Best Friends Don't Fall in Love, Draco Malfoy

"Ordinary Wizarding Levels Examinations. O-W-L. More commonly known as 'owl'. Study hard, and you will be rewarded. Fail to do so, and the consequences may be...severe," Umbridge tweeted to the class with a smile as if it were a cheery subject. I sighed and rested my head on my hand.

This was going to be a long year.

_________________________________

During lunch I picked at my food unconsciously without listening to the conversations being held around me. I had only taken a few bites, which was not like me. I had a lot on my mind.

"Jilly..." Delilah poked my side.

I came to earth and looked at her, confused.

"What's the matter, dear? You're not eating," she said.

"Oh, nothing. Just thinking, like I always do." I tried to stifle a smile.

She just nodded and began eating again. I looked over at Draco who was getting hounded by Pansy and looked quite annoyed to say the least. I shot a sympathetic look at him and when he looked away I took a sip of my water.

In Divinations class, I sat with Draco, Pansy, Crabbe and Goyle around a table that had a crystal ball in the middle. Professor Trelawney began the class by asking us to peer one by one in the crystal ball and write down what we see.

Suddenly, Miss Umbridge barged into the classroom, quill and parchment in hand. She stood and looked at all of us in the eyes in all her gaudy pink glory. She began asking professor Trelawney ridiculous questions like: how long have you been teaching here? And: could you please...predict something for me? Which, as anyone would, Trelawney responded with, "I'm sorry?"

"Pity." Umbridge then started to walk out the door.

"No, no! I do think I see something, yes...you are in grave danger!" The professor exclaimed dramatically.

"Lovely..." Miss Umbridge said while she wrote something down on her parchment then proceeded out the door.

Miss Trelawney took a deep breath and still held a worried look upon her face. The rest of class was just shy of awkward. When I looked into the crystal ball, it just clouded up into a deep red color, and nothing else happened. I shrugged and wrote it down in the journal.

Classes flew by for the rest of the day and I obtained more homework that I didn't plan on finishing.

During dinner, I sat next to Draco this time, and I thought it strange that he didn't say a single word to me the entire time. Which was exactly the same as it had been all day. Even in classes. I sighed loud enough so that I'm sure he heard me, got up and walked out into the halls. I made my way toward the dungeons, muttered the password and went inside the Slytherin Common Room. Some students were playing cards and studying, and I went to sit down on one of the couches. I wasn't expecting Draco to follow me, and he didn't.

I stared into the empty fireplace and after a few minutes I decided to go and spend some time with Sasha. I hadn't seen her all day except this morning. She probably wanted some attention. As soon as I got up, I decided to first run up to the boy's side of the dorms. I went to Draco's door, took out a piece of parchment, ripped it in half then wrote: "Meet me in the Common Room tonight at twelve.
- Jillian"

I posted it to his door and charmed it so that it stayed in place and only Draco could remove it. I looked around then crossed the Common Room to the girl's side and went into my own room. Sasha was lying on the windowsill, looking outside.

"Ah, you wish to go outside, don't you, Sash?" I said as I went over and picked her up. I kissed her head and chucked her under the chin. She started purring and I decided to take her outside for awhile so she could get some fresh air and run around.

I sat down in the damp grass near the Black Lake in front of some trees and put Sasha next to me. She started swiping at the grass and running around me in circles. I started laughing and picked her up then set her down and tangled a long piece of grass in front of her so she could try to catch it.

I loved the simple things in life such as this moment.

"Hey, Jilly! What'cha doing?" I turned to see Violet and Delilah walking toward me from the castle.

"Hey, guys, just playing with Sasha; getting some fresh air. Come join us!"

They came and sat down next to me and together we watched the sun sink below the lake's horizon.

__________________________________

I was lying on my bed when twelve 'o' clock finally rolled around. It seemed like ages before it did. I lept up and immediately went into the bathroom to make sure my hair and makeup looked all right. I was in my black sweats hanging low on my hips and a red lace tank top with some red silk slippers. I made sure Sasha was sleeping soundly then went down into the Common Room. I didn't see anyone down there, and I was worried that Draco wouldn't show up. I went and sat down on the same couch as earlier in front of the fireplace then lit a blazing fire inside. I held my hands out to warm them and then got up to sit on the ground directly in front of the fire.

"Jilly." I heard a whispering voice.

I turned to see Draco coming down the stairs. He came and sat in front of me, imitating the way I sat with my legs in a criss-cross fashion. I smiled lightly at him.

"Nice night, huh?"

"Draco, cut the small talk. I want to get something straight -- why have you been avoiding me? Why haven't you been acting the way you always do around me these past couple days?" I asked, annoyed.

It almost seemed like Draco didn't even hear my question. He disregarded it and looked into the fire, the light dancing in his eyes. He held a secret, and I wanted to know what it was. Obviously it concerned me or he wouldn't be acting this way.

I let a few moments pass before I repeated his name sternly. He shook his head and continued to look into the fire.

"Fine. If you don't want to talk then I'll just go. See you later, Drake." I started to get up but his arm grabbed mine and pulled me back down. I looked at him with question and the sorrow in his eyes told me that he really wanted me to stay but couldn't tell me what lied beneath the surface.

"Jilly don't leave. Look -- I just... I don't want to talk about it right now, okay? But don't worry, I'm fine. And I'm sorry I've been acting strange toward you. I can't help it..." He trailed off. At least he had looked me in the eyes when he said it.

The fire's orange glowing light played out the strong features of his face. A sharp shadow lined his cheek and it took everything I had in me not to reach up and run my fingers along his skin.

"But why can't you tell me? You've always told me everything, Drake and I've done the same for you. That's what best friends are for. You know I won't judge you for it," I pleaded.

His hand rose to my face and took a strand of my hair to caress in his fingers for a moment. A moment that lasted forever.

"When the time comes, I will tell you," he reassured as his hand returned to his side.

I sighed and accepted it. I had no other choice, but my heart raced nonetheless.

"All you should be concerned about is getting some rest. Classes tomorrow of course." Draco said as he got up and stretched.

"Yeah, true." I stood up to join him.

"You can come sleep in my bed if you want," he proposed.

I considered it for a moment. I really wanted to go sleep next to him, but I thought if I went into his room again this soon, and made habbit of it, I would eventually get caught. I dropped my head and nodded. Then raised it again to smile at him.

"Thanks for the offer, Drake, but I probably shouldn't."

He shrugged then wrapped his arms around me in a tight hug. His scent filled my nose and I practically melted. I wanted to be held there forever. He let go then said good night and went up the stairs to his room. I put the fire out and proceeded into my own room. I buried myself in my thick covers and started to cry. I wasn't sure what caused my tears, but all I knew is that I fell asleep weeping.

The next morning at breakfast, Draco seemed a bit cherrier but I knew he was probably only doing it so I could see that he was okay, but was really hurting inside. I bit into some bacon and talked to Violet and Delilah about school assignments.

Suddenly, there were two female voices outside the Great Hall and it sounded as though they were arguing. Most students quickly got up to see what was happening and I joined them. Professor Mcgonagall and Miss Umbridge ascended the stairs then stopped to quarrel.

"Just what exactly are you incinuating?" Umbridge asked Mcgonagall.

"I'm merely requesting that when it comes to students, you conform to the prescribed disciplinary practice!" Mcgonagall boomed.

"So silly of me, but it sounds as if you are questioning my authority in my own classroom...Minerva."

"Not at all, Delores." Mcgonagall continued, "Merely your use of Medieval methods."

"I'm sorry, dear. But to question my practices is to question the Ministry, and, by extention; the Minister himself... I am a tolerant woman," Umbridge stated, "but the one thing I will not stand for is disloyalty."

"Disloyalty..." Mcgonagall repeated, appauled.

Umbridge turned to look at us students who were all still watching the action. "Things at Hogwarts are much worse than I feared! Cornelius will want to take immidiate action!" Then both professors stormed off.

I turned to Draco. "What happened?"

"Apparently Potter went to detention and got more than he bargained for," Draco replied in his snooty tone and then the infamous smirk formed on his lips.