Bloodsucker

Within a day Draco Malfoy had seen a dead body, almost became a dead body, made an alliance with Potters Golden Girl, began to slightly (but not at all) care for said Golden girl, discovered some lost coven that Pansy's family was apart of, and become a blood fountain.

If Draco had known that being nosey would lead to this, he would've kept his head in the sand.

"Seriously mate, the hell is wrong with you?"

Theos voice reminds him that he was not still in the empty classroom but had somehow gotten down to the common room sometime ago.

"Everyone was looking for you. You realize that disappearing after someone died isn't the best look?"

Theo spoke pretty loudly about such a secret topic. Draco knew it didn't matter though. No one would tell. Slytherins kept each others secrets. But it didn't mean the arsehole had to be so loud about it.

"And what was up with you and Granger?"

Blaise catches his attention. Draco's head snaps sideways to him before he can even try and restrain himself. Blaise has no reaction but Draco knows that his reaction just peaked Blaise's interest.

"Granger? Was she who you were with all day-"

"NO!"

Draco yells out making a few lingering Slytherins turn and stare. Theo shuts his mouth as his brows raise in suspicion and leans back from the couch across.

Blaise closes his book, continuing to side eye him.

"So...you weren't with her?"

Draco uncomfortable adjusts in his spot next to Blaise. He clears his throat, shaking his head.

"No. Why would I be with her of all people?"

"I dunno, maybe cause she was weirdly kneeled over looking at blood on the floor and you ran to her and dragged her out of there, disappearing for the rest of the day?

Theo ends his suggestion with a shrug. Blaise just continues staring.

Blaise and Theo were two very different but very smart Slytherins.

Theo was all about a show. He would crack jokes and make wild suggestions in a covert attempt to get you to tell him what he wants to know.

Blaise, however, was more mystified with his act. He opted out of a show and went straight for the facts. He always knew what to say to trip someone up.

They were, by far, the worst two people for Draco to get interrogated by.

"I was only helping her because..."

Draco thinks of a million things to say. He couldn't tell them the truth. Atleast not yet. But Blaise and Theo weren't stupid. They were tag teaming him to see who would make him trip up first.

Now Theo has joined in on the devious stare and Blaise turns himself to that he's fully facing Draco.

Draco's out of options. He thinks of only one thing so crazy and outrageous that they might actually believe it.

"Because..."

Hopefully Granger forgave him after this.

"Because I fancy her."

Draco hears Blaise's books drop out of his lap and watches Theos jaw practically hit the floor. The Slytherin common rooms chatter is still going strong around them, many of the students too focused on the news about Lavender to even care about Dracos scandalous crush.

Pansy was not one of those students. Draco knew she'd been listening the whole time. She was always listening. If you ever knew something, chances are Pansy knew two weeks ago. Nothing got past her. Nothing except this.

"Boys!"

Pansy whisper yells from behind Theo and all of them turn their gazes to her. She motions over to the table in the corner of the room where she had been doing coursework. She pushes the parchment to the side as the boys all pull up chairs.

Draco sits last, reluctant to even be doing this.

Damn you Granger!

Pansy waves her wand and she common room goes completely silent. Tucks her wand away and immediately gives Draco a similar look that Blaise and Theo had.

"What! Is! Wrong! With! You!"

Pansy hits his arm as she says every word. He pushes her hands away and smooths out his robes. Theo finally breaks, giving his own jab.

"I agree. Hermione Granger? Potters Princess? The Mudbloo-"

"Don't call her that."

Draco's mouth seem to be making its own decisions either way. His eyes turn thin and his words lace with threat.

He truly meant it.

Hearing them call her that just felt wrong. But not because he actually fancied her or anything. Mostly just cause she probably wasn't Muggleborn, which would make their statements incorrect.

Slytherins didn't like to be incorrect.

"Oh you've gone mad."

It's Blaise that breaks now. His eyes aren't as wide as Pansy or Theos but the change in expression is still there.

Draco fights an eye roll, sighing instead.

"Can you all please not yell at me for this?"

Pansy scoffs as if he's asked her wether or not the sky is blue.

"Yell at you? Oh I'll do more than yell at you Draco!"

Pansy does a fake lunge over the table. Draco jumps back as Blaise's hand grips Pansys arm, pulling her back into her seat. Blaise stares at him still. Did this man ever blink?

"While I agree that Draco's current taste in women is not ideal,"

Theo chuckles and Pansy scoffs again. Blaise continues.

"I do understand that one cannot control their romantic feelings for another. If Draco likes her, he obviously sees something we might not. We have to respect his feelings as he'd respect ours."

Blaise was unwavering beacon of class and respect. His poise but not stoic nature was one of his biggest strengths. It was also another one of his manipulation tactics. He made people feel comfortable in their confessions to then get them to feel safe enough to tell him more.

Damn he was good.

"Thank you Blaise."

Draco nods at him. Blaise nods back.

"But...why? What do you even see in her?"

Pansy looks at him with pleading eyes. If Draco didn't know any better, he'd think she liked him. In reality he knew that she was just very concerned. Given the return of the Dark Lord and the Ministry taking over Hogwarts, having a schoolboy crush on Hermione Granger was ways below ideal.

Draco thinks about her. He thinks about what she was like. What redeeming qualities did Granger hold?

He leans forward and puts his elbows onto the table. His mother would've smacked him for lack of etiquette. The rest of them watch him closely, ready to listen.

"She's..."

Draco finds himself unable to make eye contact with them. He looks down at the table instead and his eyes follow the lining of his sleeve as he speaks.

"She's brilliant. She's strong and witty. Whenever she smiles her entire face lights up. She acts innocent but actually can be pretty troubled. She's funny but I would never say it to her face. And she's...pretty."

Draco sucks his cheeks in for a moment before letting them go and finally looking up. His friends reactions have only gotten worse.

Pansys eye was twitching angrily. Theo was almost as pale as Moaning Myrtle. And Blaise was just smirking.

Blaise smirking was never a good sign.

“Draco Malfoy you nasty boy!”

Dracos nose scrunches in disgust at the name Theo had called him. Theo was always the one to take it alittle too far but at this point, Draco couldn’t bring himself to disagree.

“Agreed. I mean, how long has this been going on?”

Blaise raises a single brow at him.

Draco knew he had to be careful with his words. He might know Blaise like the back of his hand but the boy always had a few more trick up his sleeve.

“Since I first met her honestly.”

Pansy groans and slams her head down on the table but Blaise looks unimpressed. Draco ignores Pansys dramatics and builds the lie from whatever pops into his head first.

“I only recently realized I liked her at the end of last year. Since first year I felt some weird…pull towards her. But I couldn’t openly like her for obvious reasons so I shoved it away. Until at the end of last year when we…”

The hand that Draco had hidden under his arm pinches his side skin, already giving himself the punishment Granger was sure to later.

Theo, ever the impatient, lightly drums the table.

“When you what?”

Draco takes a deep breath and looks Blaise dead in the eye.

“When we kissed.”

A thud is heard as Pansy drops to the floor, the back of her hand touching her forehead. Draco rolls his eyes at her dramatics and Blaise holds his hand out for her to take.

She ignored the gesture, instead she rolls over and makes a huge fake sob while kicking her legs. The boys just watch her, already used to her antics.

“Are you done?”

Blaise’s voice is filled with annoyance as his previously offered hand helps to prop up his leaned head. Pansy sighs loudly before turning back over and sitting up, glaring daggers at Draco.

“If I die, I’m going to come back as a ghost and haunt you.”

Draco lips curl and his brows fur in confusion. Dramatic Pansy never made any sense.

“Die? Why would you die?”

Pansy scoffs once again, as if it was the most obvious statement ever.

“Because Malfoys love like dragons! And you’re gonna get all obsessed with her and then you’re gonna start doing things that you would’ve never done before like being honest and fighting fair!”

Theo snickers but Pansy shoots him a look aswell, making him immediately cower.

“Then she’s gonna convince you to join their side and HE’LL come after you! And that’s only if you get that far! If you don’t get killed by something else or HE decides to get in your head and use you as some covert spy where you will inevitably die! In any possible scenario, YOU DIE!”

Draco’s confusion has been wiped away.

Pansy was scared he’d die?

He knew she had some abandonment issues. That was practically a rite of passage for being a pure blood. But Pansy had once explained to him how it’s different girls.

Boys can at least get the attention and love from their parents easier. But girls were always pushed aside. Made to feel less than. They had no one until they eventually got lucky enough to make bonds of their own.

Pansy and Draco were practically brother and sister.

Their parents had been preparing them to get married the second they came of age. They’d both grown up knowing this so they found no point in avoiding each other until them.

Pansy had been obsessive at first. She followed him everywhere and did everything he asked. She always tried desperately to get him to like her.

But mid-way through third year, something shifted. Draco chalked it up to plain old change but ever since then she’d calmed down.

They’d become real friends, not just kids who were going to be married off for status purposes.

Draco had been shocked at the fact that he’d ever been fine to put up with the old Pansy. To have a marriage that would’ve been full of annoyance and infidelity. He very much preferred being Pansys best friend.

They’d found friendship and family in one another.

Which is why it now made sense that Pansy freaked.

Everything that she said could be a possibility, if he actually fancied Granger. He obviously didn’t but that was the story he’d created, leading Pansy to believe that it was the truth and nothing but the truth.

And it killed him to lie to her.

“Pansy, none of that is gonna happen.”

Pansy ignores his comment and wipes tears he hasn’t realized were coming out of her eyes.

“Everything is gonna go to shit. Isn’t it?”

She whispers still, even with the silencing spell surrounding their table. Draco turns to look at Theo and Blaise. Theo just looks sour and Blaise looks something like pitiful.

Draco turns away from them and at the sight of Pansy, who was now standing infront of him. She’s had visibly relaxed but the stress of her words still hang in the air.

Draco wants to tell her no. He wants to have a shred of hope that something would go their way and they wont have to fight in a war and become people they never really wanted to be.

He settles on pinching his side again.

“It’s only a crush Pansy. They kissed but from what Draco said, it seems like nothing came from it, right?”

Draco quickly nods. Theos attempt to diminish what the situation could become was kind but overall fell flat with the rest of them. They all knew the obsessive gene that plagued the Malfoy bloodline. They expected that it was only a small amount of time until the obsession would take over and they’d have to choose sides.

They all hated the idea of choosing a side.

Draco just hated the fact that the people he loved were going to get hurt because of stupid stupid Granger.

He really hoped that this would all be worth it.

He needed it to be.

“I think I’m gonna finish my work in my room.”

Pansy sniffles and snatched her parchment and quill from beside Blaise. The boys watch as she scurries off and the sound of the common room comes back at fulll force.

Draco sigh and shuts his eyes.

How could he be so stupid?! He’d only been thinking at the “now” of it all. Especially after the Wesley twins had approached him; he’d been all ears for ways to “give them hell”.

He ached to tell Granger the truth. To tell his friends the truth.

But the twins had told him to wait and watch.

So that’s what he had to do. Wait and watch.

None if the boys speak for a solid ten minutes after Pansy has stormed off. Theo breaks the silence first by clearing his throat.

“I’m actually quite tired myself. I’m gonna head in.”

He leaves the same way Pansy had, fast and without a second glance.

Draco and Blaise continue to sit together as Blaise drums his finger tips on his forearm and stares away from Draco. Draco begins to form his own excuse to leave when Blaise’s turns his head to him. Draco stares back, waiting for him to say something. The silence continues before Blaise’s cheek twitches and he opens his mouth.

“Be careful Draco. Whatever you’re doing with her. Just be careful.”

Blaise gives him the oddest look before standing from the table himself. Draco watches him disappear into the dorms before turning away.

That conversation had been completely unexpected and went a million different ways in the span of a few minutes.

Draco felt dread building within him.

Though he had his secret plan with the Weasleys, Draco had still resided himself to the fact that he was gonna be a Death Eater. He’d accepted the fact that the Dark Lord was back and a lot of people were going to die. He’d begun to accept the person he was going to become.

But Hermione Granger always had to be a tidal wave on a tiny shore.

She always had to be the anomaly.

Draco laughs to himself about how similar she and Potter were.

Always the selfish and powerful.

Draco decides that it’s too soon to go back to the dorms. He folds his hands ontop of the table and drops his head onto his arms.

He falls asleep thinking about her.