IMPORTANT NOTICE! I hate Cho and Harry so yeah, that's not happening. Carry on!
Briar POV
"What the bloody hell are you staring at, Potter?" Draco spits out like he has tasted something disgusting. His hands are now possessively clutching my hips as he stands close enough for me to feel the heat of his chest seeping into my sweater. Turning from Harry's shocked face, I turn to look at Draco to see he is staring at Harry with pure hatred from only a few inches from my face. I place my hands on his chest and lightly push to get him to take a step back and release my hips so I can slide off the desk. Draco glances at me and a flicker of hurt flashes in his eyes, but he makes room for me despite not wanting me to move.
"I'm sorry I left like that, Harry. I forgot I needed to meet with Snape so I was on my way to meet him when I ran into Draco," I say as I walk around the desk. Behind me, I hear Draco grit out an angry "left?" I hear Draco's expensive, polished shoes clicking against the stone so that he is standing right behind me. He's so close, I can see his shadow overshadowing mine on the grey, stone floor in front of me due to a light hanging from the ceiling behind us.
"You don't have to apologize. I was just worried with how quickly you left the room. I thought you were having another vision," Harry says softly as he walks farther into the room, closing some of the distance between us. I smile at him warmly and ignore the anger I can feel vibrating off of Draco behind me.
"Thank you for checking on me, Harry. I really appreciate it, but no. I didn't have another vision since the last one about the room with the globes."
"You told, Potter about your vision?!" Harry finally seemed to notice it was Draco with me and his eyes honed in on him instead of me.
"Not that it matters to you, Malfoy, but Briar and I both have visions so we have been helping each other try to figure them out." Draco lets out a scoff and goes to move around me to get in Harry's face. He gets right up in his face and snarls out his next words.
"Actually, Saint Potter, it does matter to me because Briar matters to me," he growls out. I look at Draco and I can feel a soft smile light up my face, but it falls when I hear Harry let out a low chuckle.
"Oh really? You, the Prince of Slytherin, cares about someone other than yourself? Briar is smart enough to know you're full of it and so am I." Draco takes a step towards him and shoves him back a few steps.
"Don't pretend like you know her, Potter!" he growls as Harry laughs again and glares at him. I start to walk to where they're standing to intervene.
"Of course, I definitely don't know her at all, Malfoy and I definitely wasn't just with her a few minutes ago?" I see Draco reach his right hand back and form a first so I rush forward and grab his arm while Harry keeps a smug smirk on his face.
"Draco!" I say holding onto his arm with my left hand wrapped around his wrist and my right hand on his bicep. He looks at me and I see the anger he holds towards Harry in his eyes, but also the confusion regarding what Harry was saying. I feel anger bubble up inside me for being a cause of that confusion, but I try to control it knowing what happened the last time I got too angry. Turning my head to look at Harry, I glare at him making the smirk fall from his face.
"What the bloody hell, Harry? What do you think you're trying to do?" His eyes dart between Draco and me and I realize how deep the hatred between these two run.
"Briar," Harry started to say, but stopped when he saw how angry I was. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be such a prat. It's just…Come on, it's Malfoy! You know the rumors about him! Don't tell me you're stupid enough to fall for his games." He gestures his hand at Draco and I have to grip Draco's arm hard to stop it from raising after Harry's comment about me being stupid. Taking a deep breath, I let go of Draco's arm and stand between him and Harry.
"Those rumors were my idea, Harry. It helps keep up his charade of being a puppet for his father to protect both me and him, but he is on my side with Dumbledore," I say keeping out Snape knowing his double agent mission needs to be protected. "Even if he was using me, you don't have a say in my personal life. I'm your friend and I appreciate you trying to help me figure out the visions because it has been helpful, but you don't have the right to attack Draco. He joined the Inquisitorial Squad to get on Umbridge's good side to help protect me."
I see Harry start to process that information so I turn to face Draco who looks emotionless. I stare right into his eyes and start my explanation.
"Draco, I'm a part of Dumbledore's Army with Harry which is the only reason I was with him before. I've been teaching the students how to use wandless magic and how to use a Patronus since I've been able to produce one since I was twelve. My mother taught me before…everything." I see his eyes soften a little at the mention of my mother. I refuse to look down even though I desperately want to look away from his piercing stormy blue eyes that look almost light grey in this light. "I'm sorry I didn't have the chance to tell you and I know you probably feel betrayed I told Harry first and I'm sorry for that. He only found out first because it was Dumbledore's idea to have us keep an eye on each other since we are the two main targets for Voldemort if he finds out about me. We all want the same thing; destroy Voldemort before he hurts too many people." I stare at him pleading with my eyes for him to understand. He glances at Harry before looking at me again.
"Okay," he says monotone with no emotion on his face before looking at Harry again. "If you are truly around to help protect Briar then I will be civil with you, Potter. Not during the day around other classmates, but in private if we ever run into each other," he says before pausing for a moment to glance at me. It's like watching ice melt and soon I see his anger return full force when he snaps his eyes back up at Harry. "However, if you ever accuse me of using Briar again, I will end you, Potter. Is that clear?" He stares him down until I assume Harry nods because his eyes look back at me.
"Briar?" Harry calls from behind me. I turn my head to look at Harry and see remorse written all over his face. "I'm sorry. For everything. I should get going before Snape catches me out of bed after curfew. You know how much he loves me," he says with some sarcasm in his voice. I let out a chuckle and turn to go give him a hug. Wrapping my arms around him, he slowly wraps them around me and rests his chin on the top of my head. I realize he's a few inches shorter than Draco because he doesn't have to bend down to do that like Draco did earlier.
"Thank you, Harry." I pull back from the hug and place my hands on his shoulders. "I'll see you Monday for training?" He nods his head and smiles before glancing over my shoulder one last time before retreating to the door. After poking his head out to make sure the coast is clear, he quietly shuts the door. With a sigh, I turn around to look at Draco shyly knowing we have to talk about this. He lets out a dark chuckle and I see a darkness in his eyes I have normally only seen directed towards other students like Harry; maliciousness.
"You and Saint Potter are friendly, huh?" He asks spitting out Harry's last name like it's venom. "What else have you told him? Does he know about my confessions in the Room of Requirement about my childhood? I bet he loved hearing about poor little Draco being abused by his father and being called worthless almost every day of his life. I'm sure it was a huge confidence boost on his end," he snarls at me. I look at him in shock and take a moment to realize he's not looking me in the eyes. He feels betrayed by me confiding in Harry first, but he's scared I confided in Harry about things he trusted me with.
The great Draco Malfoy, Slytherin Prince; is jealous over my friendship with Harry Potter. Never in a million years would I have guessed I would be in this position.
He lets out a huff in anger and stops looking around the room to zone in on the door over my shoulder. Starting to storm towards the door, he goes to brush past me before I grab his hand and intertwine our hands stopping his escape.
"No," I whisper causing his eyes to snap to me, but I avoid his eyes by looking down at our hands. We're standing side by side with my left arms brushing right up against each other. "You get to be mad, but you don't get to act like you don't know where my loyalties lie." I slowly bring my eyes up to his and I see fear in them. Just seeing that emotion in his eyes makes me pause for a moment because I know he doesn't show his emotions as freely as other students our age do.
He was never allowed to.
"I may have made a mistake by telling Harry first, but that wasn't my choice; it was Dumbledore's. I've been trying to work up the courage to tell you because I know the subject of your father isn't a pleasant one for you. Was I scared of your reaction to me having a vision of your father in the same room as me? Yes, but I told you anyway. It may have taken me some time, but I was always training until the early hours of the morning. Just because I took some time to process, it doesn't mean I was running to Harry telling him everything. I know you probably don't fully trust me after letting you believe I was just a figment of your imagination in my Animagus form for so long and I'm so sorry for that. If I could have a do over, Draco then I would, but I can't," I say as my voice cracks with emotion.
He turns his body towards me and squeezes my hand with his left to encourage me to continue as his right hand moves my hair behind my left ear. I look back down at our hands and take a deep breath before continuing.
"I would never betray your trust with things you only meant for me to hear. These next two years of school are going to be the hardest of our lives. I want you to be by my side through all of it and I know it won't be easy. We're going to be tested in ways we never thought possible given what's expected of both of us from so many people, but all I want is to be able to keep you safe." I look into his eyes and see that they have started to tear up like mine. "I want to keep this," I hold our hands up between us, "safe." Draco tugs our hands towards his chest causing me to face him so we're toe to toe. He waits for me to finish. With one last moment of silence, I let it all out.
"You confiding in me meant the world to me even if you didn't know it was me. I know we have avoided talking about it, but I would never tell Harry something as personal as what your father put your through all those years and continues to put you through. At first, you would only talk about your day, but then you started talking about me and your father and I should have…" I pause to collect my resolve to look him in the eyes. I look directly into those blue eyes that haunted my dreams for weeks while he had no clue I was the one he was venting to. "I should have told you it was me that first day, but I was scared you would get angry and you would resent me. I know that's a terrible excuse and I can't say I have any other reason other than I was scared of how you would react. I've felt drawn to you since that day in the woods when our eyes met. It was like, I don't know…It was like something connected and I know that sounds absolutely insane." I pause and realize I'm getting off track. I place my hands on either side of Draco's face and smile softly at him.
"You, Draco Malfoy, have changed my life. From the day my eyes met yours in the forest, I felt this instant connection to you. I don't know if it has something to do with my magic, my Veela blood, or something else, but everything just made more sense. I didn't want to lose that and I acted like a coward and didn't tell you what I was the first day you caught me in the Room of Requirement. I'm so sorry and I'm sorry Harry acted like an absolute git. I don't know why he tried to make it seem like something was going on between us when it's not. I know you and I haven't established much aside from a few snogging sessions, but I'm not seeing anyone else except for you." I stare at him with vulnerability in my eyes silently asking if I was making up this connection I felt for him. The fact he got so protective when Harry accused him of using me made me feel better, but I needed to hear it come from him.
Staring into Draco's eyes, I slide my hands from his cheeks as the time starts to stretch more and more.
Great, now you've scared him into silence. Great going, Griffin. You really know how to ruin a good thing.
I let my hands slide lower until they fall into his hands. They close around my fingers lightly and I look down as I try to come up with something else to say. Maybe even a "Just kidding!" would suffice at this point.
"I'm sorry," Draco whispers. I can feel my heart throb a little as I can sense this is about to end with him saying he doesn't feel the same way and I was just a fling. I feel his finger lightly raise my chin until my watery eyes are staring into his as he smiles lightly at me. I look at him in confusion.
"I'm sorry I confused you." I feel my heart shatter some more and I let out a sniffle while nodding my head as a tear slides down my cheek. I look to the left towards the door that could provide me an escape. I hold my crying back knowing now was not the time to break down. I feel a slight sting in my eyes that tells me my eyes just flashed.
"You don't have to apologize, Draco," I reply in a monotone whisper. "I'm the one that confused what this was. I guess Harry was right, huh?" I look into his eyes and see them go from confused to panic.
"No! Merlin, I'm terrible at this. I meant I was sorry I confused you about my feelings." I nod again and move my chin away from his finger. Another tear falls down my face.
"It's not your fault I read the signs wrong, Malfoy. You weren't obligated to return the feelings. I'm just gonna…" I trail off and turn to walk towards the door when I'm spun around and a pair of lips crash into mine. My eyes open in shock, but I pull back and look away.
"I don't want a pity goodbye kiss, Malfoy. You don't feel the same, it's fine. I never…" He cuts me off before I can say anything else.
"DON'T CALL ME MALFOY!" I look at him in shock and confusion. He starts to pace and pull at his hair while frowning slightly. "Briar, please don't call me that like you don't know me. I have these feelings for you that I couldn't figure out because I wasn't raised with normal emotions as you know. I, wow, I'm sorry. I'm really bad at this. Okay, the only woman I have ever loved is my mother and that's how I know I love you. Merlin, that makes it sound like I love you like I love my mother." He stops pacing and huffs out a sigh before closing his eyes for a moment to collect himself.
Did Draco Malfoy just ramble? Wait, he knows he loves me?!
He opens his eyes and the look of pure happiness and softness in his eyes make the tears fall more. "Briar Griffin, I love you because of your eyes. The sight of your brilliant green eyes staring at me make me almost as happy as when they flash rainbow because it's so you and unique that it takes my breath away. You're caring and selfless. You're the complete opposite of who I was raised to be and I feel like you're helping me become the man my father never was to my mother; a good man. That day in the woods when I saw the muggle stand in front of the girl, I didn't understand and I immediately said in my mind that he was a fool and he should have sacrificed her to save himself." I let out a gasp at how cruel that is before trying to speak. He places a finger over my lips and pleads with me with his eyes to let him finish. "I didn't understand until I realized Umbridge had tortured you like she did to Potter. I have never wanted to murder as much as I did in that moment. If we had been in the woods, I would've fought until my last dying breath to protect you. I would never use you. That is how I know I love you and please stop crying." He removes his finger from my lips and wipes a few stray tears from my eyes while staring at me sadly for causing my tears.
Opening and closing my mouth a few times, I do the only thing I'm capable of doing. I kiss him.