the wrong choice // d.l.m.

thirty seven

winter came sooner than y/n had thought and she was completely thrilled that the months were rolling by. she had talked and made amends with draco, but with umbridge still around their relationship was incredibly strained.

they didn't talk in their classes like they usually did and they barely spoke when in the common room. y/n hated it, but she didn't want to put more effort into things if he wasn't willing to do the same. she had tried multiple times to reach out and fix things, but he would almost completely shut her out, now only giving her a quick kiss on her forehead before leaving her wherever they were at. she hadn't meant to snap at him when she had that one day, but everything she said was true. he did seem to relish in umbridges power and y/n wanted absolutely no part in it whatsoever.

the y/h/c haired girl walked through the snow next to harry, ron and hermione. they had just arrived at hogsmeade and y/n was so happy she was able to get out of the castle.

"this is mad. who'd wanna be taught by me? i'm a nutter, remember?" harry asked as he tried not to fall into the snow.

y/n giggled at his words, remembering when draco had called him that just months before.

"look on the bright side, you can't be worse than old toad face." ron said.

"thanks, ron." harry said sarcastically.

"i'm here for you, mate."

y/n walked next to hermione as the boys walked behind them. she was thrilled to hear that harry would be attempting to make his own private class so the students could actually learn how to use magic. when ron had told her, y/n jumped at the idea and knew that she definitely wanted to be apart of it.

the four of them walked into hog's head, the place where they would be meeting other students. they knew they wouldn't be able to recruit anyone with umbridge down their throats so they figured this would be a better spot to do so.

after students had began to arrive, the vibe in the room grew quite awkward and y/n was very uncomfortable. everyone just sat around, staring at the four who were sat in the front.

hermione noticed this and stood up to speak, "um, hi. so you all know why we're here. we need a teacher. a proper teacher. one who's had real experience defending themselves against the dark arts."

"why?" a boy in the crowd asked.

y/n was then quick to jump into the conversation, "why? because you know who's back, you tosspot."

"so he says." the same boy said.

"so dumbledore says." hermione added.

"so dumbledore says because he says. the point is, where's the proof?"

"maybe if potter could tell us more about how diggory got killed." another boy said.

y/n looked down at her hands after hearing cedrics name. it still hit her hard and ron noticed so he quickly put a friendly hand on her shoulder.

harry also noticed her mood shift so he quickly stood up, "i'm not going to talk about cedric. so if that's why you're here, you might as well clear out now."

"is it true you can produce a patronus charm?" a soft voice asked from the crowd and y/n knew it was from luna.

"yes." hermione said, "i've seen it. last year, he really did fight off you know who in the flesh."

"look, it all sounds great when you say it like that, but the truth is, most of what i've done was just luck. i didn't know what i was doing half the time and i nearly always had help. facing this stuff in real life is not like school. in school, if you make a mistake you can just try again tomorrow. but out there, when you're a second away from being murdered, or watching a friend die right before your eyes," harry paused as he looked at y/n. she looked at him admirably before nodding for him to continue, "you don't know what that's like."

"he's really back?" a second year asked and harry just nodded.

everyone seemed to now agree with the class and hermione put out a piece of parchment. y/n quickly scribbled her name down, smiling proudly at the people she was happy to call her friends.

~

y/n walked into her common room, noticing the room was empty. she couldn't wipe the large smile from her face but it was quickly dropped when she saw draco watching her from the sofa.

"where have you been? i haven't seen you all day." he asked her.

"i was, um, out with some friends."

she knew she couldn't tell him, she figured he would go blabbering straight to umbridge and there was no way she was willing to risk harry's class being exposed.

"marley has been in here all day." he shot back, eyeing her up and down.

she walked over towards him cautiously, "i was with ron."

"ron? you two have hardly spoken and now you're spending all day with him?"

"draco, stop. you're the one that has hardly spoken to me in weeks. me hanging out with other people should be no big deal."

"right. and i'm just supposed to believe that you were with ron all day?"

y/n gave him an exasperated look, "what are you asking me?"

"nothing, y/n." he said as he looked at the fire that was blazing in front of them.

"clearly you have something to say so you might as well just say it." she said through her teeth.

"i don't believe you, that's all." he said as he shook his head.

"draco malfoy, i am not cheating on you. so if that's what you're thinking you need to stop right now. for all i know, you could be cheating on me."

"you're kidding, right?" he asked as he whipped his head towards her, "you have to be joking."

"how am i supposed to know, you never talk to me anymore! you have literally thrown me away like a piece of rubbish! how do you think that makes me feel, draco? how do you think i feel when my own boyfriend doesn't want anything to do with me?" a tear rolled down her cheek as she spoke. she was so fed up with everything going on that she couldn't help it.

he looked at her with a confused expression before realizing that she had started to cry. the sight broke his heart and he felt completely awful. he wiped the tear away with his thumb before sighing, "i'm sorry. i know, but please, please don't cry."

y/n shook her head before standing up, "i just want you to be you again. i want us to be happy again."

he stood up, quickly embracing her into a tight hug. she broke down, crying away all of the emotions she had been feeling. she felt so vulnerable, but her mum always taught her that even warriors need to cry.

"i'm sorry, my love. i truly didn't know you had been feeling like this." he said as he stroked her hair.

"you couldn't have. i'm just tired and i want to sleep."

he pulled away and nodded, dragging her towards the stairs that led to the boys dorms. she didn't even try to fight it. she knew she could get into trouble but she didn't mind. all she wanted was to just be wrapped up around him and just simply be close to him. she would pay the price of any cost that could come.