It Was Never Supposed to Be Easy
An Invitation
Oddly enough, once they were gone, I hardly missed them. I suppose them not speaking to me is the same as them leaving me entirely.
But the best part of this whole mess was, with my…friends… gone, the school seemed to decide that they would take up the job of collectively ignoring me. They did a fine job, I had to hand it to them, and sometimes I could go several class periods as visible as a glass pane. Sometimes, I would begin to wonder if I was actually there. Or if I had just…disappeared.
Draco, somehow, had picked up on my feelings. He was tender, and romantic. He would do little things to remind me that I was still there, and with each treat, I would remember that the sacrifice was worth it. I was loved. Everywhere I went, there were reminders of this. From the love letters, folded into origami swans and bewitched to fly to me, no matter where I was, to the single rose left by my plate, Draco was there. He was my Potion of Courage, my Strengthening Charm. He was all of these things to me, but most of all he was my friend.
He sat with me in the library, nightly, watching me study. I never saw him crack open a book but I assumed he was doing his work since he never got detention. In class, he crossed to the Gryffindor side of the room and sat at my table so I didn’t have to sit alone. He would wait for me outside of the doors of all of my classes and every morning when I pushed aside the Fat Lady’s portrait, he was there, leaning against the wall, patiently waiting. He wasn’t Ron and he wasn’t Harry, but as the days wore on I missed them less and less. Draco couldn’t be them, and I didn’t expect him to be. But, Draco could be Draco, and right now, that was what I wanted.
“Christmas holidays are next week.” He said suddenly as he walked me to Transfiguration one afternoon.
“Yes, I know.” I said, squinting up at him through the sunlight that was coming through the large windows.
“Will you be going home?” he asked.
I nodded. I had been invited to The Burrow, like usual, but I highly doubted that the invitation still stood.
“Yes, yes I suppose so.”
He stopped in the hall and ran a hand through his hair. It had been a while since it had last been trimmed and now his white-blonde hair was curling gently over his collar.
“Do you want to go home?”
I stopped too. What an odd question. How does one answer?
“Honestly, no. I love Mom and Dad…but well…”
“You don’t fit in?”
“Exactly. It’s not their fault; they just don’t get anything I talk about. It’s not their world.”
He looked out the window briefly and then he looked down at me.
His expression, his expression was so strange. It reminded me eerily of the night I had met his mother. It was an expression full of secrets. Secrets that I didn’t want to find out about.
And then, just like that, it was gone, to be replaced with his gracious, beautiful, well-bred smile.
“Well, how about you come home with me?”
“With you?” I asked, surprised.
“Well, yes. Just for a few days, and that way you and I can spend time together outside of this dusty, old school, and then I can see too it that you get home to see your family. That way you won’t be awkward for the entire break.”
I laughed, “No, just for part of it.”
“Better than all of it.” He pointed out.
I smiled. He was so thoughtful. I looked up at him in time to catch that hungry look again.
“Well…” I said nervously, thrown off balance.
He took my hands and leaned down so that we were nose to nose.
“Please, love, for me?”
I melted. He had asked so nicely, and he had done so much for me. This was all he asked for me to do for him.
“Of course…I can’t wait!” I said smiling into his eyes.
He smiled another strange, triumphant grin and then he squeezed my hand.
“Excellent. I’ll write Mother immediately and tell her you are coming to stay.”
“She won’t mind?” I asked, worried. Narcissa Malfoy was scary enough without being annoyed that I was coming to stay over Holiday.
He smiled again.
“No, no, she will be so pleased.”
**
Kind of short, but well...you'll see.
Pumpkin Juice and a Huggle to all of my lover-ly readers!
But the best part of this whole mess was, with my…friends… gone, the school seemed to decide that they would take up the job of collectively ignoring me. They did a fine job, I had to hand it to them, and sometimes I could go several class periods as visible as a glass pane. Sometimes, I would begin to wonder if I was actually there. Or if I had just…disappeared.
Draco, somehow, had picked up on my feelings. He was tender, and romantic. He would do little things to remind me that I was still there, and with each treat, I would remember that the sacrifice was worth it. I was loved. Everywhere I went, there were reminders of this. From the love letters, folded into origami swans and bewitched to fly to me, no matter where I was, to the single rose left by my plate, Draco was there. He was my Potion of Courage, my Strengthening Charm. He was all of these things to me, but most of all he was my friend.
He sat with me in the library, nightly, watching me study. I never saw him crack open a book but I assumed he was doing his work since he never got detention. In class, he crossed to the Gryffindor side of the room and sat at my table so I didn’t have to sit alone. He would wait for me outside of the doors of all of my classes and every morning when I pushed aside the Fat Lady’s portrait, he was there, leaning against the wall, patiently waiting. He wasn’t Ron and he wasn’t Harry, but as the days wore on I missed them less and less. Draco couldn’t be them, and I didn’t expect him to be. But, Draco could be Draco, and right now, that was what I wanted.
“Christmas holidays are next week.” He said suddenly as he walked me to Transfiguration one afternoon.
“Yes, I know.” I said, squinting up at him through the sunlight that was coming through the large windows.
“Will you be going home?” he asked.
I nodded. I had been invited to The Burrow, like usual, but I highly doubted that the invitation still stood.
“Yes, yes I suppose so.”
He stopped in the hall and ran a hand through his hair. It had been a while since it had last been trimmed and now his white-blonde hair was curling gently over his collar.
“Do you want to go home?”
I stopped too. What an odd question. How does one answer?
“Honestly, no. I love Mom and Dad…but well…”
“You don’t fit in?”
“Exactly. It’s not their fault; they just don’t get anything I talk about. It’s not their world.”
He looked out the window briefly and then he looked down at me.
His expression, his expression was so strange. It reminded me eerily of the night I had met his mother. It was an expression full of secrets. Secrets that I didn’t want to find out about.
And then, just like that, it was gone, to be replaced with his gracious, beautiful, well-bred smile.
“Well, how about you come home with me?”
“With you?” I asked, surprised.
“Well, yes. Just for a few days, and that way you and I can spend time together outside of this dusty, old school, and then I can see too it that you get home to see your family. That way you won’t be awkward for the entire break.”
I laughed, “No, just for part of it.”
“Better than all of it.” He pointed out.
I smiled. He was so thoughtful. I looked up at him in time to catch that hungry look again.
“Well…” I said nervously, thrown off balance.
He took my hands and leaned down so that we were nose to nose.
“Please, love, for me?”
I melted. He had asked so nicely, and he had done so much for me. This was all he asked for me to do for him.
“Of course…I can’t wait!” I said smiling into his eyes.
He smiled another strange, triumphant grin and then he squeezed my hand.
“Excellent. I’ll write Mother immediately and tell her you are coming to stay.”
“She won’t mind?” I asked, worried. Narcissa Malfoy was scary enough without being annoyed that I was coming to stay over Holiday.
He smiled again.
“No, no, she will be so pleased.”
**
Kind of short, but well...you'll see.
Pumpkin Juice and a Huggle to all of my lover-ly readers!