Love.
Millicent Bulstrode was not pretty; in fact she was probably below average. On the outside, she was hardened, not letting anyone past her tough exterior. But there was one boy who she yearned to let in and that was Neville Longbottom, the Gryffindor.
"Hey Mili, what are you looking so downtrodden for? You look like a Mudblood just killed your snake," Blaise Zabini called, sitting next to Millicent.
"Don't call me Mili, Zabini," Millicent shot back. She liked Blaise, but she could be very off-putting sometimes.
"Okay, Millicent. What's wrong?" Blaise looked at Millicent with a look that would pass as compassion, in the Slytherin house anyway.
"Oh, nothing much, I miss my pets," Millicent lied; but that came easily, she was a Slytherin after all. Blaise squinted at her for a second before shrugging.
"Fair enough, do you want to come and watch the 'Dorks practice Quidditch?" Draco had nominated Blaise as 'Quidditch Spy', seeing as the other Houses knew very little about Blaise. Millicent thought for a moment, before realising that Neville had been buying Quidditch robes in Diagon Alley during the holiday, and they were in Gryffindor colours.
"Hmm, I don't see why not," Millicent stood up, grabbing her overcoat and throwing it around her shoulders. It was a cold autumn; bitter, in fact. Blaise smiled and shot off to get her own overcoat. It was at that point Draco chose to walk into the Common Room.
"Are you off somewhere, Bulstrode?" he drawled in the way only a Malfoy could. Bulstrode actually liked Draco, not because he was some beautiful paragon of Slytherin, which he undoubtedly was, but because he treated her with respect. Whereas most of the other students thought she was just a female version of Crabbe or Goyle, Draco recognised that there was some intelligence behind that hard shell.
"Blaise and I are off to watch the Gryffindor's practice," she said blithely. Draco scowled for a second. He wasn't overly fond of Gryffindor being afforded their real name in his presence. He was about to address her oversight when Blaise re-appeared. She brightened at the sight of his silver-blonde hair.
"Oh, Draco, how are you?" she beamed.
Draco smiled and nodded at her. "I'm brilliant as usual. Off to spy on the enemy, I hear?" Draco said. Blaise looked at Millicent and then back at Draco, still smiling.
The overbearing crush Blaise had on Draco was House-wide news. It was what had gotten her into this position in the first place.
Who knows, Millicent thought, perhaps he will indulge her sometime soon. Millicent thought that Blaise deserved it, seeing as she had been simpering over him for two or three years, ever since she had discovered boys, really.
"Yes, we're off to watch the 'Dorks, see what their team is like this year," she said.
Draco smiled and waved his hand aristocratically. "Very well, carry on," he said. Blaise grinned and grabbed Millicent, dragging her off towards the Slytherin dungeon exit. She was beginning to blush, a reaction only Draco could bring to the usually calm and collected Blaise Zabini.
"You know he will never indulge you, Blaise," Millicent said teasingly. Blaise smiled as they headed towards the nearest school exit to the Quidditch pitch.
"You never know, Mili, he might just someday," she replied as they rounded a corner to almost run into some Hufflepuffs.
"By Merlin, watch where you're going, Flufflehuffs!" Blaise sneered. It was Hannah Abbot and her friends and they just looked at the Slytherin's with disdain.
"Why don't you watch where you are going, scaly?" Hannah retorted. Millicent went to strike her, but she yelped and ran, her entourage following her. Blaise just laughed.
"Who needs sharp words when you have Millicent Bulstrode, hmm?" she said with a twinkle in her eye, before tugging on Millicent's sleeve. They continued on towards the Quidditch pitch.