AU!

THC

Ravenclaw, Potions

Drabble

Prompt: (word) umbrella

WC: 641/1000

Ducking under a bench in the Quidditch stands, Draco looked up at the dark clouds and cursed under his breath—for a Malfoy never swore out loud. Although he had known there was a hundred per cent chance of it raining, the sudden downpour still caught him off guard.

He had just got his hair cut, and his black sweater was fresh out of the boutique. His new custom-made baby seal-leather shoes were going to get soaked, which irritated him to no end. And to top it off, his wand was in his bag down in the Slytherin dorms. He had no choice but to sit there and wait for the storm to pass. Couldn't it have waited for him to get back to the castle before bursting like a dam?

But the rain showed no signs of relenting—if anything, it got worse as the minutes ticked by—and Draco glared at the sky. Heavy clouds blocked out the sun, and large fat droplets of water plopped down on the bench overhead before dripping down to form a mini pool near his feet.

Then, footsteps came splashing through the puddles on the stairs. Draco turned and looked up past frail legs, knobbly knees, a hemmed skirt, an outstretched arm, a soaked head of riotous brown curls—until he met bright, brown eyes and a shy smile.

"I brought you an umbrella," Granger declared, waving the rainbow-coloured contraption around and sprinkling rainwater all over him.

Draco stepped back and grumbled, "And now we're both soaked."

"You could at least thank me," she said, stepping closer to him.

A part of Draco, which thought Granger was the most ridiculous girl he'd ever met, wanted to knock the umbrella out of her hand, but no one had ever been so nice to him without having ulterior motives.

Granger wasn't like that. She was pure of heart and kind and sweet—albeit a bit awkward at times with no sense of personal space—but she never had any ulterior motives.

Her smile didn't waver. She even pushed the umbrella closer to his body as if she wouldn't take no for an answer.

Draco opened his mouth, about to refuse, but the words that came out were, "We could share it."

Her smile widened, and her eyes lit up brighter than any stars Draco had learnt about in all his eleven years on Earth. She opened the umbrella and shoved it towards him. "Yes, let's!"

Cursing the umbrella for being so gaudy, Draco held it gingerly over their heads as they began walking. With each step they took towards the castle, he became more and more aware of the seven centimetres difference in their height. Granger kept stumbling into him, getting her hair caught in the umbrella's spokes. Sighing and hoping no one saw them, Draco linked their arms to prevent her from poking her own eye out.

"This is nice," Granger said as she skipped over a rock and almost kicked him in the shin.

"This is terrible," Draco lied, scowling as he hauled her up, but she only laughed.

Granger began rambling about the Transfiguration spells she had already started learning—the utter swot—and the potion ingredients she had memorised—again, such a nerd.

Draco cursed himself for thinking that maybe, just maybe, the way her hair frizzed up around her little face due to the rain was a little endearing. That the way she hopped over large puddles and ended up splashing in them anyways was adorable. That when she huddled close to him, soaking the side of his expensive sweater, every time there was a rumble of thunder overhead, it made his heart skip behind his ribcage once or twice—or maybe thrice.

He clenched his jaw when he found himself actually glad that he had left his own umbrella behind.

Draco really hoped his father wouldn't hear about this.