Accusations
DRACO MALFOY WAS coming back from his momentary bathroom escape from Pansy and the oafs when his foot caught onto something, and he tripped onto the train floor. He turned angrily to see what exactly his foot had caught on and startled to see sticking out from a partly open compartment was a small ratty old shoe that he recognized.
"Weasley?"
Freya stuck her head out of the compartment with a slight smirk that vanished when she looked down at him, replaced by an angry scowl.
"Don't just lay there as though you've been stunned. Hurry inside, I need to talk to you."
Easy for her to say, Draco thought wildly as he got up. Truth is, he was stunned.
Slipping into the empty compartment, he erased any of the leftover shock from his expression as he stared at her cooly, leaning against the compartment door as she sat down on one of the chairs. "What was so important that you needed to trip me?"
"Oh, the tripping part wasn't needed," she said the smirk appearing on her face again. "But I don't really need a reason when it comes to tripping you, do I?"
Draco frowned at her, his brows scrunching up in confusion and it once again erased any bit of amusement from her expression as she scowled at him.
"That." she pointed to him, "That is what I pulled you in here to talk about. You can't do that, Malfoy."
Draco's jaw clenched in irritation, "Do what?"
"You can't just not insult me when you insult my friends! You can't not be the arrogant prat you are while I'm around! You can't avoid me! You can't look so terribly confused when I insult you, no, you're supposed to insult me back, you ferret-faced madman!" Freya's eyes widened as she had stood up. "You told me that we'd have to wake up but you're the one still sleepwalking, Malfoy."
Draco flushed scarlet as he backed away from her, only remembering the door behind him when he slammed into it. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Weasley."
Freya jutted her chin out stubbornly. "You've been avoiding me, Malfoy."
"And you've been thinking about me a little too much, Weasley." Draco hissed as he glared down at her. "Because I'm not saying anything to you because I'm avoiding you, it's because by this point Weasel-pup, what is there to even say? Bloody hell, you're so stuck behind your brothers and your best friends' shadows that you've blended in, and it seems just a tad too cruel trying to insult someone you can hardly see in the first place."
There was a pause as they both processed what he had said.
Freya clenched her jaw and nodded, and Draco felt the frustration build.
"What? Did my words hurt you? That's fantastic! Did I succeed in being the arrogant prat you were yelling at me to be?"
"You succeeded in being the arrogant prat you need to be." Freya's eyes were nothing but sad as she looked up at him, "Isn't that why your nightmarish self exists in the first place?"
Draco felt his heart freeze as he stared at her, horrified. "What are you-"
"It's easy to see, Malfoy, only because you want it to be shown," said Freya dejectedly. "I just don't understand why you had to show it to me of all people."
"I don't get what you're trying to-"
"Move over, Malfoy. I've got to go; I have an owl to cage and friends to see before they wonder where I'm at."
"But I'm not done talking to-"
She opened the compartment door and almost by instinct he jumped out of the way of view, shutting up quickly.
Just in case, he realized a moment later, anybody was around to see them together.
She glanced over at his hiding place, disappointment in her eyes.
And then she left, closing the door behind her, without another word.
END OF THIRD BOOK