Love hurts, and so does life.
Shuri had never in her life not been the smartest and most intelligent person in a room.
She had never known what it would feel like to have someone look at you with such… pity. And now she did.
She had never met anyone her age even half as competent as her. Now she had.
She had been outsmarted, by a white boy, and that made it that much more of an unbearable feeling. She did not like it at all. She was not going to stand for it. She wasn’t.
The boy in question was in the same house as her. Ravenclaw.
The male first year had skin whiter than snow, platinum blond hair, eyes a steely silver. His lips were pink, plump and full, and he had the perfect cupid's bow. He had a cute, upturned button up nose and he had cheekbones that would make even Aphrodite jealous. And his jawline. Damn, his jawline. It could probably cut someone in half if he tried hard enough. And he smiled, oh how he smiled. It was the most endearing and lovely thing in the world.
But that doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter that this was the most gorgeous boy that she had ever met, and the most intelligent, funny, kind and cute person she had ever met. It didn’t matter.
She kept telling that to herself. She did not have a crush on this boy! She did not have a crush on Draco bloody Malfoy!
But how could she not? He was perfect in every way imaginable. Except from one little detail that she didn’t want to think about.
He was gay.
He was attracted to other males. How did she know that? Well, he and his friend group weren’t exactly subtle about their sexual orientation.
Far from it, actually.
There wasn’t a day during the past three months were they weren’t making jokes about how gay they were, or how Parkinson and Blaise wouldn’t have a hard time finding someone to love, seeing as they were open to date most people, being bisexual and all.
Or how Peter would flirt with both the male and female students in the first and second year. Although she wasn’t sure he knew he was even doing it. It made her uneasy how easy it was for him to wrap people around his fingers.
That Wade Wilson on the other hand definitely didn’t seem to mind.
Or how Nott would keep making jokes about how fucking relieved he was that he didn’t have periods anymore, or how he would say that being a girl was fucking tiring.
Or how Draco, oh her beautiful Draco, would make jokes about how the only pussy he had ever come close to was his mothers (when he was born) and how he didn’t want to ever experience coming that close to one in the future.
Her perfect Draco was homosexual, and there was nothing she could do about it. Except for pining from afar. Plus, he probably had a crush on Potter, seeing as they always talked, always laughed and hugged and smiled and touched and hung out and held hands and-
They had just started third year when it happened.
She stood stock still, looking in disbelief at what she saw before her. Draco and Potter were standing oh so close to one another by the lake. Their faces were inches from each other. Potter slowly leaned in, and kissed Draco. He kissed him.
He kissed her Draco.
And now it was different. Oh, how different it was.
They still held hands, they still hugged, they still laughed. But now. Oh, now.
Now they kissed and caressed each others cheeks and cuddled and leaned on each other and were always with each other and always whined when they weren’t close and they hung out, but so did their friends and-
And she wasn’t with them.
They weren’t her friends, and they were never going to be. He wasn’t her friend, and he was never going to be. And she had to accept that. So she did.
She walked up to Draco, and oh he was still so perfect. He was still the smartest, still the most beautiful, still poised, graceful and elegant. But she had to forget. She had to.
She looked him dead in the eye, and said “Draco, correct? Don’t believe we’ve talked before. My name is Shuri. Just wanted to say, you might have been the top student these past two years, but I just wanted you to know that I plan on beating you this year, so heads up”.
And Draco, oh her beautiful, wonderful, perfect little dragon merely beamed at her, a crazed and satisfied glint in his eyes.
And from that day on, she was his friend. And then she was friends with his friends. She was one of them. But she was not his, and she was never going to be.
And she had accepted that. She was just happy to have found friends. People she could trust, people she loved, and people who loved her.
And even though it still broke her heart whenever Draco or Harry kissed, or cuddled, or laughed or smiled-
It was okay now. She was okay now.