Hello everyone, I hope that you all are well!
This story is my first Harry Potter fanfic; please, let me know what you think! I was thinking of taking Callie (my OC) and making a story about her time at Hogwarts, her love interests, etc.
Shoot me a message if you have any ideas. I love talking to you guys! :)
Anyway, enough of my rambling, enjoy the story!
Callista Barlow sighed as she set her quill on the table. For the past few hours, the blue-eyed redhead had decided to busy herself by studying and note-taking rather than celebrating the upcoming new year. She should be celebrating with her best friend, Neville Longbottom; however, Neville had decided to go home for the holidays.
"I won't be gone long, Callie!" Neville had told her before he left, using her nickname since he knew that she hated her full name. "Just try not to get into too much trouble while I'm gone, ok?" He had said, pulling her into a warm hug. Callie smiled at the memory. She knew that he would be back soon, but she was still rather lonely without him.
Neville had been her friend ever since they had met on the Hogwarts Express their first year. As time went on, Callie saw how kind-hearted and brave Neville could be. He had proved to her, over and over again, how loyal he was.
Neville was there for her when the Sorting Hat had placed her in Hufflepuff. A house that she knew her pure-blooded family had detested and despised.
When people bullied Callie for being a "blood traitor" or "muggle lover," Neville was always there to stand up for her and dry her tears.
Many times, Callie's parents had physically "punished" her for "associating with the wrong crowd." When Callie refused to accept their pure-blood ideals, they had resorted to using curses and hexes to get her to listen. Neville couldn't stop the abuse, but he was there to help and support Callie through it.
"Man, I miss him," she thought sadly, "I'd rather not be alone tonight."
As if hearing her thoughts, Draco Malfoy had decided to enter the library at that moment. He gave her his signature smirk as soon as he saw her, but she knew it was all just an act. She knew the real Draco on the inside, not who he pretended to be. The Draco she knew still wanted to be her friend, but pure-blood prejudice kept getting in the way of that.
Callie had an odd relationship with the handsome, blonde, pure-blood.
The Barlow's and the Malfoy's, being two wealthy, pure-blooded families, had known each other for many generations. Their children had been introduced from a young age and became close friends rather quickly. From the moment they met, Draco and Callie always seemed to be together. There was even a time when they were both considered inseparable. Yet, due to Callie's aunt being a "blood traitor," as well as Callie's personal beliefs, the two had slowly drifted apart.
For their first few years at Hogwarts, Draco had treated her the same way he treated every person he thought was "below" him. From bumping into her so she would drop everything that she was carrying to casting tripping jinxes and calling her a klutz. You wouldn't have guessed that they used to be best friends!
However, that all changed when Draco came across her crying in the bathroom one day.
Pansy had said something particularly nasty to her that day. It was this comment that sent poor Callie over the edge. Tired of the bullying, the redhead had hexed Pansy's mouth shut and ran into the girls' bathroom, tears rolling down her cheeks.
She had been trying to calm down enough to go to her next class when Draco had entered the bathroom. Callie thought for a moment that he looked worried about her but quickly brushed that notion aside.
"Oh, it's you," Callie had recalled saying to him, wiping away a few stray tears, "what do you w-." Callie hadn't been able to finish her sentence though, Draco had grabbed her and pulled her into a hug. "Please don't cry," she had remembered him murmuring in her ear, "I hate seeing you cry." He had told her as he held her lithe frame close to him.
To say that she was shocked by his actions was an understatement.
But before she even had a chance to respond, he had kissed her on the forehead and left.
Three years had passed since then; yet, she was still just as confused by his actions then as she was now.
He started treating her differently after that day too. He started teasing her less and less, not to mention he would give her these "looks" at times.
Looks that almost seemed to say, "I care about you."
The same look that he was giving her in the library right now.
She shifted uncomfortably under his piercing gaze.
"Barlow," Draco asked in a questioning tone, "What are you doing in the library on New Year's Eve? Shouldn't you be celebrating with Longbottom?"
"I should be asking you the same question, Malfoy," Callie replied, "shouldn't you be sucking face with pug face by now?" She asked sharply.
She was surprised when he started laughing at her snide remark.
"No, Pansy and everyone else went home for the holidays. I decided to stay here at school. I have important business to attend to here anyway." Draco added, mumbling the last bit. However, Callie had still managed to hear him. "Oh, what important business?" She asked.
"That's none of your business," he stated quickly, "besides, you haven't even answered my questions! Why are you here alone? Why isn't your boyfriend celebrating with you?" The blonde asked, a smug smirk on his face.
Callie crossed her arms and looked away from him, a blush staining her ivory complexion.
"First of all," she started, "Neville is not my boyfriend," Draco rolled his eyes at this but let her continue. "And, secondly," she added, "he decided to go home for the holidays as well."
"Ah, I see," Draco replied awkwardly, "so everyone decided to ditch us then."
"It seems that way," Callie said as she looked down at her feet.
A few seconds ticked by in silence until Callie got a crazy idea. She didn't know how well this would work out, but she still wanted to try.
Throwing caution to the wind, she looked up and asked him, "would you like to spend New Year's together?" After he got over the initial shock of what she had asked, he nodded his head.
"Sure," he replied, "but we are not spending New Year's here."
"And where exactly did you have in mind?" She asked, causing another smirk to form on his handsome face. "I guess you will have to follow me to find out," he replied, turning around and walking out the door.
Interested as to how, or where, this could end, Callie grabbed her bag and dashed after him.
"Are you going to tell me where you are taking me now?" Callie asked Draco impatiently. He hadn't said a word since they had left the library; the silence was starting to get on her nerves. The fact that they had been walking up several flights of stairs didn't help calm her down either.
"My feet are killing me," she whined loudly.
"Will you be quiet? You are going to get us caught!" Draco whispered, giving her a dirty look as they stepped onto the seventh floor. Callie glared at him as they continued down the left corridor.
"You are the one who is being noisy," she fired back, stopping a moment to catch her breath. "You could have just told me where you were taking m-." But Draco cut her off by covering her mouth and pulling her behind a tapestry. She tried moving his hand, but he just pressed into her more.
After a few moments, Callie heard footsteps coming their way.
"Did you hear something, Mrs. Norris?" She heard Filch ask his cat, their footsteps stopping close by them.
Callie felt her heart leap into her throat. Whether that be from possibly being caught by Filch and his stupid feline, or the way Draco's body felt so right against her own, she wasn't entirely sure.
A few moments of silence passed as Filch checked the area one last time. Draco thought that his heart was going to beat out of his chest.
"Merlin, she smells amazing," the blonde-haired boy thought, trying not to picture them in a more compromising position.
"We must have missed them," Filch said suddenly, breaking the silence. "Come on then," he said to his cat, turning to head back to his office—Mrs. Norris following right behind him.
As soon as Draco removed his hand from her mouth, Callie breathed out a sigh of relief.
"Man, that was close," the redhead chuckled, "I thought that he was gonna catch us for sure!" Callie looked up at Draco and smiled. "Thank you for hiding us when you did. You saved me from getting a week's worth of detention!"
Draco felt as if he melted a little when Callie smiled at him. He would never tell her this, but he loved to see her happy.
Honestly, he hated picking on her.
The only reason he had bullied her was to keep up with appearances. He couldn't have anyone believing that he supported a blood traitor! If someone saw him spending time with her, his own family could disown him! Even worse than that, the Dark Lord could find out and kill Callie and his family.
"I don't know what I would do if I ever lost them," Draco thought, looking at the gorgeous girl before him and tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
Draco's eyes fell on her lips for a moment. His hand came up to caress her cheek; however, he soon withdrew it. "She can't know how I feel about her," he thought sadly.
"D-Draco?" Callie stuttered softly, a questioning look in her eyes. He had never treated her so gently before. So, why was he now?
"What is going through your head, Draco Malfoy?" Callie thought as she watched him pull away from her. She almost whined at the loss of contact.
"You need to learn to control that mouth of yours, Barlow," Draco said with a smirk, "I might not be here to get you out of trouble next time." Callie gave him a dirty look. "If you had told me where we were going, Malfoy, I wouldn't have kept questioning you. We wouldn't have nearly gotten caught either!" She watched as Draco paced back and forth a few times. "What are you doing?" She asked him. The blonde grinned as a door appeared before them.
"I am finding us a place to spend New Year's," Draco answered as he opened the door. "Ladies first," he added, holding the door open for her.