My Deepest Erised (Draco x Kaiye x Harry love triangle)

Part 5 - The Duel

"Kaiye, you should probably eat something," a girl that sat next to me at breakfast commented.

I knew that she was right, but I just wasn't in the mood. The whole thing with the duel probably just caught up with me, and I felt very uneasy. It wasn't even the fact that I had to do it against one of the greatest wizards in that school, it was the fact that I knew that I could get kicked out of Hogwarts if I didn't end up being good enough.

And I really didn't want for that to happen.

I lazily moved the food around my plate with my fork, but out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Zabini looking at me every now and then. I locked eye contact with him at one point, and he motioned towards the food, as if he was telling me that I should eat, but I really didn't want him to pretend to be my mother, so I just looked away.

After sitting there for another few minutes I realized that it was pointless, as I wasn't socializing and I surely wasn't eating, so I just got up and started walking to my room. Once I got through the door of the Great Dinning Hall, I felt a hand touch my arm.

"Look Blaise-"

I turned around, full of anger, but I was just left speechless when I saw Harry behind me.

"Blaise?" Harry frowned, clearly confused.

"Never mind..."

Harry scanned my face, probably not able to figure out what was wrong, as he didn't seem quite content with what he saw.

"Look Kaiye, you don't need to worry about the duel. I will throw it to you, just say anything that comes to mind and you'll beat me!"

"What did you just say?"

"I'm serious, maybe just try not to hurt me too much, but- "

"Listen, Harry," I tried to keep my composure, even though I was so fed up with that whole morning, "Don't ever try to deliberately lose against me, or I'll honestly never talk to you again."

His whole face dropped, and I could tell that that wasn't the answer that he was expecting.

"Thank you for the thought, but I'd rather get kicked out trying, than win by someone letting me win."

And with that, I went back to my room.

His intentions were probably pure and my goal was never to hurt him, but it was honestly insulting to hear that he'd think I would be up for that.
I don't know if that was because of the misconceptions and stereotypes that come with being a Slytherin, or because he thought of me as some sort of an incapable little girl, but I always believed in getting what you deserved. Nothing more or less.

*

The duel was about to start in 15 minutes.

There were far too many people already there, which didn't help my nerves at all.

We were in a huge hall, with a runway-like area in the center where the duel was supposed to be held.

I could see some familiar faces in the crowd - most importantly Harry, who was on the other side of the room, avoiding any sort of eye contact. People wished me luck and tried asking me if I knew who I was up against, but I decided not to tell anyone, as I didn't know whether I was supposed to know or not, and it was probably the latter.

"Kaiye!" Hermione saw me in the middle of the mass and came towards me, Ron following her.

"How are you feeling?"

"Ready to say goodbye to all of you," I said, not knowing myself whether I was joking or not.

"Oh don't be silly! You'll do great. Remember, just do everything calmly and most importantly - think!"