Limerence; Draco Malfoy

Chapter Thirteen: Exposed

"What's all this then?" Draco snickered darkly, his eyes flicking down to a page of scrawled writing and then back at me; he raised a questioning brow, not bothering to hide his evil smirk.

"Don't tell me it's a diary? Your little journal?" He let out another spiteful laugh. Strangely enough, it was the lightest, most carefree sound I'd heard him emit so far. I pressed my lips together, stricken and desperate. Just stay calm, Violet, I told myself.

I could not stay calm.

"Give that back, or I swear to-"

"-Language!" He tutted, holding the diary up and out of my reach again when I tried to grab it. "What's wrong? Can't I have a little read?"

He was practically dripping with scornful delight and a small wicked smirk pulled at his lips. "Don't tell me you've written anything about me in there?!" I had. Of course I had; because if my life were a book right now, he would easily be the villain.

I shot him a silent glare. This only made his eyebrows shoot up with more interest. "You have," He took my silence as a confirmation, his voice a velvety and teasing drawl. "Haven't you? Well, I am honoured. I can see it now: you, sitting up in your dormitory, angrily scribbling away in the candlelight."

By some miracle he hadn't made any move to read the diary yet, which was now shut in his hands -- instead, his voice rose to mimic a girl's tone as he pretended to be me:

"Dear diary, Draco Malfoy is a mean, bullying, idiot and he makes fun of me because I'm ginger. I hate him so much and my life is literally so hard - all I'm good at is crying and living up to my stereotype of being a feisty red-head, but it's pretty pathetic really, because I just don't know when to keep my mouth shut. Oh, and I also sometimes walk face first into walls because I don't have a single braincell--"

I reached up and roughly snatched my diary from his grip with shaking hands, clasping it to my chest as I sat rigidly back in my seat. I blinked forcefully, trying to cool the heat in my cheeks.

Ignore him ignore him ignore him-

I didn't think it was possible that another human being could spark so much bitterness in me, but Draco Malfoy seemed to do just that. I kept my eyes cast down to the desk as I slipped my diary safely in the pockets of my robes, inhaling a sharp breath through my nose.

The familiar scent of his cologne hit my senses, sparking more vivid flashbacks from our storage cupboard moment last night: His voice brushing past my ear; his cold hand pressed against my mouth; his arms caging me in--

I bit my bottom lip hard to keep myself together. Restrained. Emotionless. All I mumbled was the same thing I had before:

"You are so bloody childish. Just shut up and let me finish my work."

He didn't respond right away, but I imagined he was basking in my offence. I would ask Professor whatever-his-name-was to change the seating plan for next lesson. No way was I going to continue sitting near that spawn of Satan. No fucking way was I putting up with him for any lo-

Suddenly, my ankles were swiftly knocked by his two feet from under the desk, forcing my legs apart. I froze, gripping the edge of the desk as I stared at him -- stunned.

"You can finish your work once we've finished our conversation." He spoke calmly, slowly, but there was an unmissable warning behind it. I felt a strange warmth heating in the pit of my stomach, a flutter in the chest, and a shiver laced through me.

"This conversation is over." I told him firmly. "So i'd really appreciate it if you'd shut up and let me copy your notes."

Draco stared at me long and hard, and tilted his head to scrutinise me carefully while lightly tapping his wand on the desk. I was still too stunned to move my feet away. I feared the slightest movement would only cause more pain to go shooting through my ankle.