Draco's Hufflepuff | Emerging

Thirty-Three: Reconcile

**

Tuesday, 10th December, 1996

I was relieved when Remus pulled me aside yesterday to tell me that Draco was not going to get punished for what happened on Friday in his class. It was Professor Dumbledore of all people who said he was not to be reprimanded.

According to Remus, Professor Dumbledore had said the terrible hangover and shame from his actions was punishment enough and all was to be forgotten. I'm sure Professor Snape had something to say about it all, but who could argue with the Headmaster?

Draco was out of the Hospital Wing by Friday evening, which Zacharias took great pleasure in telling me about. He had bumped into Draco whilst walking back to the common room with Justin.

If it had been anyone else to tell me, I would have been half-tempted to ask if looked okay.

The more time I was spending away from Draco, the more I seemed to crave being with him again. Any time I spotted him, my heart leapt and the spot behind my belly button flamed, just like it always used to.

I wasn't sure if I was imagining it, or whether it was my mind playing tricks on me, but it seemed as though Draco was looking at me a lot more than he was. I could have sworn he was trying to be near me whenever he could as well.

I missed him. Oh, did I miss that boy. As the days drew on, and the rawness of the situation had seemed to subside, it was getting harder to argue with my rationality and not give in to my urges of being with him again.

**

Draco had switched back places with Theo in Transfiguration, so that meant I was next to him for the first two hours of the day. It reminded me a lot of when we were first starting to get along during our eight weeks alone.

There was a lot of knee grazes and lingering looks. We were in a very weird place in our relationship. We both knew that we loved one another, but we weren't doing anything about it. It was hanging over our heads, and it was this invisible, unspoken rope tying us together.

We were supposed to be reading through a chapter in our Transfiguration textbooks and making notes on it, but I had successfully written just ten words, none of which were anything important.

Madeline Parsons.

Transfiguration notes.

Flobberworm to Fritter, chapter twenty-four.

My eyes flickered up to Draco for what felt like the hundredth time in an hour, and my stomach flipped as I was met with him looking back down at me.

"Are you understanding the work alright, Madeline?" Draco asked, his eyes piercing into me.

I nodded, as every single word in existence had escaped my brain.

As he curled his bottom lip up the tiniest amount, something wrapped its way around my chest and squeezed it. Some old friends had also made their way back to me... those damn butterflies.

One sentence was enough to make me absolutely melt, and I very nearly forgot about everything that happened between Draco and I for a moment, until I looked over and noticed Susan staring over at us, before whispering something to Hermione.

I cleared my throat and looked back down at my non-existent notes, feeling an uncomfortable weight sitting in the pit of my stomach and my cheeks begin to burn.

**

I was slowly making my way to Charms on my own, like I usually was nowadays. I was beginning to adjust to the loneliness now, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't envious of all the groups of friends I could see walking to class together.