Draco Malfoy's Dirty Little Secret

There was definitely something going on that night at Slughorn’s party. I mean, Colin was acting really weird, and he had been in the office for a pretty long time. I know because I kept a watch on it while Harry left me pretty much alone. He seemed to be distracted by Ginny Weasley, which didn’t surprise me the least bit. He also left a few times to dance with Luna Lovegood, which was alright with me. No girl should have to be there alone, and Harry was a gentleman…to everyone but me. Kamrynn passed by with Blaise. They looked so happy together, and my heart ached. My heart ached for Draco.

“That’s it,” I said after they passed; my mind set on finding out what Colin was up to. “Hello?” I called when I opened the door and shut it behind me. I heard a crash from the back of the room and headed there. I was expecting to see Colin, but he was nowhere in sight. There was someone there though.

“Where’s Colin?” I asked, completely scaring him, which caused him to drop something with a shatter.

“God damn it,” he mumbled under his breath and looked over at me. His grey eyes piercing mine like they always do. “Courtney, what are you doing here?”

“I asked you where Colin was,” I said, not backing down.

He shrugged. “Did I tell you that people are not always who they seem to be?”

That’s when I realized that Colin had never come to the party. Draco had come as Colin with the help of Polyjuice potion, but wasn’t it supposed to last an hour? I mean, obviously it hadn’t. Was that why he hadn’t come out of the office?

“I thought Polyjuice potion lasted an hour? Shouldn’t you still have time to get out of here as Colin?” I questioned, cleaning the mess on the floor with just a wave of my wand.

He shrugged. “I didn’t have as much as you usually do. I used up all my stores and only had a little left. I had no idea how long it would last, but apparently that was only twenty minutes.”

“Why are you in here? I know it’s just not by chance,” I sighed and leaned against the wall behind me. “I know that you weren’t invited to the party, and if Snape sees you, I don’t know what he’ll do, but he wasn’t happy when he threw the last Slytherin who wasn’t invited out. I mean, everyone wants to be at this party, which I don’t understand. It’s not even remotely fun.”

“It’s a party where all the best people have been invited,” he whispered. “Of course people want to be here.”

“That doesn’t explain why you’re here, Draco,” I said, knowing I was pushing but not caring in the slightest. “Are you honestly saying that you wanted to be at this party?”

“Where ever you are,” he looked back at me, “is where I want to be.”

It took me a second to react because my heart had stopped beating or at least that’s what it felt like. “Bull shit,” I said, tears stinging my eyes but I wouldn’t let them fall. “Bull shit, Draco. I don’t believe that for a second.” I wanted to. I really wanted to, but it was just too hard.

“I wasn’t expecting you too,” he shrugged again, which was getting on my nerves. “Will you be willing to do me a favor anyway? I know you’ll probably say no, but-“

“What is it?” I asked, cutting him off. I was just being a bitch, which I felt I had every right to be. I mean, he hadn’t been so nice to me, so I had the right. Right?

“I need to get out of here. I’ve crashed this party, but I can see that it was a mistake. So,” he paused. “Will you be my look out?”

I bit my lip. “You don’t deserve it.”

He nodded. “I thought you’d feel that way.”

“But I’ll do it.” I whispered so low I was sure he wouldn’t hear.

He looked up at me in surprise. “Thank you.”

I nodded. “Just hurry,” I said, walking back towards the party.

I didn’t see anyone that would rat him out, so I waved him forward. He hid behind me with every step. The touch of his hand made my whole body tingle. I didn’t want him to let go, but as soon as we got outside, he did. I turned to him; he was still so close. I just wanted him to pull me into him and kiss me like he never did before. As I looked up into his eyes, he did exactly that. My hands ran up his neck and into his hair. I had missed him so much in those past few weeks, but I couldn’t let him do this to me. I had to stand my ground, right? I had to stand up for myself. I couldn’t just let him kiss me and everything would be fine. Right?

I pulled from him and looked into his eyes. His hand traveled straight to my cheek, and my hand covered his. “Draco,” I whispered. “You have to go. You can’t get into trouble.”

“I’m already in trouble,” he smirked.

I rolled my eyes. “In any more trouble than you already are,” I put my hand on his chest and pushed him away. “Go.”

“Alright,” he said, but he pulled me closer instead.

“You know,” I smirked. “Kam told me that I always had you.”

He nodded. “And you’ll never lose me,” he kissed me on the forehead before walking off.

I walked back into the party with a huge smile on my face. I found Harry no problem. He was talking to Ron, who seemed to be in a better mood. Both boys smiled at me as I approached them. Harry handed me a bottle of butter beer.

“So,” Ron said, busying himself with his own bottle, “I owe you an apology. I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have blamed you. I’ve just been so upset with myself for going out with her.”

I shook my head. “Why don’t you just break up with her then?”

“I haven’t figured out how,” he sighed and looked up at me. “If you hadn’t noticed, she’s a little mental.”

“Yeah,” I laughed. “Everyone’s noticed.”

A slam then sounded through room. We all looked over in the direction from which it came from. My eyes widened in surprise. Filch had caught him after all. My Draco had gotten himself caught after I had told him to go. Automatically, I moved in his direction, but I was stopped by someone grabbing my hand and intertwining their fingers with mine. I turned and saw Harry looking at me. I nodded in understanding. I couldn’t go to him. I also now realized that Harry knew that it was still going on, that I still had feelings for Draco.

“What is going on here?” Slughorn had wobbled his way to the front of the crowd. “Unhand that young man.”

“I found him in this hallway after hours and without an invitation. What am I supposed to do?” Filch asked, not letting go of Draco, who looked pissed beyond belief.

“Everyone is innocent until proven guilty,” Slughorn smiled. “Now, I said to let the boy go, Mr. Filch. I’m sure he has a good reason for being out after hours. He’ll fill us all in, right boy?”

“I was gate-crashing,” he mumbled.

Someone then pushed passed me. It was Snape on his way to discipline his student. Harry still had his hand in mine so I wasn’t that tempted to run over to him, to protect him. He didn’t look like he needed protecting, but I still felt that I had to do something. I couldn’t though. Then everyone would know about us, and he told me he was serious about that.

“Well, you may stay. The more the merrier!” Slughorn announced, truly feeling the Christmas cheer.

“Thank you, sir,” Draco smiled and his eyes found me.

I smiled as well, but lost it as soon as Snape opened his mouth. “Draco, I would like to talk to you outside.”

“It’s almost Christmas,” Slughorn looked in disbelief over at his colleague. “Be easy on the boy, Severus.”

“I will discipline my students any way I see fit,” Snape said, grabbing Draco by the arm. “Now, Come along, Draco.”

I watched them leave. Harry’s grip only got tighter as I started to walk in the direction. When I turned to him, his deep green eyes found mine. Ron had walked away and found Lavender. It was just Harry and me standing there. I had let go of him, but he hadn’t let go of me.

“Please,” I whispered.

He nodded. “Come with me.”

He led me out of the party and into the hall. He looked all around before pulling something very familiar out of his pocket. Of course, the invisibility cloak. I smiled as he covered both of us. He pulled me so close that I could feel his breath on my cheek, but that soon was the least of my worries as we tried to walk down the hall together. I was tripping over my dress and making a racket with my heels. We stopped and I took the heels off, which helped a lot. We started again down the hall. It wasn’t long before we had to stop again. That time we heard voices. I knew at once that one of them belonged to Draco.

“You shouldn’t be sticking your abnormally large nose into my business,” he sounded nasty, like he was angry, which I have no doubt that he was. “I know what you’re up to, Snape. You are trying to steal my glory by distracting me from my mission. That’s what it is, my mission. He chose to give it to me, not you. So get over it.”

His mission? He gave it to him?

“Draco, listen to me. I’m trying to help you. I promised your mother. I made an unbreakable vow-“

“Well, you’ll have to break it then, won’t you?”

I wanted to slap Draco for being so mean to Snape. I knew that the way he was acting was not the real him. It was the him that he built up over the years to fit in. It was the him that he had built up so his father would be proud.

“Listen to yourself. You sound just like your father. Is that what you honestly want to become? I am trying to help you out. You’re pitiful attemps at this mission are becoming noticed and producing long term effects. It might not go the way you’ve planned. Nothing will go the way you planned unless you start putting your heart into it,” there was a slight pause before Snape continued. “I know you’re putting all your heart into that girl. You’ve got to stop that for now, at least until we know that you are strong enough. That you can keep the Dark Lord out.”

My heart skipped a beat. Everything that had been going on those past few weeks was staring to come together. First, him acting like he didn’t want me. Then, him telling me that we had to be a secret. All the distancing wasn’t just because of Snape. He was doing it to protect me. It all made sense now. Draco was a deatheater.