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i whipped right back around.
”what’d you just say to me, malfoy?”
“i said, save a dance for me, love! are you deaf?” he smirked at me. taking it as a joke, i rolled my eyes, and went to cho.
“what the hell has draco been smoking?” i laughed, looking at her, but her face wasn’t smiling.
”i think he’s being dead serious, girl! why would he say love if he wasn’t?” she pointed that out, but i had expected that.
”because he likes to manipulate people and toy with their emotions in order to make a fool of them,” i responded sharply, “anyway, let’s go get ready.”
”you need to look extra hot,” cho said as she dragged me to the dorm, “marietta’s really good with hair, so she can deal with that, and i can pick out your dress. luna can actually do really good nails if you give her inspiration, so i’d start looking for that. you can do your own makeup as soon as i find a dress for you, but i’ll be supervising that,” she stopped because she was out of breath, but she clearly wasn’t done.
”cho! this is probably exactly what he wants! to freak us out! you’re a ravenclaw, you’re supposed to be intelligent! why can’t i just do my normal party attire?” i yelled at her.
“because i said so, and i’m your best friend. cut the shit out, let’s go,” she said.
there was clearly no escaping this. i watched her rifle through our shared closet, and stumble upon a mini blue dress. it was actually super cute, even though i despised dresses in their entirety.
“fine. i’ll wear it. but give me a break next time. and let me do my own hair, please! i hate marietta and i know she’s not even in here yet.” i saw cho’s face fall, but she rolled her eyes and waved me to the bathroom. i knew she was tracking down luna. i just wanted blue nails with little white flowers, to match the dress.
i did basic and natural makeup, and curled my hair. when i stepped out, cho gasped.
”girl, you look hot as fuck! draco’s going to want to rip that dress off,” she smirked. luna looked absolutely repulsed by her behavior, which was very understandable. i showed her what i wanted, and she easily painted them.
”okay, party’s in the common room in,” she paused to glance up at the clock dramatically, “one hour! we can even mull around for a bit! maybe we can watch peoples’ jaws drop when you walk in.”
“fine, let’s go,” i said, and went downstairs to the common room. i saw terry boot, and waved, smiling. his eyes went wide, and he looked me up and down.
”who are you?” he said. i couldn’t even tell if he was being serious, so i just rolled my eyes.
slowly, people started to pour in. i saw the weasley twins with a huge bucket of candy, which i filed as do not eat. i saw plenty of people, but no slytherins.
when the doors started to lose their constant flow of people, i got worried. had this shitty getup been for nothing? i went over to cho, the only person at the party who wasn’t already tipsy.
“he’s not here-“ i was pulled back by my shoulder, and i whipped around to scream at whatever ass had done that, when i found myself facing a familiar, grey-eyed face.
”were you looking for me, love? i’m right here,” he towered over me, looking me up and down in a way that made me want to leave immediately.
“i mean… yes. i wanted to get your saved dance out of the way,” i stuttered through the sentence.
“no. i don’t feel like dancing. take me to your dorm, and let’s talk,” he smirked, and grabbed my arm again. he yanked me up the stairs and glanced around at the mess all over the floor, with dresses everywhere.
”jesus christ, girls are messy as fuck. how do you live like this? it’s so fucking hot in here,” he said, and ripped off his white t-shirt. he definitely had a sleeper build, and i unintentionally gasped. his muscles were honestly impressive, considering he was skinny.
he definitely noticed me looking at him, and he glanced me up and down again.
“what’d you… want to talk about?” i said after a minute of deafening silence.
”i want to know if you’re okay. like really, truly, genuinely okay. the only time i’ve ever seen you outside of the library is now. it’s kind of like a machine, churning out schoolwork and then just sleeping. when i’ve been sneaking around, i’ve seen you there in the dead of night, asleep on the couch in the back. are you even doing anything but schoolwork?” he said, with genuine concern in his eyes.
he had really called me out. i started picking at the seam on my dress, and thought for a moment.
“no, i- uh…” i stopped, and then i felt tears coming, “i have to go! i promised cho that i’d check on her!” i stood up, but he yanked me down.
“answer the goddamn question,” he gritted in between his teeth.
“no,” i said, and then i couldn’t help it. i broke down in tears.
he pulled me in closer to him, slinging his shirt onto his shoulder so i could cry on it.
“shh. it’s going to be okay, i promise. you can do this. just talk to me.” he said, patting my back.
“all i do is… is schoolwork but i can’t stop, i’ll fall behind, i have so much of it, it’s all i can do, just i,” he stopped me.
“drop a class, you don’t need arithmancy, you don’t need care of magical creatures. pick something to drop. i promise it’ll get better, love, i promise.” i hadn’t ever thought of dropping a class before, but the suggestion honestly made sense. i was doing so much schoolwork because i had to, not because i wanted to.
“i’ll drop arithmancy tomorrow, i don’t feel like talking to dumbledore today. draco?” i wanted his attention.
”what?”
“thank you. truly, thank you. i don’t know why you did that, but thank you so much.”
“aren’t ravenclaws supposed to be smart? i did it because i love you.”