Everlasting (Draco Malfoy x Reader)

To Dream of Reality

Avoiding the Slytherin common room as a means of avoiding Malfoy, you proceeded to sit and cheer with your Gryffindor friends in their common room instead. As cheer, Fred and George proceeded to lift you and your golden egg up onto their shoulders, throwing you up and practically treating you like a princess. You could not resist a dutiful and honest smile as you cheered yourself on too, for you were extremely proud of yourself and, for the first time in forever, you did not carry a look of disgust, annoyance, frustration, or judgement, but rather a sincere and ultimately child-like smile which held innumerable amounts of precious joy. You felt like you did a good thing - you managed to finish the first task and, though you refused to admit, Malfoy's endless support of you throughout the task played a large factor in your innocent and hopeful smile.

"Go [F/n]! Go [F/n]! Go [F/n]!" The entire common room cheered, and you felt more vulnerable than ever with your jovial little grin and squinted eyes. Harry, as a loyal brother, found happiness in your own smile, and smiled on with you, as did Hermione and Ron, and thus your other friends.

It was already evening, and it was not long till it was time to go to bed. Professor Snape had informed you that he was going to have to teach the Slytherins to dance for the upcoming Yule Ball, and that you were to attend Slytherin's practice, not Gryffindor's, as you were likely to do. The first practice, he said, was to be next week, and you were rather quite excited about it.

Anyhow, cheers were over soon enough, and, after celebrating for a while longer privately with your closest friends, it was finally time to set off back into your room. In a wholly positive attitude, you entered the Slytherin common room and in there found Malfoy with Crabbe and Goyle, them sitting around as though they owned the place. Whilst the sight would have normally annoyed you, you refused to let annoyance or frustration befall you after such a huge success. No matter what these boys did, you were more than proud and happy.

"Oh, look, it's the star of the show," Goyle laughed. "Surprised that dragon didn't eat you. It should've."

"Say what you want," you smiled at him in a rather genuine prospect. "I completed the first task. Your words won't make me feel like shit," you flashed him one more grin that reflected your childish innocence and joy, one which was not often visible with your dominant gestures.

"So pathetic," Crabbe scoffed.

"Shut up," Malfoy instructed. For a moment, you thought he was talking to you, but you quickly found that he had, actually, told his friends to shut up.

"Draco?" Goyle asked, surprised at his manner.

"Leave her alone. She won for Slytherin."

"She didn't win for Slytherin. She won for herself."

"And what is she? A Slytherin. So shut up, for once."

You looked at Malfoy, and you bit your lip immediately to prevent yourself from smiling whole-heartedly. You didn't think your happiness could have increased, but it did. The mere thing that motivated you throughout the first task, to have Malfoy's eyes on you, proved successful and true; the most unlikely had happened, and he was indeed proud and supportive of you, despite your previous and baseless feuds.

"Actually, speaking of," Malfoy continued, "Potter, a word?"

You turned to him and your breath paused. Your last encounter with him was him threatening you after holding you against the wall by your neck, after you'd slapped him. Yet, the atmosphere had such a turn of events; his tone and manner to you was far more gentle, far more genuine and considerate, and you quickly reciprocated it with your good mood and happiness.

"Sure," you said quietly, not wishing to present yourself as even more vulnerable than you already were. He stood from the sofa and allowed you to walk before him, and he followed on just behind you until you were out of the Slytherin common room.