My Father Can't Hear About This | Draco Malfoy

Astronomy

I ignored Draco for the next week. Or two. I kind of lost count of how long it had been. After that boy thought he had to be mean to me once he realized someone was watching him, I lost respect for him. He clearly never had any respect for me anyways. One moment he seems interested (in whatever way that meant to him), and the next he pretends he hates me. Or is he actually pretending to be interested and he really does hate me? Eh. Who the fuck knows and who the fuck cares at this point. 

Iris had been telling me that I seemed down recently, and being the meddler she is, she kept trying to pry some information out of me. I didn't budge. I was not in the mood, and it wasn't any of her business anyways. 

I was on my way to visit Dumbledore to update him on the situation. I hadn't done so in quite a while, and I'm sure he was getting curious seeing as though He Who Must Not Be Named is confirmed to be coming back. 

I marched up to the second floor to Gargoyle Corridor, to where I was able to enter his office. "Ah. Young Granger. What a surprise." He announced me to the empty room, his back facing me. 

I step forward into the middle of the circular room, still intrigued by all the pictures and knick knacks along the walls. "I've come to speak with you about the situation at hand." I say, trying to seem as serious as possible, knowing that the words that just came out of my mouth most likely sounded extremely idiotic. "The Draco Malfoy, situation." I elaborated. 

"Ah, I see." Professor Dumbledore finally swiveled himself around to lay eyes on me. "And what seems to be the issue here." 

"Other than the fact that he is a menace to Hogwarts, he seems to single me out." I huff to myself. "I don't know how much more I can do. I have tried to be nice to him. I have tried standing up to him. I've tried acting like him to see if he approves. It's just not working."

Dumbledore stood in his thoughts a moment. He raised his eyebrows, pursed his lips a bit, and began to fiddle with a ring on his desk. "Keep trying Miss Granger." I wait for more of an explanation. He said nothing else. 

"But Professor," I chime in. "Draco Malfoy is a villain, specifically my villain, and I have no idea what I've done to provoke that." 

"Now, now. He is not a villain. Draco Malfoy is just a boy. A boy that needs someone to understand him." He looked down at me. "You seem to understand him. I can assure you, he is not a hopeless boy."

"But I feel it is hopeless.." I shake my head and sigh. I didn't know what else to say to convince him that Draco was terrible and would never show anyone his good side. Whatever "good side" may or may not be buried underneath that black heart of his. 

"Miss Granger... Didn't he tell you face to face that he liked your attention?" Bewildered, I nod. How did he know that? No one was in the room when that happened. "And didn't Draco Malfoy tell you that he was glad to see you when you saw him in the infirmary?" I nod again. He smirks. "I know things, things you may not realize I know."

"But Professor, he only told me those things when no one was around. Who knows if he meant well by those words." 

"That is the exact point I am trying to make... Get him away from his peers. See how different he is with just you. I can almost guarantee that things will change if you do that." He began to turn around, as if he were done with this conversation. "Go make a change, Miss Granger." 

I took the hint and left his office. He literally put it right back in my hands again. No plan. No advice. What was I supposed to do now? Nothing else I had tried seemed to be working. I had no choice but to heed Dumbledore's encouragement and see what happened. 

It was getting a little late after dinner and I figured I'd just go right back down to the dungeons to the common room. 

My mind stopped wandering once I noticed Draco standing at the doorway to the Slytherin common room. Why was he just.. standing there? Maybe there was too much commotion in the common room for his liking. He doesn't seem to be too fond of too many people, ya know. His white hair stood out against his dark robes. He played catch with himself using a green apple: throwing it up in the air with his right hand, and catching it back in his right hand when it fell back down. He took a bite, looked up, and saw me.