i arrive at hogwarts the next morning feeling hazy and confused. nothing about draco made sense to me last night. whatever's going on with him i just hope he's alright.
the common room is warm when i walk in, the fireplace is blazing beside the couches, filling the room with the smell of smoke. it's comforting, it reminds me of home. beside the fire i see cedric and a goofy smile makes it's way onto my face. i feel like i'm never able to spend enough time with him. across from him sits luna, they seem to be in a rather intense game of wizarding chess.
lunas king beheads cedrics queen as i sit down beside her.
"hello venus," her whimsical voice is as soft as ever. i smile at her.
"hi luna." i reach my arms around her, pulling her into a tight hug. cedric gets to his feet to come over to us, wrapping the two of us in his arms. he ruffles my hair gently before making his way back to his seat.
"how were your breaks?" i ask them, my eyes shifting between the two of them.
"mine was pretty boring until luna came," cedric smiles at her gratefully. he explains how he decided to stay here for the winter. cedrics always been selfless, he wanted to stay here to keep the first years who had no reason to go home someone to talk to.
the three of us take turns playing one another in chess, eventually i sit out because i never win. it's basically like playing against a house elf. i smile as i watch them banter, pulling my knees up to my chest.
"lunas sleeping here tonight, we've got some blankets over on that desk if you'd like to join us," cedric points to the desk behind me. i nod as i head over to the pile of blankets placed messily on the table, grabbing out a soft white one.
"cedric was just about to tell me something interesting before you came, venus." lunas eyes sparkle as she smiles over at me. "isn't that right, cedric?" she asks him. cedric smiles sheepishly and brings a hand to rub at his neck.
"well i don't know if i'd call it interesting," he pauses. "just something personal." i smile at him, encouraging him to continue. he does after a sharp inhale. "i like harry." he brings both of his palms up to cover his face. my eyebrows shoot up to my hairline as i gasp.
"cedric, that's cute," i tell him," you should ask him out." i shift slightly, trying to get comfortable on the couch. cedric rolls his eyes at me.
"of course you'd say that. he's with ginny, anyways." he picks at his nails, avoiding our eye contact.
"i think you should try it," luna pipes up from beside me. "i think your nargles would get along." merlin i've missed her.
"what about you, hm?" cedric lifts his head up to look at me. "how are you and the slytherin prince?" he puts on a posh accent when talking about draco. i cringe at the thought of him.
"i- uh- we're good." i lie through my teeth.
"don't lie," luna looks over at me," you don't need to lie."
i sigh exasperatedly before talking. "i don't know what we are. we were never officially dating." cedric and luna are watching me intently. "but we were each other's. and now i don't know what we are." luna places a comforting hand on my knee. "i thought that if i was his, and he was mine then that was all we needed to be. but it's just exhausting, and i get that his family isn't the best, and it totally stresses him out but he just shut down." i explain, trying to keep myself collected. "when i saw him yesterday he was drunk, he yelled at me to leave and he wouldn't call me by my name." i refuse to meet their eyes when i'm done, knowing that they'll see the gloss coating my eyes.
"he's always been difficult," cedric sighs out. "but i've never known you to give up when something gets hard." i snort, that's a lie.
"i literally give up at least once a semester," i mutter out as cedric laughs.
"okay, okay that's true. i just think that if you really want to be his, then i know that you'll fight for it." i count my lucky stars for cedric, i truly am grateful for him.
i look down at my trunk that sits by my feet. the clock above cedric says that it's almost midnight. almost january third. the anniversary of my parents death.
i open my trunk quietly, rummaging around to find my stuffed bear. i hold onto it tightly as the clock hits twelve. luna and cedric look at me knowingly, i told them the significance of my bear in second year. that was the year that i had lost it, dropped it on the hogwarts express and broke down in the common room when i couldn't find it.
luna breaks the silence. "venus, i'm not sure if it means anything to you, but dracos nargles almost always disappear when he's with you." she gazes at me. i smile at her, knowing that she's telling the truth. luna would never lie about nargles.
jules shows up when we're all drifting to sleep, she slams open the portrait and climbs her way onto the couch between luna and i.
"there's a free spot over there," i choke out, pointing to the spot beside cedric. jules shrugs and places a kiss on the top of lunas head, and then mine next.
"i gave up on theo asking me out," she announces.
"oh jules, that's too bad-" she cuts me off with a hand to my mouth
"so i asked him out instead," she beams. merlin, she just loves making a dramatic entrance. "but he says that he doesn't want to have sex until we're there in our relationship, isn't that sweet?" she asks, exhaling softly. i smile up at her.
"that's amazing jules, i'm so happy for you." i nudge her softly with my shoulder as she beams down at me.
"now we can go on double dates. me and theo, and you and draco." my heart stops. i don't know how to tell her that somethings wrong between draco and i, so i just nod my head. i see cedric shake his head across the room.
YOU ARE READING
Chemistry ; draco malfoy
Fanfiction"all i've done is cause you trouble." "maybe i like trouble." sixteen year old venus just wants one normal year, is that too much to ask? school has always been a safe place for her, she has friends that she'd consider family, teachers that have hig...
