!" I exclaimed.

I definitely was not about to tell Hermione that I might like Draco. She would certainly not approve.

"Okay..." she finished, though she didn't sound convinced.

When we finished our work, she went back to the Gryffindor common room and I set off the the Slytherin common room. "Salazar Slytherin," I said the new password to the wall. The wall opened and I stepped inside.

Draco was sitting on the green armchair. He was facing the wall, staring out the window into the lake. I tried to walk as quietly as possible in order to sneak into the girls' dormitories without him hearing me, but I failed when I accidentally tripped over a book that someone had left on the floor. I fell to the floor with a loud crash.

Draco stood up quickly and spun around. I lifted my upper body off the floor and rubbed my ribs. I groaned in pain.

"You're pretty clumsy, Hastings," Draco drawled.

"Very funny," I said dryly. "A little help here?"

He strode over to me and held out his hand. I took it hesitantly and he pulled me off the floor easily. I brushed off my robes and muttered, "Thanks."

He bent down and picked up the book on the floor. "Are you blind, Hastings? This book is huge."

"Hey, it's dark in here!" I exclaimed.

He rolled his eyes, but there was a small smile on his face. He set the book on the coffee table before turning to me again. His hand reached out and touched my lip. I flinched.

"Sorry," he muttered. "You cut your lip."

"Oh." I touched my lip and realized that there was blood running down it. My finger grazed his. "You don't have to touch it."

"Right," he mumbled, looking slightly embarrassed. I immediately regretted saying it. His hand felt nice on my face. His hand dropped and he tucked it into his pocket.

I wiped the blood off my lip with my sleeve, but it was still bleeding profusely. I struggled for a few seconds.

Draco reached into the pocket of his robes and pulled out his wand. "Here." He held it up to my face and softly muttered a spell. My cut lip immediately closed.

"Thanks," I said.

"No problem." He tucked his wand away. "Goodnight, then."

"Goodnight," I said and started up the steps.

I opened my mouth to ask Draco to Slughorn's Christmas party, but I immediately shut it. What was I thinking? Why would Draco want to go with me? Besides, what would Hermione think if I went with him? I shook my head and went up the stairs.