Shoulder to Shoulder // A Draco Malfoy Short Story

𝓓𝓮𝓬𝓮𝓶𝓫𝓮𝓻

"Draco!" Jinx called to me as class ended.

"What's up?" I slung my arm around her shoulder and we walked down the hall to our next class.

"Do you want to come to my house for Christmas?" Her demeanor changed from hoping to pleading and I really wanted to say yes. She seemed so tense recently and I couldn't help but think this is why. 

"I can't actually. I have some stuff to do at home. I'm sorry," I smiled down at her sadly, her eyes looked down at the ground and her hand tightened around her bag. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just slightly disappointed," She looked up and smiled but her eyes didn't match. I frowned.

"I'm sorry," I gave her a tight hug in the middle of the hallway.

"Hey! Move it!" A random student yelled at us and I glared at them, the boys eyes widened and he scurried off.

Δ

"Hey, there's a Christmas party in the Slytherin common room the night before break. Do you wanna come?" I asked her, break was in about a week and I wasn't ready to be without Jinx. Especially at the manor.

"Of course," She smiled, "I'll be there,"

"Cool," I rubbed the back of my neck. "What do you want for Christmas?"

"Oh uh..." She smiled up at me. "A letter,"

"A letter?"

"Yeah, they're so sweet. Words last longer than objects and I would keep it for forever,"

"You know Jinx," I looked down at her and her face contorted. "You really are a weird girl,"

"Yep!" She smiled and ran into her classroom, I walked away to my own class and chuckled.

Δ

Calm down Draco.

Suddenly, I was hot and sweaty, so hot and sweaty that I stripped off my sweatshirt and went to run my face under cold water, my hands shook. But as I stood up to go to the sink, the harsh trembling traveled down into my arms and legs, leaving me unsteady on my feet. My heart seemed to pound even faster, even harder. I tried taking a deep breath to calm myself, but my breaths were too sharp and shallow.

CALM DOWN DRACO.

Words kept flooding my head as I tried to regain control of myself, heavy tears swam down my face. My vision got darker and narrower and looked kaleidoscopic. And then, I slowly sank to the floor. I don't know how much time passed before I was able to steady myself—it could have been 30 seconds or an hour.

"Draco?"

"I'm fine Jinx," I breathed.

"Where have you been?" She crouched down to the floor next to me and pushed my hair out of my face gently.

"In here," I motioned to the bathroom with an breathy laugh.

"Are you okay?" 

"For now," 

Δ

"Mornin' Draco!" Jinx ruffled my hair and sat next to me. "You look like shit, what happened?"

"Couldn't sleep," 

When I looked at myself in the mirror today, my eyes were sunken and the grey hue came back to my skin, dulling me. I looked how I did in sixth year. I felt sick, Christmas is sneaking up on me and It's not going so well for me.