Written for Persephone's flower's 'The "Taylor Swift" Challenge – Love and Heartbreak'.
Song: Cold As You, by Taylor Swift.
Pairing: Draco/Astoria
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
"And now that I'm sitting here thinking it through
I've never been anywhere cold as you..."
She flicks her hair over her shoulder, in the way she knows he likes, but he doesn't notice her. He's too busy doing one of the ohsoimportant jobs for the Dark Lord. He's been ignoring her lately, and she doesn't like it.
She stops herself from walking over and yelling at him. Instead, she inhales sharply and tries that 'visualisation' thing her aunt recommended. "For a Muggle thing, it's really quite helpful," she'd said. "Easy, too. All you have to do is breathe in and out slowly and think peaceful thoughts." She breathes in obediently and tries to mentally revisit the memories in which Draco WASN'T neglecting her. There were a precious few, she thinks sourly, and anyway they weren't all that romantic. So why was she still with him?
She laughs bitterly. Because she's so completely and irrevocably in love with that boy, that's why. Yet he does nothing for her. Hell, she'd throw herself in front of him to shield him from a Cruciatus Curse. Yet she doubts he would even protect her from a simple Expelliarmus.
She knows that he's scared, despite his 'Oh, I'm moving on to bigger and better things' speech. And worst of all – she knows he won't, no; can't succeed. She doesn't know what he's doing exactly, but by the way he jerks up at the slightest noise, how he's neglected his studies and how he's turned even paler and thinner than he already is – she knows whatever job the Dark Lord has given him is nothing simple, small, as it should be for a mere teenager.
I know you like the back of my hand, boy, so don't you try to pretend.
She knows him so well; she knows he's not perfect, but neither is she. She can't take his neglect – she can't be the perfect, understanding girlfriend who agrees with everything he says and listens to him rant and lets him walk all over her. She's just not the doormat type.
So she goes up to him, eyes filled with tears, and slaps him hard across his pale, thin face, in front of everyone in the common room. She sees a flash of shock cross his face before she turns away and stalks towards her dorm, head held high, holding back tears.
The second she enters the dormitory, she collapses on her bed and lets the tears flow.