Briar watched him with curiosity as he shuffled closer. He stumbled when he neared her but managed to steady himself before he fell. He slightly blushed and stuck out his hand with the dandelion in it. He murmured, "For you."
She felt something odd...
It was the day of the second Triwizard Task, and Briar stood off to the edge of the platform with Pansy and Daphne as they waited for the task to start. Briar was watching all the contestants getting ready and feeling extremely grateful that she wasn't one of them. It seemed like an awful thing to compete in.
Professor Moody shoved Potter into the water, and everyone whispered that he was just sinking and presumably drowning, but Briar couldn't see him anymore and just had to trust their judgement. She glanced at Pansy and Daphne with worried expressions when Daphne hissed, "Can students actually die in this thing?"
Pansy shivered, "I think so."
Even if Potter was considered to be Malfoy's enemy and the reason why Slytherin kept losing the House Cup, none of them wanted to see a fellow classmate die. All three girls wore matching grimaces as they looked back towards the water.
Briar's eyes scanned the platform and found Neville in the crowd. His hands were in his hair as he gasped, "Oh my god! I've killed Harry Potter!"
Something in Briar made her want to rush over and comfort the boy, but then Potter flew out of the water. He had flippers instead of feet, and he plopped back into the water seconds later. Neville whipped around with a smile as everyone cheered him on for helping Potter. He had the most adorable grin on his face for the rest of the task. Briar kept stealing glances at him, just to see the sweet smile on his face. She felt her own lips curl up into a small grin whenever she looked at him that day.
-
Harry Potter ended up rescuing both Ron and Fleur's younger sister. Briar, Pansy, and Daphne were all horrified to think that she could have died. All three girls felt incredibly unsafe knowing that Dumbledore was allowing a tournament like this to happen, one where students could actually die. Fleur's sister was a mere 8 year old at that!
All of them felt weary for days after, and they all saw the Fleur's blank stare in the days after and knew that they were right to feel that way. How could Dumbledore allow something like this?
They all felt uneasy, and Millicent shared in their sentiments once they told her what had happened. They were careful not to discuss their opinions with an audience though, not wanting any backlash from dissenting students.
It was one of these tense few days that Malfoy snuck up behind Briar in the library and put his hands on her shoulders to scare her. Briar normally wasn't one to scare easily, but the gravity of these realizations had set her on edge. When Malfoy grabbed her shoulders, she jolted and nearly screamed, but she caught herself by slapping her hand over her mouth.
She stared at Malfoy with wide eyes and hissed, "What are you doing? You scared me half to death!"
He snickered as he plopped into the empty seat beside her. He whispered, "Why so jumpy, Davies? Do I scare you? You know, I heard that people are often intimidated by those they're attracted to."
"Shove off, Malfoy. I already know that your soulmate is a muggle-born, so you can stop your flirting now. I'm a pureblood, remember?" Briar grumbled. She stared at him with brows lowered and lips slightly pursed.
Malfoy rolled his eyes and leaned closer to lowly retort, "Who cares? I don't, and you certainly don't seem to feed into all this soulmate rubbish."
Briar's eyes flashed as she hissed, "Because I'm not interested in dating anyone, you git, but especially not you."
His nostrils flared as he spat, "Yeah? But seems like you'd like to get cosy with that half-blood Potter."
"Shut up, Malfoy," Briar growled as she turned to him with eyes blazing.
"Seems like I've struck a nerve, Davies. Am I getting a little too close to the truth for your liking?" Malfoy snarled as he leaned ever closer with rage dancing dangerously in his eyes.
Briar slammed her textbook shut and retorted, "You couldn't be further from the truth, but I'd still never date you."
She didn't bother shoving any of her books into her bag and instead just carried them in her arms while she stormed from the library. She knew she had a dangerous scowl on her face from her interaction from Malfoy, but she only realized what she must look like when a pair of first year Ravenclaws scurried to the other side of the hall to be as far away from her as possible.
Her heart stung when she saw that, and she felt the ice over her heart melt a little. She turned to them to apologize for scaring them, but they sprinted down an empty corridor as soon as she turned towards them. She stood in the hallway for a few moments as she reflected on how miserable the situation was.
She wasn't a monster, and she hated that everyone expected her to be one.
———
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