TRAPPED [DRACO MALFOY]

Chapter 6

YEAR 3

Lilliana Avery was exhausted. She sat at the Slytherin house table alone and sighed. The train ride to Hogwarts this morning had been absolutely terrifying. Alone in a compartment, while dementors were on the train! She wanted to owl her father about the dementors and ask why, but she knew he wouldn't owl back. She owled her parents every week while at Hogwarts and only got one reply a year. It only said she was to return home for Christmas Break.

Finally, Draco sat next to the girl. He sat further than he ever had before. Internally, Lilliana fumed. Why was he acting this way towards her? She had gone on vacation early in the summer, and when she returned, Draco took one look at her, turned bright red, and had been strange ever since. "Draco! I've missed you so much! I know you said you were busy this summer, but I wish we could've spent more time together!" Lilliana exclaimed while reaching in for a hug. Draco tentatively hugged back.

"I missed you too. Sorry I didn't sit with you on the train. I, uh, couldn't find you..." Draco trailed off. As the sorting began, everyone was quiet. Shortly after the ending of the sorting, the Great Hall doors opened.

Suddenly, Draco began to giggle as though he had been reminded of something when Harry Potter walked into the Great Hall. As soon as Harry settled into a seat, Draco began to prod. "Potter! Potter! Is it true you fainted?" He whispered at the Gryffindor table. 

"Shove off, Malfoy!" Ron Weasley defended. He glared at both Draco and Lilliana. Lilliana was truly shocked at that. She had been nothing but civil to the Golden Trio since the second year. She had sat by Hermione's side in secret when she had become petrified. Lilliana wasn't allowed to be Hermione's friend after Draco had told her father she had befriended a mudblood. She couldn't bear the way her father had treated her for months after that. Hermione was the only one Lilliana was able to tell things that wouldn't find their way back to Mr. Avery. She missed her, but Lilliana had no choice but to obey her father.

One by one, the rest of the Slytherins began to sit at their table. Blaise, Pansy, Crabbe, and Goyle joined Draco and Lilliana's area of the table. "Lilliana! You look nice. You've changed over the summer," Blaise complimented her. Draco stiffened in his seat. At 13, things begin to change, obviously.

"Oh! Does someone have a crush? I have my eye on someone as well," Pansy stated while googly-eying Draco. Lilliana almost passed out from holding her breath, so she wouldn't laugh. Draco was completely oblivious, but Lilliana had seen the look Pansy had just given him. Blaise quickly defended himself by stating that he did not have a crush on anyone, and if he did, it wouldn't be Lilliana Avery. He was just saying she looked different. Lilliana's heart panged. She certainly didn't like Blaise like that, but, why didn't anyone ever consider how she felt? Silence fell over the Great Hall as Dumbledore stepped up to his podium to make some announcements. He explained the dementors were there on official Ministry of Magic business searching for the escaped murderer from Azkaban.

Lilliana's blood ran cold at the thought of Sirius Black. She had heard terrifying things about him. "On a happier note, I would like to announce two new professors! Our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Remus Lupin, and our new Care of Magical Creatures professor, Rubeus Hagrid." Dumbledore exclaimed. "Let the feast begin!"

Lilliana was dumbfounded by the appointment of Hagrid to the position of a professor, but she assumed he had to have some kind of qualifications. Draco, however, did not feel the same. "Oh, Merlin! We're not going to learn a single thing from that buffoon!" Draco complained. Pansy was quick to voice her agreement, along with Crabbe and Goyle.

"Just give him a chance..." Lilliana said quietly. She couldn't remember a time she had ever disagreed with him, but she didn't think Dumbledore would give Hagrid the job if he had no idea what he was talking about.

"A chance?? Have you lost your mind? He's as dumb as a house-elf!" Draco cried. Lilliana didn't have anything to say. She cared for her house-elf. She was the only one that actually cared about Lilliana at home, after all. She ignored Draco and continued to eat her meal. After some time had passed, everyone was dismissed to their common rooms. Lilliana and Pansy walked to their room together and made small talk on the way.

As they entered their dorm, Pansy exclaimed, "Oh, Lilliana! Draco became so handsome over the break! Did you notice?!" 

Lilliana chuckled, "Oh, I suppose he has grown up a bit. I can try to talk to him for you. He's never really showed much interest in dating though." Lilliana assumed that Draco wouldn't be interested in Pansy, but Pansy was the only girlfriend Lilliana had, and she didn't want to lose her too. 

Pansy scooped Lilliana into a hug. "Thank you! We're going to be such a good couple," Pansy declared. Lilliana awkwardly agreed. If Pansy was so sure, maybe she was right. Lilliana hadn't spent much time with Draco lately, so something could've changed. As Pansy organized her things, Lilliana sat at her desk to write a short letter to her parents and gave it to Essak to send. After almost everyone had fallen asleep, Lilliana walked down into the common room to sit by the fire.

Draco was already lounging in the area when he spotted Lilliana and motioned for her to come to sit with him. "What are you doing down here?" He asked her.

"Oh, it's quite cold in the room, so I came to warm up," Lilliana explained. "Oh! By the way, Pansy is planning your wedding, Draco," Lilliana laughed. "I told her I would put in a good word." Draco's eyes widened.

"Whatever for? We hardly even talk. Anyway, I already know who-" Draco abruptly stopped mid-sentence, turning red.

"What? Draco! WHO?" Lilliana smiled, excited for Draco. "You have to tell me! I'm your best friend!" Draco waved her off.

"No! You have it all wrong. I, uh, my friend, he, um, has a huge crush on Pansy. So, that's what I meant." Draco said. Lilliana was taken aback. 

"Well, now you've got to tell me who," Lilliana cried. "I can see if Pansy is interested."

"I can't break his trust. He'll tell her when the time is right," Draco said while looking Lilliana in the eyes. She smiled at Draco. 

"Okay," she relented and laid her head on Draco's shoulder. "I missed you this summer."

"Me too." Draco agreed.