𝐸𝑉𝐸𝑅𝐺𝑅𝐸𝐸𝑁 𝑀𝐼𝑆𝑇 || 𝐷.𝑀.

nine

Juniper was trying her absolute hardest to avoid Draco Malfoy. She had sat at the very end of Slytherin table, eating alone and quickly so she could leave to not be in the same place as him. In class she made it a point to be as far away from him as possible, quite happy she didn't have potions today or else she could end up stuck next to him. Draco, however, seemed to make it a point to notice her. He allowed his eyes to follow her, watching her as she tried desperately to avoid him. He found it quite amusing that she was working so hard to ignore him, a clear indicator that he was a burning thought in her mind, something he greatly enjoyed.
    Unlike Juniper, Draco refused to forget what had happened between them. He was quite confused as to why it was a persistent thought in his own mind, but nonetheless he couldn't seem to get her out of his head, so he let her stay there. He wasn't sure if it was because he liked the way her honey skin felt against him or how she smelled sweetly of vanilla while he kissed her neck. Maybe it was how her rose colored lips felt against his, how effortlessly they had to work at kissing each other, as if their lips molded so perfect together. The only thing he knew is that he felt different and that he wanted more of her, but how to get her was the trickiest part.
    Juniper hadn't shown up at the Slytherin common room until right before the Prefects rounds that night, showing up just on time to walk the corridors, something she was dreading because she had to be with Draco. Draco had spent the day after class at Quidditch practice for the Slytherin team, groaning each time they seemed to have their heads up their asses with mistake after mistake. He felt as if they were basically doomed for each Quidditch match unless he caught he snitch, that would be the only way to win. It was more stress he didn't need, which is why he had been looking forward to walking the corridors with Juniper, regardless of the fact that she most likely wouldn't engage in conversation with him. After Quidditch, he sat in the Slytherin common room doing his homework, getting it done early which was something he usually didn't do; he was a procrastinator, always managing good marks on his assignments and exams, but surely procrastinating them until he was rushed into doing it. Today was different, he got it done, making him wonder what the hell had gotten into him. She had gotten into him, she was making him better.
    As he was waiting for Juniper to show up for rounds, he saw Pansy Parkinson strutting her way into the Slytherin common room. He saw her disappear to her dormitory upstairs, but only to return a couple minutes later and sit on the couch next to him.
    "You've been avoiding me, Draco." Pansy's voice was extra annoying to him tonight, he rolled his eyes and continued with the last of his herbology homework, trying to ignore her. "You're seriously going to ignore me when I'm right here? I'm not invisible you know." Pansy pressed.
    "What do you want, Parkinson?" Draco asked in the most monotone voice he could have. "I told you to call me Malfoy, not Draco." He scolded. Pansy let out a giggle as if he were joking, which severely bothered him as he rolled his eyes once again.
    "You know what I want." Pansy said as she moved her hand to his thigh. "I know what you want too." She whispered. Was she seriously trying to seduce him? Draco couldn't help but feel disgusted by her desperation, making him realize that he liked how Juniper wasn't desperate for attention nor for his affection, which made him want to give her his affection. Draco grabbed Pansy's hand with only his thumb and pointer finger as if he were lifting a dead rat up, and placed it in her own lap.
     "I thought I made it very clear that I don't want you at all." Draco snapped at her. "Stop trying to bloody throw yourself at me, desperate isn't a good look on you." Draco tried his best to get the point across that he didn't want her at all. He groaned when he saw Juniper walk into the common room, her eyes immediately seeing him and Pansy on the couch together. Great. He thought to himself. She's going to think I went crawling back to Pansy now.
    "Ready for rounds or should I go on my own so you can have alone time with...that?" Juniper questioned him. He tried not to laugh when Juniper referred to Pansy as "that". He saw the nasty look Pansy was giving Juniper, making him angry that one could even look at someone so angelic with such disgust.
    "Let's go." Draco said as he stood up. "Wipe that disgusting look off your face, Parkinson." Draco muttered to Pansy, hoping if he was rude enough she'd take a hint and leave him alone for good. Pansy scoffed as Draco walked over to Juniper, crossing her arms and practically pouting.
    "She's nauseating." Juniper said as they left the common room. "I don't get how you put up with her." Juniper's tone was colder than usual, causing a frown on Draco as he'd been looking forward to her soft voice for the entire day.
    "I don't put up with her, she isn't my friend." Draco said as he defended himself.
    "Right, forgot she was just someone you can bury your stressors away into." Juniper nodded as the slowly walked through the corridors. Draco scoffed and rolled his eyes, trying not to be offended by Juniper's reactions. He tried to keep in mind that she was convinced he was incapable of compassion and love, only wanting to use girls for one thing and one thing only.
    "Pansy Parkinson means absolute shit to me." Draco said. He watched Juniper cross her arms over her chest, frustration building in her.
    "That isn't surprising." She said shortly.
    "What's that supposed to mean?" Draco asked, getting irritated now. He didn't want to be irritated with her.
    "Nothing, forget it." Juniper shook her head, she didn't want to argue with him tonight.
    "No, I won't just 'forget it'." Draco said sternly, stopping in the middle of the hallway making Juniper stop as well.
    "I don't feel like fucking fighting with you, Malfoy." Juniper groaned. He disliked that she was calling him by his last name, he wanted her to use his first name.
    "Well too fucking bad, Juniper. I told you that you can call me Draco." He snapped at her a bit.
    "I don't want to call you Draco!" Juniper said, her voice getting louder.
    "Why not?" Draco asked, both of them were getting severely annoyed with each other.
    "Because you had me screaming your name the other day and I don't want to be reminded of it!" Juniper yelled now, her voice echoing through the corridor of the castle now. Draco now understood that the mention of his own name was frustrating to her, it was a constant reminder of their time in the Prefects bathroom. He walked slowly to her, hoping she wouldn't walk away from him.
    "Why are you trying to convince yourself that sleeping with me was so terrible when we both know it wasn't?" Draco asked her, his voice was softer now. Juniper stood before him with her arms crossed still, her face mixed with anger and what looked to be sadness.
    "Because I know that it didn't mean anything to you and I'm so tired of having meaningless sex with men who don't care about me." Juniper said quietly. Draco could barely see her in the dark corridor, but he could hear her voice breaking as she tried not to cry, making him feel terrible that she even thought this way. He wanted to pull her into him, to hug her so tightly and tell her it was alright, that it wasn't meaningless to him, but he wasn't sure how. "I need to go. I'm sorry." Juniper said as she walked away quickly in a direction that wasn't so the Slytherin common room. Draco swore he could hear her trying to silence her crying, making him lean against one of the cold walls in the corridor as he sighed. He felt incredibly terrible that she was so upset, especially since he was the reason she was so upset.
    Juniper had walked quickly toward the nearest exit of the castle so she could go to one of her favorite places. She often went outside to the edge of the Forbidden Forest and Black Lake, sitting among big trees and spending her time alone there to think. She sat down at the foot of a huge tree trunk, taking a deep breath in and let herself cry over the fact that she knew deep down she liked Draco Malfoy, knowing that because she slept with him, she was developing feelings. Each time she saw his face those feelings grew as little bit more, the constant image of his blue eyes was burned into her memory. The way his lips felt against her own was burned into her memory. She wanted so badly to kiss him again, to have his hands caressing her softly again. Part of her wishes she could get drunk again just to have an excuse to be with him on the astronomy tower, knowing he'd follow her up there to keep her safe, knowing that he'd think she was too drunk to be in her right head.
    She sat under those trees for what felt like hours, unsure of the time when she decided to head back to the Slytherin common room, but when she got there it was completely silent and there wasn't a soul in sight.
    Draco hadn't finished the Prefect rounds that night, after Juniper left him in the hallway he went back to the Slytherin common room. Part of him wanted to go after her, wanting to find her, but he knew she wanted to be alone and there was also that small part of him saying, "she's just a girl, you don't need her, leave her alone," which was advice he wish he hadn't taken. He sat in the Slytherin common room for a while, hoping she would come back so he could talk to her, so he could tell her that what they had wasn't meaningless. Juniper didn't show and Draco sat there impatiently, finally deciding to go to his dormitory to sleep. Little did he know that if he had waited only a few minutes longer, he would have seen her come into the common room.