Call Me Moo

Going to class was the last thing you wanted to do today. You had gone to bed the night before feeling feverishly ill, convincing yourself that a full night's sleep would stop whatever sickness was creeping in before it had the chance to get any worse. You were wrong. Very wrong. Still, your pride refused to let you take a sick day. Exams were approaching, and Christmas break was just around the corner. Those were the thoughts you clung to as you pulled on a few extra layers to fight off the relentless chills that wracked your body. You were an excellent student. All you had to do was make it through the next few days, and then you could rest as much as you wanted. After pulling your hair into a high ponytail to keep it off your face, you caught your reflection in the mirror. Your complexion was pale, almost ghostly, and you looked every bit as sick as you felt. Caring took more energy than you had to spare, so you simply turned away and made your way to class.

You slipped into your usual seat beside Daphne Greengrass, your best friend at Hogwarts. A few rows ahead and slightly diagonal from you sat your boyfriend, Draco, alongside Theodore Nott. Draco had never been one for public displays of affection, and truthfully, neither were you. Behind closed doors, however, he was an entirely different person. Gentle. Affectionate. Tender in ways no one else ever got to see. He never made you feel as though you had to be anyone other than yourself, though he had always been honest about the expectations placed upon him whenever others were watching.You understood. You had been raised in the same pure-blood society and knew exactly what was expected of someone like Draco, especially with his father constantly looming over his every move. His carefully maintained, unapproachable exterior had never bothered you. If anything, you liked knowing that the only person capable of softening him was you. So when you arrived later than usual, quietly took your seat, and looked as though you had been dragged through the night kicking and screaming, Draco noticed immediately.

Your eyes were dull and glassy, your skin carried an unhealthy sheen that was nothing like your usual glow, and your lips had lost nearly all their color. You could feel his eyes lingering on you from across the room until you finally looked up. He silently mouthed, Are you alright? You gave him a small nod before immediately stopping. The simple movement sent another sharp throb through your head, making you wince. Draco's expression flattened into one that clearly said, I don't believe you. Before either of you could say anything more, the professor called the class to order, and the lesson began.

There was about half an hour left of class when the sounds around you suddenly became muffled, as though someone had stuffed cotton into your ears. At the same time, your vision began to blur, making it difficult to focus on anything in front of you.You could hear Daphne whispering to you, but her words were indistinguishable. Hoping to ask what she had said, you slowly turned toward her. The look of worry on her face made your stomach sink.You blinked, and she was already on her feet, facing the front of the classroom. What is she doing? What's going on? Even your thoughts felt sluggish, as if your mind were struggling to keep up. Through the haze, you barely managed to make out Daphne calling the professor's name. Every voice sounded distant and muffled, as though everyone were speaking through a thick wall. A moment later, your professor knelt in front of you and gently pressed the back of his hand against your forehead. His eyes widened almost instantly.

"Someone call the nurse, now."

The words were faint, but the urgency in his voice cut through the fog. Before you knew it, Draco was at your side. You weren't sure if it was simply your body recognizing that you were finally safe, finally able to stop fighting whatever illness had been draining you all day, but the moment his hands found you, your consciousness began to slip away. It was as though your body had quietly whispered, You're safe now. Let us take it from here. The world went dark. When you came to again, whether seconds or minutes later, you found yourself lying on the floor with a crowd of students gathered around you. Their faces blurred together, but one remained painfully clear. Draco.You could hear him calling your name. You felt his hand cradling your face, his thumb brushing gently over your cheek with just enough pressure to coax you awake. Whenever he wasn't murmuring reassurances to you, you caught snippets of him barking at everyone else.

"Back up."

"Give her some space."

"Fuck off. Have you idiots got nothing better to do?"

His voice was sharp enough to cut through the room, commanding everyone around him without a second thought. Yet the instant his attention returned to you, every trace of that harshness disappeared.

"I've got you."

"I'm right here, darling."

"You're okay."

"You're going to be just fine. I won't let anything happen to you."

No one else ever got to hear this version of Draco, the one whose voice was impossibly soft, whose touch was impossibly gentle. The one who held you as though you might shatter if he was anything less. You drifted in and out of consciousness, each time your eyes fluttering open just enough to find him still there. Every time they did, he greeted you with another quiet reassurance, another gentle promise that eased the trembling in your body and quieted the panic threatening to rise in your chest. Then your eyes would close again. And each time they did, it was a little easier to let go, knowing Draco was there to catch you.

When you finally woke up, the first thing you realized was that you weren't in the infirmary. The second was that you weren't in your own dormitory. That didn't mean you were somewhere unfamiliar. Quite the opposite. You knew this room like the back of your hand. You could probably walk through it blindfolded. Somehow, you'd ended up in Draco's room. How he'd managed to arrange that was beyond you. Maybe he'd pulled a few strings, called in a favor, or simply refused to take no for an answer. Whatever he'd done, it had worked. The thought faded as you realized how much better you felt. The pounding in your head had dulled to a faint ache, and the feverish chills were finally gone. Beside the bed, an IV slowly dripped into your arm, while a bowl of medicinal herbs rested on the bedside table. You recognized them immediately from previous visits to the infirmary. Madam Pomfrey had clearly been by before allowing you to be moved. Warm morning sunlight streamed through the window, making you wonder just how long you'd been asleep. Before you could piece it together, the bedroom door opened. Draco stepped inside carrying a few books. The moment he saw your eyes open, he dropped them onto the nearest chair and crossed the room in only a few hurried strides.

"You're awake."

The relief on his face was impossible to miss as he gently took your hand.

"You passed out in class yesterday," he explained quietly. "Madam Pomfrey kept you in the infirmary until she was sure you were stable. After that..." A small, almost smug smile tugged at his lips. "I convinced her you'd recover better here, so long as she continued checking on you."

It wasn't exactly surprising. Draco Malfoy had always been remarkably good at getting his way. You listened quietly, the last missing pieces finally falling into place. It was a little ridiculous that you'd somehow ended up in Draco Malfoy's room instead of the infirmary, but you couldn't say you minded. If anything, there was nowhere else you'd rather be. A small, tired laugh escaped you.

"You bullied Madam Pomfrey into letting me stay here, didn't you?"

The corner of Draco's mouth twitched into the faintest smirk.

"Bullied is such an ugly word."

"So that's a yes."

He didn't bother denying it. Instead, he reached over to straighten your blankets before making sure your potion and water were within easy reach, pretending he wasn't fussing over you nearly as much as he actually was. Watching him, you realized he'd probably been just as frightened as everyone else when you collapsed. You reached for his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.

"Thank you."

His expression softened.

"You don't have to thank me for taking care of you."

Before you could think of a response, he picked up the potion from your bedside table and held it out to you.

"Drink."

You sighed dramatically, accepting the vial with an exaggerated look of annoyance.

"Really?"

He raised an eyebrow.

"Don't test me."

You had been secretly seeing Draco Malfoy for two months now, though the two of you had been drawn to each other for nearly a year before that. What started as stolen glances and subtle attempts to find one another had slowly turned into something neither of you could ignore.

It was a strange balance, being close to someone while pretending you weren’t. The two of you had to be careful, finding moments together when no one was watching and keeping the details of whatever was happening between you to yourselves. Still, despite the secrecy, there was a comfort in knowing that it was something shared only between the two of you.

The relationship remained a secret by mutual agreement. With a name as powerful and as heavily scrutinized as “Malfoy,” it seemed easier for both of you to keep things private for as long as possible. Neither of you wanted the opinions, rumors, or expectations that came with it to interfere with whatever was growing between you.

You had to constantly pretend that the girls who threw themselves at Draco didn’t bother you, and he had to do the same whenever some boy offered to help you with something you were perfectly capable of doing yourself, using it as nothing more than an excuse to get closer to you.

Neither of you ever gave the other a reason to doubt where your feelings stood, but that didn’t mean it was always easy. There were moments when the act became exhausting or when having to hide what you were to each other felt like more effort than it should have been. Still, all of those moments became worth it the second you were finally alone together.

Behind closed doors, there was no pretending, no watching what you said or how you acted. It was just the two of you, and Draco always found a way to make every moment you had together worth the wait whether that be in the way he kissed you, or the way he would take a little extra time brushing your hair out of your face before telling you how pretty you looked trying to hide your jealousy when that ravenclaw girl tried to get his attention. Or in the way he was dying to have you sprawled out onto his sheets so he could selfishly taste you again.

When it was just the two of you, there was no room for guessing. But the second you left his room, or he left yours, the act was back on. As the months went by, it became harder and harder to hide what was happening between you.

Simple things, like sneaking glances at each other in class more often than you used to, started becoming noticeable to your friends. They began to pick up on the way your attention always seemed to find him, or how Draco, despite pretending not to care, always seemed to know exactly where you were whenever they’d ask.

It was the little things that gave you away, the way his expression softened when he spoke to you, the way you instinctively looked for him whenever you entered a room, or the way he somehow always ended up sitting closer to you than necessary. Even the smallest gestures, like him remembering something you mentioned weeks ago or you fixing his tie without thinking, started to feel impossible to explain away.

The two of you had gotten so used to hiding what was between you that you didn’t realize how much of it had started showing. But there was still one thing neither of you had ever been willing to risk, letting the world see just how much you meant to each other.

Draco especially had always been careful about that. For someone who carried the Malfoy name, vulnerability was something he avoided at all costs. He had spent years building a reputation around being untouchable, someone who never needed anyone, never cared enough to be hurt, and certainly never let anyone see a side of him that could be considered soft. Which was why no one expected it when, during the biggest Quidditch match of the season, that carefully guarded image began to fall apart.

The Slytherin versus Hufflepuff match had drawn the entire school to the stands. The moment Draco stepped onto the pitch, all eyes naturally followed him. He carried himself with the same arrogance he brought everywhere else, the kind that made people believe he was untouchable. He had always been good at making people believe nothing could truly affect him.

But even Draco Malfoy, with all the confidence and control he carried, was not immune to moments he could not prevent. It happened in a matter of seconds. One moment, Draco was exactly where he was meant to be, high above the pitch, moving with the precision and control that had made him one of Slytherin’s strongest players.

And then, without warning, the game changed.

A Bludger came flying toward him faster than anyone could have anticipated, colliding with his broom before he had any chance to react. There was no mistake, no moment of carelessness, no fault of his own. It was simply one of those rare moments where even the best players could be caught off guard.

The entire stadium watched as his broom was knocked off course, as the confident figure everyone had been watching suddenly lost the control he was known for having.

For a moment, there was nothing but silence.

Then he fell.

The sound of him hitting the ground echoed across the pitch, and the cheers that had filled the stadium only seconds before disappeared completely. For a moment, no one moved. No one knew what to say. The boy who had spent years convincing everyone that he was untouchable was suddenly on the ground, injured and unable to hide it. Madam Pomfrey rushed onto the pitch, immediately moving to assess the damage, but Draco barely seemed to register the people surrounding him. The pain, the shock, and the hundreds of eyes watching him didn’t matter.

The only thing he cared about was you.

And through the thick and unwavering silence, everyone heard him ask for you.

The words were quiet, strained, and so unlike the Draco Malfoy everyone knew that the entire stadium seemed to freeze. The boy who had spent years refusing help, refusing weakness, and refusing to let anyone see him as anything other than perfect had done the one thing no one ever expected him to do.

He admitted that he needed someone.

He needed you.

He wanted you.

He begged, not for the pain to subside, but for someone, anyone, to bring you to him.

Even then, even injured and surrounded by people waiting to see if he was alright, his first concern was not himself. It was whether you were worried. Whether someone had told you he was okay. Whether or not you knew he was going to be fine.

And that was the moment everyone finally understood. The reason Draco had become different wasn’t because he had changed who he was. It was because there was someone who brought out the parts of him he had spent years hiding.