The Girl Who Hid | George Weasley

ch 9 : the boy who had no choice

Five minutes before 8:00, you slipped from the dorm room. The girls said nothing since they were used to you slipping out to meet with trio over the years. You knew that was what they assumed was happening now, but you didn't care to correct them. You weren't sure what Malfoy wanted from you, but you were certain that the girls wouldn't approve of you going to find out.

Frankly, you knew it was likely foolish of you to give him a chance, but you had seen into his world a little bit. Seeing how terribly his father treated him helped you to have empathy for the boy. In your own head, you began to think of him as The Boy Who Had No Choice, and you clung to that, wanting to believe that the fleeting moments of goodness in him that you had seen over the years were who he truly was deep down. You refused to believe he was the monster his father wanted him to be.

You slipped into the astronomy tower unseen and rapidly climbed the steps. Since you were climbing them so quickly, you tripped just slightly about halfway up, catching the side of your arm on the rough stone beside you. You hissed through your teeth before shaking it off and moving the rest of the way up more cautiously.

When you made it to the top, Draco was already standing at the railing again. You softly greeted, "Hi."

He whipped around, his stiff shoulders until he saw it was you. His eyes traveled down to your hands, frowning and furrowing his eyebrows. He marched over to you, causing you to jump slightly when he roughly grabbed your hand. Your hand was scratched up and slightly bleeding from tripping in the stairwell.

Malfoy turned your hand over in his hands and darkly murmured, "What happened?"

You chuckled, "Well, I'm clumsy sometimes, so I tripped on my way up here because I was coming up the steps too fast."

He slowly smirked and taunted, "You're that excited to see me?" He dropped your hand, and you missed the feel of his soft, cold fingers on your skin.

Your face flushed, and you cleared your throat, "Um, I didn't know if something was wrong. You wanted to meet me?"

His eyes narrowed on you as he snapped, "I obviously already know that. I'm not stupid, Potter."

You shifted awkwardly on your feet and glanced around the astronomy tower, wondering why you decided to come after all. He let out a loud sigh before leaning against the railing again. You looked at him curiously. He looked exhausted as his tall frame slightly slouched against the railing.

You hesitantly made your way over to stand next to him. He just barely glanced at you out of his peripherals before he resumed staring at the ground below. You quietly asked, "Do you want to talk about it?"

He shook his head, grunting, "No. You would just hate me even more."

You carefully put a hand on his arm and reassured him, "I don't hate you."

He stared down at you in disbelief and questioned, "Why not?" He ripped his arm from your grip, yet you could see the pain swimming in his eyes.

You slightly smiled at him and shook your head. You admitted, "Maybe I should hate you, but I don't. I understand why you act the way you do, even if I don't like it."

He blinked and snarled, "You don't understand me."

Nodding, you agreed, "Maybe I don't, but I'd like to if you'd let me."

He stared at you for a long moment before swallowing. He glanced around, and you noticed how vulnerable he looked in that moment. He commanded, "Study with me in the library tomorrow after classes."

Surprised, you nodded and gave him a small smile. He blinked and nodded stiffly before leaving you alone in the tower once more.

Checking the time, you saw that you still had a lot of time to get back to your dorm before curfew, so you leaned against the railing for a moment, looking up at the stars that were starting to come into view in the night sky. You let a soft sigh slip through your lips as you traced the constellations with your little finger and one eye closed.

Even in the darkness, there is beauty.