𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐨𝐨

chapter twenty nine

Thursday, November 26th

The past month had been absolute perfection, and Draco was beginning to worry.

Despite the warmth that autumn sparked in his chest there was always a lingering chill, one he couldn't decipher as being true or merely a creation of his own self doubt. Things were going too smoothly. Something was bound to go wrong, and if it wouldn't, would he even deserve perfection?

At the least they bantered like a married couple, small fights entertained by that of Theodore and Blaise in public settings, but otherwise it was utterly peaceful, and his constant gaze of pure infatuation towards her was a reminder of that.

Their friend group was closer than ever.

There they sat around a table in the back of the library, feet propped up against the wood and being much too loud for their current setting.

Madam Pince had hushed them three times, and their group had become so utterly annoying towards outsiders that she had begun calling them slytherins altogether, despite three houses being included.

Pansy read another sentence of the book and Ginny clenched her stomach with her hands, wheezing pathetically as the black haired girl continued reading.

Her long dark green fingernail flipped the page, entering the next chapter, chapter nine, titled, 'dragon masturbation'.

"Oh, this is fucking disgusting-" Pansy shook her head with a slightly too attentive laugh, eyes skimming the page with pure wonder.

"Let me see," Blaise snatched it from across the table, "Oh, bloody hell! There's a visual!"

"Is that three balls rather than two?" Luna asked innocently, pointing towards the sketch on the parchment.

Ginny was on the verge of pissing herself in her  robes.

Hermione laughed in Draco's lap and he smiled. Theodore and Blaise had stopped their pestering as to why Draco had become so quiet, more so than usual. They realized eventually that he was much more interested in watching Hermione than paying attention to anything else.

Everything except her had become a bore.

"You lot! Get out!" Madam Pince shouted, pointing her finger at the group, now sitting silently and staring forwards with fabricated innocence.

The bell rang from the courtyard for dinner, and they were saved, scurrying out of the library like lost chickens, the book left wide open on the now abandoned library table.

He held her hand as they trailed just slightly behind the rest of the group with soft steps, his thumb rubbing the silkiness of her skin in gentle circles.

"Where the fuck is the food?" Ginny scowled as they entered the hall, usually packed tables brimming with treats now depressingly empty.

He noticed the rest of the students' confusion too, but before he could question it McGonagall's voice rang out across the hall and every child sat down quietly.

"Before we eat, as I'm sure you all are quite eager to do..." McGonagall clasped her hands with a roll of the eyes, "I'd like to announce a commemoration for those fallen in the tragedy that was May 2nd."

He felt Hermione shrink in her seat.

"This will be a formal ball, not that of the Yule Ball, rather in celebration of our newest ghosts, our fallen, and those who still remain today. I ask you all remain respectful, as Hogwarts alumni will be invited to this event. You all may eat, thank you."