Two Doors Down

My sister hadn't spoken to me for three days - a fact that did nothing but make me uneasy. Even now, she sat as far away from me as possible in the Common Room. I bit down on my bottom lip slightly as I looked over at her and Blaise looked down at me in confusion. His eyes scanned the distance between Piper and I before realizing that we were having an issue with our relationship.

“Did something happen between the two of you?” Blaise asked me with concern obvious in his voice.

“Other than breathe in her direction?” I mumbled sarcastically with a small shrug. “Nope.”

“This isn’t like her. The two of you usually get along so well. Are you sure you don't know what happened?”

“I wish I knew.” I told him honestly since I had no clue why she was acting strange with me. “Blaise, she hasn't spoken to me since the night of the game." I said as Draco walked in and sat down across from Blaise and I as he usually did.

Our eyes ran over each other sneakily and I tried my hardest to roll my eyes instead of blushing when he winked at me. My over-protective boyfriend, on the other hand, had a much different reaction than I did. Blaise groaned and the arm he already had around me grew tighter as I was pulled in closer towards his muscular body.

“Draco, eventually you've got to get over this crush that you have on my girlfriend.” Blaise said after a small scoff left his body.

“I'm allowed to have a crush. I'm just not allowed to act on it.” Draco answered honestly, making me smirk before looking down so that Blaise didn’t see my reaction.

“Either way, you know that I don't like it.”

“Do you ever stop and realize that the two of you wouldn't even be together if it wasn't for a pact made by your parents like a decade ago?”

My eyes widened just a bit. As usual, Draco's mouth was running too fast for his mind to realize what he was saying. Eventually, the boy's tongue was going to get his teeth knocked out.

“You're not supposed to say that out loud...” Blaise mumbled, reminding his best friend that no one else was supposed to know about the true circumstances of our relationship.

“That's because arranged marriages are illegal.” Draco said with a small laugh in his tone that made me smile at the sound.

“Draco, stop.”

“Fine.” Draco said with a small shrug before turning his attention away from Blaise and sneakily towards me, “but if I was you, I'd stand up to my parents so that I didn't have to go through with this.”

“Why would we do that?” Blaise asked his best friend.

“Because all you're doing is preserving the pureblood line.”

“We're in love. The way that we got together doesn't matter.”

“So you're really going through with the promising ceremony this winter?”

“Yup.” Blaise said while kissing the back of my hand sweetly, “I already picked out the perfect promise ring and everything.”

My eyes widened again and I looked up at my boyfriend in shock. I was well aware that Blaise planned on going through with this. But I had no idea that he already purchased what was no doubt an obscenely expensive promise ring which would pale in comparison to the engagement ring I would also receive from him in the years to come. From the corner of my eye, I caught sight of my sister leaving the Great Hall and I excused myself from the breakfast table before following her.

Of course, she stepped out into the chilly fall morning that surrounded the school. I called her name repeatedly even though she didn't bother to turn around to look towards me. I called louder and she stopped walking. Piper turned to look at me with an extraordinarily angry look spread across her gentle face. My eyebrows furrowed together in confusion while we made eye contact.

"Piper, what is your problem? You haven't spoken to me for like three days!" I exclaimed angrily as I watched her scoff.

“You're nothing but a slut. I can't believe I ever looked up to you. I can't believe you're even my sister!” My sister’s word’s surprised me and I looked at her in confusion since I had no idea what she was talking about.

“Okay.” I began to say cautiously, “You definitely need to back up and explain what's going on with you right now...”

“You're cheating on him.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You're cheating on Blaise with his best friend.” She mumbled below her breath as she looked down at the grass, “How could you do that to him? He loves you.”

“I have no idea what you're talking about.” I lied easily.

“Don't play dumb with me.” She said to me with a roll of her eyes, “I saw you two the other day after the match.”

“Piper. I know what it looked like, but-“

“-it looked like you were a few seconds away from having sex with him and it looked like it wasn't going to be the first time.”

“You don't understand.”

I grabbed ahold of Piper's hand before pulling her towards the woods. That way, no one would have the chance to hear what we were talking about. I found it hard to get the words out, but I slowly began to explain the issues of my relationship with her. Despite her age, she was smarter than most people I could've spoken with.

Draco was everything I had ever wanted. He was this affluent, sarcastic, attractive, and dangerous man that I would never tire of. Blaise, on the other hand, was the epitome of safety. Despite the obvious pros and cons that were involved in each possibility, I still didn't know who I should choose.

“It doesn’t matter. You’re supposed to be with Blaise.” She reminded while kicking a small rock away from her, “Our parents would kill you if they found out…”

“Which is why they’re not going to find out.” I told her as I looked back down at her once more, crossing my arms over my chest since I was obviously upset over this entire situation between the two of us.

“You really expect me to lie to our parents just so you can keep hooking up with your boyfriend’s best friend? You’re crazy.” She scoffed and started to walk away from me before I grabbed ahold of her wrist so that she couldn’t get too far.

“You can’t tell them the truth!”

“Just break up with Blaise and tell them you want to be with Draco.”

“You know why I can’t do that.”

“What are you going to do when it’s time for you two to get married and start having children?” she asked, making me bite my lip since I really hadn’t thought that far ahead yet.

Honestly, I hadn’t thought about this as much as I should have. I definitely had feelings for Draco that wouldn’t go away just because I decided to marry Blaise as my parents wished. Therefore, I had to find some way to do all of this without hurting anyone.

“I knew it. You aren’t even smart enough to think about what’s going to happen in the next five years.” She said to me as she roughly took her hand from my grasp.

Before I was even able to say anything else, she was walking back into the building as Draco walked towards me. His hair was falling into his face and his eyes glistened from the sun that was shining above our heads. By the time he reached me, he already knew that there was something on my mind. After his eyebrows furrowed together in confusion, we sat down on the grass together.

“Piper knows.” I mumbled quietly, my words so low that I could barely hear myself – let alone believe myself.

“She knows? As in, she’s aware that we’ve been having sex?” he asked to make sure, groaning when I nodded in agreement, “Fuck. How did she find out?”

“Apparently she saw us making out the other day in front of the Common Room.” I mumbled again as I leaned back and he rubbed his hands over his face, “Look, all I know for sure is that she knows and she is definitely not happy.”

“Is she going to tell your parents?” Draco asked while looking down at his hands, twiddling his thumbs nervously as he nibbled down on his bottom lip.

“I have no idea.” I said before I realized I was sniffling and my voice was breaking, “She hates me, Draco.”

“Hanna, she’s your sister. She could never hate you.” He wrapped an arm around me in an attempt to relax me but I ended up pulling myself away from his body almost as soon as my body was pressed against his.

Not only did I not want a repeat of my sister seeing Draco and I, but it was still early and I knew that Blaise would be out looking for me within the next few moments. I decided at that moment that I needed as much time away from Draco as possible. That way, I could convince Piper that I ended my second relationship while simultaneously learning if I could ever have these feelings for my boyfriend.

“Draco, I think we might need some time apart.” I said to him after we spent a few brief moments in silence, fully away that my words took him off guard.

“What?” he asked me with a small groan as he turned his face just a bit so that we’d make eye contact, “Don’t let Piper ruin this for us. We have an amazing relationship.”

“Piper didn’t ruin anything for us. We can’t blame my sister for anything when we both know that there shouldn’t be an us.”

“I beg to differ…” he mumbled, sounding more like a spoiled child than like the teenager that was actively ruining his best friend’s relationship.

“I’m sorry, I just think I need some time to try and fix this.” I kissed his cheek and walked back into the building, holding back the tears that were threatening to fall from my dark brown eyes.

I wrapped my arms around myself and kept my eyes on the ground, counting each stone as I passed in an attempt to distract myself while I walked towards where I assumed my sister would be. I hoped that my news of ending this relationship would be enough to redeem myself in her eyes. I hated to be on bad terms with one of the only people that truly mattered in my life.