Meant for No One but Each Other

“Danica, please, just listen for a second,” the bushy hair girl said as she finally cornered Danica after Transfiguration. Neville looked back, met her eyes, then started walking away. She wanted to punch him, but Hermione wouldn’t let her past. “Just for a second, please?”

Danica met the girl’s gaze with a cold one of her own. “What do you want, Granger?”

Hermione winced at the use of her surname, but Danica just continued looking on with the same glare. “I just want to say I’m really, really sorry.”

“Oh are you?” Danica let out a bitter chuckle. “You’re sorry about which part exactly, just so I know. You’re sorry that you didn’t tell me my betrothed was seeing that cow Parkinson behind my back or that you listened to me for weeks about how torn I was between Draco and Neville without telling me I was making a fool of myself?”

“Danica, please, I wanted to tell you but I – I just couldn’t.”

“Oh you just couldn’t,” she repeated with slightly malice in her voice. “Well then that makes everything okay.” She looked at the girl who looked close to tears but she couldn’t bring herself to care. This was a girl she had called her friend, a girl she had stood up for. And when it mattered most, Hermione had let her down in a way that Danica just wasn’t willing to forgive right now. “Look, I’m not as stupid as you seem to think. And I really don’t appreciate being lied to. So how about I do us both a favor and walk away before I say something you’ll regret.” She turned and walked after Neville, knowing already she was supposed to meet him at the library. She sat down and glared at him. “You know you’re a complete Slytherin, right?”

He laughed. “She’s been bugging me to try to talk to you too. You should listen to her, you know. She really did want to tell you.”

“You’re aware of the fact that she didn’t tell you either, right?” she shot back.

He shrugged. “She had her reasons. And I know it wasn’t easy for her to hide it from either of us. She really considers you a good friend, Dani.”

“Good friends tell friends when the guy they’re supposed to be betrothed to are cheating on them,” she said simply. “Like you did.”

He sighed, but didn’t say anything, knowing she didn’t want to talk about it anymore. He suddenly turned pink, which he hadn’t done in front of her in a while. “Um, Dani?”

“What’s up, Nev?”

“I-I, er, I w-was wondering i-if you s-saw it w-was a H-h-hogsmeade w-weekend,” he stammered.

She wanted to smirk, knowing where he was going with this, but being who she was, she instead said, “Oh is it, I didn’t notice.”

‘Yeah it is, um, I was er wondering if you um wanted to er go… with me,” he said, turning even pinker.

“Oh I’d love to.”

“I underst—wait, you do?” he seemed shocked. Was he really expected her to say no?

“Oh course, Nev. You know I care for you, and I don’t know if it’s the way you want. But with everything that’s happened with D- with everything that’s happened, I’m willing to figure it out.”

“Oh okay,” he grinned and sighed in relief. “I didn’t want to, you know, rush you or anything.”

She smiled, taking his hand in hers and squeezing it. “You’re not.”

“Oh how touching,” a too familiar snide voice called from behind her.

She didn’t let go of Neville’s hand or turn around as she said, “What do you want, Draco?”
He came into their view, walking around the table. “I’d like to talk to you, if the fat lard would give us a moment.”

She pulled out her wand before Neville could respond. Never in her life would she have thought she’d actually think about seriously cursing Draco. Sure maybe once they were married and he needed to be put in his place, but even then it wouldn’t have been a harmful curse. Now, she was sorting through her mind, wondering which one to use. Neville gapped at her in shock, but Draco just smirked. ‘Going to curse me, Dani?”

“Don’t call me that,” she said shortly.

“Dani,” Neville put his hand on hers, lowering her arm. “Talk to him. I have to get something from the Gryffindor tower anyway.”

She glared at him, knowing he was just doing that to give her a chance to truly decide. She didn’t need it. She had decided the moment she had learned the truth. Neville left and Draco sat down in his seat. He reached for her arm but she pulled out of his grasp. “Don’t touch me,” she hissed. “You have no right to lay even a finger on me.”

“Danica, please, listen to me,” he said, his expression apologetic and pained.

But she knew him too well. “Save that face for when you have to look at your pug-faced girlfriend, Draco. I’m not buying it, but perhaps Pansy will think you’re truly upset and she’ll shag you right away.”

“I’m not shagging her anymore,” Draco said. “I did before yes, but not anymore. I haven’t in months.”

“Oh, months,” she let out a laugh. “Should I congratulate you on being true for months, Draco?”

“Dani, please,” he said. “Just listen, okay? I was cheating on you, I’ll admit it. But that was only because I was so bloody jealous of what you and Longbottom had.”

“Don’t you dare try to blame this on Neville when you’re the one that cheated,” she said angrily. How dare he? She wanted to punch him.

“I’m not,” he corrected himself. “What I’m saying is that I wanted that, I wanted a friend to always have there.”

“Do you shag all your friends then?” she asked sardonically.

“No,” he exclaimed. “But with Pansy – there’s only one kind of friendship you can have with her.”

“And she had to be your special little friend, didn’t she?” Danica rolled her eyes. She didn’t want to hear this. She couldn’t. She still couldn’t believe that Draco, her Draco, the one who had told her he loved her and whispered sweet nothings in her ear, had cheated on her. If she hadn’t seen Neville actually grow the balls to attack him for it, she still wouldn’t.

“Danica, I never meant to hurt you,” he said quietly. “You must know that. You know I would die than intentionally hurt you.”

She sighed. She knew he spoke the truth. Whatever was going on through his head when he did do it, she knew he never meant for her to find out and be affected by it. Because they both knew her only response would be pain. And she knew he would never in his life hurt her if he could help it. She knew he would die for her. “That doesn’t change the fact that you did, Draco,” she said quietly.

“I know, Dani,” he said, reaching again for her hand. This time she let him take it. “I’m so sorry, love, I really am. I promise, I’ll make it up to you, and I’ll never do anything that idiot again, I swear it.”

“Wait, Draco,” she said, pulling her hand away. “I’m not getting back together with you. And quite frankly, I don’t forgive you yet.”

“But you will, right?” he asked, worried again. “You’ll forgive me eventually? I mean we’re to be married, love. We’re practically engaged, been so our whole lives. We’re meant to be together, Dani, you and me.”

She sighed, and looked away. “I don’t know, Draco. I really don’t.” She looked up at him. “I think we should take a break. Spend some time growing up as ourselves. I mean we’ve been you and me for so long, we should really be you, and me. “

“Dani, I just want to be with you,” he said quietly. “I need you. I just – my father wrote to me. He said it’s getting worse.”

“What?” she asked, suddenly alert. Everything else seemed to fade except that last sentence. “Draco, you can’t be serious.”

“You saw it over the summer, Dani, on my dad and yours. It’s growing darker. My father is sure something is going to happen now. We need each other.”

She sighed, knowing he was right. “Draco, if you love me at all, you’ll give me some time. I need to be without you for a while. But in front of our parents, we can be together.”

“I’ll take it,” he said quickly.

She could practically hear his mind working. “Draco, you understand what that means right? We’re only doing this so that our parents have one less thing to worry about. But we are not together.”

“Not together, got it,” he said, waving it off.

“And at school, we’re not together. So if you see me with someone,” she said.

This got his attention. “You mean Longbottom?”

“Yes, I do,” she said coolly. “As I was saying, if you see me with him or anyone else, you can’t threaten to beat everyone up. No acting the tough guy, Draco. In school, we mean nothing romantic to each other anymore.”

He cringed and sighed. “If that’s what I have to do to keep you at all, then very well.”

“Great, now leave so Neville can come back. We’re discussing plans for the Hogsmeade trip this weekend.”

“Hogsmeade? You’re going out with that fat piece of—“

“Draco,” she warned.

He sighed. “Fine.” He stood. “I’ll see you later then, shall I?”

She nodded and watched him go. She was scared. If Lucius was telling Draco the dark mark was getting darker, then something was about to happen. And whatever it was, she had a feeling it would not be good. But she shook away the thoughts as she waited for Neville to come. She knew they'd have to act the part in front of their parents, but Draco was no longer her boyfriend. As worried as she was, she could not deal with it anymore. She didn't know if she felt the same about Neville that he felt for her, but she knew she'd try, and maybe one day, she'd realize that they did belong together. She knew it was a long shot because of her familial duties, but she had hope, she had Neville.