the wrong choice // d.l.m.

nine

after hagrid dismissed the children, draco and y/n ran quickly to the castle and into their dorm. "i'm sorry." he said.

y/n looked at him, "for what?"

the two sat on the large sofa in the common room, they were the only two awake and after what they had experienced neither one of them felt tired.

"for getting you detention. you shouldn't have had to see what was lurking in that forest." he looked at her sadly, the normal glare he would throw her way was gone.

she shook her head, "it wasn't your fault draco. i agreed to go with you outside after curfew. i should've stopped you from going instead."

they sat on the sofa for a little while longer, a comfortable silence taking over as they gazed into the burning fire.

"you know," y/n started as draco turned his attention towards her, "you're really starting to grow on me, malfoy. at the beginning of the year i thought you were a total arse, but you've proven that you're kind and caring, even if i'm the only one that really gets to see it."

draco chuckled lightly, "you're the only person i'd even consider caring about in this miserable place. friends?"

"friends." she smiled. he put his hand out for her to shake, but she instead wrapped him into a tight hug. he was hesitant at first, but soon wrapped his arms around her as well. as she stood up and bid him good night, he remained on the couch as she walked up the stairs towards her room. he smiled widely to himself, wishing he could hold her hand again.

~

the months went by, draco and y/n becoming closer each day. she even grew to put up with goyle and crabbe, even if she truly didn't care for either of them. pansy and blaise also grew closer, giggling quietly with each other during dinner and running off for study dates in the library all the time. marley had finally gathered up the confidence to talk to the girl in her class, and they had started to become friends as well.

while y/n had started to grow closer to her slytherin friends, her gryffindor friends had become more distant, yet she was still fairly close with all of them, ron in particular. she would hang out with them in her classes and sit with them in the library, they just didn't speak as much as they had in the beginning of the year.

after y/n heard about how ron, hermione, and harry successfully saved the sorcerer's stone, y/n sat with ron and hermione in the hospital wing when she had free time. she had even written harry a card for him to read when he had woken up, telling him how brave she thought he was and placed it on the small table next to the bed.

when harry had finally gotten his strength back and had gotten out of bed, y/n found him as quickly as she could and embraced him into a tight hug, happy he was alive and well.

~

"draco!" y/n exclaimed with a disgusted look on her face, "how can you eat those."

draco looked at her confused before she gestured down to the peas on his plate. he smiled at her while shoving another spoonful into his mouth, she pretended to gag and then smiled back at him. she turned towards marley and pansy and started to talk until she was interrupted by mcgonagall once again tapping a spoon against her water goblet.

the large room fell silent as the children turned. professor dumbledore stood from his seat. "another year gone. and now, as i understand it, the house cup needs awarding, and the points stand thus: in fourth place, gryffindor with 312 points. third place, hufflepuff with 352 points. in second place, ravenclaw with 426 points. and in first place, with 472 points, slytherin house!"

y/n watched as her house erupted into large cheers, she didn't care too much about a house cup but clapped along anyway.

"nice one, mate." draco said, a grin on his face.

however, dumbledore continued. "yes, yes, well done, slytherin. well done. but, recent events must be taken into account. and i have a few last minute points to award." he then gifted hermione 50 points, ron 50 points, harry 60 points, and 10 points to neville, meaning they had won.

the gryffindor house erupted into screams of excitement as they watched the banners that hung from the ceiling turn from green to red. y/n watched as the smiles fell from the faces sitting around her, yet she couldn't contain hers as it was much bigger than when dumbledore announced that her house had won. she was proud of gryffindor, proud of her friends that sat at that table.

y/n looked at draco. "we may not have won, but at least we had a great year."

he looked towards her, rolling his eyes and then sighing, "but i wanted to win, i wanted to show that stupid table of blood traitors that slytherin is the superior house."

"don't be a git, malfoy. there's always next year."

~

"you both will write over the summer, won't you?" y/n asked as she stood in front of pansy and marley. they had just gotten off of the train, about to depart ways and head home until next year.

"everyday." marley spoke softly, bringing the two girls into a tight group hug. y/n waved goodbye as she began to walk towards her mother and father who stood happily waiting for her. she turned around, looking for one person in particular she didn't get to say bye too. her eyes scanned over the many people until she finally saw the blonde boy standing next to his parents. they all kind of stood there, nodding solemnly at each other. her heart sank a little as she remembered what her mother had told her over the holiday.

she began to walk towards them and called out his name, making his head whip towards her. she embraced him into a tight hug as his arms dangled down, not necessarily wanting to hug a girl as his parents watched. she noticed this, so she pulled away, however he was smiling and that was enough for her.

"i hope you'll write over the summer." she said gently.

"i will if you will."

she nodded before saying bye one last time and made her way back over to where her parents stood. just like when they had picked her up last time, her father held her trunk while her mother held willow's cage, only this time her owl wasn't sat on her shoulder as she knew she would be giving hugs to the people she wouldn't see for about three months.

"ready, my love?" her father asked.

"ready."