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A/N: Just a quick note for all the girls out there (and everyone else who will ever get in a situation like this): Please remember that it is always okay to speak up if someone makes you feel uncomfortable and never be afraid to make a scene if necessary (only if you feel like it´s safe obviously), regardless what other people around you might think or say about it. These feelings are completely valid and much more important than what others might think.
Also, since this fact might get lost in this fic: Consent is always key, always remember this, regardless of what situation you are in or what the relationship with the other person might look like.
“So what do you think? The silvery or the green one?”
You narrowed your eyes as you tried to conjure the images of the dresses in your mind.
“The green one. With some silvery jewellery.”
“Maybe the necklace you got me for my birthday?”
You grinned at your friend.
“I was thinking the exact same, Pansy.”
“Oh yeah, and what do you think, Draco? Which shirt should I wear tonight? The black one or the black one?”, you were suddenly interrupted by a deeper voice.
The blond boy pouted as if he would actually think about his answer.
“I think you should wear the black one, Blaise.”, he finally answered. “It stresses your eyes.”
“You´re too kind, Draco. And such an amazing help.”
You shared an annoyed glare with Pansy, which made the boys give in and burst into laughter.
“But honestly”, Blaise stated when they had finally calmed down again, “I don’t get why you make such a fuss about it.”
“It´s just a party. The two of you should calm down a bit.”, Draco agreed with his friend.
You nudged him playfully.
“Says the boy who takes about an hour to style his hair every morning and still gets it ruined in the first ten minutes afterwards.”
Draco touched his hair, looking slightly offended as a rosy shimmer spread across his cheeks.
“A malicious allegation. It looks like that naturally."
You shared a knowing glance with Pansy, fully aware of the fact that what Draco had just stated was nothing but a lie.
“It´s nothing to be ashamed of, Draco.”, you chirped as you smiled at him sweetly.
“It´s actually very attractive if a guy cares about his appearance, you know?”, Pansy added, making Blaise almost choke on his pumpkin juice.
The four of you were sitting in the Great Hall at breakfast and the most important topic of the day was the upcoming party tonight. By now, you had finished all your exams for the year and Salazar, that was for sure a reason to celebrate. And at one of the biggest parties of the year, Pansy and you obviously wanted to dress up at least a bit, eager to escape the everyday look of your school uniforms. And to do so, you were even willing to take some rude comments from your friends.
“As if I would be in need of such things.”, Draco returned, shooting Pansy a deadly glare, while Blaise still tried to catch his breath.
“Because unlike some of us”, Blaise stated, when he had finally recovered, as his eyes darted from Pansy to you and back to Pansy, “we don’t have to put in any effort to look great.”
“While Pansy and I, unlike some of us, are aware of how we can maximize our God-given beauty. It wouldn´t hurt you to try this as well at some point.”
“So you can´t even argue with the fact that we´re just irresistibly attractive, can you?”, Blaise grinned.
“It makes me want to worship the ground you´re walking on.”, you said, your voice dripping with sarcasm.
But while you were making fun of it, even you couldn’t deny that Blaise, as well as Draco, actually had some kind of effortless beauty. They were attractive, you couldn’t deny it, however, you would rather bite off your tongue than ever actually admit it to the boys.
“That doesn´t mean you couldn´t optimize it though.”, Pansy stepped in. “Maybe some eyeliner for Blaise and I bet Draco´s eyes would pop out more if we would curl his lashes…”
“And maybe ruffle up his hair a bit…”, you added, laying your arm around Draco´s shoulder in a sneaky attempt to get your hand closer to the neatly styled hair, but Draco realized immediately what you were up to and caught your hand with his.
“Don’t you dare. Do you know how much time it takes me to get this done? Won´t let you ruin it just like that.”, he growled.
“So you admit it.”, you stated with a triumphant shimmer in your eyes.
Draco looked at you irritated.
“Admit what?”
“That you style it."
Your friend hesitated a moment, before he grumbled: “Never said I wouldn’t. I just pointed out that you have a tendency to exaggerate.”
You rolled your eyes.
“Sure you did.” You sighed and rested your head on your friend’s shoulder. “But jokes aside. You look… well, let’s say at least acceptable, styled hair or not.”
Draco let out a low chuckle as he wrapped an arm around your waist and pulled you even closer.
“Likewise, princess.”
And on the other side of the table, Pansy and Blaise couldn’t hide the smirk on their faces as they watched the scene in front of them, sharing a glance in silent agreement.
Later that day, Pansy and you made your way to the Slytherin common room. Pansy had indeed chosen the green dress, certainly enjoying the compliments you had showered her with as you had seen her all dressed up. You had dressed up yourself, not looking too bad as well and certainly more than just acceptable and -as Pansy noted- even Draco wouldn’t be able to help himself but admit that you did so.
And in fact, when you entered the common room, where Draco and some of your other friends were already waiting for you, the blond boy´s eyes widened slightly as he noticed you.
“So, what do you think? Is this acceptable?”, you smiled at Draco as you walked up to him.
Draco´s eyes wandered up and down your body, as he took his time to come to a conclusion. When his eyes met yours again, there was something in his gaze that you couldn’t quite grasp, something that made you blush for some stupid reason, but it was soon replaced by a cheeky grin.
“Finally, I don´t have to be ashamed to be seen with you for once.”, he responded.
When your attempt to slap his arm in response failed and Draco laughed at your pathetic try, you took some time to eye the boy as well. The Slytherin looked unfairly good in his black suit he always wore to such occasions. It somehow made the twinkle in his eyes only look brighter, especially now, that he tilted his head as he laughed. And also…
“Your hair!”, you stated in surprise as you noticed how some strands of Draco´s normally neatly styled hair framed his face.
The grin on the boy´s face only grew wider.
“Only did so for you, love.”, he teased.
“Oh yeah, for sure.”
“So what do you say? Do you like it?”
You eyed him sceptically. But no matter how hard you tried, you had to admit that there was absolutely nothing to criticize – neither about Draco´s hair nor about any other part of his appearance. For a second you got lost in the way he smiled down at you, way too smugly, yet in your eyes still looking just perfect.
“What? Got lost for words?”, Draco chuckled as he noticed your gaze.
You snapped out of your trance and quickly shook your head, not only as an answer to his question but also as an attempt to get rid of the strange feeling in your stomach as you looked at your friend.
“I told you it would suit you. Isn´t that surprising I was right once more, is it?”, you said with a shrug of your shoulders.
“You aren’t complacent at all, are you?”
“Says you”, you countered right away.
“Are the two of you done flirting now, or do you want us to excuse you for tonight?”, you were suddenly interrupted by Pansy´s mischievous voice.
You turned around, glaring at your roommate.
“You don’t actually expect me to answer this, do you?”
Pansy just shrugged her shoulders in response, pulling a face that made you suspect you rather didn’t want to know what she would say next. So you linked your arm with hers and pulled her towards the exit.
“What are we waiting for then?”, you asked.
The party was already in full swing when you arrived. It always amazed and irritated you at the very same time when you saw the students of the different houses in harmony with one another. Since none of you were wearing your school uniforms anymore, from time to time it was hard to even recognize which house the different people you barely knew were from. However, many of them -especially Slytherins- stuck to the colours of their houses, making it easier to at least suspect where they belonged, and somewhere on the other side of the room, you noticed Luna Lovegood, who had created some jewellery from eagle feathers. People were dancing, talking and laughing, on the dancefloor, at the improvised bar someone had built up or just lazily sitting in one of the seating areas.
The moment you stepped through the door, someone handed you a drink and you carefully sniffed on it. Just from the smell, you were pretty sure that whatever had been mixed into it, the night would be a very certain kind of fun.
Pansy had already raised her glass.
“To the end of torture and oppression!”, she cheered, before taking a way too big swing from her cup.
“To the end of torture and oppression.”, you agreed laughingly before you nipped on your cup as well, pulling a face. You certainly would need to take it easy if you didn’t want to wake up with some bad headache tomorrow.
When you had finished your drink, Pansy practically pulled you on the dancefloor, while Draco along with Blaise found some poor excuse to get over to the comfortable couches, meeting up with Crabbe and Goyle.
You didn’t even know how long you had been dancing, just enjoying the music and the company of your friends, when suddenly Pansy nudged you.
“Draco´s looking over!”, she yelled into your ear.
You turned your head, looking to the boys who still remained rooted in their spots in the seating area, and saw that Draco was indeed watching you. When he caught your gaze, you waved at him excitedly, which made your friend curve his lips into a small smile. But that smile quickly fainted as you tried to beckon him over, signalling him you wanted him to join you dancing. But while Draco was extraordinarily good in standard dances, he detested the stiff frippery without any clear rules with every fibre of his body. That´s why Draco just shook his head firmly at your efforts and quickly turned his head to his friends, engaging in the conversation again.
With a shrug of your shoulders, you turned around to Pansy again.
“If you don’t want it, you already have it.”, you said, slightly disappointed, yet not actually surprised at Draco´s rejection.
“I highly doubt it´s the dancing he´s interested in.”, Pansy mumbled under her breath and over the loud music, it was hard for you to understand.
“What was that?”
Pansy sighed.
“Nothing. Absolutely nothing.”
You threw your friend an irritated glance, but Pansy didn’t seem to want to deepen her explanation.
But while Pansy just went back to dancing, you felt your throat slowly getting dry from the yelling and the heated temperatures in the room.
“I´ll get myself a drink. You want something too?”
Pansy gave you a thumbs up and you made your way to the bar on the other side of the dancefloor.
You had just grabbed your drinks and wanted to make your way back through the crowd when suddenly someone touched your shoulder. You turned around and groaned quietly. Cormac McLaggen was standing there, grinning down at you. You detested this guy more than any other student in this school, not only because he was a Gryffindor, but mostly because he had a certain reputation regarding his handling of girls. You still remembered how -not long ago- he had tried to get close to Hermione Granger, and even though you didn’t exactly like the smart-alec Gryffindor girl, you had felt slightly sorry for her when you had watched the constant inappropriate attempts to get the girl. And the fact that he was standing now in front of you with that slimy grin on his face made you suspect that he was up to no good.
“Lovely (Y/n). I see you got me a drink as well.”, he grinned, stepping even closer to you.
You resisted the urge to step back and instead straightened your back, trying not to show how uncomfortable he was making you feel already.
“It´s for Pansy.”, you answered cooly.
“But I´m sure Parkinson can get herself a drink, can´t she?”
“So can you.”
“But then I wouldn’t have a reason to keep your company any longer.”
“That´s the plan.” You really weren’t in the mood to stay quiet or polite just out of respect for a guy’s feelings, especially if said guy happened to be McLaggen.
But he didn’t seem to mind the slightest.
“You´re really a tease, (Y/n), aren’t you?”, the Gryffindor chuckled, as he stepped even closer and put an arm around your waist.
“Let go of me. Right now.”, you hissed through gritted teeth, having to use all your willpower to not hex the boy on the spot.
“Why should I?”, McLaggen responded.
You looked at him in disbelief. Was he actually that stupid that he actually didn’t get how uncomfortable he made you feel? Or did he simply not care about it? And most importantly how would you get out of this situation most elegantly. You weren’t scared to make a scene in front of all these people, but you were pretty sure that McLaggen would hold it against you and even though you would be able to get rid of him like this for now, you weren’t sure how long it would last. So you took a deep breath, trying to get calm yourself down again.
“I need to get back to my friends."
“Why? You think they would grudge you some fun?”
“This isn’t fun for me, McLaggen.” You stressed his last name, trying to make clear that you didn’t feel like you were on a first name basis with him at all.
“C´mon (Y/n).” Well, that certainly didn’t work. “We´re just getting started. I promise you won´t regret this.”
But if he wouldn’t let go of you soon, he certainly would. But instead, he pulled you even closer.
“I´ll pass on this.”
You looked around, trying to find a familiar face to get you out of your misery, a place you could save yourself to, but the only people you spotted were Pansy and Draco who were standing next to the dancefloor, their eyes wandering through the room, probably already looking for you since you had already disappeared for much longer than you had originally planned.
“What is it (Y/n)”, McLaggen whispered into your ear, making goosebumps creeping over your skin in the most uncomfortable way. “Don´t got someone else to do the job, do you?”
Oh, if McLaggen only knew how much he had just scored his own goal.
“Oh well, you know, actually I do have someone to -as you just expressed so elegantly- do the job.”
You smiled at the boy sweetly, while the Gryffindor frowned.
“You do?”
“How come you don’t know yet? I thought most people did by now.”
You didn’t even have to hide the grin on your face as you saw McLaggen looking utterly confused.
“I didn’t.”
“Well, now you do.”
You quickly wriggled out of the boy´s grip and wanted to leave with a smug grin on your face, but McLaggen caught your wrist and held you back once more.
“Who is it then?”
You hesitated for a moment before you looked over to your friends still standing a bit off the beaten track and your gaze settled on a certain blond boy, who was talking to Pansy, for now completely unaware of his spontaneous promotion. You turned back to McLaggen and locked your eyes with his, not blinking once, as you said: “Draco of course.”
McLaggen looked at you in surprise.
“Draco? You mean Draco Malfoy?”
You rolled your eyes.
“Do you know any other?”
“But I always thought the two of you were just friends.”
“Ever heard something about the term friends to lovers? Honestly, McLaggen read a book someday.”
“But this is the real world, (Y/n).”, McLaggen frowned.
You had to try really hard to hold back a groan. That guy was harder to get rid of than the juice of a Mimbulus mimbletonia.
“But my fairytale has come to life. So if you´ll excuse me now, my boyfriend”, you stressed the word, “is probably already looking for me and I really want to get back to him.”
And without waiting for a response, you turned on your heel and made your way back to your friends.
When you had almost reached them, a smug grin still covering your face due to your recent award-winning performance, you turned your head around one last time, only to see McLaggen still watching you, lips pursed and arms crossed in front of his chest. Maybe you hadn’t been as convincing as you had hoped or maybe it was just his wounded pride, but if he would keep on watching you that closely, he would realize rather soon that what you had just told him had been nothing but a bluff. At that moment a second terrific idea followed the first one. And without thinking twice, you walked up to your friends with the sweetest smile on your face.
“Finally, (Y/n), what took you so long?”, Pansy asked you as you handed her the drinks.
“Sorry, I was delayed.”, you said, before you turned around to Draco.
“But you couldn’t stay away from me too long, could you?”, he teased with that familiar twinkle in his eyes, as he grinned down at you.
You returned his smile immediately.
“You have no idea.”, you responded before you grabbed him by his collar and pressed your lips on Draco´s without hesitation.
It was fireworks exploding.
You weren’t quite sure what you had been thinking when you had decided to kiss your friend, but it didn’t matter anymore.
You weren’t quite sure, how you had been expecting his lips to feel on yours, but you certainly hadn’t expected them to feel so soft against yours and fit just so perfectly.
You weren’t quite sure how you had expected to feel when you would kiss Draco, but it hadn’t been like this. You hadn’t expected the electricity buzzing through your body the moment his lips touched yours. You hadn’t expected the relief you felt as Draco didn’t push you away but pulled you only closer. You hadn’t expected to feel like air was only the second most important thing in your life as his lips slowly started to move against yours as well.
You heard Pansy gasping somewhere in the back of your mind, but it sounded muffled, just like any other noise around you. Every sensation that wasn’t linked to Draco and the moment you just shared felt just doll compared to the intense feelings rushing through your body. Every centimetre of your body was on fire and Draco´s heated skin against yours only fuelled the fire. The taste of the drink he had had still lingering on his lips felt intoxicating, just as the way your hands slowly wandered from Draco´s collar to his hair, while he pulled his arms around your waist, holding you so close, you felt as if your bodies might immerge with one another.
You didn’t know how long you stayed like this, holding each other tight, but finally, you ran out of air after all and slowly, you backed up again. As you opened your eyes, the sight in front of you was truly magical. Draco´s cheeks were rosy and his swollen lips slightly parted, as he panted heavily, his hair not only slightly ruffled anymore, but a total mess.
The Slytherin leant his forehead against yours and grinned down at you.
“Well, that was unexpected.”, he said, his voice sounding unusually raspy.
You didn’t answer and just nodded as you stared at him in awe.
You had never seen Draco as much more than a friend. You had always been really close and you had always been aware of the fact that he was quite attractive, but you had never seen him in the same way you did now. You had never felt the butterflies in your stomach somersaulting, had never had the urge to be as close to him as you did now, had never wanted to press your lips on his again so badly.
Draco brushed a strand of your hair that was falling into your face behind your ear, before his thumb traced over your cheek and finally your lips, which probably looked like a mess by now since you saw some light traces of your lipstick on Draco´s.
“So tell me, love, how did I deserve this special kind of attention from you tonight?”
For a second you were almost irritated. What did Draco think why one would kiss someone else? But then you remembered that your intentions for the kiss had originally been slightly different from the ones you had on your mind now.
When you didn’t answer and the boy in front of you saw the look of indecisiveness in your eyes, his face fell.
“Salazar, (Y/n), please don’t tell me you´re already so drunk that you just run around and kiss random people.”
The sharpness in his voice made you snap out of the trance you had been in ever since your lips had first touched his.
“What? No! No, I´m not drunk at all!”, you objected before you realized that this was probably just what a drunk person would say. So you took a deep breath and continued: “It´s just… McLaggen came up to me when I just got the drinks and was… well, he was McLaggen and he wouldn’t want to leave me alone, so I told him I had a boyfriend. And you were the first to come to my mind and I knew he probably didn’t believe me, so I thought if I´d kiss you he´d leave me alone.”
Only now that you said it out loud, you realized how stupid you must have sounded. Draco and you had never been anything but friends. What in Merlin´s name were you thinking to just walk up to a boy who had never shown any romantic interest in you and kissed him without even explaining the situation to him or asking him if he was okay with it?
“That´s what this was about?” Draco´s voice sounded even sharper than before, making you flinch.
“Look, Draco, I´m sorry. I know this probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do, but I… I don’t know, I wasn’t thinking, and I panicked and I somehow thought you´d be okay with this and…”
“You don’t have to explain yourself, (Y/n).”, Draco cut you off. “I get it. McLaggen is an idiot and I… I´m just glad you got yourself out of the situation, alright?” But Draco didn’t sound like he thought it was alright at all.
You nodded, eyeing him sceptically.
“So, you´re okay with this?”
Draco shrugged his shoulders. When he looked at you, the warm look in his clouded eyes had disappeared, and instead, his eyes were sparkling coldly at you now.
“Obviously. That´s what friends are there for, aren’t they?”
You gulped. For some reason, the word friends wasn’t quite fitting anymore for what you saw Draco as. You hadn’t believed that a stupid kiss could ever change your feelings the slightest, but somehow it did. Even though you weren’t quite sure if your feelings for Draco had actually changed within the last few minutes or if you had just become aware of something that had been buried under all those memories and experiences of the last few years, but what you knew for sure was that when Draco called whatever the two of you were friends, your heart clenched in a way you had never felt it before.
Still, you nodded.
“Yeah, you´re right. Friends. That's what they´re there for.”, you echoed weakly and forced a smile onto your lips.
For a moment, the two of you just stared at each other, before Draco finally nodded as well and took a step back.
“Well, since my job is done now, you don’t need me anymore, do you?” And without even waiting for an answer, he added: “I´ll get some fresh air now. It´s too crammed in here.”
With that, he turned on his heel, leaving you alone, staring at the spot he had stood only seconds ago.
“What in the name of Merlin was that all about?”, you suddenly heard a soft voice next to you.
When you looked up, you saw Pansy standing there, still holding the drinks you had handed her before your attack on the boy who called you his friend.
“I… this was… well, you heard what this was about.”, you responded defensively.
“Well, you can´t tell me that this was about you getting rid of that nasty Gryffindor.”
“Would that be so hard to believe?”
“After I´ve seen the two of you almost eating each other up and looking at each other like some fools in love? Trust me, it is.”
“Neither we ate each other up, nor are we fools in love.”, you snapped back, probably a bit too harsh for just trying to set the record straight.
“Oh yeah, this was purely platonic.” Pansy rolled her eyes.
“It was supposed to look real.”, you contradicted.
“And Draco knew that too?”
No, he didn’t. He had had no idea why you had been kissing him, still, he had kissed you in a way you hadn’t even dared to dream of.
“It was just the heat of the moment. I surprised him. And he would have felt bad to turn me down.”
“Oh, yeah, you have already assumed this for him, didn’t you?”
You looked at your friend irritated. You weren’t in the mood for guesswork right now, too many thoughts were running in circles around your mind.
“I mean, you kiss that poor boy like no one has ever done before and the next moment you explain to him that it was just to get rid of some jerk?"
“I know I should have just asked him first to make sure he is okay with it, but…"
“You really think that this would make any difference?”, Pansy interrupted you.
You sighed fretfully.
“If you got anything to say, Pansy, just spit it out. I´m really not up to your games right now.”
Pansy let out a small huff, not sure if she was supposed to laugh or grab you by the shoulders until you would finally realize it yourself.
“You really can´t be that blind, can you?”
You only frowned and Pansy sighed.
“(Y/n), you are aware that this guy had been head over heels for you since forever, aren’t you?”
“Who?”
“Draco, you foolish lunkhead! Who do you think we´re talking about?”
You stared at your friend in disbelief.
“Pansy, this isn’t funny.”
“Oh, I know, it really isn’t. It almost hurts physically to see the two of you interact with each other and how you are completely clueless to everything he does, even if Draco is behaving like a complete idiot around you.”
“You´re serious about this, aren’t you?”
“Of course I am, silly. Salazar, the way the two of you act is really so much more than anyone could ever make up in their head.”
“So you really want to tell me that Draco has a thing for me.”
“Being hopelessly in love with you is more fitting, but if you want to put it this way, yeah, that´s what I´m trying to tell you.”
You felt the butterflies erupting in your stomach once more as your cheeks heated up to an unknown extent.
“I… I didn’t know…I mean, if I… I really had no idea…”, you stuttered, not quite sure what to say.
“Don’t you say.”, Pansy responded sarcastically, but then she grew more serious again. “The real question now is how you feel about it.”
How did you feel about it? On the one hand, all you wanted to do was run to Draco and kiss him until you were out of breath again for the rest of your life, but on the other hand, this feeling was so new and strange to you that you weren’t quite sure how to deal with it.
“I don’t know. I mean, I never even thought about the possibility that Draco and I… that we might ever be anything more than friends. It´s all we ever were, and I never had any doubts that we always would be.”
“But what about now? How do you feel about him now?”
You hesitated for a moment before you responded carefully: “Different.”
“And is this a good thing or a bad one?”, Pansy asked, but from the look on your face she already knew the answer before the words even left your mouth.
An uncontrollable smile spread across your face as you thought about the feeling of Draco´s lips on yours and the way that he had looked at you right after they had parted again.
“It´s a good thing. Really good.”, you smiled.
“Then you should probably tell him, shouldn’t you?”, she asked, the smirk on her face clearly visible in her voice as well.
You nodded.
“I will.” You shot your friend a thankful glance. “Thanks, Pansy.”
And with that, you turned around, following Draco into the dark.
The castle grounds were quiet at this time of the night. A few people were standing here alone or in small groups to get some fresh air, but still, it was quiet and from time to time you had the feeling to be all alone out here.
You weren’t quite sure how you knew where to go, maybe it was because of the strong tie between Draco and you that you had misinterpreted so badly, or maybe it was something else, but somehow your feet carried you to the place Draco was standing without fail. You spotted him leaning against the wall of the castle right away, his light hair shimmering in the dim light shining through the windows, mixing with the one of the moon shining down on you. You were pretty sure Draco had heard you approaching him, or maybe he was too lost in his own thoughts to do so, but as you got closer to him, the boy kept on staring into the void, showing no signs of recognition.
“Draco?”, your voice was soft, so soft you weren’t even sure if he had even heard you because he still didn’t react.
You cleared your throat before you tried once more.
“Draco?” This time your voice sounded stronger.
Draco however, still didn’t look at you, but a small shrug of his head signalized you that he had heard you. You took this as a sign to step even closer. Your heart was beating fast in your chest. You were scared. Scared that you might have ruined whatever relationship you had with Draco beyond repair, and if it didn’t yet, that your next actions would do so after all.
“I was looking for you.”, you spoke up again, not quite sure how to start the conversation properly.
“You found me now, didn’t you?”, Draco responded, his voice sounded cold and his eyes were still fixed on an invisible point in front of him.
You took another step towards the boy and leant to the wall next to him, not close enough to touch you, yet close enough to feel his presence next to you. You felt him tense as you did so, yet, he didn’t shy away.
A few moments of silence passed, as neither of you said a word. You looked up into the sky, letting your eyes getting used to the darkness until they finally spotted some stars glistening above you.
“It´s a beautiful night, isn’t it?”, you tried again.
Draco just hummed in response.
After another few minutes of silence, you couldn’t bear it anymore and tore your gaze apart from the night sky and looked at the boy next to you instead.
“Listen, I´m really sorry about what happened earlier. This wasn’t okay.”
“I already told you, it´s alright.”
You shook your head vigorously, even though you weren’t sure if Draco could even see.
“No, it really isn’t. I behaved like a complete idiot in there. Not only that I… that I just kissed you, but also what I said to you afterwards. I really screwed this up.”
“It doesn’t matter, (Y/n)”, Draco said, his voice still apathetic. “You did what you thought was best at that moment. And, I mean, it didn’t mean anything anyway, did it?” The last few words sounded different, a mix of bitterness and the hope that you might contradict. Before your talk with Pansy, you probably wouldn’t even have noticed, but now you did. And it almost broke your heart.
“That´s not true.”, you contradicted in a low voice.
Draco´s gaze flickered in your direction for a second, before he looked away again. Yet, he didn’t answer.
“It meant something. I mean, I know it did for you and I…” You paused for a second, thinking about what you should say next. “It meant something to me too, you know? I didn’t know that it would but it did. Much more than I ever thought it would.”
“It didn’t. Neither for you nor for me. I think we both made that very clear.”, Draco spit out, his voice not nearly as calm as it used to be, even though he tried really hard to hide it.
“Did we?”
“We did. We´re friends. That is what you said and what I said as well. We´ve always been and we always will be. Ain´t that hard to understand, (Y/n), is it? Even you should understand that.”
“I know you have a thing for me.”, you blurted out. You didn’t mean to do so. You had wanted to approach the topic more carefully, trying not to hurt Draco´s feelings or embarrass him, but the way he behaved like a stubborn child, made it impossible for you.
Draco froze for a second, before he shrugged his shoulders, looking anywhere but at you.
“And if I did? Would it change anything?”
The fact that he didn’t contradict you right away, didn’t call your assumptions ridiculous or even laughed at you, made even the last doubts you still had had about Pansy´s words disappear. Your heartbeat quickened even more, even though you weren’t quite sure if it was from annoyance or affection.
“Would it… Draco, this would change everything!”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. Draco this… what happened tonight… the kiss… this wasn’t just about McLaggen.”
“You said it was.”
“Because it was. I mean kind of. But not like this. I… Merlin, Draco. At first, I kissed you because of him. But all of this felt just so… When I kissed you it just felt so good, and then you kissed me back and I had the feeling as if all the stars would suddenly align. It felt as if it was the right thing to do and it made me wonder… no, it made me know for sure that this is what I want. That you are what I want. Not as a friend but as… more. And I know that I´m an idiot that it took me that stupid kiss to realize and if you are mad at me now, you got every reason to be, but if you let me ruin the possibility of… of us just because I screwed this up then you are just as much of an idiot as I am.”
You hadn’t even realized how much you had raised your voice until you fell silent again and you couldn’t hear any other noises but the muffled music coming from inside and your own heartbeat echoing in your ears.
A few moments passed and neither Draco nor you said anything. Your thoughts were racing and in your mind, you already prepared yourself to not only lose the potential relationship Draco and you could have, but also the one that you had had ever since you came to Hogwarts. But just as you wanted to apologize and leave Draco alone again, the boy suddenly let out a sigh and stood up straight again, turning around to you.
The expression on his face was unreadable as he said: “Love, you should know that I´m way too smart to be an idiot.”
It took you a moment to process his words, but as you did, a small spark of hope lit up in your chest again.
“Does that mean, that...”
“It means”, Draco interrupted you, “that I´m willing to give this a chance.” He smiled at you smugly as he saw the uncontrollable grin spreading across your face. “If that´s what you want to, of course.”, he added slyly.
“I think to know this for sure, I might need to try something again at first.”, you responded.
And this time you didn’t have to pull Draco down to you, but he leant down willingly, meeting your lips halfway.
And even though this time you were prepared for the feeling, it still almost swept you off your feet with full force and you had no doubt that your legs would probably have given in if it wouldn’t be for Draco holding on to you tightly.
When you pulled back this time, you felt neither conflicted nor confused. All you could feel was your love for the boy in front of you rushing through your entire body and the only critical thought that was left was the question of how you could have ever mistaken your feelings for the blond Slytherin for anything else but love.
You leant your head onto Draco´s chest, listening to his steady heartbeat that was far too fast, a fact that you would have probably teased him for if you wouldn’t have known that yours did just the same.
“You have no idea how long I wanted to do this.”, Draco mumbled, before placing a small kiss on the crown of your head.
And he was right indeed. You had been completely oblivious to his feelings for so long, but now that you finally knew, it was making you happier than you could ever find the words to describe.
“Merlin, I love you, (Y/n).”, Draco mumbled, making yet another wave of heat flush through your body. But before you could even answer, he quickly added: “You… you don’t have to return this or anything. I just… I wanted to tell you for so long and… well, now I just had to.”
You smiled as you heard the insecurity in his voice, something he barely ever showed to others.
“It´s not like I… maybe just take me on a date first, okay? I just… I don’t wanna rush things right now if that´s okay with you.”
“Anything for you, princess.”, Draco smiled, making your heart practically melt, as you snuggled yourself even closer to him.
“But one thing you have to tell me.”, Draco spoke up after a few minutes of comfortable silence. “You didn’t just have a brainwave, did you? Someone told you that I… well that I might like you more than just a friend.”
You felt your cheeks heating.
“Maybe Pansy gave me a little hint.”, you mumbled into his chest, making Draco chuckle deeply.
“A little hint?”
“Well, maybe it was more than that.”, you admitted. “She pretty much threw it in my face and I still didn’t catch it.”
“I always knew that you´re not the fastest broom in the sky.”, he grinned, making you frown.
“At least it didn’t take me… how long? Weeks? Months? To get a girl and then not even telling her but letting others do the job.”
“Actually it´s been years, if you really want to know. But I guess now McLaggen was good for something at least once.”, Draco responded. “Doesn’t mean I won't hex him the next time I´ll see his stupid visage.”
“If you´re hoping for me to stop you, I certainly won´t.”
“I was rather hoping you´d help me with it."
“So we can serve detention together? Romantic.”, you laughed.
Draco cupped your face with his hands and made you look up at him. You could see the mischievous sparkle that you had always loved so much glistening in his eyes.
“That´s just how I am, love.”, he responded, before he pulled you in yet another kiss.
And it certainly wouldn’t be the last.