Hello my lovelies! Just your twenty-something-year old older sister writing about her love for fictional characters and stories. If you know me, you’ve been around a while: most notably known for my Dandelion series with my precious little hufflepuff. Come for the fics, stay for the character development.
Edit: So... its’ been like 6 years of me writing, recent fics are under my 2026 section
Gryffindor X Draco Series (on hiatus):
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5
Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10
Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14
Part 15
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dandelion Series (hufflepuff x draco):
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4
Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8
Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12
The Chapter That Never Happened Chapter 13
Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Epilogue
Deleted Scene
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Case of Draco Malfoy Mini Series:
The Case The Defendant The Witness
The Auror The Confession The Deceased
The Verdict The Innocent
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2026:
The Boy Next Door / The Girl Next Door / Love Thy Neighbor
Summary: A summer week at a lake with your friends… what could go right when Draco Malfoy, Auror partner to your cousin Blaise, decides to come along? After months of small hang outs and awkward encounters, is the lake house just what you need?
A/N: Listen. At this point I'm just having fun--is there magic? Are they muggle? Does any of it matter with the tension? No. Not really. Enjoy and stay safe this summer!
(p.s. fuck jkr and ai :))
(p.p.s. have yall seen project hail mary? i've seen it three times and read the book twice in the past three weeks... in case you're wondering.)
“He can’t swim!” Chloe shouted.
My brain processed it all in slow motion. The music, the drinks, Greg knocking into Draco. Draco crashing over board. The sound the water made and the deep dark water that pulled Draco down.
Thinking quickly I threw off my shoes and coat before jumping in the icy water and started swimming toward Draco from the boat. He was thrashing above the water trying to keep his head up.
“Draco!” I shouted. He noticed me and paused long enough for me to hook my arms under his and keep us both afloat.
“What are you doing here!?” He shouted.
“I used lifeguard! Can you kick your shoes off!? I’ll keep you above water!” Peddling my legs hard I kept us aloft as his shoes were lost to the deep. I could feel the burn in my legs but I wasn’t giving up on him.
“Okay I’m gonna need you to trust me!” I shouted. “Kick your legs like you’re riding a bike and use your arms to stabilize you! You’ll tread the water! I’m going to let go but I’m right here okay!?”
“Okay?” His voice was unsure but as I let him go he followed my instructions and kept himself above water.
I swam in front of him and smile. “You’re doing great Draco.”
“I—I—“ His voice was coated with fear.
“Just look at me,” I tried to keep him calm. “You’re not going under. Look here’s Blaise and the coast guard.” I said and waved my arms as the small speed boat made its way to us.
I backed away so Blaise would pull Draco out of the water first. Then the officer helped me into the boat as well. We laid panting side by side, both soaking wet. I met his gaze and started laughing. He joined me.
“Are you guys okay?” Blaise asked.
“Yeah we’re good,” Draco said sitting up. “God Blaise your family is full of heroes,” he helped me sit up.
“Life guarding for a summer job barely constitutes as heroics,” I pointed out as we were given towels.
“Saved my life,” Draco said. “Thank you Y/n—I half expected Blaise to come save me,”
“Well he’s from a landlocked city, don’t hold it against him,” I smiled up at Blaise. “Thanks for coming.”
“Yeah—how did you respond so fast? You knew exactly what to do.”
“Years of training,” I shrugged, still panting. “A little out of practice,”
“Well I’m eternally grateful,” Draco smiled.
“Don’t mention it.” I met his adoring gaze and my face got warm.
The boat took us back to the dock where the yacht had stationed and disembarked. Greg along with your friends were anxious to see what had become of us. Still sopping wet despite the towels best efforts, Draco and I made it to dry ground. He helped me out of the boat, taking care that I made solid footing. A cheer went up.
“That was so brave Y/n,” Pansy said. “I didn’t even have time to react and suddenly you were in the water too!”
“Very brave,” Draco affirmed, coming up with another dry towel for me. He had shed his linen button up leaving him is a plastered white undershirt. I quickly averted my gaze to the towel.
“Don’t flatter her,” Greg scoffed, rolling his eyes. I frowned.
“Excuse me?” Draco interjected. “It’s your fault I fell in! She saved my life,”
“She put her own life at risk—we have our own staff of lifeguards,” Greg nodded to the coast guard ship patrolling the waters.
“Who weren’t as fast as Y/n,” Blaise interjected. “She’s a hero.” Tension rose.
“Guys please it’s fine,” I chimed in. Things were getting heated and I knew Greg enough when he drank to know he wouldn’t change his mind on the matter.
“But—“ Blaise said and I just smiled.
“It’s okay.” I said. “Brave or stupid, I’m just glad Draco’s okay,”
“Let’s get some dry clothes,” Draco put and arm around my waist and ushered me away. “I’m sorry about Greg,” he said when we were out of earshot. “What you did was really brave and I will always be grateful to you,” his blue eyes were so soft gazing into mine. “I always thought maybe Blaise was the odd one out for daring rescues,” he grinned. I laughed.
“Nah it’s a family trait. I am glad you’re okay though,”
“Are you okay?” He asked.
“Just cold and wet,” I grinned, pointing out the obvious. “I… didn’t really pack anything warm,”
“Right hang on,” he said with a determined look on his face.
In the beach house he led me to a spare room. He produced a clean pair of sweats and a sweater for me.
“I um—there’s not—this is all I have,” he said getting sheepish.
“It’s perfect,” I said taking them from his hands. “Thank you,”
“Um Y/n?” He said getting me to pause before finding a bathroom to change in. He closed the space between us, and reached out to fix the towel twisted at my shoulder before he cupped my face softly and pressed a brief kiss to my lips.
“Thank you,” he said before turning and disappearing deeper into the house.
I stood there for a minute, dripping on the hardwood, processing what just happened. Had I imagined it? Was my brain water logged? Did I actually die in the process and now I was dreaming?
My body turned on auto pilot and brought me to a bathroom to change.
Despite being cold and damp while changing—an awful sensation—I still could not get the kiss out of my head. It made my face warm just thinking about it.
Draco kissed me.
Me.
Oh my God what was my life.
Leaving the bathroom, wrapped up in his sweater, I didn’t find Draco in the house. Venturing outside he was with our friends around a fire; relaxed and laughing. Greg was with the crew so hopefully they all made up. Greg and I weren't close enough for me to take anything from him personally. Especially drunk.
Draco’s eyes found mine and his smile warmed. My gaze dropped as my face heated up. Still I couldn’t stop the smile that crept out from my lips. I glanced back and he was still smiling at me. Shaking my head I went to get a drink.
Chloe found me and asked if it was okay to interview me for The Prophet about the rescue. I obliged. Another local hero piece.
“It’s surprising it’s not about Blaise this time,” She laughed, probably tired of writing Auror pieces.
“Yeah that must be a common thing around here.” I mused, sipping my tea.
“So, you were a life guard?”
I nodded. “Summer camps every year.”
“And when you heard Draco Malfoy couldn’t swim?”
“Even if he could, I think my instincts took over—I would have dove in either way. People who can swim drown all the time because of panic.”
“Really?”
“Oh, yeah, it’s one of the first things they teach you,” I said.
“So, you were able to calm Malfoy down?”
“Yeah,” My gaze dropped and my smile was back.
“And how did you feel knowing it was Malfoy who fell in?” Chloe asked, prodding a little.
“Terrified,” I answered without thinking then backtracked. “Draco was one of my first friends here, he’s… really important to me,”
“How important?” Chloe gave me a knowing look.
“Chloe,” My tone got serious. “He’s a really good friend.” My eyes found him across the yard.
“Nothing more?”
“Date a Malfoy?” I laughed. “Come on,”
“I didn’t say anything about dating him,” she grinned “but you wouldn’t be the first,” She toyed.
“Chloe.” I shook my head. It was a moot point.
“Sorry,” She looked down. “So, how did you feel when Greg downplayed your accomplishments?”
I snorted. “Not the first, not the last,”
“It doesn’t bother you?” She asked.
I sighed. “Chloe—look off the record, just for you, there will be men—people in your life who will never see you the way they’re meant to. It doesn’t change who you are, and it doesn’t change who I am. All I wanted to do was save my friend, and I did. Because it was the right thing to do—not because I wanted praise or ridicule.”
“Are you sure that’s off the record? That was really good,” Chloe said.
“You can print it, but I also want you to hear it, okay?” I said. She nodded, her gaze dropping. Her time at the Prophet hadn't been the easiest.
“Thanks… it—yeah, thanks. That’s… that’s all I have I think,” She gathered her things. “Thanks Y/n,”
“Sure,”
After her questions, I found Draco by the fire alone. I joined him, slightly scared; nervous.
“I hope I didn’t overstep… earlier,” he said softly. I shook my head.
“No, no. Not at all,” I said and he looked relieved.
“Good,” he smiled. “Chloe didn’t grill you too hard?”
“Nah,” I smiled. “She’s a good kid.” I reached out, trying to siphon the warmth from the fire.
“You still cold?” Draco asked.
“Yeah,” I admitted.
“Here,” Draco reached behind him and tugged a blanket from the back of his adirondack bench and draped it over my shoulders. “Do you want another jacket? I’m sure I can find something,” Genuine concern colored his voice.
“No, this is great,” I said. “Thank you Draco,”
“Y/n, now is not the time for heroics,” He said with a slight smile. “Come here,” He slid over on the bench, offering me a space. I wanted to say no, but I didn’t. I moved to the bench he was on so we were next to each other.
“This is quite bold of you,” I baited, hoping it was just dark enough to hide the blush from my face.
“You saved my life, Y/n,”
“Blaise saved your life numerous times, I don’t see you getting cozy with him,”
“Well, he’s just not my type,” Draco joked, getting me to laugh. I looked off into the distance not knowing what to say to that.
“Draco,” was all I managed. We had been pulling at that thread all night.
“I know, I know,” He sighed. “I’ll be good,”
I reached out and took his hand—he was incredibly warm and it wasn’t fair.
“I’ll give you tonight,” I said with a smile. “You can keep me warm. As payback for me saving you,”
The fire danced in his eyes as hope sparked in them. He wrapped the blanket around both of us before resting his arm around my shoulder, pulling me to his side. I laid my head on his shoulder and took in the warmth from him and the fire. It was simple and safe and warm and what my heart craved.
We were doomed.
“Tell me something,” he said, waking me from a light sleep. I hummed an acknowledgment for him to continue. “You like me?”
A blush crept back onto my face at his words.
“What answer are you looking for Draco?” I deflected.
“I—I want to know why you jumped in to save me when we both know Blaise would have. And why you’re also so gentle and kind with me when you know what an asshole I am. I wanna know why you trust me enough to stay like this with me,”
“I don’t think you’re an asshole,” I said.
“Y/n,” he gave me a look to which I flashed a cheeky smile. I took a deep breath and let it flow through me.
“Isn’t that just what we do? We save each other? We try to prove the world wrong when it comes to me and you? I’m not a runaway and you’re not an asshole?”
“I guess yeah,” he said.
We were quiet a moment.
“I do like you Draco.” I confessed to the fire. “I’m just scared of what would change if we did anything different.”
“What scares you?” He asked. We backed away so that we could face each other. The blanket engulfed me and left him. He didn’t show aversion to the cold but let me siphon his warmth.
“It’s… petty. Shallow maybe?” I confessed, picking at the edges of the blanket.
“I’d be shocked if it actually was coming from you,” he said earnestly.
I inhaled. “I’m worried about money getting in the way. You—you’re so kind and generous especially for those you care about and—“
“I’ve never spent a dime on you Y/n,” he interrupted.
“I know!” I said almost laughing. “Which leads me to the petty conclusion.” My gaze dropped. “I’m afraid that would change if we were together. Like it’d be an excuse to get away with.”
“You think I’d do that?”
I teetered my head and nodded a little. “And I know it wouldn’t be malicious and I know it could come from a place of care but…”
He was pensive. “It’s a valid concern. Sometimes I have a problem with self control for better or worse,” he reached out and placed a hand over mine. “Thank you for telling me.”
I smiled. “And there’s a part of me that wants you to know I couldn’t care less about the money you have. There’s no bait and switch coming,”
“Trust me,” he grinned. “I’ll always know that,”
“Good.” I said.
“Thats your biggest fear?” He asked.
“Well there’s always the unknown that scares me,” I jested. “But I’m also scared to lose you Draco.” Our lives were exactly safe. Especially with Draco being an Auror. I wanted him in my life. Making him even more important than that was terrifying. I couldn’t imagine losing him now… and if he meant even more to me? It’d be devastating.
“Im scared to lose you too,” he confessed. “Sometimes I’m scared it won’t work either. And I get so in my head about it,”
I squeezed his hand softly.
“So what do we do?”
“I don’t know,” he looked at our intertwined hands. “How about we just let ourselves have tonight?”
I nodded. “I’d love that,”
“Then c’mere,” his smile warmed as he held out his arms. We wrapped ourselves up in the blanket beside the fire.
Blaise, Chloe, and Pansy came over with hot dogs and marshmallows. Blaise worked on the fire making it grow from the embers it was waning to. If the noticed how cozy Draco and I were they said nothing. Instead we fell into a friendly conversation that had laughter going up with the ashes to echo off the trees. I roasted a few marshmallows and offered them to Draco. We shared them with little care to the sugar that coated our fingers. His eyes shined with childhood wonder as a smile lit up his face. It was few and far between I got to see him so full of joy and so relaxed. Something innocent shined through.
He was beautiful.
Later that night we all went to bed in our own rooms, still in the middle of our week at the lake despite the terror from today. And with the end of the night meant the end of our truce. I was a little upset about it but I might have just been tired.
Curling up into bed, I waited for my body heat to warm up the space but it wouldn’t. I couldn’t get warm. I grabbed another blanket and waited again. Still no use. I curled up tight, starting to shiver. I hated it.
Giving up, my socked feet hit the floor as I wrapped a blanket around myself making my way to somewhere I knew was warm. To someone who had kept me warm all night.
His door was cracked open. I knocked softly and pushed the door open.
“Draco?” I called into the dark room. “Draco?”
I heard a grumbled reply.
“Are you awake?”
“Y/n?” He finally rolled over rubbing his eyes. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m cold,” it sounded so stupid when I said it out loud by my muscles were too sore to try to keep me warm and sleep.
“C’mere,” he mumbled, righting the covers so I would have space next to him. I hesitated only a moment before crossing the wooden floor and crawling into bed. And good God he was an inferno of heat. A shudder left my body at the temperature change.
“Holy shit Y/n,” he said, feeling my chilled skin. “Why don’t you come sooner?”
“Was cold,” I said. We both waited for the other to answer an unspoken question but Draco opened his arms and I shifted into them. I pressed my cold nose to his shoulder. His leg came over mine, trapping me against him—enveloped in his warmth. If he felt any discomfort from my icy skin he didn’t show it at all. I still shivered but my muscles were relaxing and my breathing was evening out.
“Thank you,” my voice was barely audible.
“Mhm anything for you,” Draco said mostly asleep.
The consequences of the morning didn’t matter as much as feeling safe and warm in his arms. Somewhere in the night my fingers intertwined with his. Together.
The next morning Draco was gone by the time I woke up. Early bird. The alarm clocks red print read just before ten am. There was still a morning chill that had me searching for a blanket and a hot cup of coffee.
Draco was in the kitchen, the rest of the crew still asleep. If he noticed me come in he didn’t say anything—keeping his eyes on the newspaper. I fixed myself some coffee and found a yogurt in the fridge. Breakfast of champions.
“Morning,” I broke the silence. His eyes flickered up.
“Morning,” it was noncommittal for someone who slept beside me last night. My brow rose. I was not awake enough to scrutinize social interactions. I went to sit on the porch and watch the world around me enjoy the coming warmth of the sun. My binoculars were still on the table with my bird notebook so I spent some time looking for different bird species I hadn’t logged yet until my coffee was gone. By that point the kitchen was buzzing with voices and breakfast shenanigans. Draco was still reading his paper. Nerd.
The guys were talking about heading down to the lakeside to fish. Draco opted to go with them. They headed out while I worked on my second cup of coffee. The sound of the slider door opening alerted me a few moments later.
Our eyes met as he came back into the house, looking for his…. Phone. He had left it on the counter. He said nothing and went back outside through the sliders. My feet carried me to follow him abandoning my coffee.
“Hey,” I pulled his hand, separating us from the few going down to the shore. “What gives?”
“What?” He seemed confused.
“Well for a guy I shared a bed with last night, you’re a little cold today.” I said, my brows drawn. “Did I do something? Are you upset with me?”
“No,” he denied. “I’m not upset with you—I thought this was what you wanted. I… I was trying to respect your boundaries.”
“What boundary?”
“Last night. You said you’d let me cross the line for last night only. I assumed it ended with the sun coming up,” he shrugged.
“Oh.”
He gave a tight smile and headed down the path to the lakeside. I watched him go. He was right. I had said only last night. And he respected that. This was the way things were supposed to be. I rubbed my eyes and nodded to myself—trying to convince her this was the way things were supposed to be—before heading back to the house.
The girls wanted to go to the little town just up the way for a bit of souvenir shopping and invited me. I accepted. But my thoughts were at the lakeside with Draco. I think they could tell because I wasn’t all enthused at the rows of brightly colored t-shirts and various nautical and beach themed knick-nacks with the lake name and town printed on them.
“You okay?” Pansy asked pulling me from the imagination of sitting beside Draco on the rocky shore. Maybe we’d look for sea glass. Or try to skip rocks. Or just bird watch.
“Yeah,” I threw on a smile. “Yeah,” I tried to be convincing.
“You’ve been staring at that plush otter for like three minutes,” she rose an eyebrow. I was caught.
“Just lost in my head I guess.”
“Thinking about Malfoy?”
My face flushed as I looked down.
“Yeah,” I said. “I… um. Yeah. It’s complicated.” I decided.
“I guess it would be,” she said. “You guys are… different. But I think it works,”
“You do?”
“Yeah, you guys balance each other out,” Pansy said, fiddling through the trinkets on the shelf. "And I've been friends with Draco for a long time. He's different around you... happier,"
My eyes focused on the stuffed otter in front of me as I processed her words. Maybe she was right... maybe it wasn't all just in my head. I took the otter off the shelf. It was coming home with me.
On the way back we got ice cream. It was sweet and sticky and heavenly in the heat of summer--with the rising sun and humidity, the chill from my bones was finally gone. Walking back, the guys were back from fishing—all except the one I was looking for. Now the boys wanted to go to the town and roped the girls into going back. I declined, opting to start reading my book so I wouldn’t feel guilty that I brought it. No emotional support TBR list for me this time.
I walked down the path to the lake with my book and my bag full of shoreside necessities. Though it was hours later, his familiar figure was still sitting by the wake. Which means we’d be alone on the beach. Whelp. My heart fluttered in my chest. I told her to shut up. It was fine. We were casual. Totally nonchalant.
I only paused a moment before deciding to sit next to him, laying out my blanket and kicking off my shoes.
“Hey,” he said.
“Hi,” I smiled. “Come here often?”
He cracked a smile before settling into a sad laugh.
“I wish it were more,” he confessed.
“Me too,” I said with a sigh. “I hate being too busy to enjoy life,”
He nodded.
“Oh I got you something at the shop,” I reached into my bag and pulled out that stuffed otter wearing a tie dye shirt with the lake logo on it and a bucket hat with sunglasses. It was utterly ridiculous and severely overpriced. But it achieved its goal.
His laughter echoed off the trees and water as he looked at this weird little thing.
“What the hell is this?” He laughed.
“The tag says his name is Odie,” I grinned.
“Odie the otter?” He rubbed his face still chucking. “What the hell?”
“What?” I asked innocent. “He’s cute!”
Draco held up the otter with his brows raised. “You thought this was cute?”
“Absolutely,” I dared him to challenge me.
He laughed again.
“If you don’t want it I’ll take it back,” I baited.
“Try to take it from me see what happens,” he grinned mischievously. His expression got me to laugh as he protectively cradled the otter. And with his face lit up with joy and mischief, like last night, he was beautiful.
My gaze fell with our smiles as the moment ended. I went back to watching the small waves on the pebbled shore, worrying my lip absentmindedly. We shared a quiet moment.
“Y/n?” He broke the silence. He had my attention. “I… like being friends with you,” he said. It was such a bizarre sentence that I laughed.
“I like being friends with you too,” I said.
“Heh. Yeah. Right,” he rubbed the back of his neck, nervous. “If… if I swore to never spend a dime on you… do you think you’d wanna give it a try?”
I knew what he was asking. A little more than friends. I mulled over the idea.
“You really wanna date me that bad?” I teased lightly.
“Avoiding you today has been killing me,” he confessed. “I miss having an excuse for you to be near me.”
“I missed you too,” I smiled at him. “I… I think a lake house is a little less complicated than our real lives,” I admitted.
He sighed. “Yeah,”
“But… I’d be willing to try,”
His whole demeanor changed. He perked right up a hopeful smile on his face. “Yeah?”
I nodded. “I think we should have a serious conversation about what we’re expecting from each other in the real world when we get back but… yeah,” I bobbed my head smiling. “I think I’d wanna try too,”
“Great, I um… yeah. Great,” he ducked his head grinning like a school boy.
“Great,” I said only mocking him slightly. “In that case…. Do you wanna go look for rocks?”
“Rocks?” It was his turn to be skeptical.
“Well only the cool ones,” I said obviously.
“Right right. The cool ones,” he laughed as we got up to walk along the beach. Odie watched over my bag.
My eyes were trained on the millions of stones along the lakeside. I walked slow, my eyes peeled. I picked up a few cool rocks—in color shape and texture and when I found what I truly wanted I held it up in victory.
“Aha!”
“What?” Draco had his own handful of rocks.
“Pirate glass,” I said, going over to show it to him. “Glass that gets lost in the waves and end up on shore,”
“Oh wow,” he said looking at the amber glass. “I never knew,”
“Well you grew up landlocked,” I said. “I can’t hold it against you,”
He offered the glass back.
“Keep it,” I smiled. “Your first pirate glass,”
He smiled and slipped it into his pocket. We compared rocks before continuing to look. This time our hands were intertwined.
“So why did you come on a lake trip if you can’t swim?” I asked as our rock search turned into a stroll. My pockets were full enough anyway.
“I mean there are other things to do here,” he said. “And… I wanted to spend time with you,” his whole face flushed in the setting sun. I processed his words.
“Really?”
My response got him to laugh again.
“Yes really. I enjoy your company Y/n. And we rarely have any time together. When I heard you were coming… it’s good for me to take time off,”
“Yeah, it is.” I agreed. “I’m glad you came.”
“Me too,” he squeezed my hand.
We ended up back at my blanket watching the sun paint the sky warm colors as she sank behind the trees. There was little space between us as the chill of night returned. Draco put his arm around my shoulders to keep me warm.
“Tell me something,” Draco said joining the thrum of insects. I hummed an acknowledgment. It was familiar between us. “Anything,” he prompted.
“Are you asking for my deepest darkest secrets?” I teased.
“Uhuh,” he chuckled. “Come on,” he paused. “What’s your favorite color?”
“Oh now you’ve crossed a line,” I grinned. “Um… green? But the kinda green pine trees get. Where it’s almost blue,” I nodded to the horizon. “What about you?”
“Green,” he said too. “But more like the color of leaves when it rains. And the wood is darker and the leaves are almost neon,”
I nodded, knowing exactly what he was talking about. I laid my head on his shoulder. Fireflies danced around us.
Our quaint haven was invaded by our friends who had armfuls of food and drinks and music and games. We both got looks from our respective friends, turning Draco and me pink to match the sky. Draco turned his head to hide against me getting our noses to nuzzle together—not helping the teasing going on but it was a small solace for the two of us. They could tease me all they wanted, I was happy here.
My blanket became one square in a patchwork quilt of camaraderie.
My eyes were trained on the calm wake of the shore. Maybe this would just work after all.
Prompt: @creativepromptsforwriting: Person A is not a kiss and tell kind of person, so their friends start to think that they have been alone for way too long now and set them up with Person B. What the friends don’t know is that they both already know each other – intimately.
A/n: GUYS I AM SO BACK ON MY REGULAR BULLSHIT. AND CACKLING ABOUT IT.
Also this one gets warnings: mature content, not explicit but implied sex (a closed door romance if you will).
(p.s. fuck jkr and fuck ai :) and this particular time... fuck draco malfoy >:))
I laid back against my pillows, beautifully exhausted because of the man buttoning his shirt that had been thrown… somewhere. I guess he found it. A smile touched my lips. He glanced back at me over his shoulder, his grey eyes catching my smile.
“Enjoying the view?” He smirked.
“Always do,” I said, unfazed.
It had been about four months of this. Since we met on accident at a bar and ended up in my bed. And God it was heaven. And turns out, it was just as fun sober too. So we had our rendezvous. Again and again. It was a drug, our illicit affairs. It left me satisfied but wondering if there would be another text from a number I didn’t bother saving.
And after he’d always leave. No promises, no complications, no drama, no what ifs. God, imagine dating someone like a Malfoy. Being an accessory to some nepotistic asshole. Always traveling, always wondering. If he did this with me, I couldn’t imagine who else he had saved in his phone. I rolled my eyes at the thought. It’s what made this easy. He’d leave, and I’d go back to my regular life. No complicated emotions. It was oddly dependable.
___________________
“So,” Pansy said, baiting me.
“So?” I asked, looking up from the chips and guacamole. It was our monthly girls night at a local muggle Mexican joint.
“I have a friend,”
“That’s nice,” I looked at her to give me more.
“Someone you might like,” She rose an eyebrow.
“As a friend?”
“Or a date,” She grinned. “Come on Y/n, you haven’t been on a date in over six months,”
“And?” I said pointedly.
“And, you get grouchy when you don’t get laid.”
I narrowed my eyes at her. She didn’t know about my nights with Draco. No one did. And I didn’t think I was that grouchy regardless.
“Do not.” I refuted. She gave me a look.
“Will you at least meet him?” She asked. “I spent so long trying to convince him and he said yes,”
“Oh yeah, that makes me feel better,” I muttered, sipping my margarita.
“Well, here I am, convincing you too,” She pointed out.
“Pansy, seriously, I’m fine,” I said flatly. “I don’t need a man,”
“As a favor?” She pouted.
“Pans,”
“Pleeeeeease,” She stretched out the word, almost whining. “Just one date and then I will never meddle in your love life again. Pinky swear,” She said. The deal was appealing.
“One date?” My disdain was still evident.
“Come on Y/n, you’re acting like I’m asking you to get your teeth pulled. It’s one date with a good guy,” She said. “What happened to the girl in school who dreamed of Prince Charming?”
“She grew up,” I rolled my eyes. “And met the real world.”
“Fair enough,” Pansy swirled her espresso martini. “Just one date? Next Saturday night?”
I pursed my lips. “Fine.” I sealed my fate.
The same night, Draco and I ended up in bed again. He texted and God I needed the outlet with the looming date. And after a couple hours of fun, before he got up to leave, the words slipped out of my mouth.
“I have a date Saturday.”
Our soft breaths filled the tense moment. I dared to look at him. He was glaring at the ceiling.
“Draco?”
He hummed an acknowledgment.
“Any thoughts?”
“Why?” He said. “It’s not like we’re dating.” He sat up, hiding his face from me, though there was something hollow in his voice.
“Right,” I said. “Just thought you should know,”
He nodded, got up, dressed, and left.
I didn’t get another text from him before my date, and I did text him either. I thought about him more than usual though, and about this mysterious bachelor that Pansy swore would be good for me. So there I was, Saturday night, in a cute casual outfit, outside a restaurant downtown. Waiting.
And I saw him walk up.
Draco Malfoy.
My fucking blind date.
Draco Fucking Malfoy.
He saw me and realized the same thing I did. I shook my head and started to walk away.
“Y/n, wait,” He called, catching up to me to take my hand.
“Draco what are you doing here?” I hissed.
“The same thing you are apparently.” He mused, glancing at the restaurant.
I studied him. “Did you tell Pansy?”
“Did you?” He countered.
“Of course not!” I said.
“Well neither did I! We agreed!”
I huffed and nodded accepting his candor.
“So… here we are,” He said. “I… understand if you don’t want to do this,”
I thought I had seen him at his most vulnerable before—very vulnerable in some cases—but seeing him with his shoulders slumped, and gaze downcast, I felt a pang of pity. It was odd, knowing his silk button up, pressed pants and delicately coiffed hair was for me this time.
“Damnit.” I muttered. “Fine. Sure. Okay.”
“You don’t have to do this,” a familiar smirk played at his lips. “It’s not a chore.”
“No it’s not,” I agreed. “But I think Pansy would kill me if I don’t and besides… it’s not like we don’t enjoy each other’s company.” A wicked grin curled on my face and it got him to laugh. The storm clouds of semantics seemed to have passed for the moment. Maybe it was time to give myself an answer: was Draco Malfoy dateable? Or just fuckable.
Inside there was a reservation for Malfoy and a private table secluded away from everyone else. It didn’t help my nerves, and Draco’s hand at the small of my back wasn’t the comfort it should have been. I was used to his hands being strong and assertive, not delicate and soothing. And certainly not affectionate publicly.
We sat and I was grateful for the distraction the menu gave me. I dared to glance at him and his brow was furrowed, studying the menu as well. No longer in dim lighting I could see the years around his eyes that we both never talked about. Was I finding myself caring for him?
No.
Not happening.
When the waiter came, to my surprise Draco ordered us both drinks—he remembered my cocktail from that very first night. And though he ordered for me he still glanced at me to make sure he’d gotten it right.
“Are we drinking tonight then?” I mused.
“Well I need one,” he muttered. “Don’t you?”
“Yeah,” it would help tonight go a lot smoother.
“So.” The word was extremely weighted. It made me laugh.
“So,” I said. “What are the odds?”
“What are the fucking odds,” he chuckled, his whiskey loosened his polished demeanor—just the way I liked him.
“How was work?” I asked mockingly, getting him to fully laugh.
“It was good,” he said earnestly. “Working on a deal with a newly discovered historical site to preserve it, we’re almost done with the bureaucracy.”
“Oh.” That surprised me. And intrigued me. I never thought his business would better the world. “What site?”
“Somewhere off the coast of Crete—they found a shipwreck and need a crew but the safety is what we’re running in to.”
“A shipwreck?” I asked.
He nodded. “We think it’s early Minoan.”
“Really?” I perked up more. “Did you guys find any bronze?”
“Yes…” his eyes narrowed. “How did you know that?”
“University,” I ducked my head. “I’ve always loved Ancient Greece. And most metal is melted down to be reused so we don’t have a lot of early statues but usually shipwrecks are the best bet even if it has rust damage.” I explained before I could stop myself. “And the Minoans are the Bronze Age so…” my cheeks flushed, sheepish. Draco just stared at me like he’d never seen someone like me before.
“Why—why don’t you work in this?” He asked, genuinely confused. “You told me you’re a waitress!”
“I am,” I laughed. “And the day I find an entry level job that can beat what I make at the restaurant I’ll consider switching jobs.” I said.
“Fair enough,” he mused. “And if I could maybe take you along to see the shipwreck on an unofficial capacity…?” He baited.
“Are you asking me on another date?” I drawled back, leaning forward on the table.
“Maybe,” he said. And there was something genuine about it.
When I didn’t think about the fact that for the past four months it was his name that left my lips in pleasured breath—Draco was actually really good company. I found myself laughing more. Asking questions. Getting lost in his stories and telling my own. It was drinks and appetizers and meals and desserts and another drink. I was completely satisfied.
And grappling with the idea that Draco Malfoy might be dateable.
Ugh.
“Can I ask you something?” Dessert had been finished, only a few sips of alcohol left for both of us.
He nodded, taking his last sip of his whiskey.
“That night. The last time we… did you text me to hook up because you were nervous that Pansy get you up with someone?”
“Yeah,” he sounded almost pained. “Sorry,”
“For what?” I mused. “You said it yourself. It wasn’t like we were dating.” I was nonchalant. “Besides, you are a great stress reliever.” A smirk played at my lips as I took another sip of my cocktail.
“Were you stressed about it?” He picked up on what I said.
“I was glad you texted,” I confessed. “I… haven’t really dated anyone since the first time went so fucking spectacular.” I hid my face in the bottom of my cocktail.
“That bad?”
I nodded. “And you were a constant. I liked it.”
“That’s all you liked about it?” His tone was wicked. I rolled my eyes and didn’t answer.
“So what do we do now?” I asked.
“Well I know something we do very well.”
“On a first date?” I acted aghast. “How forward,”
He laughed. “Does this count as a first date?”
“Does it not?” I said. “What would you call our first date? That night at the bar?”
He shrugged. “It’s hard to call it a first date when I already know how to make you scream.” My face got warm and it wasn’t the alcohol. And he said it so matter of factly.
“Fair point.” I agreed. We were quiet a moment. Then he asked.
“Do you want to get emotionally involved? Or just keep hooking up?”
“I… had fun tonight.” I said truthfully. “You’re actually pretty good company.”
“Is that surprising for you?”
I nodded. “Well-known rich playboy being good company for someone like me? Yeah, I’m surprised. I thought you were just a good fuck and that was it for me.”
His face soured a bit as he considered my words. It was possible I offended him.
“I guess could say the same,” he decided. “So, what do we do now?” The question loomed.
“Emotionally invest?” I mused. “And if it doesn’t work,” I shrugged. “We tried.”
He nodded. “I think I can live with that.”
A smile touched my lips. The hour was growing late and the restaurant had fewer patrons. I noted it. We should be leaving soon—I did not want to be the reason the kitchen stayed late but I had one more burning question.
“Why did it take so long for you to agree to go on a date?” I asked. “Pansy said it took her a while to convince you,”
He shrugged. “Dating isn’t my forte.” It was an acceptable response. It didn’t seem like the most honest response—a bit rehearsed—but it was understandable.
“We should go,” I said, glancing at the workers starting their nightly side work.
Without a second thought, Draco paid and God, as a waitress, there was some part of me that wanted to know if he tipped well. I prayed he did, but men like him were always fickle in my experience. Judging on how kindly the waiter thanked us and wished us a good night, I hoped for the best.
“I’m gonna tell Pansy. About all of it.” I said as we were leaving. “She deserves to know what she did.”
Draco laughed. “I suppose she does.”
“I wish I could be more mad at her.” I said, the cool night air feeling nice on my flushed skin.
“Yeah,” he inhaled the crisp air deeply. His eyes fluttered close and for a brief moment he looked free, the weight of the world gone from his shoulders. He was beautiful. His eyes opened again and the moment was gone.
“Do you want me to come over?” He asked. I thought about it. Seriously considered it. I wanted to say yes. But I didn’t.
Instead, I leaned up and kissed his cheek.
“Not tonight. If we’re really gonna do this…”
“I agree,” he said. “I’ll call you,”
Damn. Now I’d actually have to save his number. The thought made me smile.
“I’ll save your number,” I grinned. He realized what I meant and laughed again.
“You always surprise me,” he said earnestly. “Have a good night Y/n,”
“You too,”
And like I was fragile, he cupped my face softly and placed a goodnight kiss to my lips—something I’d never gotten from him. It warmed me for a different reason.
Maybe this would just work.
____________________
“So how was your date?” Pansy drawled.
“You set me up with Draco fucking Malfoy.” I hissed. “What the fuck Pansy?”
“Oh come on, you’re telling me he’s not a good time?”
“He’s a great time.” I muttered darkly.
“So what’s the problem!?” She stressed. “What are you so miffed about?”
I scrubbed my face and confessed. “Draco and I have been hooking up for the past four months. Secretly.”
I’ve never seen Pansy speechless. My gaze dropped as I waited for her to process the information.
“Why didn’t you tell me!?” She exclaimed. “I never would have set you guys up! Holy fuck!”
I started laughing. “We didn’t want anyone to know,”
“And you still went on the date!?”
“Yeah,” I smiled. “It was a really nice time too. We’re going to see each other socially now,”
She was still reeling. I let her absorb everything that had been a whirlwind for me the past few days. It was nice seeing it affect someone else.
“Holy shit girl,” Pansy laughed. “I think I owe you a drink. Or two. God to be a fly on the wall for that date,”
I laughed and shook my head as we talked over chips and guacamole. And as I told the tale of my date with Draco, there was a fondness in my chest growing for him.
__________________
A few dates later, we ended up in bed together, doing what we did best. This time it was a little more emotionally charged. This time I let myself give in to the fantasies just a little bit. He cared for me. He wanted me, specifically. My company. Not just what we could do for each other.
After, I curled up in his arms this time, both of us panting softly. He pressed a kiss to the top of my head.
“I waited so long for this,” His voice was rough and low.
“It was just a few weeks,” I teased, looking up at him. He shook his head.
“No,” His arms tightened around me. “This… just holding you. Not having to leave after,”
My foggy brain processed his words and I sat up a bit, much to his chagrin.
“Are you telling me you caught feelings before we even went on our date?” Surprise colored my smile. He went a bit pink, sheepish.
“Yes?”
I laughed and laid back down in disbelief. “Oh my God,”
“What?” He pressed.
“You actually cared about me,” It was sweet. “Is that why you were upset when I said I had a date?”
“A little yeah,” Draco confessed. “I knew I had one in tandem,” He sighed softly. “I knew we weren’t dating either, but…”
“You still cared about me,” my tone was softer.
He nodded. “And part of me couldn’t believe that you were the one standing there waiting for me.”
“You really lucked out with that one huh?”
“I really did,” Draco kissed the top of my head again. “I’m the luckiest man alive with you next to me,”
My heart absolutely melted. I held him a little tighter. Taking a deep breath I let myself be content in his arms. Whether it was fate or just coincidence, or maybe karma had finally found my new address, I was the lucky one.
Summary: can your friendship with Draco survive after everything that's been done to both of you? Or are you really gone for good?
A/N: Here's the final part my loves~
(p.s. fuck ai and fuck jkr <3)
Sleeplessness plagued me that night. I tossed and turned in memories that distorted themselves. After about four in the morning I gave up and just stared at the ceiling. I was a mess. It was all a mess. It was so easy for me to pack my life up in boxes and move on but I couldn’t get over the hurdle of emotional confrontation.
Draco saved my life.
Draco married another woman.
Draco took a killing curse for me.
Draco fired my entire restaurant on a whim.
Draco offered half of his fortune to keep me safe.
Draco married another woman.
Draco saved my life at the expense of his.
And he might have been drugged the entire time.
So when the sun rose I didn’t call the movers. I didn’t pack up my car. I didn’t even talk to Pansy.
I found myself back at the hospital, alone. The healer remembered me and led me to Draco’s room with a stern warning about keeping things calm. I didn’t even ask to go back. I don’t know if I was ready to see him. But there I was.
Of all the things I had planned for, his father being there wasn’t one. They were deep in conversation. I paused outside the door but Draco saw me.
“Y/n,” He called. I entered the room.
“Ms. Y/n,” Lucius eyed me.
“Hi… if this is a bad time,”
“No, he was just leaving,” Draco glared at his father.
“Yes. It seems I’m not wanted here,” His father gave a tight smile. “Good to see you,” His words were almost kind. Lucius nodded and left. I shut the door, pausing at the handle.
“How are you feeling?” My voice was small, guarded. Pretending like there wasn’t a score to settle between us.
“Y/n,” Draco sighed. “Don’t—not this,” He saw right through my charade. The bastard.
Tears pricked my eyes. “Not what?”
“I know you too well for that,” He said. I turned to face him.
“Then go ahead. Tell me.” I sat in the chair beside his bed.
“You’re angry with me.” He said. “I know Blaise told you what happened. What Desiree can do. But you’re still angry. The things I said… I did… I betrayed you. Your trust…”
I nodded mutely. My eyes slipped shut as I told the truth. “That was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. I—I didn’t even care about you being with Desiree. I—I thought I was losing my friend,”
“And I put you through that and I—I’m so sorry Y/n,” He reached out and took my hand. “Please, please forgive me.”
I sighed softly.
“I know,” He groaned. “But look, the Talons is reinstated and I will never take it away from you again. And all of Desiree’s things are gone and my father just confirmed the annulment and—“ He started crying. “I—I’m sorry about the things I said to you—how I doubted you and betrayed you, but I—I need you to keep being my friend and I know that’s so stupid to ask after the hell I just put you through—“ He was so choked up with tears.
“Draco, Draco,” I soothed softly, moving to sit on his bedside, wiping his tears. I couldn’t bear to see him this upset. “I will always be your friend. Even when you are a total ass.” It was a sad truth.
“Good, because that might just be the rest of my life,” he sniffled, cracking a smile. I weakly returned it. “You stood by me at my fucking wedding when it killed you inside. And you still came to save me after what I did to you? Y/n…” He trailed off, tearing up again. “Not many people I know would do that for me,” I put my hand over his in a comforting gesture. “Please stay.”
“What?” It caught me off guard.
“Please. Stay in town,”
My thoughts flickered back to about a week ago when this was a very different conversation. I took a shaky breath. I wasn’t ready to reopen it yet.
“Get rest Draco,” I said softly. “Get yourself healed and I might let you buy me a cup of coffee if you want,” I smiled a bit. He recognized my deflection and accepted it without a complaint.
“I look forward to it,”
He called my name as I went to leave.
“Come back tomorrow?” He asked.
“I—maybe,” I said.
“Please?” His blue eyes begged.
“Okay,” I gave in and the smile that broke out on his face was more than worth it.
I left the hospital room to find Lucius standing in the hallway. I froze, surprised. “Mr. Malfoy, I didn’t realize you were still here.”
“My son took a killing curse for you,” He said. He always spoke so bizarrely direct.
“Yes,”
“I warned you not to ever hurt him,”
“I didn’t cast the spell.” I was too emotionally drained for whatever game he wanted to play.
“No. You didn’t. But he still risked his life for yours.” Lucius narrowed his eyes at me. “My son cannot have a weak spot Ms. Y/l/n.”
I gave a tight smile as anger brewed inside me. “So him marrying some woman he doesn’t know isn’t a weak spot, but a good friend is? Mr. Malfoy your son is in a hospital room with a curse wound from a woman he married after knowing a week. It should have never gotten that far.”
“What are you insinuating?” He said.
“Nothing. I’m saying it. If you care about weak spots you should have protected your son.”
“And what if protecting him is removing you from the situation?” He threatened.
I inhaled. “I’ve had my life threatened once already this week and I have an aunt in Manchester who’s already waiting for me. I tried removing myself.” I snapped.
“You have quite the attitude.” He noted.
“Yeahp.” I didn’t deny it—it was true. He was unimpressed. We stared at each other, two strongholds.
“It would be a shame for that rebellious attitude to ruin your life again.” His eyes narrowed slightly in threat. My head reeled. I should have known he’d keep digging on me. I’m sure he knew more of my secrets than I did. I scoffed and rolled my eyes.
“Yeah, sure,” I gave a weak laugh. “So you know why I came here. Why I’m staying with Pansy. You know exactly where this attitude came from: men like you.” I spat. “So be convoluted and threatening. I don’t care.” My stubbornness ran strong as I squared my shoulders.
“You seem to have a pretty high opinion of yourself,”
“Not at all.” I said plainly. “Actually the first time almost killed me and I’m not sure this time will be different.” My breath was sharp. I paused. “But I care about your son. And it seems he cares about me. And right now… I don’t know if I’m staying. And I’m sorry.”
Lucius studied me and left without another word. I turned, looking through the window of Draco’s room. His steady blue eyes were on me. Filled with so many questions. I’m not sure how much of that conversation he heard.
My gaze dropped as I scrubbed my face. Draco called my name softly. My eyes drifted to his. I walked back into his room and sat silently on the chair beside his bed. I put my head in my hands. The only sounds were the sound of our breathing.
“You don’t have to stay,” Draco broke the silence. “I… I understand if you don’t want to. If… if it’s too much. If I’m too much,”
I nodded mutely.
“I don’t know,” I whispered.
It was all I had.
I found myself back on the bench under the stars. Pansy came out with a warm mug of hot cocoa and a blanket. We sat there in silence for a while.
“What a fucking week,” she sighed into her mug. “Draco okay?” She asked, baited.
“The Amorentia is mostly out of his system. He’ll still be healing physically from the spell for a while.” My voice sounded hollow.
“Are you and Draco okay?” She followed up.
I pursed my lips. “I know he was drugged but holy fuck Pansy.” I said. “He destroyed my whole life in a week with the snap of his fingers.”
“Yeah,” she sighed.
“And that’s not even factoring in that he married someone else!”
“I thought you didn’t care about that?” She mused. “You guys were just friends.” She stressed the word. I gave her a look.
“Yeah because we all believe that.” I muttered. “I love him Pans. He’s my best friend and…” my voice was small as I stared at my empty mug.
“And he destroyed your life in a week and married another woman,” she finished. I laughed at the idea of both of those things being true.
“Yeah,” I smiled hopeless. “It would just be so easy to blame her and not Draco,”
“Well she is a wanted criminal for this sort of thing.” Pansy mused. “Blaise showed me some of her work and I’m damn impressed if it wasn’t so scary. Draco’s case is the first one to ever have a discrepancy. And that’s because of you, ya know?”
I rolled my eyes. “Don’t give me that chosen one bullshit,” I shook my head.
“No one else got through to him Y/n. Chosen one or not, somewhere in his psyche, past the drug, he wanted you,” she said.
I sat with her words. I sat with the love I had for this town. I sat with the new life I had built for myself, by myself. I loved it all. I wanted it all, selfishly coveting it.
I didn’t want to leave.
But what hope did I have that it wouldn’t all be ripped from me again?
When I was younger, my hopes and dreams burned like a bonfire on a Friday night. And now? They were embers, twigs I scrounged up of proof that there was something worth hoping for. And every time I thought that the flame would flicker out, I’d find another twig, a branch, some kindling and dry leaves. But it was never the bonfire I had before. Just little candles that kept the darkness at bay.
My aunt urged me to stay for another month. She claimed this time I had the opportunity to tie up loose ends, and that I should take it. Wondering and regret would drive any person mad, she said. I was always welcome, she promised. But she wanted me to grow, not run and hide.
So a month it was.
The restaurant was the same, but different. There was a fear lingering in all of our eyes, a pain shared. How fickle life was.
I visited Draco sometimes. We never talked about the elephant in the room: if I was staying. So visits were short, and smiles forced often. But every conversation I had with him, I saw my friend again. Another candle to add to my hopes in the dark. The quips and jokes and rambles about some nerdy thing. Draco was my friend. And when he was released from the hospital, I was there to help sign paperwork to vouch for him and his aftercare, knowing Mitsey had the whole thing covered.
It wasn’t the same as before, but it wasn’t bad. Pansy finally convinced me to unpack. Slowly I did. And slowly I found myself in those boxes returned to where she belonged.
A matchbox for my flicker of hope came the next day when Pansy walked into my room.
“Hey, we have a summons to the manor,” Pansy knocked on my door with a letter in her hands.
“What does he want with me?” I muttered, unpacking another box.
“Both of us.” She said, handing me the parchment. Sure enough both of our names were listed for the summons. Why he didn’t just call us, I didn’t know. It said as soon as possible.
Pansy and I both faced the haunting on the manor together as we walked into Draco’s office. He still looked worse for wear, sleepless nights under his eyes, but he was home. And that counted for something. A light sparked in his eyes when he saw the both of us. A smile touched his lips.
“I’m glad you both could make it,” he said. “I have something for you two.” He offered a thick piece of parchment to us. Pansy took it.
“What is this?” Pansy asked as we both scanned the document in her hands.
“The title to Talons and Tempura.” He said plainly.
“This has our names on it,” I said.
“Yes.” Draco said. “It belongs to you two,”
Pansy and I shared a look, baffled.
“What do you mean?”
“The restaurant belongs to you two. The Malfoy company can no longer touch it.” He said solemnly. “I will only be involved if you ask.”
The weight of this action weighed heavy on me. I sank to one of the plush chairs facing his desk, tears in my eyes. My gaze met his glossy ones. He was trying to make amends.
“I’m so sorry,” his voice was rough. I nodded, accepting his apology. “The former staff has been notified and offered compensation for the time lost as well as more secure contracts. It just took a while for the bureaucracy.”
“Well,” Pansy said, choked up herself. “Looks like we got work to do,” she smiled at me. A carefree weightless smile grew on my face.
We left his office but I glanced back one time. There were tear tracks on Draco’s cheeks. Pansy called my name. I was caught between the two of them. I waved her on and slipped back inside the office and closed the door behind me. Draco studied me.
“We should talk,” my voice wavered.
“Probably,” he agreed and stood. “Yes,”
My heart pounded in my chest. His kind and generous actions with the Talons didn’t erase our score. My gaze dropped as I formed the difficult words.
“You really hurt me.” I said. “You—you tore apart my life in a matter of days,”
“I did.” He said. No excuses. No reasons. Just responsibility. “And I’m so sorry,” his voice weakened again. “I’m so sorry I hurt you. And for things you already had wounds for. And I’m sorry I left you bleeding again.” He was crying. “I can never make up for that. I can never undo it and—“ he choked up. “I’m sorry,”
I was crying too.
“And the things I said to you!?” He scrubbed his face. “Y/n why are you even still here!?” He wept.
“She did something to you,” I choked out as if it would make it all better.
“Fuck Y/n! You know that doesn’t make it better!” He shouted.
“No it doesn’t,” I cried shaking my head. “It killed me. And I thought maybe you’d had enough of me denying you and maybe you really had moved on and I deserve that. I—I never deserved your kindness or your friendship after what I’ve done and finally—finally it all started to make sense…” I messily wiped away my tears. “You were right—I—I deserved it.”
“No, no. No. Fuck no Y/n. I have never been more wrong. You didn’t deserve that. No one deserves that!”
“You don’t know what I’ve done!” I shouted back. “The people I’ve hurt, the friends I’ve lost,” my gaze dropped in shame as my voice got soft.
His shoes clicked on the hardwood until they were in my line of sight. Draco’s hand came up and lifted my chin. Our tear stained gazed met.
“No one deserves that.” He said finitely. “Especially not you. I don’t give a fuck about what you think you’ve done. You didn’t deserve that. You deserve to have a home. To have stability. To feel safe.” Draco’s blue eyes cemented those truths.
This was the man I loved. The one who was bold and defiant about the good in me. Who never sugar coated the truth.
I wrapped my arms around his neck in a tight hug. His arms coiled around me, securing me in his hold. I felt invincible like this. Safe. Loved.
“I know you, the real you,” he whispered. “And she doesn’t deserve to be hurt again by the ones she loves.”
I teared up again at his words. After years of being hurt and lost and alone trusting no one, here he was, knowing exactly what I craved. And even a love potion used for death could dissuade him from believing that for me.
Desiree had tried to get to my heart. To the inner workings that were broken and duct taped and Jerry rigged to keep functioning. And she found them. She pressed against them to get them to fracture again. And they did. But it was that pain that broke the spell on Draco. It was her mistake. The depths of who Draco was couldn’t bear to see me in that pain until it tore the very fabric of magic apart at the seams.
“I love you,” my voice was so small and muffled I was sure he didn’t hear what I said. He didn’t respond to it so I felt safe that those words were still my secret.
Summary: How much can your weary heart take this time? Will history repeat itself or will you change your path before it can wreck you again?
A/N: Hi guys <3 who's ready for more angst? It me. Hi. Enjoy my lovies and let me know what you think ^.^
“He looks happy,” Pansy said as we stood to the side at the reception watching the newly weds cut the cake.
“Yeah,” I smiled. “He does,” I’d never felt jealous over another woman before. But watching Desiree in a white dress with Draco next to her… the cake, the champagne... his warm smile and adoring eyes. I wanted it to be me. And I was so close.
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
“No,” I said honestly tears stinging my eyes. “This isn’t like him at all, but I don’t know what to do about it.” My eyes flitted over the whimsical decorations that graced the manor, keeping the tears away. “They’re married, Pansy, you don’t really come back from that,”
She sighed next to me and grabbed two flues of champagne from a nearby waiter and offered me one. I sipped at it, knowing there wasn’t an alcohol strong enough to put me back together.
Not this time.
And for the next few weeks, I kept out of his way. And her way. I just avoided them all together. There was a growing anger and betrayal inside of me at his actions that I had no right to feel but I couldn’t make the feelings go away. And no amount of drinks out with Pansy or workouts or journaling or wand drills would make them subside either. Until I went into work one day, only to find that it was my last day. It was everyone’s last day. A Malfoy signed order. I looked at the lost and confused faces of my friends, the ones who took me in and gave me a place to land in work after I felt so alone.
I was livid.
It went beyond my own self pity. Now Malfoy was fucking with my friends.
I took off for the manor, seething. Magic sparked around me as I stalked down the halls.
“You’re shutting down Talons!?” I stormed into his office. “Draco, what the fuck?”
“Hello to you too,” He muttered standing. “How did you get in?”
“Mitsey,” I snapped. “This is low Draco, even for you,”
“It’s business. I wouldn’t expect you to understand.” His cold tone was a slap in the face.
“I help keep your books jackass. I understand plenty.”
“Breaking even isn’t good enough for me anymore.” He tilted his chin back. “But you never were a go getter,”
I glared at him, fury on my face. “So it’s about me then? You’re going to put good people out of work because of me? What happened to wanting to protect the people of this town!?”
“I told you. It’s business.” He looked too much like his father. I hated him.
“My mistake, Mr. Malfoy.” I spat. His expression hardened.
“Is there a problem here?” Desiree poked her head in, doe eyed and concerned. Her perfume entered the room before she did. It was overwhelming and made my head spin.
“No.” I bit. “I’m done here.”
Tears were streaming down my face as I almost ran from the mansion. I cried all the way home.
Trudging into our shared flat, Pansy noticed my hallowed tear stained expression.
“I heard,” She said softly.
My face crumpled as I started crying again. She hugged me close and there was nothing holding back all of my tears now.
“He was my friend,” I sobbed.
“I know,” She rubbed my back and sighed. “This—this isn’t like him,”
I wiped my face, sniffling. “Maybe… maybe it’s time for me to go,”
“Y/n,” Her tone was heartbroken. “Don’t—don’t let him…”
“I’m not gonna,” I said, resolutely. “Not again. All this time I thought that… it could be different. But I’ve seen this before and… I’m not gonna let him do it to me too,”
Pansy nodded, sighing. “Yeah,” Shaking her head she gazed out the window to the falling rain and glow of streetlights. “And after you came, I really thought he turned over a new leaf.”
Our evening was quiet. I made a few calls to other family and I had an aunt in Manchester who had a spare room for me. It was time to go.
Again.
Later that night, I sat on the bench outside of out flat building, looking up at the stars. A few tears slipped out again. The same stars, the same kind of people.
“Y/n,”
I froze, my heart rate spiking. What the hell was he doing here?
“Go away,” I said softly.
“No,”
I turned to question the audacity that Draco had.
“Excuse me?”
“You can’t leave,” He said.
I laughed, a genuine shocked reaction. “Excuse me!?” I said again. “Who do you think you are?” Rage built in my chest.
“You can’t leave,” He sounded almost desperate.
“Oh, because I have a restaurant to manage? Wait. No. I don’t. Maybe it’s because I have someone who cares about me; my first friend here. No. Hang on, that’s gone too.” I snapped. “You know what I do have? Someone I care about deeply transforming into the monsters I ran away from in the first place. And Draco… I can’t do that again.”
His gaze turned downward, like he was ashamed.
“You let her push me out.” There was venom in my words. “You hurt the people closest to you for a woman you’ve known less than a month.”
“That’s my wife,” He interjected.
“That’s my point.” I gestured wildly.
“Well maybe I was tired of you denying me.” He spat. “I wasn’t going to wait around forever for you to decide that I’m good enough for you.” His voice rose. “Desiree understands me! Understands my father and my business! Something you never cared to do! Some friend you are!”
It felt like a slap to the face.
“Okay,” I wiped away tears. “Then we’re done here.”
Something changed in his eyes. Regret washed over him.
“Y/n, wait,” He backtracked.
“No, I think you’ve said enough,” I pushed past him, toward the door of my building.
“Y/n, please!” He tugged on my arm.
“Please what!?” I demanded. “What more could you want from me!? I didn’t have to let you in! I didn’t have to trust you! I didn’t have to go to your wedding let alone be your fucking maid of honor! And now you’re questioning my friendship to you!? No.” I shrugged off his grasp. “Bye Malfoy.”
I ran back into the building, past Pansy who started to ask, but when she saw Draco standing there, I’m sure all of her questions were answered.
_________________
“What did you do!?” Pasny peeled down the stairs. “You said you wanted to apologize!”
“I did! I do—I—“ Draco scrubbed his face. “I… I gotta go.”
“You need to fix this.” Pansy demanded.
“I don’t think I can anymore,” There were tears in his eyes. “I’m sorry Pans. I—I don’t know what happened. I… I went to ask her to stay and…” He started crying. “Merlin what I said to her! She’s never going to forgive me! And I don’t—I—“ There was a sharp pain in his head, causing him to gasp.
Pansy’s demeanor changed on a dime. “Malfoy, are you okay?”
“Pansy, something is wrong here.” He said through pain and tears. “Don’t let her leave until we figure it out.” He squeezed his eyes shut, rubbing them. Draco leaned on a light post for support.
“Let me take you home,” Pansy said, concerned for her friend.
The way back was dead silent.
“You really don’t think there’s anything…?” Pansy finally asked, standing on the porch of the manor.
“She called me Malfoy.” He said, defeated. “It’s over,”
Pansy scrubbed her face and nodded. “What the hell did you do Draco?” She said before apperating home.
_________________
There was a knock on my door. I acknowledged and Pasny pushed into my room.
“Save the speech,” I muttered, setting down my book.
“Actually,” with the door open I could see that she had a plate of cookies and a glass of milk. “I thought you could use a pick me up.”
I smiled and nodded. She came and sat on the edge of my bed, offering me the glass and setting the plate between us.
“I’m sorry,” She said.
“Yeah,” My voice choked up. “Me too,”
“He told me what happened,”
“I’m sure he did,” I muttered sharply.
“You don’t have to go,” Pansy looked like a kicked puppy, her usual confident demeanor gone. “I liked having you around, having a sister…”
“I’m sorry Pans,” I smiled a little. “I liked being here too.”
“Can I ask you something?” She said. Oh God this could go a million ways.
“Sure,” I baited.
“If… if it hurt you so much, why did you agree to all of it? I mean the wedding and getting lunch with Desiree…”
I paused and nibbled on a cookie.
“Probably the same reason Blaise was the best man,” I said. “I care about him Pans. I did… or I do… I just don’t know who he’s been the past few weeks and I really thought I did.”
“Yeah,” She nodded. “He really hasn’t been himself since Desiree,”
“Or maybe he’s been who he always has, and now he doesn’t need to pretend anymore,” The sad thought left my lips.
It took a few days but with my last box packed, I went down to the Talons to pick up my last paycheck. On my way, busy in the depths of loss in my chest, out I nearly ran into Blaise.
“Oh, Y/n, is Pansy here?” He asked, looking over my shoulder.
“No, she’s waiting for the moving truck,” I inhaled sharply. “What a fucking week,”
“Yeah, so, you care about Malfoy right?”
I became rigid. “Sure.” It was short. We shared a tense look.
“Look, I found out that Desiree is a potions master from Ilvermorny. She’s an MACUSA outlaw because of her use of Amorentia.” He showed me a thick file of records. Supposedly perks of being an Auror.
I scanned the records, the mug shot, the deaths that followed. Young rich men. It clicked. She was a black widow. The bride in the attic. My heart started to race as I pieced it all together.
“She’s gonna kill Draco,” I breathed out.
“Look, I know you don’t—“ Blaise arrived at the same conclusion I did. “Oh my Gods.”
“Go get Pansy! And your squad!” I was already drawing my wand. “Thanks Blaise!”
I appeared to the front steps of the manor. A dark gloom rested around the old house, suffocating it.
“Mitsey!?” I pounded on the front door to a very confused maid.
“Ms. Y/n? I thought—“
“He’s in danger,” I ran past him and toward Draco’s office. I couldn’t be too late. I—
I burst into the office, throwing the door open.
“Y/n?” Draco stood. Desiree was sitting on the desk. She shadowed Draco, placing a hand on his shoulder.
“I—“ Panting I had no idea how to explain.
“She’s crazy Dray,” Desiree said. “She’s a danger to us, to me,”
Draco’s eyes hardened. He drew his wand, gripping it tightly. My breath caught in my throat.
“You’re breaking and entering,” He said nonchalantly as he raised the wand, pointing it at me.
“Draco,” I gasped, taking a small step back. “Don’t—don’t do this,” Tears pricked my eyes.
“She’s coming between us,” Desiree hissed. “We’ll never be safe while she’s alive,” Her eyes flashed to mine. “You should have left when you had the chance,” She sneered.
“I—I won’t let you kill him,” I choked out.
“I don’t think he’s the one you need to worry about right now,” An evil grin curled on her face. “Do it Dray. Kill her,” she hissed into his ear.
“Draco please,” My eyes met baby blue ones as I cried. “Draco please, don’t—I—I’ll leave. You won’t ever have to see me again,” Tears poured down my cheeks. “Please,”
He looked at me again, frowning.
“Y/n?”
“Draco?” Hope exploded in my chest.
He lowered the wand. “What?”
“Kill her!” Desiree screeched. “If you won’t do it—“ She wrestled the wand from his hand and aimed it straight at me again.
“Desiree stop!” Draco shouted. “Don’t hurt her!”
“You really must care for her if she can break my little spell,” Desiree tilted her head at me. “A little nobody’s turned your head, ey, Malfoy?” She cocked the gun.
“You don’t know anything about her,” Draco said boldly. “You hurt a hair on her head, and I swear you’ll never see a pence,” He took small incremental steps toward me.
Desiree paused and looked at Draco, considering his words. She was after him for his money after all. Everything that happened. The trip, the wedding… all of it was a scam. She didn’t love him. And he wasn’t love with her, just drugged into it. I couldn’t help but feel a little satisfied at that, despite knowing I might die soon—despite knowing how much it must have hurt Draco.
“Half of what I have.” He pleaded. “Just don’t hurt her,”
My eyes met his, bright blue eyes. Eyes that I loved. My tears fell. I might die and I only now could confess to myself that I loved him. And the last words in our argument I said were so cruel.
“I’m sorry,” I mouthed. He nodded.
“Or I could kill you both,” Desiree interrupted our soft moment.
She raised the wand. I flinched. Draco took off for me. Tackled to the ground, I heard the spell crack as I hit the ground. The door behind me burst open. Blaise? Pansy? It was all…
Draco.
The smell of his cologne was everywhere. Sweet and woody—just a touch of leather. It drown out the sickly sweet smell of Desiree’s perfume. With a pounding head, I forced my eyes open.
“Draco?” I rasped. He was on top of me. He was the one who tackled me.
“Gotcha,” He groaned. “Holy shit, that hurt,”
“What?” I asked as he sat up, moving off of me. His hand came to the floor and it smeared the marble red. “Draco!?” I scrambled, pulling him into an upright position. There was a growing red stain on his side. “Dray!” I cried. “Stupid, stupid—“
“Actively bleeding,” He groaned. I ripped off my sweater and began to pack the wound, leaning him against me.
“Blaise!” I shouted as he finished apprehending Desiree. “Blaise! Please! She did something to him!” My tears kept flowing.
“I’m fine,” Draco slurred, his head tipping back on my shoulder. His breaths became short and labored. I pressed my nose to his face, squeezing my eyes shut.
“Draco please,” I whispered softly. “Please,”
“Here, give him to me,” Blaise said, his squad swarming the room taking care of Desiree. My grip on Draco tightened. “Y/n,” Blaise said softly. “I’m here to help him. He’s my friend too,”
“I’ll be okay,” Draco grimaced. “I trust Blaise,” Those words were enough to have me let go.
My hands released him and Blaise lifted him from my arms. Healers flooded the room. There was a bloody sweater in my lap as I sat on the floor. The weight of Draco gone from my body felt finalizing somehow. A healer came over, asking me if I was okay. They flashed bright lights into my eyes and asked me a few questions. Then there was a juice box in my hands and a blanket around my shoulders.
“Y/n?” Mitsey called, crouching down to meet me at eye level. “Ms. Y/n? You with us?” I met her brown eyes. “Come on,” She pulled me up gently. “They’re bringing Mr. Malfoy to the hospital. I’ll take you,”
When I was on my feet, I wrapped my arms around Mitsey. She gave me a tight hug.
“Thanks for being there,” I said, still a little watery. “I—“
“It’s going to be okay Y/n.” She comforted. “Come on,”
“Wait,” My mind drifted to Draco, alone in a cold hospital. My feet drifted towards my guest room. Left on the end of the bed, my crocheted afghan. I pulled it into my arms. Mitsey understood what I was doing and she procured a travel bag for Draco.
Blaise and Pansy were already in the waiting room when I got there. I looked on their faces for any indication of Draco’s condition. I wasn’t even sure what spell had hit Draco. Pansy gave a small smile.
“They’ve given him healing potions, they’re in the middle of a healing incantation as we speak. It wasn’t her wand, so there wasn’t any major damage,” She squeezed my arm. “He’s going to be okay,”
I almost collapsed in relief. Pansy led me to one of the chairs. Her arms were around me. Wave after wave of emotion hit me, welling up in tears.
“You went back for him,” Pansy said.
“I couldn’t let him die,” I cried. “Blaise told me—I…I…” Hiding my face in my hands I cried. She pulled me close and let me.
After two hours a healer came in and we all stood up.
“He’s survived the incantation.” The healer said. “And doing just fine. He’s asking for a—a Pansy?”
“That’s me,” She said, glancing to me, as if to ask if it was okay to go. I nodded and sat back down.
Tears started welling again and Blaise and Mitsey put their arms around me. The faint smell of him on the blanket in my arms was the only thing keeping me grounded.
_______________________
“Draco, you’re awake,” Pansy walked in, smiling.
“Is she out there?” Draco asked.
“Who? Desiree? No she was arrested.”
“No, Y/n.” He groaned. “Is she out there?”
“Yeah, on the verge of tears Draco, why’d you ask for me first? She’s worried sick about you,”
“I know she is,” He tried to laugh but started coughing. “She doesn’t hate me does she?”
“Y/n? No, no,” Pansy said.
“I almost killed her Pansy! Fuck! I married someone else! Right in front of her!” Draco’s eyes welled up with tears. “The things I said to her… How—how am I supposed to—“
“Hey,” Pansy sat beside him. “It’s Y/n. She knows what happened, what Desiree could do. You said all those things and she still wanted to save you.” She pointed out. “Just talk to her. Be honest. Somehow you’re always able to do that with her. Don’t stop now,”
“Yeah,” He nodded, rubbing his face. “Okay, can you… can you go get her?”
“Yeah,” Pansy stood.
“What if she doesn’t forgive me?” He asked as Pansy was leaving.
She paused. “I don’t know.” Pansy shrugged. “That’s the scary part about apologies,”
Draco nodded as she went back to the waiting room. Your hopeful eyes were red and still teary.
“He’s asking for you,” Pansy said.
_____________________
I stood outside the door and took a deep breath, swallowing my tears. Pushing the door open, I saw him lying there. Covered in gauze with stones and spells hanging thick in the air. I started crying, covering my mouth with my hand. His eyes fluttered open.
“Y/n,” He breathed out. “Hey,”
“Draco,” I whimpered. “Oh my Gods,” I placed the afghan at the foot of his bed and sank into the chair beside it. I was scared to touch him. I was so afraid he was going to break.
“Never thought I’d see the day Y/n Y/l/n crying over me,” He said with a small smile.
“Draco,” I gave a watery laughed, wiping my tears away. “Are you okay?”
“I’ve been through worse,” He assured me. “Are you okay?”
“Me!? What about you!? You took a killing curse for me, Draco,” I said. “Wh—why…”
“Why?” He scoffed. “Y/n you’re—“ His blue eyes found mine. Soft and gentle. “You’re one of my best friends,” He said.
“Draco,” My heart broke a little.
“I’m so sorry Y/n,” His hand reached for mine. It was slightly chilled. “Can—can you ever forgive me?” His voice was rough with tears.
“Forgive you? You’re in the hospital because of me! You almost died for me!” I stood and paced in my fervor. “What were you thinking!? You could have died!”
“You could have died!” He countered, setting off some spell with his raised tone alerting the nearest healer. “I almost killed you Y/n!” He was crying now and so was I. “If you didn’t break through that spell—what she did to me I could have—“
It was such a mess. The spell beeping didn’t stop. A healer came rushing in, flittering around him.
“Please, he needs to rest,” She slightly scolded me.
“Sorry,” I ducked my head. “Um. I—I should… Bye Draco,”
“Y/n, wait, please,” He pleaded.
“It’s better if you rested Mr. Malfoy.” The healer insisted. “I’ll walk you back dearie,”
I glanced back at Draco one last time before going back out into the waiting room. Pansy stood.
“He’s okay,” I nodded, wiping my tears. “Um. He needs to rest.” I looked to Pansy. “Can you—can you take me home?”
Summary: After your life fell apart you moved in with your cousin Pasny. Finding a job as a local waitress and trying to put your past behind you, you become friends with a local rich boy who swears to never spend a dime on you, but in a world of past regrets and magic, can your friendship survive? Or will jealousy and spells send you away forever? (Part One)
A/n: GUESS WHO'S NOT DEAD? It's me. Hi. I've decided that the only way to enjoy this fandom and not give She who will not be named a dime is to write and read fanfiction :) Anyway I'm back on my regular bullshit and I've missed you guys~
(p.s. there was no AI involved in writing this and there never has been because fuck AI too)
“I need you to house sit,” Draco strode in, swaggering up to the counter.
“Oh, my day’s been great! Thanks!” I snipped, drying glasses and setting them back under the counter. He took a breath.
“Hi, how was your day?” He said, backtracking.
“Pretty okay,” I smiled. “Thanks for asking. So, you need me to house sit? Don’t you have like a whole staff for that?”
“I do,” He said. “But I figured maybe you wanted a week at the manor… to snoop through my library?”
“I don’t snoop,” I retorted. “Unless it’s through sock drawers.”
“You know on second thought, maybe…” He teased.
“Your socks are safe with me. I’m sure it’s color coded already anyway.” I gave him a look. “What’s really going on?”
“You’ve been stressed, I thought maybe this could be a little vacation for you—my staff would wait on you. You can do whatever you like, take off work even,”
“I’ve got rent to make,” I said. “I can’t just—“
“Take paid leave,” He said. I laughed.
“Paid leave? I’m a waitress Draco, I don’t get PTO. I don’t work I don’t get paid.”
“What—really?”
I nodded, smiling. “You’re cute when you’re too rich,” I drawled.
“I’ll pay you then, for house sitting,” He said.
“Draco,” I sighed. I didn’t want his money. Ever. For anything. It was a part of our friendship agreement.
“I know, I know,” He rubbed his face. “I’m worried. I—I don’t want my father breaking in while I’m gone. Everyone else can be paid off…”
“But I can’t.” I put together. I wouldn’t take his money. And I wouldn’t take his father’s.
“I need you, Y/n. I want to keep the theater, and these families safe. You’re the only one I trust,” His blue puppy dog eyes begged silently.
“Okay,” I said softly. “You can count on me Malfoy,”
“I know I can,” he said, his voice still gentle. “Please, let me at least cover the difference in gas mileage?”
I pursued my lips. “Twenty sickles. That’s it.”
“That’s not enough,” he protested.
“Draco, do you want me to house sit or not?”
“Fine.” He pulled a galleon out of his wallet. I gaped at the hundreds he has neatly folded in there. “Sunday night?” He offered the cash.
“I’ll be there,” it went into my apron with all my other shift tips.
“Mitsey will let you in, I’m leaving in the afternoon,”
I nodded. “Sounds like a plan,”
____________________
“Ms. Y/n,” Mitsey opened the door with a smile. “Mr. Malfoy said you’d be coming,”
“You’re stuck with me,” I grinned. “It’s good to see you,” I gave the elf a hug. She said that there was a guest room prepared for me and that dinner would be ready around seven. I thanked her and walked up the stairs to set my stuff down. The old house seemed to remember me, beaconing me in further. I found myself in the library, the warmth of the fireplace and books inviting me in. The memory of my first visit to the manor lingered with these books.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When I first moved to town—staying with my cousin Pansy while my life was in shambles—she invited me to a party at the manor. It was out of my usual comfort zone but she argued that I needed to make friends if I planned on staying for the foreseeable future—and I did.
But the party was a bit much and I had lost Pansy in the crowd. I wandered back here, to where there was a light coming from the open door. It was the flame of the fire and the comfort of books that called me in.
That’s where Draco found me. He asked what I was doing away from the party and I confessed being overwhelmed. He offered the library for as long as I needed.
Of course I had no idea he was the Malfoy who owned the opera house and employed most of the town; for a while I thought he was wait staff at the manor. Until Pansy and I ran into him, and the truth was revealed. I was only a little upset about it. He noted that I treated him differently after I knew. That’s when I promised to treat him like the man I met at the party if he never spent a dime on me. And for the next six months, we maintained that promise and Draco had become one of my closest friends.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After getting ready for work, I grabbed my coat and keys from where Mitsey always leaves them for me, on my way out the door. There was someone else in the hall. Someone Draco and I tried to avoid constantly.
“Mr. Mlafoy, I’m sorry but Draco isn’t here. I’m sure Mitsey would have told you,”
“She did. I’m curious as to why you’re here and not my son,”
“He’s on a business trip. I’m house sitting,” I shrugged. “Now please, I need to get to work.”
“This mansion has a full staff. There’s no need for anyone to house sit.”
“I’m sorry Mr. Malfoy. I don’t know what else you’d like for me. Draco asked me to house sit. I said yes. Now if you’ll excuse me, I really need to get to work,”
“I could pay you so you’d never have to work again,” Lucius said. “Tell me what my son needs you here for,”
“Idle hands,” I gave a placid smile. “I enjoy working. Thank you.”
“I looked into you, as I do with everyone getting close to my son.” He called after me. “Showing up here out of no where.”
“Okay?” I paused.
“You’re a bright young woman. Top of her class in high school and college. Graduated early even. Duel honors. Thesis published.”
“Well yes, that’s general public knowledge.”
“And yet you’re a waitress,”
“I am.”
“I’m curious as to why,”
“I enjoy working.” I said again. “I’m not sure it’s a concept you can grasp. Now, I am late for my shift. Have a good day Mr. Malfoy. Maybe we can get coffee sometime. No need for a PI when you could just buy me a latte,” I smiled.
“Is that what my son did?”
I paused. “No.” I said. “He hasn’t spent a dime on me.”
Lucius studied me. Then spoke.
“I don’t ever approve of my son’s pets but… if you hurt my son, in any capacity—“
“I’m not his pet.” I said boldly. “And hurting Draco isn’t on my todo list. Good day Mr. Malfoy,”
And other than that one instance, there was no oddities that occurred during my stay. Mitsey allowed me to cook mostly for myself, only helping when I worked late shifts and came home dead on my feet. I was grateful for it.
Draco was supposed to be back this afternoon. I packed up my things, leaving them by the door. I wandered back to the library and picked up my book curling up in one of the plush armchairs by the fire.
When I heard his voice down the hall, along with Mitsey’s I got up. Despite my best efforts a smile was on my face. It had been a long week without him. At the very least he was my friend and I missed him. Grabbing the last of my things I missed where there were two voices instead of just his.
On his arm was a young woman—dolled up, wearing something I wouldn’t be caught dead looking at in a store but it fit her like a glove. When she saw me her eyes narrowed a bit but Draco was beaming.
“Who’s this?” The girl on Draco’s arm asked. I tried to keep my surprise under wraps but my smile became a little more forced.
“This is Y/n, a really good friend of mine,” Draco smiled. “I’ve missed you,” he almost came to hug me but her grip on him tightened.
“I missed you too,” I said. “Who’s your friend?”
“Oh this is Desiree, we meet at the conference,”
“Great,” My voice was a little squeaky. “Well, your socks are safe, and I gotta get going,”
“No, stay for dinner,” He insisted. “Please,” Draco went to give me his puppy dog stare, but Desiree stroked his arm and distracted him.
“No thanks, maybe next time,” I grabbed my duffle. “I’m glad you’re home Draco.” His eyes flashed back to mine and for a moment I thought I saw panic in them, but it was gone. “Nice meeting you Desiree, hopefully we can get dinner soon.”
Mitsey had the same frown I did. She asked me silently with a look if I was okay. I shrugged. “It was good having you here. You’re welcome any time,” she reassured as he pressed the keys into my hand.
“Um. Yeah,” I glanced back at where Draco and Desiree were making out in the middle of the hallway. I made an indignant sound and shook my head. “I don’t think I am,”
“You are.” She affirmed. “Even if it’s just to come and see me,” she winked, getting me to smile.
“Thanks Mitsey,”
“Drive safe.”
_____________________
Walking into my shift at Talons and Tempura, confusion must have been on my face.
“Okay, I know you just spent the week away from the real world, but what’s that look for?” Pansy asked.
“Um. Draco. He’s… dating someone. They met at the conference.”
“Draco Malfoy is dating someone? After drooling over you for the past six months?” Pansy laughed. “I don’t believe it Y/n,”
“Pining after me or not, I’m not the one with my tongue down his throat.” I muttered.
“Wow. Really? In front of you?” Pasnsy was aghast.
“It was just weird. Maybe I’ve been away from the real world for too long.” I sighed. “Need help tonight? Why don’t you go home and I’ll close up tonight?”
“Are you sure?”
“Go,” I laughed, grateful to have Pansy as a stand in sister. With her off I kept my hands busy with mental side work tasks. But it gave my mind room to wander. Right back to the manor, to Draco and his new girlfriend. Pansy was right—for the past six months Draco hadn’t dated anyone and this was hardly his first business conference since I’ve been around. Maybe this time was just different. Maybe it was just a coincidence.
I didn’t have a right to be mad. I denied his advances. He knew how I felt. And yet—I was so upset. Maybe my delusions of Draco being something more were just that—delusions. He was still just a rich play boy; no matter how kind he was to me. I shook the thought off my shoulders.
_______________________
“Draco,” I perked up when he walked in. “What are you doing here?”
“Is this not a dining establishment?” He jested.
“Yes,” I smiled. “Your usual?”
“Please,” he took a seat at the counter as I began to pull an espresso shot.
“Where’s Desiree?” I asked, hopefully casually enough.
“She’s the new Charms professor at the school so, hopefully there,” Draco said. Since the Battle of Hogwarts, smaller schools had popped up all over the UK in an effort to rebuild what had been damaged in the war.
“Oh. I don’t know she was a professor—what was she doing at your hoity-toity business conference?” I glanced back at him and he frowned.
“I dunno, she was just—there. In the middle of a dull meet and greet she just, lit up the whole room,” he was lost in the memory with a smile on his face.
“Must have been a god send,” I mused, placing the cappuccino in front of him.
“You have no idea,” he sighed. “I’ve never felt this way about anyone Y/n,”
Well that one hurt a bit.
“I’m glad you’re happy,” that was mostly the truth.
“I think I’m gonna marry her,” he said dreamily. I froze.
“Oh.”
“You don’t think it’s a good idea,” he picked up on my hesitation.
“I want you to be happy Draco. You’ve known her a week… I’m just a little caught off guard I guess,” I said honestly. “I’ve know you to be someone to consider everything multiple times and now you wanna marry a woman you’ve known less than a month?” I shrugged. “Just surprised me.”
“Maybe you’re right,” he nodded. “It is a little fast,”
“Merlin forbid I tell the infamous Draco Malfoy what to do with his life but… yeah I think so.”
He smiled at me, those blue eyes finally sparkling after the dull of Desiree. “I’m really glad I can always talk to you,”
“Me too,” I smiled. More patrons walked in and my attention was elsewhere, but after all of the strife my heart had been through, she felt a little more settled. I tried to not let my jealousy get the better of me but something was so off about Draco when Desiree was around. The light inside of him was… dimmer. Shadowed by her.
A week later, I walked in from the back and Pansy’s group of friends all looked up at me, like deer caught in headlights.
“What?” I asked setting down the clean glasses on the counter. There was an invitation on the counter. Thick parchment and gold lettering gave away the celebration. “Someone getting married?” I picked up the invitation.
“Um.” Pasny said.
I read the names. I pursed my lips as my brows furrowed. “Good for him,” I muttered. “Good for him,” My heart dropped like a pit in my chest. My Draco, getting married. Somehow I thought my conversation with him would have been enough. Guess not.
“Are you okay?” Pasny asked, putting her hand on my shoulder.
“Um, yeah,” I said, throwing on a smile. “Yeah, good for him,”
“Y/n,” Pansy protested.
I glanced to her friends. “Pans, it’s… it’s fine. I just want him to be happy. He’s my friend.”
“So you’re okay with him marrying someone he met a week ago?” Blaise Zabini piped up.
“No,” I said honestly. “Maybe I should talk to him again,”
“I will,” Blaise said. “He’s my friend too,”
Nodding, I let that be. If I couldn’t get through to Draco, maybe Blaise could. They had been friends throughout all of school and after. They were almost like brothers. Blaise would help Draco. Hopefully.
And yet the next day, I got an invite for lunch with Desiree, just the two of us. Merlin knew why. I didn’t want to dwell on it. But I accepted the invitation. So the next day I sat across from Desiree at a little cafe downtown.
“I know I haven’t know you very long,” She said, setting her tea down. “But I don’t have any real friends in town yet and well Draco seems really fond of you and… I was wondering… if you’d be my Maid of Honor?” Her smile was predatory, hidden by the flower of her delicate silks and flawless appearance.
“Oh,” I forced my composure. The wedding was still on. Something inside of me fractured. “Um.” My mind was reeling. How had all of this happened in a week?
“Oh you wouldn’t have to plan a thing! Draco has it all taken care of—I just know it would mean a lot to the both of us if you were there,”
“Okay,” I heard myself say.
“Yay! Oh I’m so glad!” She clapped. “If you wanna come to the manor later we can look at getting you fitted for your dress? Mitsey will be there putting the final touches on my gown anyway,”
“Yeah. Right. I get off at two,” I sounded hollow.
“Yay! Well I gotta run, wedding errands and all that but I’m so glad we had this talk!” She gathered her things and flitted from the cafe. I stared after her for a few minutes until Pansy found me. I told her where I would be going this afternoon, and though she didn’t understand why I agreed, she promised she’d be nearby just in case.
“You okay?” She asked.
“I—I’m the maid of honor.” The reality weighed on me. “Oh Merlin what did I just agree too,”
“You’re the maid of honor?” Pansy gasped.
“That’s what she asked me. I said yes.” I stood.
Getting off my shift I drove to the manor. Mitsey was there at the door. I gave her a tight smile. My emotions were on lock down.
“Y/n,” her voice was full of concern.
“I tried,” I whispered. “I’m sorry.”
She sighed and nodded. “I know you did. I can’t believe you agreed to this,”
“Seems like a common theme around here,” I muttered. “But… Draco is important to me and if he wants my support… I want to support him how I can,”
“You’re a good friend Y/n, a really good friend.” She squeezed my arm and let me go.
“Thanks…”
“If you ever need my help, just let me know,” She said.
“Thank you, you’ve always been so kind to me,”
The purple chiffon draped over me as Eidel, the seamstress, fussed about measurements and alterations, asking how things felt. I just kept starting at myself in the mirror, Desiree’s wedding dress on a mannequin behind me. It all felt so wrong.
“Knock knock,” Draco poked his head in. “Oh wow, Y/n, you look… wow.” A smile warmed his face.
I ducked my head, embarrassed. “Your fiancée has great taste.”
“Yes, I guess she does,” We both looked at the white dress. “You just look, wow. You have to let me take you to the next Malfoy gala.”
“I think your wife might have a problem with that,” I said solemnly.
He blinked, as if confused. “Right. Right.” He passed and a heavy awkward silence fell over the room. “Right well I… I have to go.”
“He is not himself,” Eidel said. “Not himself at all. This Ms. Desiree has thrown everything into chaos for Mr. Malfoy.”
“Yeah, tell me about it,” I ran my fingers over the chiffon. “The dress does look amazing Eidel, thank you,”
“You’ve always been so kind to me and to Mr. Malfoy, I should be thanking you,”
_______________________
The preacher asked if anyone objected to the union. Draco’s eyes flashed to mine, and again I saw the panic in his eyes.
Ive been following u since i was in high school (I think maybe my junior year, so 4 or more years ago. im starting my last year of university now!). its crazy though, you were the fifth blog i followed. i sincerely hope you're doing well. ive grown out of my harry potter phase but i still revisit some of your fics sometimes. theyre quite comforting. i love your writing.
okay thats all! much love bye bye
congrats on making it through university!!
i started this blog when I started uni myself and now it’s been *checks notes* …six years since then…. AND BOY HAVE THOSE SIX YEARS BEEN AN ADVENTURE
I’m also out of my hp phase for the most part (since jkr decided to be a terrible person on all accounts it’s a sacrifice I’ve made personally) but I’m so glad they still bring you comfort because sometimes i do the same thing and reread my writing just for the comfort of it <3
AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH OMG YOU'RE POSTING AGAIN!?!?!!!!
I'm not all that active on tumblr these days so imagine my surprise when I came back to read some of your older works and found a brand new fic waiting for me eeeeeeeejkgfhdjhs!!!!
I CAN'T STOP SMILING 😭 @missdawnandherdusk (mind you, this was the VERY FIRST series I've ever been hooked on, THE OTHER ONES LITERALLY MAKE ME BORED esp when waiting HSHSH, BUT THIS ONE, THISSS ONEEE, I LITERALLY WAITED FOR YOUR NOTIFICATIONS TO POP UP, I'M SO HAPPYYYY 🥹)
Summary: The day in court is finally here... for better or worse.
A/n: I was going to make this realistic... but then I thought to hell with that. This is fiction which means good prevails and love wins so screw reality. I'd like to personally dedicate this one to @drcelly love you
I paced back and forth on that marble floor. Draco was in Dr. Dresden’s office for over an hour with the Minister of Magic and a few other high ranking officials, as well as Pansy Parkinson, who was now the CEO of The Prophet.
Anxiety clawed its way up my throat. All of this was going to go horribly wrong. I would lose my future. I would lose the case. Draco would lose his son. And I would lose Draco. Perfect destruction all laid out in front of me and it was all my fault.
The door opened. My eyes flashed up. My heart hammered in my chest. Dr. Dresden appeared, gave me a tight look but nodded before heading on his way. Then the Minister left, giving me a small smile. Then other nameless officials. None of them said a word. Pansy left the office, still scribbling down notes while also being on a mobile fire call.
Finally Draco appeared. All of my hopes were reading his facial expressions.
The door clicked closed behind him.
His face was solemn.
My heart sank.
He held out his hand for me to shake.
Chewing on my lip, I reached out and he firmly grasped my hand in his.
“I’ll see you in court on Tuesday, Ms. Public Defender,” A smile curled onto his face.
I choked out a laugh. Tears pricked my eyes. I dropped his hand and threw my arms around his neck. Draco held me close.
“Thank you,” I was crying. “Thank you, Draco.”
“You deserve this Y/n. I’ve never seen anyone work harder to prove my innocence and I want you there with me,”
We were face to face, threads of hope tying us together.
“How—how did you even…?”
“Don’t worry about it,” Draco smiled warmly. “It’s going to be okay. I wasn’t going to let anyone do that to you,”
“But Dresden…”
“Will keep his mouth shut if he knows what’s good for him.” Draco said cooly.
“Are you blackmailing him?”
“No darling,” Draco laughed softly. “But Pansy is the head of The Prophet and if he wants to go through with what he tried to pull on you—it will be headlining the papers for weeks to come,”
“So we did it?” I dared to hope.
“Well, you still have a case to win,” Draco said, amused. “But, yes I suppose we did.”
“Thank you,” I said earnestly, hugging him again.
“No thank you,” He said. “You are the only person who ever convinced me that I was innocent.”
“You are,” I said. “And soon the whole world is going to know it.” Before I got lost too far in his eyes, I recovered. “I’ll… I’ll be over Monday evening? To tie up any loose ends before the case.”
“As you wish,” Draco bowed his head and turned to leave. I stood there, watching him go, warmth spreading through my chest.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was nearing ten o’clock at night. Almost everything had been combed through and knit-picked. I thought we were done, and God I wanted to be. I could barely keep my thoughts on track. Draco’s study was so cozy and peaceful, with the fire going and soft music coming from who knows where. Even Draco looked half asleep sitting at his desk in a cardigan and loafers. My heels were long forgotten as I stood on the plush carpets in my stockings.
Rifling through my notes, I found a page of questions I had written for myself. It was the first time I ever talked over the case with Draco. It seemed like forever ago. My brows furrowed.
“What?” Draco asked, perking up.
“Nothing,” I shook my head. “Just some notes. It’s nothing,”
“You’re worrying,” Draco mused getting up. “Really what is it?”
“Nothing… just a question from that first day,” A shrug fell off my shoulders. “I was asking about Harry and the Death-Eaters at the Manor that Easter.”
“I didn’t tell them it was Potter,” Draco recalled.
“No,” I agreed. “And you were so kind to Luna,” My fingers drifted over her witness statement.
“Yes,” Draco admitted, “Is it important to the case?”
I turned to look at him. “It’s important to me,”
Draco came over, peering over my shoulder at my hand scribbled notes. He was so close I could feel his warmth. I tensed, my breath catching. Draco took the page from my fingers and read it over. I turned leaning against the ornate mahogany table.
HIs eyes met mine.
“I knew Potter could end the war.” He said, his eyes years away. His shoulders rose and fell with a deep breath. “I wanted to be free. I—I didn’t want to be what they wanted me to be,”
“You’re not,” I said softly, taking my note from his hands. “And tomorrow I’m gonna prove it.”
His grey eyes held such joy as he looked at me. His eyes flickered down to my lips and suddenly he was very close and I was too tired to make rational choices. I backed away and he did too.
“I—it… it’s late,” I stammered. “I—I should go,”
He didn’t say anything but gave a nod. I gathered everything as magic aided it back into my bag. I could feel the redness on my face, and I could see it on his. Every step I took felt as if I was being pulled back by invisible string.
“Goodnight Draco,”
“Goodnight Y/n.”
As I laid in bed that night it wasn’t the worry of the case that weighed on my mind; it was Draco and his warm grey eyes and kind smile that held me as I found sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And before the Minister, a jury of our peers, witnesses, and those overzealous to see what came of this case, I acquitted Draco Malfoy.
When the gavel hit the wood and his innocence rang loudly, the room erupted with applause and sounds of wonder. Scorpius’ cheers’ were louder than the rest. I couldn’t help it, and neither could Draco, as we hugged again. He spun me around before setting me down again. Scorpius interrupted us, and I had never seen Draco so happy, holding his son.
He was free.
They both were.
I smile stayed on my face as Scorpius came over and gave me a hug. I knelt down and gave him a proper hug. Over the little boy’s shoulder I looked up and saw Draco gazing down at us. Some weird flickered in my chest. Letting Scorpius go, I stood. Draco closed the distance between he and I, taking Scorpius to his side. Draco’s hand wrapped around my waist as his other let go of his son to cradle my face and pull it to his. Draco kissed me. Something soft and sweet.
OMGG ILY SO MUCHH, you know, before I read the author's note, I was planning on reblogging again but hesitated HWHAHSHSH, WILL DEFINITELY READ THIS LATER, I LOVE YOU SOO MUCHHH 🤍🤍
Summary: The day in court is finally here... for better or worse.
A/n: I was going to make this realistic... but then I thought to hell with that. This is fiction which means good prevails and love wins so screw reality. I'd like to personally dedicate this one to @drcelly love you
I paced back and forth on that marble floor. Draco was in Dr. Dresden’s office for over an hour with the Minister of Magic and a few other high ranking officials, as well as Pansy Parkinson, who was now the CEO of The Prophet.
Anxiety clawed its way up my throat. All of this was going to go horribly wrong. I would lose my future. I would lose the case. Draco would lose his son. And I would lose Draco. Perfect destruction all laid out in front of me and it was all my fault.
The door opened. My eyes flashed up. My heart hammered in my chest. Dr. Dresden appeared, gave me a tight look but nodded before heading on his way. Then the Minister left, giving me a small smile. Then other nameless officials. None of them said a word. Pansy left the office, still scribbling down notes while also being on a mobile fire call.
Finally Draco appeared. All of my hopes were reading his facial expressions.
The door clicked closed behind him.
His face was solemn.
My heart sank.
He held out his hand for me to shake.
Chewing on my lip, I reached out and he firmly grasped my hand in his.
“I’ll see you in court on Tuesday, Ms. Public Defender,” A smile curled onto his face.
I choked out a laugh. Tears pricked my eyes. I dropped his hand and threw my arms around his neck. Draco held me close.
“Thank you,” I was crying. “Thank you, Draco.”
“You deserve this Y/n. I’ve never seen anyone work harder to prove my innocence and I want you there with me,”
We were face to face, threads of hope tying us together.
“How—how did you even…?”
“Don’t worry about it,” Draco smiled warmly. “It’s going to be okay. I wasn’t going to let anyone do that to you,”
“But Dresden…”
“Will keep his mouth shut if he knows what’s good for him.” Draco said cooly.
“Are you blackmailing him?”
“No darling,” Draco laughed softly. “But Pansy is the head of The Prophet and if he wants to go through with what he tried to pull on you—it will be headlining the papers for weeks to come,”
“So we did it?” I dared to hope.
“Well, you still have a case to win,” Draco said, amused. “But, yes I suppose we did.”
“Thank you,” I said earnestly, hugging him again.
“No thank you,” He said. “You are the only person who ever convinced me that I was innocent.”
“You are,” I said. “And soon the whole world is going to know it.” Before I got lost too far in his eyes, I recovered. “I’ll… I’ll be over Monday evening? To tie up any loose ends before the case.”
“As you wish,” Draco bowed his head and turned to leave. I stood there, watching him go, warmth spreading through my chest.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was nearing ten o’clock at night. Almost everything had been combed through and knit-picked. I thought we were done, and God I wanted to be. I could barely keep my thoughts on track. Draco’s study was so cozy and peaceful, with the fire going and soft music coming from who knows where. Even Draco looked half asleep sitting at his desk in a cardigan and loafers. My heels were long forgotten as I stood on the plush carpets in my stockings.
Rifling through my notes, I found a page of questions I had written for myself. It was the first time I ever talked over the case with Draco. It seemed like forever ago. My brows furrowed.
“What?” Draco asked, perking up.
“Nothing,” I shook my head. “Just some notes. It’s nothing,”
“You’re worrying,” Draco mused getting up. “Really what is it?”
“Nothing… just a question from that first day,” A shrug fell off my shoulders. “I was asking about Harry and the Death-Eaters at the Manor that Easter.”
“I didn’t tell them it was Potter,” Draco recalled.
“No,” I agreed. “And you were so kind to Luna,” My fingers drifted over her witness statement.
“Yes,” Draco admitted, “Is it important to the case?”
I turned to look at him. “It’s important to me,”
Draco came over, peering over my shoulder at my hand scribbled notes. He was so close I could feel his warmth. I tensed, my breath catching. Draco took the page from my fingers and read it over. I turned leaning against the ornate mahogany table.
HIs eyes met mine.
“I knew Potter could end the war.” He said, his eyes years away. His shoulders rose and fell with a deep breath. “I wanted to be free. I—I didn’t want to be what they wanted me to be,”
“You’re not,” I said softly, taking my note from his hands. “And tomorrow I’m gonna prove it.”
His grey eyes held such joy as he looked at me. His eyes flickered down to my lips and suddenly he was very close and I was too tired to make rational choices. I backed away and he did too.
“I—it… it’s late,” I stammered. “I—I should go,”
He didn’t say anything but gave a nod. I gathered everything as magic aided it back into my bag. I could feel the redness on my face, and I could see it on his. Every step I took felt as if I was being pulled back by invisible string.
“Goodnight Draco,”
“Goodnight Y/n.”
As I laid in bed that night it wasn’t the worry of the case that weighed on my mind; it was Draco and his warm grey eyes and kind smile that held me as I found sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And before the Minister, a jury of our peers, witnesses, and those overzealous to see what came of this case, I acquitted Draco Malfoy.
When the gavel hit the wood and his innocence rang loudly, the room erupted with applause and sounds of wonder. Scorpius’ cheers’ were louder than the rest. I couldn’t help it, and neither could Draco, as we hugged again. He spun me around before setting me down again. Scorpius interrupted us, and I had never seen Draco so happy, holding his son.
He was free.
They both were.
I smile stayed on my face as Scorpius came over and gave me a hug. I knelt down and gave him a proper hug. Over the little boy’s shoulder I looked up and saw Draco gazing down at us. Some weird flickered in my chest. Letting Scorpius go, I stood. Draco closed the distance between he and I, taking Scorpius to his side. Draco’s hand wrapped around my waist as his other let go of his son to cradle my face and pull it to his. Draco kissed me. Something soft and sweet.
Summary: The case was gathered... now it was time to defend it.
A/N: AHAHAHAHAA i'm so sorry for this one
“Well.” Dr. Dresden said. “I’m impressed.”
My heart was racing as I just laid out everything I had discovered the past month. It was all before us on his old maple wood desk. Every piece of evidence that Draco Malfoy was innocent. My most recent prize: Snape’s wand ballistics that have the killing curse casted the night of Dumbledore’s death. And a confession from both Draco and Harry that Snape was there that night.
“You are?” The crushing weight of his expectations that hovered like a dark cloud finally dissolved from my psyche.
Dr. Dresden rose an eyebrow at me. I nodded, knowing it was a stupid question.
“Well, that is all I need from you. Consider yourself passing my course.”
I sat up straighter, not believing the words I was hearing.
“Oh thank you professor,” Relief washed through me. “When is the trial date? Or will you let me know?”
“You must be mistaken. You do not get to see this trial in court.”
I froze.
“I—I don’t?”
“You have a witness statement in this case. You do not get to defend it yourself in court. I will.” He said, matter of factly.
“I—I don’t understand. I just spent the last month building this case—I just proved a guilty man innocent! And now you’re telling me I don’t get to present it in court!” I stood, rage tearing through me. “How do I know—“ I stopped myself before I said something really stupid.
“How do you know what, Miss Y/l/n?” Oh, he was angry too.
“Nothing professor. I apologize. Thank you,” I bowed my head.
“Do you not have faith in your court case? In the evidence you gathered? Do you think you are a better lawyer than I am?” He stood as well. “That I cannot acquit Mr. Malfoy the same as you?”
“No, I—I misspoke. Again, I apologize.”
“You’re free to go.” He said, sitting down arrogantly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Anxiety ate me up inside as I waited outside the courtroom. I had to at least warn Draco that I wasn’t going to defend his case. If he was unbalanced it could throw the whole case.
My leg bounced as I sat on a little bench, dwarfed by the giant marble pillars and walls that were as cold as the world I wanted so desperately to get into.
“You’re wearing that?” Draco judged my more casual outfit, drawing my attention from my anxieties.
“What? No—yes.” I fumbled out, standing. “I’m not your defender.”
Draco paused, the color draining from his face. “What?” He bit out.
“Dresden is going to defend your case.” I glanced to the court room doors. “I—I have a witness statement in it. I—I can’t. Besides the evidence is there… it… it’s gonna be fine.”
“Over my dead body,” Draco seethed, storming toward the doors.
“No, Draco wait!” I grabbed his hand. “There’s a solid case. And… Dresden’s a better lawyer than me. I… just let him do it.” My gaze dropped to our hands intertwined. It felt nice.
“No.” Draco said firmly, squeezing my hand. “Y/n, I don’t want to be free if you’re not arguing my case.”
“Draco—“ tears welled in my eyes. “Please… you need to be free and I need to pass… I—I… please just keep the peace,”
“You were the only one who ever believed that I was innocent. I want you there to defend me.” His grey eyes tore apart my soul. “You’re defending my court case.”
“Draco… look this is noble but—I can’t make an enemy of Dresden.”
“And he shouldn’t make an enemy of a Malfoy,” Draco said cooly. His gaze softened as he met mine. “I’ll work it out.”
“How?” I asked weakly, but his hand was gone from mine as I entered the courtroom like a man on a mission.
Dread threatened to swallow me whole. I aperated from the courtroom and to an open field needing space for the despair that swirled around me.
HAVEN'T READ IT YET HOLY SHTIRJS but the SPOILER THOUGH 😭😭😭 I ACTUALLY THOUGHT YOU MIGHT POST THIS, THAT'S WHY I CONTEMPLATED ON REBLOGGING IT FOR A MOMENT 💀
Summary: The case was gathered... now it was time to defend it.
A/N: AHAHAHAHAA i'm so sorry for this one
“Well.” Dr. Dresden said. “I’m impressed.”
My heart was racing as I just laid out everything I had discovered the past month. It was all before us on his old maple wood desk. Every piece of evidence that Draco Malfoy was innocent. My most recent prize: Snape’s wand ballistics that have the killing curse casted the night of Dumbledore’s death. And a confession from both Draco and Harry that Snape was there that night.
“You are?” The crushing weight of his expectations that hovered like a dark cloud finally dissolved from my psyche.
Dr. Dresden rose an eyebrow at me. I nodded, knowing it was a stupid question.
“Well, that is all I need from you. Consider yourself passing my course.”
I sat up straighter, not believing the words I was hearing.
“Oh thank you professor,” Relief washed through me. “When is the trial date? Or will you let me know?”
“You must be mistaken. You do not get to see this trial in court.”
I froze.
“I—I don’t?”
“You have a witness statement in this case. You do not get to defend it yourself in court. I will.” He said, matter of factly.
“I—I don’t understand. I just spent the last month building this case—I just proved a guilty man innocent! And now you’re telling me I don’t get to present it in court!” I stood, rage tearing through me. “How do I know—“ I stopped myself before I said something really stupid.
“How do you know what, Miss Y/l/n?” Oh, he was angry too.
“Nothing professor. I apologize. Thank you,” I bowed my head.
“Do you not have faith in your court case? In the evidence you gathered? Do you think you are a better lawyer than I am?” He stood as well. “That I cannot acquit Mr. Malfoy the same as you?”
“No, I—I misspoke. Again, I apologize.”
“You’re free to go.” He said, sitting down arrogantly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Anxiety ate me up inside as I waited outside the courtroom. I had to at least warn Draco that I wasn’t going to defend his case. If he was unbalanced it could throw the whole case.
My leg bounced as I sat on a little bench, dwarfed by the giant marble pillars and walls that were as cold as the world I wanted so desperately to get into.
“You’re wearing that?” Draco judged my more casual outfit, drawing my attention from my anxieties.
“What? No—yes.” I fumbled out, standing. “I’m not your defender.”
Draco paused, the color draining from his face. “What?” He bit out.
“Dresden is going to defend your case.” I glanced to the court room doors. “I—I have a witness statement in it. I—I can’t. Besides the evidence is there… it… it’s gonna be fine.”
“Over my dead body,” Draco seethed, storming toward the doors.
“No, Draco wait!” I grabbed his hand. “There’s a solid case. And… Dresden’s a better lawyer than me. I… just let him do it.” My gaze dropped to our hands intertwined. It felt nice.
“No.” Draco said firmly, squeezing my hand. “Y/n, I don’t want to be free if you’re not arguing my case.”
“Draco—“ tears welled in my eyes. “Please… you need to be free and I need to pass… I—I… please just keep the peace,”
“You were the only one who ever believed that I was innocent. I want you there to defend me.” His grey eyes tore apart my soul. “You’re defending my court case.”
“Draco… look this is noble but—I can’t make an enemy of Dresden.”
“And he shouldn’t make an enemy of a Malfoy,” Draco said cooly. His gaze softened as he met mine. “I’ll work it out.”
“How?” I asked weakly, but his hand was gone from mine as I entered the courtroom like a man on a mission.
Dread threatened to swallow me whole. I aperated from the courtroom and to an open field needing space for the despair that swirled around me.
Summary: The case was gathered... now it was time to defend it.
A/N: AHAHAHAHAA i'm so sorry for this one
“Well.” Dr. Dresden said. “I’m impressed.”
My heart was racing as I just laid out everything I had discovered the past month. It was all before us on his old maple wood desk. Every piece of evidence that Draco Malfoy was innocent. My most recent prize: Snape’s wand ballistics that have the killing curse casted the night of Dumbledore’s death. And a confession from both Draco and Harry that Snape was there that night.
“You are?” The crushing weight of his expectations that hovered like a dark cloud finally dissolved from my psyche.
Dr. Dresden rose an eyebrow at me. I nodded, knowing it was a stupid question.
“Well, that is all I need from you. Consider yourself passing my course.”
I sat up straighter, not believing the words I was hearing.
“Oh thank you professor,” Relief washed through me. “When is the trial date? Or will you let me know?”
“You must be mistaken. You do not get to see this trial in court.”
I froze.
“I—I don’t?”
“You have a witness statement in this case. You do not get to defend it yourself in court. I will.” He said, matter of factly.
“I—I don’t understand. I just spent the last month building this case—I just proved a guilty man innocent! And now you’re telling me I don’t get to present it in court!” I stood, rage tearing through me. “How do I know—“ I stopped myself before I said something really stupid.
“How do you know what, Miss Y/l/n?” Oh, he was angry too.
“Nothing professor. I apologize. Thank you,” I bowed my head.
“Do you not have faith in your court case? In the evidence you gathered? Do you think you are a better lawyer than I am?” He stood as well. “That I cannot acquit Mr. Malfoy the same as you?”
“No, I—I misspoke. Again, I apologize.”
“You’re free to go.” He said, sitting down arrogantly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Anxiety ate me up inside as I waited outside the courtroom. I had to at least warn Draco that I wasn’t going to defend his case. If he was unbalanced it could throw the whole case.
My leg bounced as I sat on a little bench, dwarfed by the giant marble pillars and walls that were as cold as the world I wanted so desperately to get into.
“You’re wearing that?” Draco judged my more casual outfit, drawing my attention from my anxieties.
“What? No—yes.” I fumbled out, standing. “I’m not your defender.”
Draco paused, the color draining from his face. “What?” He bit out.
“Dresden is going to defend your case.” I glanced to the court room doors. “I—I have a witness statement in it. I—I can’t. Besides the evidence is there… it… it’s gonna be fine.”
“Over my dead body,” Draco seethed, storming toward the doors.
“No, Draco wait!” I grabbed his hand. “There’s a solid case. And… Dresden’s a better lawyer than me. I… just let him do it.” My gaze dropped to our hands intertwined. It felt nice.
“No.” Draco said firmly, squeezing my hand. “Y/n, I don’t want to be free if you’re not arguing my case.”
“Draco—“ tears welled in my eyes. “Please… you need to be free and I need to pass… I—I… please just keep the peace,”
“You were the only one who ever believed that I was innocent. I want you there to defend me.” His grey eyes tore apart my soul. “You’re defending my court case.”
“Draco… look this is noble but—I can’t make an enemy of Dresden.”
“And he shouldn’t make an enemy of a Malfoy,” Draco said cooly. His gaze softened as he met mine. “I’ll work it out.”
“How?” I asked weakly, but his hand was gone from mine as I entered the courtroom like a man on a mission.
Dread threatened to swallow me whole. I aperated from the courtroom and to an open field needing space for the despair that swirled around me.
