[4] UNREQUITED ENEMIES ━ Draco Malfoy

13. Is That So?

THIRTEEN IS THAT SO?

     "Diana, can I tell you something?" Xander approached the girl who was writing her potions essay in the common room. It was nearing midnight and the boy had just come down from the dormitories to think since he was having trouble sleeping, but when he saw the girl sitting there still he figured now was as good a time as any. His mind had been eating him alive ever since his conversation with Harry and he was sick of not sleeping so he knew he needed to get something off of his chest -- whatever that was.

"Yeah, honey, what's up?" Diana asked with a furrowed brow as the boy sat down in front of the fireplace with her, tucking his legs into himself as he wrapped his arms around them, resting his head on his knees. The girl looked concerned since it was rare Xander came to her without some form of positivity or joy in his tone, instead he was greeting her with a sleepy drawl. "Is it about your mom?"

He shook his head, "No, I still haven't heard anything from Alecks about her and that alone is driving me crazy, but no, this is something else. Um, oh gosh, I don't really know how to start this. I've never done this before. Uh, okay, let's try this. You know how growing up, pretty much until you started dating Justin, everyone kinda thought we were dating?"

"Don't tell me you've been in love with me this whole time, love triangles aren't my thing," the blonde mused, but the small smile on her face told him that she was only joking. He liked that she could break the tension like that without a second thought, it made Xander feel that much more comfortable around her, like he always did. He really doesn't know what he would do without her.

"No! Not at all," the boy said with a chuckle, shaking his head, "I have literally never had feelings for you and I always thought that maybe it was because we were too close and you felt like more of a sister, but I kinda have been realizing that it's not just you that I've never felt things for. I thought maybe I was a late bloomer, but after Cedric's death and... other things, I think I know what it is. And I know you won't hate me for this because you're you, I'm just nervous because I've kinda never said this out loud to anyone in my entire life I was really just planning on contemplating it silently until the day I die."

Diana nodded, clearly biting back a smile and he had a feeling she knew exactly what he was going to say but he also knew she wasn't going to steal the words from his mouth because she wanted him to do this his way, "Salamander, you're rambling."

"You know I hate that nickname," Xander teased with a small laugh, his eyes resting on the burning fire ahead of both of them. He could feel its warmth seeping into his bones and he felt comfortable. He felt... at peace in a way. "You're going to not care about one thing I have to say, but you're going to hate me for the other thing, I'm just letting you know ahead of time."