Traitor : Fred Weasley, Draco Malfoy & OC Fanfic

Chapter 4 - Slytherin Table

"So he was a good kisser?" Daphne whispered with a smirk, nodding towards the Gryffindor table.

I'd finished telling Daphne about my summer as we unpacked in our dorm and made our way to Great Hall. I'd asked her not to mention it when we got in, in fear someone would hear but she just couldn't seem to help herself.

"Shh Daphne!" I frantically looked around to make sure no one heard. I had my back to Gryffindor table so craned my neck to make sure. I turned to look down our own table, only to see the icy haired boy sitting a few seats down staring back at me, narrowing his eyes.

After the assembly announcements, the room roared with hundreds of conversations at once and everyone began to tuck into the plates of food that were laid out in front of us.

Me and Daphne were engaged in conversation about what she had been up to over summer, when we were interrupted by somebody moving on the Second year in the seat next to me to sit down. It was the boy.

"Draco Malfoy" he said, out stretching his hand. I rolled my eyes, of course I knew his name but we'd never been formerly introduced. He'd ignored me the first 5 years here, but I felt obligated to shake his hand.

"Celeste Reading" I muttered back, quickly letting go of his hand and turning back to our conversation. I didn't feel I owed him any of my time after he'd dismissed me for so long.

He tapped at my arm, demanding my attention again.

"Excuse me? I was talking to you" Draco said through gritted teeth.

"Shove off Malfoy, leave her alone" Daphne said, leaning further over the table. Daphne and Draco were family friends, both coming from Pure blood Slytherin households. Though my family were the same, we didn't like to associate ourselves with the Malfoys after rumours surrounding his father's unsavoury behaviour.

Daphne and Draco had never got along, sharing different opinions on who belonged in our house and school. She was the only one who ever seemed to speak back to him, because he knew her father would hear about it if he did anything back to her.

"Did I hear right Reading? You've been fraternising with blood traitors. A Weaslebee no less" Draco hissed, motioning towards the Weasleys on the table over.

"I don't think that's any of your business" I whispered, trying my best not to make a scene our first day back.

"Wouldn't want your dear brother to hear about it then?" he moved aside, to reveal my brother, Colin sitting at the end of our table with Adrian Pucey and the other boys from their year.

He was never dropped off to the train past his second year so we never knew whether he got to Hogwarts or not. He had remained distant from us for sometime now, choosing to stay with friends from school as opposed to coming home for holidays and breaks.

As a family, we knew he had acquired some unsettling views about the blood purity of other witches and wizards, instilled by the friends he'd made in our house. Despite my parents raising us to believe all wizards and witches were equal, he had remained defiant. If he knew that I had grown close to a Gryffindor, especially a Weasley, it would send him through the roof.

"Please don't" I said in a hushed tone, moving Draco back slightly to hide myself from my brother. I was sure Draco didn't know which brother Daphne had been talking about but I knew Colin wouldn't be happy with it being any of them.

"Better be nice to me then I guess" Draco whispered menacingly in my ear. He eyed me up and down, lingering for a moment too long on the hem of my skirt, before leaving the table to return to his friends.

I let out a sigh of relief that I had been holding in from the moment he came close to me. My heart began to pound, but I felt confused. It didn't seem to be because I was scared, I felt more excited but I couldn't put my finger on why.

"Ignore him" Daphne shook her head and continue telling me about the boy she'd met on her trip to Romania.

We finished up our meal in the Great Hall and felt absolutely stuffed. We decided it was smart to head back to our dormitory and started off on the long walk down to the Dungeons, but before I was about to exit through the enormous doors, I felt a tap on my shoulder.

I turned to see Fred beaming down at me. He'd left the Gryffindor table to catch me before I left and I could feel my cheeks burn red again, just thinking about him making the effort to come find me.

I subtly motioned for Daphne to carry on walking. She obeyed but not before giving me a wild smile and disappearing into a crowd of other students heading to their dormitories.

"Can I speak with you for a moment?" Fred asked in a hushed tone. As I nodded my response, he ushered me through the doors and out to a secluded arched corridor, off from the main walkways. He held lightly on my arm to show me the way and I felt my skin prickle under his touch. He swiftly let go as we reached a quieter archway with a floor to ceiling window overlooking the grounds.

I felt my chest grow tight again as I realised I was alone with him for the first time since that night. Being such a busy group, we had hardly got a moment together without George, Ginny or Ron within earshot. After a few days it seemed we'd both given up altogether to speak about what happened.

"I couldn't help but notice Malfoy giving you a hard time at dinner, was everything okay?" Fred looked down at me with a furrowed brow and concern plastered across his face.

"Oh yes it was all fine, nothing to worry about" I muttered, trying not to make eye contact with him. I didn't want him to know that I'd been talking about our kiss. I felt like a childish schoolgirl and despite knowing Fred nearly all my life, I suddenly wanted to impress the cool older boy in front of me. Not only that I didn't want him to know that Draco had threatened to tell Colin, who Fred no longer got along with.

"Hmm you promise?" he asked, out stretching his pinky, prompting me to link mine with his and I did so. I had always done this with the Weasleys but this felt different. Our fingers stayed linked a little longer than usual and my knees grew weak beneath me.

"Calm down Celeste, it's only my pinky" Fred said with a smirk, noticing my sudden change in mannerisms. I dropped my hand to my side and felt the crimson colour return to my cheeks as I realised I'd held on for a moment too long.

"Anyway, better get you back to your room! God knows what people would think we're up to hiding away back here, eh?" Fred winked and pressed his hand on the small of my back, making me move back down the corridor in the way we'd came.

That's really all he wanted to say? I thought to myself. Maybe he really was just being friendly and wanted to make sure I was okay? Maybe he only kissed me so I'd had my first and he wanted to make sure it was with someone I felt comfortable with? All these thoughts swirled around my mind as he guided me back to the bustle outside of the Great Hall.

"Right, I'm going back in there to play some Wizard Chess, are you okay getting back to your dorm?" Fred asked, still holding his hand against my lower back.

I looked around us, noticing a few lower year Gryffindor students with their eyes wide, trained on his hand and whispering to one another.

"I've lived here 5 years I think I can find it just fine" I joked, trying to squirm away slightly from his hold to stop the insistent whispering behind me.

In that moment he noticed why I was so uncomfortable and shot the third years a menacing glare, as if to say "What are you looking at?"
They quickly scattered and he held my back tighter than before, now there was no longer an audience.

"Very funny, Reading" he laughed, pausing for a moment before leaning in close to speak again, in a whisper this time "Don't worry about them, we'll really give them something to gawk at next time"

With that he let go and strolled back through the grand entrance to rejoin his housemates. He gave me a small glance before sitting back down and a hoard of butterflies exploded within my abdomen.

I was completely stunned for a moment. That was far more than friendly behaviour I thought to myself. I turned quickly on my heel and headed towards the direction of Slytherin house before anything more surprising could happen that evening.