~Year: 2006
"This time makes me hate myself," Draco says one day, pouring over his books. He tugs on his sleek locks in frustration. "I can't get this technical stuff down. I can do the spells just fine."
"Shut up, Draco." You roll your eyes. "If any one is going to fail, it will be me. I can memorize the technicalities but can't adequately perform the spells."
"Piss off, the both of you," Pansy says sourly from her spot around the table. "You're both bloody geniuses and I'm left behind." She sniffs angrily and picks up her books and heads to the dorm, where the shuts the door behind her. You raise your eyebrows and return to your work.
"She's in a bad mood," Draco remarks, staring at the door.
"You didn't say anything about her haircut, of course she's in a bad mood."
"Why would I? She wouldn't want me to insult her, would she? It looks bloody awful." You snot at his comment and accidentally spill an ink bottle all over the table.
"Oh gosh," you cry, leaping to your feet. It spills all over the front of Draco's robes. You grab a handkerchief from your pocket and begin to dab at the front of his robes. He quickly rights the bottle of ink with his wand. "I'm sorry. I'm such an idiot."
"Yeah, you are," Draco says with a laugh. "It's really okay, Celia. Its just ink."
"But it will stain," you worry.
"It's going to be fine, since I have a whole trunk of other robes." But Draco doesn't stop you from dabbing at the front of his robes with that stupid handkerchief. And you don't stop either. You move your hand up to the splatters on his chest, where you can feel his heart pumping, which seems to increase as he feels your touch. You look up at him-he's almost a half-head taller than you now. His lips part slightly, and his eyes seem to burn, the color intensifies. Draco leans over you slightly.
"Um," you say.
"Thanks," he replies hastily. Draco turns away and hastily scourgifies the ink, which mops itself away from the table. You grab one of the books and realize the ink has seeped into the pages, staining the cover.
"Damn," you mutter. "I better get this back to the library before Madam Pince notices it gone." Without waiting for him to reply, you rush out of the Slytherin common room. You jump up the stairs of the dungeon two at a time, entering the great hall.
What on earth just happened? You begin the tedious long climb up the stairs towards the library, keeping your head down, not paying attention to your surroundings. Why was it that Draco's heart was beating like that? And the way he looked at you…what was that all about? This is ridiculous, Celia. Stop thinking about this. He's your best friend in the whole world, there's nothing there…It was just appreciation, of course. He doesn't like you like that. Due to your lack of attention, you walk straight into some one.
"Oh, I'm so sorry," you exclaim, leaning over to pick up your fallen book.
"God, what's wrong with you? Why don't you watch where you are walking?"
"I said I'm sorry," you reply, flaring up. You straighten to see Harry, Ron, and Hermione standing in front of you. It must have been Harry you collided with, because he's flattening his hair and straightening his glasses. Ron looks angry, he's glaring fiercely at you.
"It's okay Ron," Harry nods at you. "Celia's okay."
"But Malfoy…"
"But Malfoy nothing." Harry pushes Ron and Hermione around you, both of who give you deep, loathing looks. "Sorry about that," he apologizes. "I think Ron thinks you and Malfoy are related…and therefore out to kill me."
You glare at him. "Draco wouldn't do such a thing."
Harry shrugs. "Maybe you don't know him as well as you thought you do."
"Harry!" Hermione yells from the bottom of the stairs. "We need to go!"
"See you around, Celia," Harry repeats, and runs down the stairs and out the doors, Ron and Hermione in his wake. You shake your head and continue on your way to the library. Avoiding Madam Pince's glance, you throw the soiled book into the turn-in box and run back down to the dungeons. You've just reached the common room door and repeated the password ("Blood Status"), when a group of people stumbles down the stairs. Draco is walking ahead of Crabbe and Goyle, holding his nose, which appears to be bleeding profusely.
"Draco, what happened?" You hold his arm as he settles into the sofa. You shove aside the marble chess set and sit down next to him. "Tissue," you snap at Crabbe, who punches Goyle, who picks up the nearest tissue box and tosses it to you. You catch it and remove a tissue, crumple it up, and hold it to Draco's nose.
"Gross," Goyle murmurs, and you shoot him a dirty look.
"What happened?" You ask Draco, who tips his head back. Crabbe lets out a soft little laugh. Draco slowly turns around to glare at him, and the two idiots shuffle away.
"Mudblood Granger," he says shortly. "She's crazy. She should be locked up." He takes the tissue from you and presses it to the blood flow, soaking through the thin material.
"You better let me do that," you laugh. You grab a handful of tissues and ball them up, then press them to his nose again, which looks to be swelling. A door loudly opens and Pansy emerges from the dorm.
"Draco," she squeals, and runs down the stairs. "What happened?"
"Got in a fight," he says, eyeing you to make sure you won't blow his cover. You smile and wink and his face relaxes. He smirks slightly. Pansy rudely shoves you aside and grabs the tissues from your hand.
"You shouldn't have to do this, Celia." She smiles at you, but under it, you can decipher a faint trace of jealousy.
"Right," you say, slowly standing up. "Gross." Draco's smirk is wiped off his face as you leave.
~Year: 2009
"C'mon now," Narcissa says. You follow her through King's Cross station, trying to keep a firm hold on your cart. Your owl, Cinnia, hoots angrily as a passerby accidentally smacks her cage with a newspaper. Draco pushes ahead of you, clearing a walkway. People grumble as they pass, but he ignores them. You smile and keep close to him.
"Quick, through the barrier," Narcissa presses.
"Mum, we know. We've only been going to Hogwarts for five years now." Draco rolls his eyes and jogs through the solid wall. You close your eyes and jog through as well, narrowly avoiding a group of first years that are hovering right outside the entrance.
"We've got to go to the prefect's carriage, remember?" You ask, adjusting the shiny, silver pin on your robes.
"I'm so proud of you two," Narcissa beams. "Draco, put on your pefect's badge." Draco glowers, but pins it on his robes anyway. You reach out to straighten it, but a pair of hands reach it before you can.
"There you go," Pansy Parkinson squeaks, stepping in between you and Draco. You clear your throat and turn to Narcissa. She gives you a look that's far too knowing for your liking. She hugs you tightly, and she does so, whispers in your ear: "Keep an eye on my boy, will you? And keep that little vulture away from him." You choke out a laugh and she releases you. She pats you sweetly on the cheek and kisses Draco on the cheek, budging Pansy away as she does so.
"Come on, Celia," Draco tells you, patting his mother on the back. "The prefect's carriage, you said?"
"You're still the prefect?" Pansy looks terrified as she asks you.
"Yep," you reply. You take Cinnia's cage off your cart and allow the train attendant to place your trunk on the train. Draco shrugs off Pansy's desperate embrace, and leaps onto the train. You follow, and then get a glimpse of Pansy's face through the window. She looks angry, and when she sees you starring, quickly turns away and walks swiftly the other way.
"Good to be back," Draco says appreciatively once you reach the Prefect's compartment. The compartment is significantly more plush than the regular compartments, with thick red leather seats and trays of gourmet food laid out for the taking. The two of you take a seat next to a window, by a table with a small tier of cakes and a steaming kettle of hot chocolate. You're joined by Ernie and Hannah from Hufflepuff, Padma and Anthony from Ravenclaw, and worst of all, Ron and Hermione from Gryffindor.
"Ugh." Hermione says out loud when she sees you.
"They let mud bloods on the train this year?" Draco asks. You giggle and Hermione takes a seat, her haughty profile reflected in the soft light.
"Welcome, Prefects," a voice says. The eight of you turn to see a letter floating in the air, the corners folded inward as to resemble a mouth, speaking with the clipped tone of Professor McGongall. "I trust you remember your duties from last year. Failure to comply with these will ultimately lead to detention, suspension, or expulsion. If you feel you are not up to the task, please contact me as soon as you reach the school. Now, Dumbledore wants me to tell you this: The Ministry does not want you to panic, but he-who-must-not-be-named is back, as you all know. You must watch out for suspicious behavior, and if you see it, report it immediately to your superiors" The letter tears itself apart and drifts to the floor.
"Well gee,' Draco says in a high-pitched, mock-eager voice. "I'll be sure to do that right away."
The rest of the Prefects sweep from the compartment, giving the two of you dirty looks as they pass. You smile sweetly at them as they leave, but it seems just to infuriate them further, especially Hermione.
"You want anything?" Draco asks, grabbing a sandwich off one of the trays.
"No, I'm not hungry. Thank you, though." You instead pour a glass of pumpkin juice. You tap your fingers against the table. "So, Pansy seemed upset this morning."
"We fought last week," Draco says shortly.
"What about?" You ask.
He hesitates, you can see him tilt his head slightly.
"You can tell me," you say.
"You." He turns back to you and sits down at the table. "Pansy thinks you're coming after me or something."
"So n-not…" you stutter.
"I told her that. She is just full of rage, so she's grabbing onto me more than usual."
"Well, I'm sorry. If you want I can just not hang out with…"
"No." Draco says shortly. "Pansy needs to learn that she can't be involved in every single aspect of my life."
He turns away to throw out his napkin, and you can't help but smile to yourself as he does so.