Love's Decisions

*two weeks later*

Blaise and I had had our 19th or 20th date by now, but there was still something bugging me. I didn’t feel it. I didn’t feel like I was being swept off my feet. I felt like we were just friends. Like I cared about him a lot but I didn’t feel that passion or that heat. I loved him like a friend. But I had decided to ride it out and see where it was going.

I smiled as Draco handed me a bowl of cereal. We’d become friends since I’d saved his life and all. He didn’t seem to hate me so much now. Draco sat opposite me and devoured his cereal. He turned up to look at my questioning look
“You just literally inhaled your cereal” I replied, seeing his empty cereal bowl in front of him after a matter of seconds. Draco grinned
“It’s not my fault you take a millennium to finish breakfast” he replied, before throwing his bowl into the sink. I smiled and continued to eat my cereal.
“We should go somewhere. This house is boring. I know, why don’t I teach you to fly?” he asked, spotting his broomstick propped up against the corner of the room. I threw Draco a doubted look
“Because I can’t fly” I replied, finishing off my cereal.
“Come on, I’ll teach you” Draco replied, dragging me outside. I sighed and summoned my broomstick, before mounting it. Draco mounted his broomstick and turned to face me. “Basically, hold onto your broomstick no matter what. Lean forward to push forward and raise the front of your broomstick to halt” Draco replied. He started flying slowly at my side, before taking off at super speed. I matched his agility, and reached his level quickly.
“Ok, my turn to make the rules. Catch me if you can, oh mighty seeker” I replied, before zooming off. Draco was astounded for a second, before chasing after me. I span around and around and twirled in and out of trees as I flew further away from Draco. He was quick, but not quite as agile as me. His build was bulkier than mine, so he couldn’t quite get through the slim crevices that I managed to sneak through. I spotted a large field that seemed like a good landing ground, and zoomed towards it. I was second away from the ground when I felt Draco suddenly pulling me off my broom and holding me as he reached the floor.

I gasped in shock as I got up, trying to make sense of what had happened so quickly. Draco grinned and lay down on the ground, his hands behind his head, looking up at the sky.
“Did you really think I couldn’t catch you? I was just letting you believe you were quicker than me” he replied, breathing deeply as he looked at the sky. I glared at him as I smacked his chest.
“Ass. You were supposed to play fair” I replied bitterly, as I lay next to him. He turned to look at me, grinning.
“Fair is both of us starting at the same time, and warning me that you would suddenly take off like that. You weren’t very fair” he responded, putting his arm underneath my shoulders and pulling me into him as we looked up at the bright blue sky.
It was nice just to sit there in silence, breathing in nature and the fresh air. I turned to look at Draco and he smiled at me.
“You don’t really like him, do you?” Draco asked quietly, holding my gaze. I felt confused
“Who?” I asked naively. Draco smiled
“Blaise” he responded lightly. I felt confused and protective at the same time.
“Yes I do” I responded, frowning slightly. Draco smiled and touched the area on my forehead that wrinkled, and under his touch, my forehead immediately relaxed. I couldn’t even remember why I was angry.
“No you don’t. Look… Blaise is my friend. It’s not fair for you to string him along” he replied quietly. I felt angry again
“I do like Blaise, ok? Just because it wasn’t love at first sight doesn’t mean that I don’t like him. Just give it a while” I mumbled, looking away. Draco titled my head towards his again by holding my chin with his thumb and forefinger
“No you don’t. You don’t really see a future with him” he replied, not standing down. I looked away
“I’m 16 years old. My relationships don’t have to be serious” I replied defiantly. Draco gave me a light smile, before looking down
“He likes you, you know? More than you like him. You’ll only break his heart if you string him along” he replied, before looking back up at the sky.
“So what should I do?” I asked, still looking at him “Are you saying I should break up with him?” I asked, wanting Draco to look back at me. He seemed to not hear me as he looked up at the sky. Eventually, he turned to look back into my eyes
“I’m saying… either love him or leave him” he responded, before looking back up at the sky.

I shuffled away from him, tears pooling in my eyes as I looked up. I never really liked being wrong. Draco turned to look at me again at the sudden movement, before catching a tear on his finger, that fell from my eyes. I turned to look back at him, and he continued to look at me for a while in silence. We had a silent understanding. Like we could tell what the other was thinking, without really saying it out loud. Draco could see the resolving look in my eyes as I realized what I would have to do. I realized that you don’t choose to love someone. Love chooses someone for you. You don’t find love. It finds you. I looked down at Draco’s hand, and placed mine in his.
“You know you’re a sucky friend” I replied, looking back up at him and smiling lightly. Draco smiled
“To who, you or Blaise?” he asked, tilting his head to the side. “…You know I don’t want to take his happiness away from him. I just don’t want him to get hurt” he replied, looking back up at the clouds. I bit my lip as I thought about it.
“Hey, do you think there’s a chance that-”
“That I would tell Blaise that you want to break up with him, for you?” Draco finished my question. I gave him a sheepish smile, and he smirked. “Not a chance” he replied, squeezing my hand before looking back up at the pale blue canvas above him. I sighed and followed his stare, letting the moment swallow me instead of thinking about Blaise.