(Y/n) was heartbroken and livid; two emotions that did not mix well. It didn't exactly help that Maggie and Travis had officially announced that they were dating, although it seemed like everyone except (y/n) had already known. Not only that, but something was blossoming between Cleo and Nick, and because she saw Nick as the equivalent of one of her brothers, the flirtation was, at times, unbearable. She was happy for them, she really was, but the swirling of romance around her, like a hazy, shimmering, lilac fog, was suffocating, and it made her feel...lonely. The whole ordeal reminded her of that damn snake Malfoy had drawn. Slithering on forever, so much effort with no destination. And that's where the anger came in. She was pissed. At her friends, at the boy, at her family, and mostly at herself. She had known that whatever she wanted with Malfoy would never work out, so why had she done it? The one time she chose to put her heart before her head, and it had imploded.

(Y/n) felt that, a lot of the time, she was too emotional to be around, especially when she was surrounded by her friends. As a result, she poured her energy into her schoolwork. When she wasn't working, she found that sitting alone helped ease the turmoil in her head. Her favorite spot had become the Whomping Willow, where she sat near the tree, not too near of course, and admired it's twitches of life. It reminded her of the best aspects of Hogwarts, and showed her that she could overcome whatever was thrown at her. She giggled when, one day, she discovered that the hood ornament on the Weasley's car had grown into the tree. (Y/n) spent most of her time there after the incident on the Quidditch pitch, until, three days after, when the place that exuded life and relaxation became tainted with toxicity.

Having finished her work for the day, (y/n) sat in her spot, peacefully surveying the Hogwarts grounds. She was content until someone roughly called her out of her bliss. Her eyes flew open and she sat up, her neck prickling at the sound.

"Oi, (y/n)." Justin was walking straight towards her, his yellow scarf flapping in the wind. He wasn't a threating presence physically, and he was very kind on most occasions, but even the sight of him made (y/n)'s mouth sour. She felt her heartbeat pick up speed as he reached her. "Hey," he repeated, and (y/n) nodded, giving him a toothless smile to be polite. He crouched down to her level, and she leaned away from him as far as possible without being too noticeable.

He scratched the back of his neck, clearly carefully planning out his words. "I just wanted to officially apologize for the other night. It was super uncool of me and I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable. So, um...sorry." He didn't meet her eyes.

She appreciated the apology, but she was nowhere close to being able to forgive him. She had trusted him as a friend, and for him to manipulate that trust for his own benefit was reprehensible. She nodded, replying with "Ok."

"Ok," he replied, standing. He turned to leave, but stopped. He spun back around. "I'm sorry, it's just...you don't seem like you're ok, and if there's anything more I could do...I just want to make sure you're ok." Her stomach bubbled with anger. He was clearly sincere, but he was also fishing for a "oh it's no problem" or a "no worries, we all make mistakes" that she wasn't ready to give. She remembered how she had promised not to blame herself.

"Ok? You expect me to be ok." Her eyes drilled into his as she stood, and his face drained. She realized that she was on the verge of shouting. "You apologized. That's fine. But if you expect me to suddenly feel ok, to suddenly forget what it felt like to be that helpless, then you are-" She was stopped by another shout.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing mudblood?" (Y/n) looked past Justin's terrified face to see Malfoy speeding towards them, his usually white face red with anger. In a second he had reached the pair. He swiftly grabbed Justin's scarf, hoisting him off the ground so only his toes were touching the damp grass. Justin sputtered, partly because he didn't have a response, and partly because Malfoy's hold on his scarf was essentially choking him. Malfoy ignored Justin's whimpers, continuing. "You better not be doing what I think you're doing, because, if you are, I'm going to bash your teeth in until you cant even say the word muggle," he whispered dangerously.

(Y/n) was nervous. She had never seen Malfoy like this, and it was scaring her. Usually, he never followed up his vile words, but as she watched his wild eyes and gritted teeth, she realized that she had no clue what he would do next. She reached for him, grabbing the arm that wasn't hoisting the boy in the air. He turned towards her, his eyes softening once he saw her, and he lowered Justin enough so that his feet were flat on the grass.

"It's ok," she whispered calmly. Malfoy grunted, and let Justin go, flinging him forward. The boy stumbled back, his eyes wide with fear, and he made his way back to the castle, walking as fast as he could without running. Malfoy glared at him until he turned his back to walk away. She breathed a sigh of relief, and her stress turned to annoyance.

"Malfoy, I'm fine, I can handle myself," she huffed, looking him in the eyes. He was still breathing rapidly.

"Well obviously not," he exclaimed angrily. He ran his fingers through his hair with a sigh. They stood in awkward silence with the wind blowing against them. The slight cold brought a rose color to Malfoy's cheeks, showing how truly young he looked.

"Malfoy...can we talk?" (y/n) asked, fidgeting, nervous of his answer. He sighed again, looking away from her.

"I have to go." He turned to leave and began to walk away.

"Draco," (y/n) pleaded, her voice cracking against her will. She didn't know how the boy in front of her had such an impact on her, but whatever the reason, she needed to sort this out. At this point, his back and forth was only hurting her.

He stopped walking and turned slightly. "Room of Requirement tonight, ok?" he murmured, his hands in his pockets. He turned back around, not waiting for her response. She watched him leave, her eyes clouding over. She shook the emotion off her face and took a deep breath. She'd figure everything out tonight.

This one's on the shorter side, but the next one should be spicy!

~ blushingvibez