The Malfoy Project

𝟓𝟓 - 𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐚'𝐬 𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐨

 ✼¹

     Hannah and I are friends again. Or at least, I think we are. She had approached me on the first day back to school bearing gifts in the form of a box of chocolates and a woven bracelet. "The old one's gotten a bit grotty," she said, gesturing to my wrist. "Besides, I was bored and literally did nothing else but faff about with threads and gorge myself on chocolate."

     I noticed she had put on more weight. Her hips had rounded out and her cheeks had taken on a permanent rosy glow. I laughed at her comment, pleased she is feeling more herself now. 

     The next day, we talked. I told her about Malfoy Manor, and she, after realising that nothing had happened that night with Draco in the kitchen tunnels, apologised profusely. For the briefest moment, I considered telling her about Monty and Draco. But I looked at her cheery face and chewing mouth and the words died on my tongue. 

     Hannah is much more suited for Draco than I. She is much less talkative and more spontaneous, albeit a little ditzy. She also has excellent listening skills and would probably have cried with him had it been her body he had sobbed against. She is every bit as bright and sparkly as I am a worn-down piece of metal. The boobs are just a bonus. 

     I am promised to Monty and Draco was never mine to have, anyway. I had gotten ahead of myself when I told Draco I would walk out of the school with him. It was my grandest delusion yet, and I would be a fool to believe the possibility of such a thing happening.

     "Please let's just be friends again, I've missed you so much!" Hannah had said, and I had to fight the bitterness in my throat as I hugged her back. It felt like I was giving away something precious. But perhaps I love my best friend more than I could any lover. So I let her apologise, no more was said of it, and the night before Christmas break promptly faded from both our minds.

     Seeing Hannah speaking to me, Susan has also begun to chip into conversations more often. Soon, it is as if the whole Prophet debacle never happened at all.

     Wednesday, we sit on our beds, brushing our hair and gossiping before bed. "Okay, okay," Hannah holds out her arms. "Harry, Ron, Vaisey. Go." 

     Susan brows knit as she thinks hard. "Hmm... Kill Vaisey, shag Ron, marry Harry."

     Hannah and I explode into squealing laughter. "You're kidding! You're seriously choosing to shag Ron over Vaisey?"

     Susan shrugs. "Dunno, I've got a thing for redheads. Okay, Ains, your turn. Ernie, Draco, Monty." I chuck a pillow at her. "You can't ask me that!"

     "I'll go!" announces Hannah. "Kill Ernie, shag Monty — sorry Ains — and marry Draco, obviously."

     Susan's hand flies to her mouth and she gasps in mock dramatics. "How could you! Ernie's a darling. He's our little baby!"

     Hannah scrunches up her face. "That doesn't mean I'll kill the fittest boy in our year! But if I had the choice, I'd shag all of them. One by one. Lay them out on the bed side by side and—" The rest of it is muffled by a pillow-smack to her face from Susan. "That is disgusting! Show some respect to Ains, will you? Fucking nympho!"

     Hannah only giggles and hangs her head over the side of the bed to look at us. "You started it! You literally asked her to choose between her boyfriend, his best mate, and her best mate."

     "Ernie's not my best mate," I interjected. "And Draco and Monty despise each other."

     Hannah rolled over onto her stomach and perched her chin on her two palms. "Was that why they had that massive argument?" she lowered her voice conspiratorially. "I heard Draco punched Monty so hard he broke his nose! What was it about?"