The Words That Bind Us - Malfoy

5.

That night, I found myself unable to sleep again. My arms aches and my legs were more restless than they had ever been before. Every time I closed my eyes I was met with a nightmare. I slipped on some shoes as I snuck out the corridor once again. I found myself hit with a cold rush of air as I stepped out onto the astronomy tower balcony. I took a seat on the cold ground, looking out towards the darkness.

I was so zoned out that I almost didn't hear him come out. He walked up quietly, and looked down at the ground towards me. "Out here again, huh?" Draco asked in a deep, but soft voice. I smiled gently as I looked back up, and motioned for him to join me. He sat down, not saying a word for several minutes.

"Why did you pretend not to see me at breakfast this morning?" I asked, in a low shaky voice.

He looked at me for several seconds before speaking in a cold tone. "I am doing you a favor. You don't want people to know that you've spoken to me. Just as much as I don't want them to know I've spoken to you. People respect you, and I—well you know that my only friends will torture me if they knew I was talking to a mudblo—I mean someone who isn't full wizard."

I couldn't help but laugh at what he said. "You know, you're a huge dick for someone who knows everyone hates him." I semi-teased. His words aren't something that offends me. In fact, I get it. It's a status quo type thing that he's stuck on, but that doesn't make him right. "And besides, I never said that I don't want people to know that we are—acquaintances of sorts. It doesn't bother me."

"They'll think you are a traitor."

"Then let them." I respond softly, with a slight shiver from the cold air. Draco notices the slight movement and moves to take off his robe that he has over his joggers and T-shirt.

"Take this. You're cold." He demand, tossing it to me. I tried to resist his offer, but he insisted that I put it on. I thanked him before looking out into the darkness again, sitting there in silence.

"Rose?" He asked wearily. I looked towards him and raised my eyebrow, signaling him to continue. "How did we we end up here? So messed up. So broken. On top of a tower at two in the morning, for goodness sakes. Why us?"

"People love to call Potter the chosen one, but aren't we all the chosen ones? None of us picked these lives for ourselves. We were all chosen, for one reason or another. Even if we haven't found out why yet." I respond, confident in my answer. I can't lie, it was something I've thought about before. I want to know my reason. I want to know why I was born to live in a time such as this, in a world such as mine.

Hours passed, and I almost reluctantly went back to my dorm for a tiny bit of sleep before breakfast. Draco followed suit, and we both snuck down and back to bed.

~

My eyes shot open and I frantically looked to my alarm clock. I could see the sun through the windows, which means I was—-Shit I was late. Class starts in less than ten minutes, and I have completely missed breakfast. I shot up and through on a white shirt, blue skirt, and grabbed the robe off my bed before heading out the door. I pulled the robe over my shoulders as I ran through the hall, trying my best to make it to Potions.

I made it to class and into my seat right as Professor Slughorn walked in. He was especially enthusiastic this morning, which irritated me a bit as I was quite tired from the night before. "Today, we are going to be pairing up to make PepperUp Potions. I will be helping you pair accordingly, so hm...Rose, you go first. Pick a partner on the left side of the room, and no Ravenclaws. Gotta keep it balanced, eh?" Slughorn announces, bouncing his shoulders in excitement. I look around at the left side, and see him sitting in the back.

"Draco." I say in front of the class. The class goes silence in shock, as Draco shoots his head up in embarrassment. Everyone is staring at him as he grabs his books and comes to sit by me. I whisper to him not to worry about it, and he rolls his eyes at me before sitting down. The rest of the pairs were set up, and we all got to work. I could hear Draco snicker to himself as we worked, and I looked over to see him smirking.

"What could you possibly find funny?" I asked instinctively.

He looked at me with wild eyes and a smirk he couldn't hide. "Well um, it looks like you really enjoy wearing my robes, huh. Though, don't you think that's going to raise some eyebrows with your friends?"

What? I looked down and gasped in horror. In my rush, I had grabbed the wrong robes this morning. The green slytherin lining was showing through, and the crest was going to be impossible to hide. "I didn't realize! Oh my gosh! I'm an idiot!" I whisper-screamed.

"Yeah, you are. But I can't lie, they look better on you than they do me." He says quickly and smoothly, before gliding his bottle over to me to pour into the cauldron. My breath caught in my lungs and I couldn't come up with a response, so I just grinned and continued to work. Is he trying to flirt with me? What the hell is going on here?