𝑈𝑛𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 ☾ 𝐷𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑜 𝑀𝑎𝑙𝑓𝑜𝑦

Awkward... ☾ 4-08

Cho sent her owl away from the top of the Owlery. I watched as the tawny owl flew through the skies with the letter Cho sent to her mum. Cho was informing her of The Yule Ball, and her date with Cedric that she was very excited for. Cho turned and nodded to me and we began to make our way down the stairs. She went first, but I slipped on the ice at the top and fell backward. Groaning, I got up and followed her toward the exit. She opened her mouth to ask if I was okay, but the footsteps coming closer made us turn toward the entrance to the tower.

"Cho!" Harry exclaimed, almost bumping into us at the top of the steps.

"Harry." She smiled, trying to be friendly. I stood and watched them shuffle awkwardly until I slipped past Harry.

"I'll see you back in the common room, alright Cho?" She nodded as I turned and headed back down the steps. I figured Harry was going to ask her to the ball, but I didn't want to be there and make it more awkward when she rejected him. I'm sure Cho liked Harry, but I would bet Fred and George five galleons she liked Cedric more. 

I noticed the snow covering the valley glittering in the sun as I made my way across the bridge. Christmas at Hogwarts really was beautiful.

-

Ginny and I each held one of Ron's arms as we brought him back through the Gryffindor common room. His face was completely pale and I felt quite bad. Two embarrassing proposals I've had to witness in one day. That's two too many.

"It's okay, Ron. It's alright. It doesn't matter." Ginny comforted him as he groaned.

"Ron? What happened to you?" Harry said, looking up from the golden egg in his hands. Hermione stood from the couch and came up to us.

"He just asked Fleur Delacour out." I replied, cringing.

"What?!" Hermione asked, eyes widening. We sat Ron down in the chair, and Ginny pulled a bucket over, just in case he was going to be sick all over the carpet.

"What did she say?" Harry kneeled down next to Ron, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"No, of course." Hermione replied, giving Harry a look. Ron shook his head and made a noise, closing his eyes. Hermione covered her mouth with her hands. "She said yes?"

"Don't be silly. There she was, walking by..." He replied dreamily, "You know how I like it when they walk." I rolled my eyes and Harry nodded for him to continue. "I couldn't help it. It just sort of slipped out."

"Actually, he sort of screamed at her. It was a bit frightening." Ginny said, scrunching her nose.

"What did you do then?" Harry asked.

"What else?!" Ron replied rather loudly. "I ran for it! I'm not cut out for this, Harry. I don't know what got into me. I've always liked looking at them from behind... She's never gonna forgive me now." He groaned and put his head in his hands. I patted his back reassuringly, trying not to laugh. Harry looked like he was about to say something, but was distracted. He turned and ran off, following Parvati Patil as she exited the room to find her twin.

-

Hermione and I were in Hogsmeade, searching for dresses. She smoothed out the one she chose, a soft pink gown with ruffles on the bottom, darkening into a deep purple. It suited her perfectly. She sat waiting for me as I tried on the last selection I had made. I wasn't quite sure, so I stepped out in the dress to ask her opinion.

Her jaw dropped as she saw me step out in the dress. 

"What do you think?" I raised an eyebrow and put my hands on my hips. I did a little spin, the skirts of the dress flowing out as I twirled.

"If you don't buy that dress, I think I might have you stay in your room all night as punishment." She said smiling. I returned her grin as I looked myself in the mirror. It really was perfect. I smoothed out invisible creases in the skirts and did another spin. Hermione stood and reached to examine the fabric as the bell on the door signalled another customer. 

"Would you look at that, skittle-head managed to find a dress in her size." Pansy sneered, jerking her chin toward the dress. Hermione and I glanced at each other in confusion at the nickname.

Skittle-head? Isn't that a muggle candy? Pansy was never the sharpest tool in the drawer...

She made a face at us as her friends followed her into the store to find their own dresses. Not wanting to get into anymore fights, I ignored her and quickly changed to join Hermione at the register. The seamstress thanked us and we ran out of the shop.

As we turned the corner to go back to Hogwarts with our bags, Hermione accidentally bumped into someone's shoulder. They turned around, and knocked Hermione's bag out of her hand. 

☾ DRACO'S POV

I turned around, wondering what Goyle found more important than what I was saying. Goyle smirked and Granger quickly picked her bag up off the ground before it got wet from the snow. Crabbe folded his arms as Aurora pushed Goyle's shoulders back. 

"Watch yourself, Goyle." She snarled.

"Filthy half-breed." He snapped back and Hermione took out her wand. I stepped in front of them and motioned for the two blabbering idiots to go find Blaise. I turned back and Granger still hand her wand pointed at my face.

"Relax Granger, I'm not going to do anything." I said, frowning. I poked her wand and she drew it back into her pocket. I noticed the bags they were both holding. Aurora's had a piece of fabric sticking out of it, and Hermione's pink dress was almost falling out. I gestured toward it in warning, and she quickly stuffed the gown back into the bag, frowning. The bags had the logo of the nearby dress shop on them, the same dress shop Pansy went into a few minutes ago after telling us to wait outside. We were just planning to leave her there when Hermione bumped into Goyle.

Aurora was now watching me with very careful eyes, and I looked to her and frowned.

"What, Whitethorn? Want an autograph or something?" I leered, my lips curling in an almost snarl. I didn't want to be so rude, but I didn't have a choice. Her eyebrows shot up in surprise, and her hair faded red as she snarled back. Her green eyes grew dark and angry. Hermione grabbed her arm and pulled her away, making their way down the path back towards Hogwarts.

I sighed as I now found myself alone in the snowy streets. The cloudy sky did nothing to help my depressive mood. I hated my father. Hated him for what he was making me do to her. Crabbe had sent his father a letter about how I apologized to Aurora, and now my father was forcing me to be so incredibly cruel. If I didn't, I could expect my bags to be on the Malfoy Manor doorstep when I returned home. "We do not associate with half-bloods." My expression twisted into sadness. I never wanted her to hate me, or to hurt her the way that I did. I doubt she still liked me the way she did last year. I couldn't blame her, but my heart drooped at the thought that the girl I really liked hated my guts. 

It also hurt that I was forced to hang out with Pug-face Parkinson now, even though the girl disgusts me. She obviously only likes me because my family has money. My father instructed me to ask her to the dance, probably in order for him to continue his friendship with Pansy's pure-blooded father. I wished I would have asked Aurora. I watched as her bright-red hair faded into the distance, then looked down at my shoes, cursing myself.

☾

Sorry this chapter's so short! I needed another filler before the ball. This year's chapters will be a lot shorter, as you could have guessed, and there'll be more of them to properly order events. Thanks for the patience!

- Z