♡

he finally reached your house, the only room with the lights on being yours. he didn’t know if your parents were home, and he didn’t want to risk it when they already thought lowly of him. so, he looked around, grabbing a small pebble off the side of the road and throwing it up at your window. he got it spot on, bouncing off of the pane with a small, yet noticeable clank.

he could see your shadow shifting a bit, then eventually go back to lie down on your bed. he rolled his eyes, grabbing another small piece of debris and tossing it up again. this one seemed to finally grab your attention, as he watched you slide over the frilly curtains, squinting and eventually recognizing him.

he let out a quiet laugh as your eyes darted around the rest of the street, making sure there was nobody else, then back at your closed bedroom door. then, a hushed whisper.

“what?!”

he knew trying to talk to you like this would be useless, so he just gestured with his hand for you to come down. luckily for him, you listened with just a slight eye roll.

you closed the curtains, and a few minutes later appeared from the front door, a grumpy look on your face.

“hello to you too,” he remarked, noticing how you certainly didn’t want to be there.

he felt bad about seeing you upset, but he couldn’t help but tease you when you were like this, compared to your typical personality.

“now will you tell me what you want?” you asked him, and he definitely didn’t miss the attitude used in it.

“walk with me?” he offered, holding his hand out. if you said something about it, he’d play it off as a joke, but he was hoping you wouldn’t.

you glanced back at your house. a little walk couldn’t hurt, right? plus, it wasn’t like your mood could’ve gotten worse. so, with a small groan, you placed your hand in his, the warmth radiating from him encompassing you in the brisk night air.

he let his hand fall a bit, holding it in a more natural position as he began leading you away from the house and down the streets of rome. or, at least, the small neighborhood your house was in.

the walk was comfortably quiet, but niccolo could feel you relax more, leaning into him a bit, your body becoming less tense. he decided to be bold. there was no way you hadn’t noticed his stares during class, or the way he’d always try to be near you. why not lean into it?

“you look good,” he complimented softly, his voice sweeter than it was with anyone else.

he was only met with a glare in response, and the feeling of you pulling away from him slightly. you figured he was joking, considering you just got out of bed, and were in a pair of sweatpants and whatever shirt you saw first before leaving, which was currently hanging suspiciously large on you.

he held is free hand up in a mock surrender pose, not daring let go of yours with his other. he even subtly pulled you back in a bit closer to him. he didn’t get to do this often, and he would be stupid if he didn’t make the best of it.

“i’m serious, i swear!” he tried to defend, a wide grin spread across his face.

you looked skeptical, but leaned fully back against his arm nonetheless, a gentler smile replacing the one he had been wearing.

“thank you,” you mumbled, and he could tell how tired you were.

part of him felt bad for keeping you up, especially when you had been so upset. but hey, you had chosen to walk with him, to hold his hand, to lean against him like this.

still he had his doubts.

“wanna go back home?” he asked quietly as his expression faltered a bit, not wanting to ruin the moment. the moment he hoped you were feeling too.

his question was answered with a shake of your head against his arm, and suddenly he couldn’t stop smiling.

“good,” he hummed, pressing a hesitant kiss to the top of your head. you didn’t respond, but didn’t pull away. he’d take the win.

you were suddenly happy for the lack of streetlights, not wanting the obvious flush on your face to be illuminated. he looked over at you, and you thought you were caught, but something rather unexpected fell from his mouth.

“is that my shirt?”

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

It was midday, lunch was almost about to start with students walking into the great hall with all their friends. A few days ago Professor Dumbledore announced that there was a ball to be held soon. Everyone had been prepping everything so early! The ball wasn't until next month, but even so, witches had already been asked to be a wizards date for the ball. Too soon? Well no wizard or witch thought so.

⋆𐙚₊˚⊹♡

"honestly, don't you think it's a bit too early for them to be asking their 'special' someone out to the ball?" Padma Patil, one of your best friends said while sitting down in front of you.

"I'm not quite sure, maybe they just want a heads up? I mean it's better than worrying about matching gowns and dress robes a week before the ball" You said not really caring about the other students.

"Well you wouldn't have trouble with that wouldn't you, y/n/n? Your the most gorgeous girl I've ever seen! You could end up with a date at the end of the week, maybe even the end of the day!" Padma giggles

"Awh thank you! Honestly Padma look at yourself, you're as well. You might end up with a date earlier than me!" You said with giggles

As soon as you finished, lunch was ready and already appeared on your house's table. Just as you were about to get a place you heard some talking from the Slytherin table, Slytherins always had much to say.

"Well I think all they want to do is shove it in our arses that we don't have any dates yet!" You heard Goyle, a Slytherin in your year grumble while eating, you've seen him around, he's always been following his leader, Malfoy. Oh how you had a deep feeling of annoyance for that man. "Oh come on Goyle, is it that hard to find a date? Don't worry you've got a month or so left." Draco Malfoy said in reply "Now you see, such a man like me" Malfoy said pointing to himself "has had thousands of girls begging to be my date for the ball"

Rowena save me. The slytherin was so full of himself! Even if his statement was true, Draco Malfoy was still a stuck up in the arse bastard!

It pains you that, the stuck up bastard was your potions partner for the rest of the year. It pains you so much you've started thinking that Snape might hate every part of you.

⋆𐙚₊˚⊹♡

After lunch, you check your time table. Your next class was potions and honestly you felt like going to madam pomfrey, and lie about stomach pain. You bid fair well to Padma and started walking to class. You barely got to see but you accidentally bumped into another student setting up one of his yule ball proposals. The decorations scattered onto the floor and your face turned beet red

"Oh my Merlin, I'm so sorry!" You said picking up your thing trying to find your wand to fix the mess you've caused.

"Oh don't worry about it L/N, it's fine really. A simple spell ought to do the trick!" You looked up to see Cedric diggory smiling. As you picked up your things he used a spell to set things back together. How cute he was asking Cho Chang to be his date to the ball! You apologized again while walking away from him. While walking you felt a gaze following you, but you didn't really see anyone.

You barely made it to class, you were 5minutes away from being late and landing detention with Snape.

⋆𐙚₊˚⊹♡

"Good Afternoon class" you heard Snape say to the whole class.

Your potions partner seemed to be running late and hadn't showed up yet, hes totally getting detention. Snape never lets anyone get tested for class especially his. The professor is bloody strict.

Snape has told the class about the potion that will be made today, and oh Rowena was it going to be a topic for sure. Amortentia, one of the most powerful love potions there is. You could practically hear your friends asking you what you smelled after class.

While you were writing down what snape had been instructing the class to do, the classroom door opened and revealed Draco Malfoy.

"How sorry I am for being late professor Snape! I assure you it won't happen again." Malfoy said almost half joking. To your surprise snape barely did anything all he did was tell Malfoy to go back to his seat and continued on with his talking! Favoritism at its finest.

"Hope you haven't missed me too much darling, got caught up on something, yeah?" Malfoy said sitting down beside you. Honestly the tosser really had the nerve!

"Stop with the nonsense Malfoy, you've arrived late already might as well start preparing what we need for this bloody potion." You said not wanting to deal with him.

He didn't say anything, he just started prepping the cauldron and ingredients for the potion. When Snape finally stopped talking he had told the class to start brewing their potions. The two of you started brewing, well Malfoy started brewing, all you did was instruct the boy on what to do. It became the norm for both of you, you wrote the notes and told him what to do, and Malfoy would brew the potion. It's a win win, you didn't have to get your hands dirty, and he didn't have to listen to Snape talk for 30 minutes.

As you were instructing him, the smell of his perfume got stronger and it was starting to throw you off. How insecure of yourself do you have to be to drown yourself in perfume? You understood he was rich and could afford to buy millions of perfume bottles a day, but using that much was bollocks!

"You really want a date for the ball don't you L/N? I can smell your vanilla shampoo from here, getting prepped up so early, there like what? A month until the ball." Malfoy said as he stopped mixing the cauldron.

"Oh would you be quiet? Your perfume is basically all anyone can smell right now! You've practically put on a whole bottle!" You retorted! What does he mean? You were not that down bad for a date. Before the blonde could give u a snarky comment, Snape headed to both of you.

"ah Mr. Malfoy and Ms.L/N, it seems you have finished brewing the potion?" Snape says in his natural voice. Snape continues to check your work and it hit draco Malfoy almost too early

You didn't use too much shampoo, it was the potions work.

"Good job to both of you. 5points to each of your houses." Snape tells you.

⋆𐙚₊˚⊹♡

Draco's pov

"I can't believe it blaise, I smelt a ravenclaw in that bloody potion!" Draco rumbled, he still hasn't believed you were what attracts him that most. He wasn't going to lie when he thought you were attractive, you were above average!

"Draco don't be so fussy about it. So what if she's what you're attracted to the most? You could ask her out to the ball. You don't have a date yet, she's a pureblood your mother and father wouldn't mind." Blaise said wanting to get over the situation and was already thinking about falling asleep. It was 11pm for Salazar's sake!

"Bloody hell Blaise! Your a genius! I should totally ask a ravenclaw to the ball" draco said sarcastically "honestly what's your problem dray, she's a pretty nice witch. Give it a try" Blaise said yawning.

"You know what Blaise, you might be right. Anyways who would turn ME down? I'm the slytherin prince!" Draco said thinking about how he should even ask you out to the ball.

"mhm that's right mate, you should realllllllyyyyyyyyy give it a try" Blaise said falling asleep on his bed not bothering to hear what ever draco had to say next.

1⋆𐙚₊˚⊹♡

Your pov

You weren't over what happened yesterday, Malfoy didn't have any right to tell you anything when he practically bathed in perfume. The incident kept on replaying until Padma snapped you out of it.

"Hello? Merlin's beard y/n you've been zoning out for the past hour! Breakfast is about to be served and you're still laying your head on the table!" Padma said "I would be surprised if a plate of toast appears on top of your ear by now." She added with a giggle

"Im sorry Padmaaa, I'm just so tired today" you said

Before Padma could say anything packages from everyone's owl start flying in. You say that you had two owls flying towards you and your best friend.

As the packages started to land on the tables, you realized you had two boxes in front of you! One from you mother and one anonymous.

"Ohhh who's that one from y/n/n? It looks big!" As you opened the unusual looking box, petals started falling on top of you and a bouquet with the most beautiful flowers ever stared right before your eyes. You read the letter on the bouquet not minding the people looking at you. The petals probably made a huge mess.

"Y/n your eyes glimmer like the stars in the night sky, you hair flowing like flowers through the wind, you are infact the most beautiful girl I have ever seen. Would you give me the honour of being your date to the yule ball- yours truly D.M ps. I already bought you a gown, we'll be matching" You read the last part in horror.

DRACO MALFOY ASKED ME TO BE HIS DATE TO THE YULE BALL?!?!?!?!!?!?!!!!!!!

You could barely speak when Padma took the letter from your hands and let out a shriek

"WHAT?" Padma said in shock, you both sat there in pure shock before you told her

"padma I think we should go bad to the common room" you said, half of the ravenclaw table was staring at you both and even some students from other houses stared as well. "Right on It" Padma said

You took your things (as well as the package draco had given you) and ran to the common room.

You and Padma talked about the event again and again until you knew how to confront draco and tell him that you, that you uhm...

You didn't know what to tell Draco Malfoy.

You thought it was nice of him to ask u to be his date for the ball, you wanted to go with him really, even if he was kind of a arsehole, but he gave effort and that counts.

"Padma I'm going to talk to him, I basically haven't even told him if I would go or not. We just ran out of the great hall!" You told Padma who was still red from embarrassment from shrieking so loud earlier at breakfast.

"of course, that seems right enough, do you want me to go with? " She asked

"I'll be better on my own I'll tell you when I get back though!' you said

That was final, you were going to tell Draco Malfoy how you really felt.

⋆𐙚₊˚⊹♡

It was almost 6pm, which was dinner time, you decided to go to draco and tell him how you felt about the letter. You couldn't find him at all you practically already roamed the whole castle! You had only the library left to check, once you got there you bumped into him!

Rowena Ravenclaw have mercy! You couldn't muster up a single word. Well you kind did but

"dracoimsosorrythatItoldyou,you agedinperfumeyesterdayikindameantirbuthonestlyiwouldreallyliketogototheballwithyou" you said all in one breath

"Woah,Woah, slow down would you love? Couldn't understand a single thing that came out of your lovely mouth" He said dusting himself and smiled.

" Draco you're kind of a bastard but you're a nice bastard if that makes sense. Your letter was really sweet and I would love to go to the ball with you!" You said too shy to look at him

Draco stared at you in disbelief "Thank you love, that means a lot to me" he said at last not really knowing what to say about the bastard part. "How about we talk about your dress, I thought you'd like to know about that, huh?" Draco Smirked at you while he guided you to the great hall for dinner

Padma would be thrilled when she finds out!

“I swear,” you huffed one evening in the common room, dramatically flopping into a chair and kicking off your battered shoes, “these are cursed. Walking around Hogwarts is like a medieval torture device.”

Your friends, used to your tirades, just laughed and kept chatting, not paying much attention.

But the next morning, something unexpected happened.

Sitting neatly on your bed was a box—wrapped in elegant silver paper, tied with a green ribbon. Your brows furrowed in confusion. Tucked under the bow was a small note, written in clean, slightly slanted handwriting:

“For your poor, tortured toes.”

No name. No hint of who sent it.

Cautiously, you opened the box—and your eyes widened. Inside was a pair of gorgeous shoes: soft, sturdy, and—when you tried them on—shockingly comfortable. Like walking on clouds.

You stormed down to the common room, holding the box high. “Okay, which one of you is my secret shoe fairy?”

Blank stares. Shrugs. Smirks. Everyone swore they knew nothing.

Strange.

And it didn’t stop there.

A few days later, you were crammed into the library, wedged into a tiny spot between two first-years, scowling at your overflowing notes. You muttered under your breath, “The library is always packed during exam season. I can never get my spot. Honestly, what’s the point?”

You didn’t expect anything to happen.

But the very next day, when you walked into the library, you nearly dropped your books in shock. In the far corner—a place you’d never noticed before—was a little tucked-away alcove. It was empty, despite the crowded room, and set up with plush cushions, soft lighting, and a perfectly organized desk.

Floating just above the table was a tiny enchanted sign that read:

“Reserved for annoying overachievers only. (who is mostly known as Y/N)”

Your eyes darted around, but no one seemed to be watching.

Later that week, after losing your hair tie for the third time in a single afternoon, you huffed loudly, “I keep losing my hair ties. It’s like they disappear into thin air. I’m cursed.”

You didn’t expect anything.

But the next morning, you found a little velvet pouch sitting right on your pillow. Inside were enchanted hair ties—smooth, shiny, and softly shimmering with magic.

The note?

“No excuses for messy hair now.”

At this point, your friends were obsessed with the mystery. “You’ve definitely got a secret admirer,” one of them said, grinning. “Come on, who wouldn’t like you?”

You’d laughed it off, but secretly… your heart was starting to race every time something new appeared.

Then, after a long day of running between classes and study sessions, chilled to the bone and completely exhausted, you slumped onto a bench in the corridor, groaning, “I never have time to get tea between classes. I’m going to shrivel up and die at this rate.”

And later that day, as you pulled out your books in class, you blinked down in surprise. Sitting snug in your bag was a self-heating mug—warm and steaming with your exact favorite tea.

The note?

“Can’t have you dehydrated now, can we?”

It was driving you crazy. Every complaint, every little offhand comment—you were starting to realize someone was listening. Really listening. And fixing things in ways that made your chest ache and your stomach flip.

But no one admitted a thing.

Then one night, sitting by the fire after a long day, you sighed without thinking. “Honestly, I don’t even know why I care about any of this. It’s not like any boy actually likes me.”

Silence.

The kind of silence that makes you look up, because something shifts.

And there he was—Draco Malfoy. Leaning casually against the wall nearby, watching you with a look you couldn’t quite place. His arms were crossed, and for once, his usual smirk was gone.

“Well,” he said, his voice low and careful, “for once, I can’t exactly fix that with a note.”

Your heart stumbled. “Wait… what?”

He pushed off the wall, stepping closer, rubbing the back of his neck—a surprisingly shy gesture. “It’s been me,” he admitted quietly. “The shoes. The library spot. The tea. All of it.”

You stared, stunned. “You?”

He nodded, meeting your eyes head-on now. “You never stop complaining,” he said with a tiny, teasing smile, “and I guess… I just wanted to make things better. Because I—” He hesitated, his usual confidence faltering. “Because I like you. I’ve liked you for… a while.”

You stared at him, your heart pounding, piecing together every note, every gift, every quiet, thoughtful act.

“Draco…” you breathed, stepping a little closer.

He shrugged, eyes flicking down. “So… I was hoping I finally fixed that last complaint.”

You grinned, your heart completely full now. “Hmm… not quite yet.”

His brows lifted. “No?”

You smiled, soft and sure. “I think a kiss might do the trick.”

For a split second, Draco looked stunned. And then he leaned in, catching your lips in a kiss that was gentle at first—almost careful—but quickly deepened, full of all the quiet feelings he’d been hiding for so long.

When you finally pulled back, he was smiling—a real, warm, genuine smile, eyes shining.

“There,” he murmured, brushing his thumb across your cheek. “Fixed.”

And for once… you had absolutely nothing left to complain about.

⊱ ─── ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ ─── ⊰