Little Memories

When Charlotte and Theodore walked back into the Common Room, since it was a Friday night, the majority of the students were still up and chatting about their plans for the weekend. The wall slid shut behind Charlotte and Theodore and they glanced around. Her left hand was resting on his arm, so that if anyone really was watching, they would catch sight of the glittering rock upon her ring finger.

They couple sat down on the only available black, leather couch in the room, which, ironically, was a love seat. Despite the available room for two, Charlotte sat down on his lap, her arms wrapped around his neck as she rested her head on his shoulder. They remained like this for sometime, comfortable with each other. That was, until the untimely screech of one Daphne Greengrass broke their reverie.

“What is that?” She asked once the entire Common Room had hushed. Charlotte pulled her head from Theodore’s shoulder and stared confusedly at her.

“What is what, Daphne?” Charlotte asked in reply, eyeing the brunette carefully and making no motion to get up and off of Theodore’s lap. Daphne stormed over to the two of them and roughly snatched Charlotte’s left hand and pointed at the nicely-sized ring in her finger.

“You two are engaged?” Daphne asked in an incredulous tone, voicing the one question on the room’s mind.

“Yes,” Theodore spoke up with as much force in his voice as Daphne was conveying, “We intend to be married during summer break.” The room filled with murmuring voices and exchanged glances. Draco Malfoy, who had been sitting in one of the high back chairs in the room and not paying attention until now, split a harrowing glare between Charlotte and Theodore before eyeing the ring on her finger. Daphne looked between the two of them before she slowly began to laugh, shaking her head.

“Oh,” she managed to get out past her laughter, “this is rich. You two truly deserve each other.” She began to walk back to a seething Draco, occasionally glancing over her shoulder and laughing at the couple. Just as she was about to lower herself onto his lap, he suddenly stood, not taking his eyes away from Charlotte.

“Goyle,” he barked through gritted teeth, causing the Common Room to go silent once more, “would you mind a word outside the Common Room with me?” Charlotte could feel Theodore tense slightly beneath her.

“Anything you have to say to her can be said in front of me,” Theodore said, immediately going into protective mode. Draco was clearly livid with the situation, even if it was a fake one, and Theodore didn’t want Charlotte getting hurt by him any more than she already had been. Charlotte could see the anger building in Draco’s eyes and the tension growing between the two boys and she stood, facing Theodore.

“Don’t worry, Teddy, I can protect myself,” she said, leaning forward and giving the boy a quick kiss on the lips before followed Draco out of the Common Room. As soon as the door slid shut behind them, the Common Room burst into frantic talking and gossiping.

Once alone, Draco stared hard at Charlotte for the longest time before taking her left hand in his. A frown curled those pleasantly shaped lips of his as he looked over the large, glittering ring on her finger. He couldn’t help but to think that it should be a ring he had chosen on her finger.

“You know, you can give up this charade right now,” he said suddenly, a deep, underlying anger in his voice. Charlotte watched him closely, her face not betraying any of the emotions she was feeling.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she said loftily, playing ignorant to the fact that she knew exactly what he was talking about. Draco’s face crumbled with anger as she demolished any bit of patience that he had with that simple sentence. He squeezed her left hand, lifting it up and into her line of sight.

“This utter and complete bullshit,” he seethed, motioning violently to the ring with his other hand. She gave a short laugh and easily slid her hand from his grip, shaking her head and causing her lovely, blonde curls to bounce slightly with the movement.

“Oh Draco,” she said sweetly, a sarcastic smile curling her full lips, “you kill me, you really do.” Draco glared harshly at the girl who was once, and still had, a firm grip on his heart. “It’s completely normal to be jealous of my relationship with Theodore,” she continued, tilting her head to the side as she smiled earnestly up at the boy, only further angering him. “Rightfully so, with how horrible your relationship is-”

“Shut. Up.” Draco growled, leaning closer to her face and staring down harshly into her eyes. Charlotte merely continued to smile at him, remaining quiet and relishing the fact that she now had his undivided attention and him seething. “It’s not fair that you’re using him to get back at me,” she said in a hushed voice, his eyes burning into hers. Charlotte continued to stare innocently at him, the smile still playing around her lips. “It’s so obvious that this engagement is a complete sham.” Charlotte nodded a bit, still smiling broadly at him.

“Obvious to only you, maybe. Because only your mind could twist this to make it about you,” she said softly, staring at Draco as he became more and more angry with her. There was the sound of a drip far off in the Slytherin Dungeons as the two stared the other down. Draco fisted his perfect blonde hair in his hands and pulled at it, bearing his teeth at Charlotte.

“That’s because you’re digging yourself in deeper and deeper!” He exclaimed, shaking his head. Charlotte’s carefree attitude and smile dropped at he said this and she felt her calm exterior deteriorating quickly.

“You were the one who ended it with me, Draco,” she said calmly, despite the anger churning in her stomach. “Don’t get angry with me if I’ve moved on and you haven’t,” she snarled, keeping her eyes glued to his.

“That’s what you want me to think, isn’t it?” Draco asked, cutting his eyes at her. Charlotte merely stared humorlessly at Draco, scrambling mentally to regain the upper hand in their discussion. She definitely didn’t like his raising suspicions about the fake relationship she had set up with Theodore. “You want me to think that you’ve forgotten me and moved on,” he continued in a low voice, taking a step forward and Charlotte took a countering step backwards.

“I have,” Charlotte replied, leveling her chin with the floor, as he took another step forward and she took another step back. She lifted her wrist and showed him it before adding, “I’m no longer wearing that damn bracelet you gave me. Or have you been oblivious to the fact that it’s been dangling from your girlfriend’s fat wrist for the past few months.”

“That wasn’t supposed to happen,” he said before he could stop it from flying from his mouth. He clamped his lips between his teeth and let out a sigh through his nose, closing his eyes. Draco reopened them to see that she had her eyes cut at him. He definitely didn’t want to miss what her reaction was going to be, even if she could very possibly get angry at him. “She found it on my pillow…where you left it,” he added to explain things, regaining his bearings and taking another step forward. Charlotte took another step back and found her back pressed against the cool, damp wall of the Slytherin Dungeons. He placed his hands on either side of her head, trapping her as he leaned forward, staring hard into those faceted blue eyes of hers. Draco fought the temptation to kiss her, seeing a spark of fear flare up in her eyes before it fell to anger once more.

“You were supposed to find it before you two started shagging,” she spat, glowering at him, hoping that she had hit a raw nerve and causing him a little bit of pain. Anything to retaliate for him hurting her.

“It’s no better than the times you and dearest Teddy have fucked,” he yelled in her face before he could stop himself. His voice echoed down the dungeon corridors and repeated those harsh words multiple times back to Charlotte. She paused and listened to them, pressing herself harder back against the wall behind her out of instinct. She almost replied that she and Theodore had never actually had sex, but knew that would give the game away. Those sharp words and the way he had reacted to her accusation let Charlotte know that he had just confirmed that he had gone all the way with that dreadful girl Daphne.

“Get the fuck away from me,” Charlotte growled, pushing Draco away forcefully. He stumbled back, having not prepared himself from the sharp shove that Charlotte had dealt him. She stomped over to the Common Room door and muttered the password angrily, Hastily, she stepped into the room, leaving a bewildered and hurt-looking Draco behind. He couldn’t believe he had said those things to her and gotten so angry, even though he knew that she really wasn’t intending to marry Theodore. She still loved him desperately, he just knew it. All he would have to do would be to find a way to get her to admit it to him.