Theodore Nott - First mentioned by surname at the Sorting Ceremony in book 1, but not mentioned again or confirmed to be a Slytherin until book 5. For more about him and why he's on this list, check this post, which describes him better than I could ever hope to.

Adrian Pucey - A Chaser on the Slytherin Quidditch team in books 1, 2, and 5, who's never seen cheating or making any fouls, nor is he given any negative descriptors. He's also one of two Slytherin Quidditch players who isn't shown to be on the Inquisitorial Squad in book 5. The other is Miles Bletchley, who is sadly disqualified from this list for allegedly jinxing Alicia Spinnet.

Terence Higgs - The Slytherin Seeker in book 1, who is also shown to play fairly, and whose only negative description is that Harry is faster than him, which is to be expected seeing as Harry presumably has the better broom.

Peregrine Derrick - One of Slytherin's Beaters, he doesn't attempt to physically attack other players with his bat, unlike his fellow Beater Lucian Bole. Of course, he hits Bludgers at them, but that's just part of the game. He and Bole are described as unintelligent in book 5, but by Angelina Johnson, who as Gryffindor Quidditch captain would naturally be biased, and at any rate they've already left school at that point. On a side note, I feel kind of sorry for him and Bole, seeing as what would have been their final Quidditch season at Hogwarts was cancelled for the Triwizard Tournament.

Malcolm Baddock - One of the few Slytherins who are explicitly younger than Harry, he appears at the Sorting Ceremony in book 4, and is hissed by Fred and George Weasley, who are nearly adults by wizard standards at this point, for being sorted into Slytherin.

Graham Pritchard - Mentioned at the Sorting Ceremony in book 4, but doesn't directly appear. Presumably, he was just listed to fill out the scene, but he was sorted into Slytherin and is never seen doing anything evil or bloodist, so…

Daphne Greengrass - Mentioned as taking her OWLs in book 5. She's not explicitly stated to be a Slytherin in the books, but she is listed as one in the Original 40, which I consider canon to a degree.

Emmanuel* Vaisey - A Slytherin Chaser in book 6, he's stated to be their best goal-scorer. However, Gryffindor never plays against him due to him being injured by a Bludger during practice.

Magnus* Urquhart - Slytherin's Quidditch captain in book 6. He is described as crushing Harry's hand during a handshake, but I personally just see him as having a really firm grip, which isn't a bad thing.

Tracy Davis - Never appears in the books, but is listed in the Original 40 as a half-blood Slytherin, so I count her on this list.

Astoria Greengrass - Daphne's younger sister and Draco Malfoy's future wife, she never appears in the books and is never directly stated to be a Slytherin, but considering that her sister is most likely in that House and her future husband definitely is, it's very likely that she is, too.

Only a few seats next to you Draco Malfoy was more busy staring at you than at the glass that was standing on the table in front of him. He watched you closely, as you furrowed your eyebrows. Even if he couldn’t be exactly sure, the way you puffed your cheeks and the fact that your face slowly reddened told him that you were probably holding your breath right now. You narrowed your eyes even more and he noticed how your hands clenched around the table, whitening your knuckles. Then, all of the sudden you let out a heavy breath, your whole body relaxed, and your tensed face gave way to a proud smile. You took up the glass and took a sip from the red liquid that filled it by now. You pulled a face as you did so, but the grin on your face only widened.

Professor Flitwick must have seen the same thing Draco had just witnessed because he came over to you and inspected your cup. Draco couldn’t quite understand what he was saying, but the way your face reddened once more and how you puffed your chest proudly made him suspect that Professor Flitwick was very pleased with the result of your efforts.

Draco couldn’t help the small grin that sneaked on his face as he watched you whispering with your neighbour excitedly, before you -after you had made sure Professor Flitwick was now occupied with someone else- took another sip from your glass, that by now wasn’t filled with vinegar anymore but with wine.

“Now, Mr Malfoy, let me see what you have learned this lesson.”, a squeaking voice interrupted Draco´s thoughts.

You had been right. Professor Flitwick´s focus had by now actually shifted to another student and this student was Draco. The boy looked at the glass in front of him, which was still filled with vinegar. But how in the name of Salazar was he supposed to focus on the task if you were only a few meters away, managing to make -as you somehow always did- the things you were doing so much more interesting than the classes? Draco could see the disappointed look Professor Flitwick gave him as he saw that Draco seemed to not even have tried to transform the liquid. His gaze flickered to you one last time before Draco focused on the glass in front of him. He was Draco Malfoy after all. He would manage this small spell. And he wouldn’t let himself get distracted by some stupid girl.

So he took a deep breath and after a few moments, he actually managed to transform the vinegar, earning some encouraging words from Professor Flitwick, before the teacher left to pay the next student a visit. But if Draco had thought that, now that he had managed the spell, he could get back to admiring you, he was wrong. Because as soon as his gaze shifted back to you, he heard someone clearing their throat right next to him. He looked up and saw Pansy and Blaise looking at him in amusement.

“What?” Draco´s voice sounded sharp.

“Nothing.”, Pansy said, acting innocent. “I was just wondering why it took you so long to manage the spell. Were you… distracted?”

“I don’t think that´s any of your business Pansy.”, he snapped.

“Leave it Pansy.”, Blaise chuckled. “I think he got something better to do than talking to us.”

“You mean like worshipping (Y/n)?”, Pansy grinned.

“I don’t worship anyone.”

“Oh yeah, right. Maybe stalking would be a better word for this. Or creeping around?”

“That´s ridiculous.”, Draco spit out, but his friends noticed the rosy shimmer that appeared on his cheeks, confirming what they already knew.

“Why don’t you just go and talk to her, mate?”, Blaise asked, now in a more serious tone.

“How often do I have to repeat it, Blaise? I don’t fancy her. Just because she may not be as awful as all the other Gryffindors doesn’t mean I´m interested in her or something.”

“Never said you were.”, Blaise responded. “That´s what you said now.”

“I said I weren’t”, Draco corrected his friend.

“Sure you aren’t.”, Pansy chuckled. And as Draco had turned his attention back to the class, or more precisely to you, she added in a low voice to Blaise: “We have to do something about it, it´s just embarrassing to see him like this.”

Blaise just nodded in agreement.

And Pansy did something about it. You were totally clueless about her plans though.

That´s why you and your friends were more than just surprised when one day, you were hanging out in the Gryffindor common room, a first-year suddenly approached you, or more precisely, Harry.

“Someone is waiting for you outside. They told me to tell you, you should go out there.”, the boy said in a slightly shaky voice, not even daring to look Harry in the eyes.

Harry furrowed his eyebrows.

“Who is it?”

“Some Slytherins. They said they want to talk to the captain of the Quidditch team.”

Harry now looked even more irritated.

“Did they tell you what they want?”

The boy shook his head, shyly glancing up at Harry. Your friend sighed.

“Okay, thanks.”

The first year gave Harry a small smile, before he ran away, probably relieved that he was no longer involved in the situation.

“What do you think they want?”, Ron asked, who sat next to Harry and had listened to the conversation as well.

Harry shrugged his shoulders.

“There´s only one way to find out I guess.”, he said and stood up.

You exchanged a quick look with Hermione before you followed Harry and Ron to the exit of your common room.

When you stepped through the door, you saw Urquhart, the captain of the Slytherin team standing there, accompanied by Vaisey and Zabini, the other chasers, as well as Parkinson, who -as long as you knew- wasn’t involved in Quidditch at all. You noticed that Urquhart and Vaisey looked not very delighted to see Harry, while Pansy Parkinson had a huge grin on her face, and impatiently shifted from one leg to the other. Blaise Zabini on the other hand had the same illegible look on his face he always had as his gaze flickered from Harry to you and Hermione, who effaced, and then back to Harry.

An uncomfortable silence spread across you, as Harry and Urquhart eyed each other suspiciously. Only when Pansy Parkinson nudged the tall Slytherin, Urquhart cleared his throat.

“Listen Potter, you know that next week is the game.”

Of course, Harry knew. Everyone knew. The entire school already awaited the Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Slytherin. It wouldn’t decide yet which house would win the Hogwarts Quidditch cup, still, it was an important match, especially since Gryffindor and Slytherin had the undeniably best Quidditch teams in Hogwarts.

Harry just gave the other captain a short nod.

“And we thought we could make the entire thing a little bit more interesting.”, Urquhart continued. “How about a bet?”

Harry raised an eyebrow.

“A bet?”

“Yeah. You know, after the match we will throw a party and you and the others are invited.” Even though the words he said sounded surprisingly friendly, the Slytherin spit them out as if they were meant to be an insult. You noticed that he glared at Pansy while he said this, who gave him an encouraging nod. “Friends too of course.”, he added as he glanced at you and Hermione.

“What´s the catch?”, Harry asked.

“If you lose, you will organize everything. Food, drinks, stuff like that, I mean.”

“And if we win?”

Urquhart let out a small huff.

“As if.”, he mumbled, before he added through gritted teeth: “Then we will take care of everything.”

“Why should you do that?”, Harry asked.

“Like I said, it´s a bet.”

“And this was your idea?”

“Obviously, I´m the captain. I make the rules.”

“Yeah, you do for sure.”, Harry jibed.

You could see Urquhart´s jaw clench.

“So what do you say?”, he squeezed out.

“I´ll have to talk to the others first.”

“You are the captain, aren’t you?”

“Doesn’t mean I will make all the decisions on my own, does it?”, Harry responded. “Or is that how you do it?”

“Whatever.” Urquhart huffed. “Just let me know. And don’t think about it too long.”

He gave the others a short nod before he turned around to leave. The other Slytherins followed him, but you could have sworn you saw Pansy Parkinson winking at you before she followed the others, a smug grin playing around her lips.

“He makes the rules, as if.”, you mumbled, and Hermione, who had noticed Parkinson´s strange behaviour as well, nodded in agreement.

And that´s how only a week later, you found yourself all dressed up on your way to the Slytherin common room together with your friends. The mood was tense, even though you had every reason to have a good party. Gryffindor had beaten Slytherin, having a considerable lead. But that only made you worry more. Because if Gryffindor had lost, you would have understood that the Slytherins would have wanted to crow with their victory, but that way you had the strange feeling that they were up to something to make up for the disgrace they had witnessed on the pitch. The others shared your opinion, but for some reason, the Quidditch players of Gryffindor had decided they still wanted to go. And since Hermione and you, as well as some other Gryffindors, wanted to show your support for the team, you had joined them.

And now, your steps were echoing through the dungeons on the way to the one common room, you highly doubted any Gryffindor had ever been invited to. You couldn’t deny that you were slightly curious, but that didn’t change the fact, that you were still suspicious.

Only due to the fact Harry and Ron had snuck into the Slytherin common room once before, even if it had been a few years ago, you finally found the entrance. Harry stopped in front of the stone wall, that was adorned with the portrait of a snake and cleared his throat.

“Alright everyone, don’t forget; if something feels strange, tell me and we will leave again.”

The others nodded in agreement and as soon as Harry had turned around to the wall again, it gave place to the entrance of the common room. In the door, you could see a grim-looking Urquhart, who was still wearing his Quidditch jersey. He stepped to the side reluctantly, eying every one of you like a bouncer.

You tried to give the intimidating-looking boy a small smile as you passed him, but you already knew it looked rather wry. You stepped through the entrance, trying to stay close to Hermione, and looked around. The Slytherin common room was illuminated by a greenish-dimmed light, making it hard to see much, but from what you saw, everything in here looked very noble and expensive. The only thing that didn’t seem to fit in was the improvised bar at the other side of the room, equipped with many snacks and even more drinks. You could hear some music playing in the background, and now that you had arrived, someone turned it even louder. You couldn’t help but be impressed. It actually looked like the Slytherins knew how to party. Even if you would have never expected them to.

Hermione nudged you.

“What do you think?”, she asked in a low voice.

You shrugged your shoulders.

“I´m not sure yet.”

You looked at the others who were standing inside the room awkwardly as well as if no one of you actually knew what to do.

It was Katie Bell who broke the silence.

“I don’t know what you think, but if I´m offered free food and drinks once, I will also get some.”, she stated, before making her way to the bar.

You exchanged a look with Hermione and you shrugged your shoulders once more.

“She´s right I guess.”, you said, before you followed Katie to the counter.

“That´s ridiculous Pansy. We lost. I don’t want a party. Especially not if all the guests are blood traitors and mudbloods.”

“Don’t make such a fuss, Draco”, the girl stated as she dragged her friend towards the common room. “I´m sure you´ll enjoy it.”

“Give me one reason why I would.”

“Well, just look over there.”

Pansy and Draco had just reached the common room, which was by now filled with Gryffindors and Slytherins. She nodded in the direction where she had helped some others to set up an improvised counter not even an hour ago.

“Do you really think some drinks will make me feel better? We lost, Pansy. And even worse, I lost against Potter. If you ask me, he shouldn’t even be allowed to play after everything that…”

Draco stopped in the middle of his sentence as he realised something. Pansy hadn’t meant that some drinks would lighten up his mood. She rather meant a certain someone who was already enjoying their drink.

As Draco saw the knowing grin on Pansy´s face, he cursed himself for being so foreseeable. Never in a million years, he would have guessed that he would ever be so easy to distract, but yet, there you stood, looking even more beautiful than he remembered, making him forget what he had been mad about only seconds ago. He watched you, the way your dress stressed your curves, the way you threw your head back as you laughed at something your friend had just said, the way you were sipping on your drink and licking your lips afterwards.

“Did you want to say something, Draco?”, Pansy asked in a sweet voice.

Draco snapped back to reality and saw his friend grinning up to him.

“What is this all about?”

“It´s just a party.”

“Why is she here?”

“Why would you care?”

“I don’t care.”, Draco spit out, not daring to let his gaze shift back to you as long as Pansy watched him closely.

“Why did you ask then?”

“You´re really annoying, you know that, Pansy?”

Pansy let out a chuckle.

“I know.”

You were sitting on a couch together with Harry, Ron, Hermione and Katie. As you were sipping on your second drink, you slowly started to relax, wondering if this would actually be just a normal party.

“Someone doesn’t look happy at all.”, Ron suddenly stated.

Your gaze followed his and you saw Draco Malfoy standing at the bar, a drink in his hand, glaring at you with narrowed eyes.

“I hope he won´t ruin this evening.”, Hermione sighed, as she took another sip from her butterbeer.

“Let him do so. I really don’t care. We won, no matter what Malfoy wants to do about it.”, Ron said with a smug grin on his face.

He raised his glass.

“To Harry, who snatched the snitch right in front of Malfoy.”

You let out a small chuckle at his toast but raised your glass as well.

“To Harry.”, you agreed with the others.

As you took another sip from your drink, your eyes shifted back to Malfoy, who was still staring at you and the others. You couldn’t help but notice that he looked unfairly good in his green jersey, especially now, that he leaned so effortlessly to the wall next to him. You knew there were many things to dislike about Draco Malfoy, but in your opinion, the most annoying thing about him was how attractive he was.

“(Y/n)? Did you hear me?”

Your inadvertent admiration ended abruptly, as you looked back at your friends. Katie, who had followed your gaze, looked at you and raised an eyebrow in amusement.

“I know.”, she stated. “But still no reason to start drooling.”

You rolled your eyes.

“I never would.”, you responded, making her chuckle.

Ron looked at you in confusion.

“What are you even talking about?”

Katie and you glanced at each other and giggled.

“You wouldn’t understand.”, you stated.

“And I don’t think you even want to.”, Katie added.

Harry and Ron now both seemed to be completely irritated. Hermione´s gaze shifted from Katie and you to Malfoy and then to the boys.

“Trust me, you really don’t want to know.”, she just confirmed.

And as you looked back at Malfoy, your gaze met his for a split second, before you quickly looked away again. And he did so as well, the pulse of both of you now a little bit faster than before.

Not even an hour later you realized, you should probably slow down the number of drinks you were consuming. By now you felt lightheaded and slightly dizzy. For now, it felt good, but you knew how fast this could change and you had no interest in blacking out and waking up tomorrow with regrets. That´s why you quickly gulped down a glass of water before your friends dragged you to the dancefloor. You could feel the bass vibrating through your entire body as you slowly started to move your body to the music. You had to admit that no matter what you might think of the Slytherins in general, they at least had great taste in music.

Ron and Harry quickly lost their interest in dancing and scrammed to one of the couches again. You thought to yourself that it was probably for the better, because, even if you loved your friends dearly, they were terrible dancers. Now there were only Hermione and you left. For several songs you were just dancing and laughing, even if it was hard to talk over the loud music.

Suddenly, a tall figure stepped closer to you. As you looked up, you saw Blaise Zabini standing next to you, giving you a small smile. Then, he turned around to Hermione.

“Do you wanna dance?”

Hermione looked at the Slytherin boy with widened eyes. You were surprised as well since you overheard Zabini once telling his friends he wouldn’t even touch a muggleborn with a pair of pliers.

You looked at Hermione and raised an eyebrow, silently asking her to get her out of the situation, but then Zabini bent down and whispered something in her ear. You couldn’t understand what it was, but you saw Hermione frowning at first before it gave way to a rather surprised-looking face. Your friend gave Zabini a short nod before she took a step closer to you.

“Would you mind?”, she asked.

You looked at your friend, slightly irritated.

“The question is, would you?”

Hermione looked rather annoyed as she shook her head, looking at her feed.

“Then I don’t mind too. Just be careful.”

“You too, (Y/n). If something happens I´ll be right over there.”

You nodded. Then you watched your friend disappearing with Blaise Zabini in the crowd. You weren’t quite sure what irritated you more. The fact that the Slytherin boy had asked not only a Gryffindor but a muggleborn to dance, or the fact that Hermione had agreed. You couldn’t help but wonder what Zabini had told her. For a second you wondered if he might had threatened her, but Hermione wasn’t one to get scared easily and the way she had looked at him hadn’t been scared, but rather perplexed.

You looked around, scanning the room for your friends. Ron and Harry were still sitting on a couch, talking, while eying Hermione, who was by now actually dancing with Blaise Zabini, even if you couldn’t help but notice that neither of them looked exactly happy with the situation. Katie was by now standing next to the bar together with Demelza Robins, taking a shot of Firewhisky.

Just as you thought about, who you should join, since dancing alone wasn’t fun at all, someone bumped into you.

Draco´s eyes were glued to you. He followed every slight movement of yours. Your body moved just perfectly to the rhythm of the music. And even if he stood on the other side of the room, he could have sworn he heard your laugh ringing in his ears, even over the loud music and the babble of voices of countless people around him. His eyes travelled down your body and just as he was focused on the movements of your hips, he noticed the way your dress was slightly riding up, every time you raised your arms over your head, before you lowered them again, leaving him slightly disappointed, as the dress covered now more of your skin again, even if it were only a few centimetres. When his eyes travelled upwards again, he tried to take in all the details of your face, which was hard over the distance and in the dimmed light. Still, he noticed that small smile that played around your lips as you closed your eyes, to just drift and feel the music.

“You should join her.”, Pansy stated. She had magically appeared on Draco´s side again and knew exactly what was going through the blond boy’s head.

“As if I would be in need of this.”, Draco huffed, not able to tear his gaze apart from you. “Besides she looks perfectly fine on her own.” Oh, if you only knew how perfectly fine you actually looked.

“And both of you would look just adorable dancing together.”, Pansy said. “Don’t you think so, Blaise?”

The boy, who was standing on the other side of Draco, rolled his eyes at Pansy´s enthusiasm, but still nodded, grinning slightly.

“But I highly doubt that your beloved will be delighted if you interrupt her, while she´s having fun with her friends.”

“She isn’t my beloved”, Draco growled. “She isn’t my anything, to make this clear once and for all.”

“Not yet.”, Pansy smiled. “But luckily we are here to change this.”

“Who says I want to change it?”, Draco mumbled.

Pansy and Blaise chuckled.

“We ain´t blind nor stupid.”, Pansy said.

“No need to be ashamed of it.”, Blaise added and patted Draco´s shoulder, making the boy give his friend a deadly glare. “We support you mate.”

“And that´s why you will go over there now.”, Pansy announced.

“Pansy, I already told you…”, Draco started, but Pansy interrupted him.

“Not you. Blaise.”

Blaise looked at her in surprise.

“Me? I thought we were here to support Draco.”

“We are.”, Pansy said unswerving. “That´s why you will go over there and distract Granger, so Draco can get to (Y/n) unbothered.”

Now Blaise looked just as unpleased as Draco.

“I certainly won´t talk to that mudblood.”

“You won´t talk to her.”, Pansy explained patiently. “You will dance with her.”

“I will what?”

“Dance with Granger.”

“I won´t for sure.”

“You wanted to help Draco, didn’t you?”

“It´s your plan, why don’t you go?”

“Because you´re the boy.”, Pansy said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Even if I would go over there, and I´m not saying I will; what makes you think she will agree?”

Pansy smiled at her friend angelically.

“You´re smart Blaise. You´ll think of something. Remember, it´s for Draco.”

Draco had now a mocking smile on his lips.

“What is it, Blaise? Aren´t you willing to help your friend out by making a fool out of yourself and dancing with a filthy mudblood?”

Blaise looked from Draco and Pansy to you and Hermione, dancing happily. He clenched his jaw.

“You will better make a move, Malfoy. I swear to Salazar, if you don’t marry that girl, I will never let you forget this for the rest of your life.”

Then, Blaise took a deep breath, before he made his way through the crowd.

Draco watched in disbelief how his friend approached Hermione, saying something to her, making the girl exchange a few words with you, before she left with Blaise, leaving you alone and looking utterly confused.

Pansy smiled smugly.

“Now it´s on you, Draco.”, she stated.

“What? No, Pansy. I won´t go over there.”

“Think about Blaise. What he has done for you.”, Pansy tried to convince him.

But Draco just shook his head and crossed his arms in front of his chest, pressing his lips together like a stubborn child.

Pansy sighed.

“You really have to be forced into your happiness, don’t you?”

The girl grabbed him by his arm, pulling him towards you.

“Pansy, no! This is stupid. Let go of me. Now!”

Draco was for sure stronger than Pansy and he could have easily refused to follow her, but as he saw the people around him darting curious glances at him, he gave in reluctantly.

Only when they had nearly reached you, Pansy slowed down and let go of Draco.

“Now off you go. Have fun.”, she smiled.

Draco frowned.

“I don’t even want to do this.”, he hissed. “You´re forcing me.”

Pansy rolled her eyes.

“If you feel better believing this.”

“What am I even supposed to tell her?”, he whispered.

“Hey (Y/n), I´m really into you. Do you wanna dance? Because it would be inappropriate not to ask you this before I will rip your clothes off your body.”, Pansy said, imitating Draco´s voice.

“How often should I tell you, I´m not into her. And even if I were that´s not how I would tell her.”, Draco grumbled.

“Then think of something better.”, Pansy answered, by now slightly annoyed.

“I won´t…”

But Pansy had now enough of Draco´s attitude and gave him a small bump.

And since Draco had by now had some drinks, his balance wasn’t as good anymore as it had been a few hours ago when he had hovered on his broom a few meters in the air; so when Pansy pushed him forwards, he was, even with both feed on the ground, not able to be steadfast, but stumbled a few steps forward, directly into your arms.

With big eyes, you stared up at the boy, who was now holding onto your arm to keep his balance. You were hypnotized by his silvery eyes, making you feel as if the entire world around you slowed down for a minute. Draco seemed to be just as fascinated as you were since he couldn’t tear his gaze apart either.

It felt like hours, then again only a few seconds, until Draco cleared his throat and took a step back.

“I´m sorry. i…”

He stared at Pansy, who was watching the two of you.

“Oops, I´m so clumsy. Sorry.”, Pansy grinned, looking like she was anything but sorry.

You straightened your back and looked up to Draco again.

“Never mind. It´s… Nothing happened.”

“Right.”, the boy mumbled. “Nothing happened. I´ll just go then and…”

But Pansy once again had different plans. She stepped into the way, preventing Draco from leaving.

“(Y/n), you know, Draco was just looking for a dance partner. I would do it myself, but I think I´ve twisted my ankle, so if you don’t mind…?”

You looked at Pansy questioningly.

“If I don’t mind what?”

“Dancing.”, the girl grinned.

“Dancing?”

“With Draco.”

“With Draco?”

“Exactly.”

“Dancing with Draco? Me?”, you asked, sure you had misheard the Slytherin.

“Yes, you know, Draco had just told me, he thinks you´re a great dancer. He watched you from back there the entire time and he said…”

“Shut it, Pansy.”, Draco hissed, thankful that in the dimmed light no one would notice how his cheeks were reddening. Then he turned to you. “She´s just making fun. I never said this. I mean, I can´t know if you´re a good dancer because I never watched you. I mean why would I?”

You let out a nervous laugh, not sure what you should think about the situation.

“Yeah, why would you?”

“Well, then it is the perfect moment to find out if she is a good dancer, isn’t it?”, Pansy smiled. “I´ll get myself something to drink.”

And with that she disappeared into the crowd, leaving Draco and you alone.

You turned around to Draco again, who looked anything but happy. As he noticed your gaze, he looked down at his shoes and scratched his neck.

“Well, would you? I mean, it´s not like I want to, but I guess Pansy won´t leave us alone if we don’t…”

“Yeah, sure. I don’t wanna be bothered by her for the rest of the evening.”, you agreed.

Draco was a surprisingly good dancer. His movements were a little bit stiff, but he had a sense of tact after all. Sometimes you glanced up at him, but overall, you tried to avoid his gaze as much as possible. But while you looked anywhere but at Draco, you could have sworn, you felt his gaze burning on you most of the time.

After the song had ended, you took a step back and gave the boy a small smile. Draco returned it half-heartedly. Your eyes shifted, scanning the room for Hermione. But as you found her, you observed, that she was still with Blaise, now talking to him alongside the dancefloor. Neither of them seemed to enjoy the conversation, yet they looked pretty involved in it.

The next song, started, this time a slower one. Draco glared at Pansy, who was still watching the two of you with a contended grin on her face. Everything turned out just the way she had planned. You looked up at Draco, who was returning your gaze. The people around you were now dancing closer than before, adapting their dancing to the mood of the song.

“Never liked this kind of music.”, Draco huffed.

“At least one thing we can agree on.”, you answered.

Draco let out a small chuckle.

“Let´s just get over and done with this one and then nobody can complain anymore.”

You sighed.

“Hopefully.”

You stepped closer to Draco, still keeping him almost an arm length distant. But only almost. Draco raised one of his arms and brought his hand to your hip. You slightly flinched at the touch. Not in a bad way though.

“Is that okay with you?”, Draco asked. If it hadn’t been for the loud music, you probably would have noticed that his voice sounded slightly raspy.

“Do I even have a choice?”, you responded, but as you saw in the boy´s eyes that he was actually asking for your permission, you nodded. “It´s fine I guess.”

Draco carefully placed his hands on your hips, starting to move to the rhythm of the music slightly. Even more carefully, you placed your hands on Draco´s chest. The material of his jersey felt rough under the tips of your fingers. You could feel his heart beating under your hand, maybe a little bit faster than usual.

“Do I make you nervous, Malfoy?”, you teased.

“You whished.”, he huffed.

As you looked up at him, you saw Draco staring down at you. For some reason, you could have gotten lost in his eyes the second time this evening, but a small, nagging voice in your head told you that this probably wasn’t the best idea. Draco looked down at you with a serious face and such intensity in his eyes, that it made shivers run down your spine. You quickly lowered your gaze.

As the song ended, Draco´s hands lingered on your waist for one more second, before he stepped back again, his hands slipping from your hips and yours from his chest.

“I think that´s enough for one night, isn’t it?”, you asked.

Draco nodded in agreement.

“Even if you´re dancing quite acceptable for a Gryffindor, I think we both got better to do.”

“Well, then… See you around I guess.”, you stated.

A mocking grin appeared on Malfoy´s face.

“Don’t you say (Y/l/n)? How could we? We´re only living in the same place.” “You really are an idiot, you know that? And besides, I´d rather have it any other way.”, you snapped back.

“You think I wouldn’t?”

You just huffed in response and turned around to find your friends. Draco watched you leave, before he turned around as well, looking for Pansy and Blaise to give them hell.

The both of you had enjoyed the dance much more than you wanted to admit and were much more hurt by those last words than you wanted to admit, too. But neither of you knew that the other one was feeling that way.

You let yourself fall onto the couch right next to Harry. You could feel his gaze, as well as Ron´s lingering on you.

“What?”, you grumbled, maybe even more annoyed than you should be when you were having a good time at a party.

“We should be asking this, shouldn’t we?”, Harry said. “I mean, you and Malfoy…”

“There is no such thing as me and Malfoy.”, you hissed.

Ron rolled his eyes.

“Looked different five minutes ago though.”, he grinned. “You could barely keep your hands to yourself.”

“That´s not funny Ron!”

“You´re right (Y/n). This isn’t funny. You should better be careful.”, Harry said in a serve voice.

“I can take care of myself, Harry, thanks. But in this case, there is nothing to be careful about because there is nothing at all.”

“Ron is right, it didn’t look like this when you were dancing.”, your friend answered, still concerned.

“We danced because Parkinson forced us to, not because we wanted to.”, you clarified.

“Since when do you listen to Parkinson? And since when does Malfoy listen to anyone at all?”

“She literally pushed him right into my arms. And then she said she twisted her ankle and couldn’t dance herself.”

“Looks like she is perfectly fine again now.”, Harry stated and made a small gesture in the direction where Pansy Parkinson was now dancing with a Slytherin boy.

“That little piece of… But why would she do this?”, you asked.

But just as Harry opened his mouth, Hermione came up to you and sat down on the couch next to Ron.

“Look who we got here. The next traitor.”, Ron said with not as much amusement in his voice as when he had mocked you.

Hermione looked annoyed and irritated.

“What?”, she asked.

“Well, (Y/n) and Malfoy, you and Zabini… Do we need to worry about the Slytherins stealing our girls?”, Harry joked.

Hermione let out a huff.

“Certainly not. These were the worst minutes of my life.”

“What did he want from you anyways?”, you asked curiously.

“You heard what he said. He wanted to dance.”, Hermione said, avoiding your gaze.

“You´re a terrible liar, you know that ´Mione?”, you laughed.

“Fine, he… He wanted to talk me into helping him with his homework. But I think he hoped I would end up doing it for him.”

Even if this sounded more plausible, you noticed that Hermione still couldn’t look you in the eyes. You highly doubted that this was the entire truth, but Ron and Harry seemed to be satisfied by her answer. You could see Ron´s tensed body relaxing immediately.

“I knew he´s a git. You´re better off with us.”, he stated. “And helping us with our homework.”, he then added with a smirk.

You looked at Hermione and rolled your eyes.

“Boys.”, you mouthed, and Hermione nodded in response.

By now, the common room had emptied a bit. There weren’t many people left since it was already late. Also, the music had been turned down a bit, even if someone had put a silencing spell over the common room, so Professor Snape, who had his office nearby, wouldn’t notice.

The only Gryffindors left were Harry, Hermione, Ron, Katie, Demelza and you. You had sat down in one of the sitting areas and were passing a bottle of Firewhisky around. Those were your favourite moments at parties. When it was already late and not many people were left and you would just relax with your friends, talking about things, you probably wouldn’t be that open about if you wouldn’t have already emptied half of the bottle of whisky. You let out a comfortable sigh and rested your head on Hermione´s shoulder, just listening to the others talking.

But your cosy state didn´t last long. Pansy Parkinson walked up to you and let herself fall into one of the armchairs next to the couches.

“Mind if we join?”, she asked with a sweet smile.

“It´s your common room, isn’t it?”, Katie answered, even though she looked quite irritated, as well as the others.

Pansy´s smile only grew wider, as she clapped her hands.

“Great.”, she said, in your opinion a little bit too euphoric. She turned around in her chair, hailing someone. “I told you they´d be fine with it.”

You watched Vaisey, Zabini and Malfoy walking up to you, all of them looking as if they weren´t fully convinced by Pansy´s statement. As the boys sat down as well, silence fell over the group, as everyone eyed the others sceptically.

Somehow unsurprisingly, it was Pansy who raised to speak first.

“So what do you do for fun on such occasions?”, she asked.

As no one answered, she continued unbothered: “How about playing truth or dare?”

“Pansy, we ain´t twelve anymore. That´s boring.”, Draco muttered.

Pansy rolled her eyes.

“It will be fun, trust me. Especially with this.” She raised a bottle of Firewhisky.

“We´re already good, thanks.”, Harry responded, who held the half-emptied bottle you had already drunk in his hand.

“Trust me, Potter, it´s not the same.”, Pansy stated in a haughty voice. “Take a sip.”

She offered Harry the bottle, but he didn’t make any effort to take it.

“I didn’t poison it.”, the Slytherin giggled.

Harry just raised an eyebrow in response. Pansy sighed.

“Fine, if you insist.”

She took a big pull herself, pulling a face before she passed it to Malfoy, who was sitting next to her. The blond boy looked more than just harried by now, but gave in and sipped on the bottle as well, before passing it on.

Only when everyone had taken a pull, Pansy clapped her hands, grinning excitedly.

“Now, we can start.” “I don’t understand what this was about.”, Ron muttered.

“Easy, Weasley.”, Pansy said in a chipper voice. “I added some Veritaserum to it so no one can cheat. Even you should understand that.”

Everyone looked at the girl in disbelieve.

“Pansy, what the hell?”, Draco spitted out.

“That wasn’t the deal.”, Blaise said, his voice sounding louder than you had ever heard it.

But Pansy didn’t seem to care.

“Just relax boys. I saw a chance in Snape´s office and took it. I thought it would make the entire thing more interesting. You don’t have something to hide, do you?”

“You know very well I do.”, Draco responded.

Then he froze. Pansy chuckled.

“Well, looks like the potion already works.”

Your gaze flickered from Pansy to Draco. The boy didn’t only look annoyed anymore but also… scared? You weren’t surprised that the Slytherin boy had things he didn’t want to tell all of you, so had you, but what reason would he have to almost panic?

“That´s stupid. I won´t do this.”, Draco huffed and stood up.

“I could also ask you some things right away Draco. We don’t have to play for this.”, Pansy chirped.

Draco seemed to think about it for a second before he slowly sank back into his armchair again. He glared at Pansy as if he would love to practice all the unforgivable curses on her right away.

“I feel like this is going to be very interesting.”, Ron grinned.

At first, you wanted to agree with the boy, curious about what secrets Draco might hide from you, that seemed to amuse Pansy that much, but then you realized that it wasn’t only Draco´s secrets that might unearth today. There weren’t many things you would hide from your friends, at least none you could think about right now, but as you looked at Draco, sitting there opposite you, looking way too good, with his heated cheeks and his hair slightly scrubby, you realized that there were, in fact, many things, you weren’t exactly excited to spill in front of others. And especially not in front of Malfoy.

“And I feel like this is going to be very embarrassing.”, you muttered under your breath.

The game started slow before things got more interesting. At some point, somewhere in the middle of the game, Demelza Robins burst into hysterical laughter when she was supposed to kiss Harry and as Ron admitted -under the influence of Veritaserum as you pointed out- that Hermione was the most attractive person in the room, it left both of your friends with incredible red faces and made Harry and you looking at each other knowingly.

“(Y/n), truth or dare?”, Pansy spoke up as it was her turn.

“Dare.”, you answered without thinking about it. You were a Gryffindor after all.

“Kiss the most beautiful person in the room.”, Pansy stated, grinning superiorly.

“Easy.”, you said.

You turned your head and pecked Hermione´s cheek, making Harry whistle.

“Hold on, that´s it?”, Pansy asked, sounding slightly disappointed.

“What did you expect?”, you responded. “She´s my best friend. Of course, she is the most beautiful person.”

“But that´s not what I meant.”

“But that´s what you said.”, you contradicted. “Anyway, Katie, truth or dare?”

“Draco, truth or dare?”, Blaise asked his friend only a few minutes later.

Draco hesitated. He suspected Blaise would be up to no good, judging from the slight grin on his face. What would be worse? Answering a question, he knew would embarrass him, or doing something that would either make him look like a fool in front of everyone or doing something that would make everyone know the answer to the question Blaise had originally intended to ask him anyways.

“Truth.”, he slowly said

Vaisey hooted.

“Who´s your crush?”, Blaise simply asked.

Draco´s brain rattled. He wouldn’t be surprised if some steam would escape his ears from how hard he was thinking. He knew which answer Blaise expected to hear. But was there any way to not give it to him? The Veritaserum made his tongue feel heavy. He knew he wouldn’t be able to keep his answer to himself for long.

His gaze drifted from one person to the next, all eyeing him curiously. It got stuck on you. Draco noticed how you had slightly leant forwards, your hands resting on your lap, your lips slightly apart. You looked just as curious as the others, maybe even more. What undoubtedly distinguished you from the others was the way his answer might affect you. And how you would react if you would hear your name coming out of his mouth. But there was something else that differentiated you from the others. How effortlessly beautiful you looked tonight. And at that moment he suddenly knew, how he could prevent embarrassing himself in front of you.

“Draco?”, Blaise asked, when Draco didn’t answer.

Draco cleared his throat.

“I don’t have a crush on anyone.”, he stated.

Because after all, he said the truth. He knew that this probably wasn’t the right moment to realize, or maybe it was the perfect moment; he wasn’t sure. All he knew was that what Draco felt for you wasn’t a stupid little crush. He was completely and utterly in love with you. And, what he also knew, was that -no matter how hard his friends would try- there was no way he would ever admit it to you.

“Are… are you sure?”, Blaise asked, sounding slightly irritated.

Draco nodded.

“Absolutely sure.”

“I don’t have a crush on anyone.”

The words echoed in your head over and over again. You weren’t quite sure if you felt disappointed or relieved. And you also didn’t know why you even cared at all. For now, all you knew was that you had caught yourself hoping for the split second, that your name would leave the boy´s beautiful lips. But it didn’t. Neither had the name of anyone else though. Either Draco was really good fighting the potion -which would mean he was much more powerful than you had ever expected him to be- or he actually wasn’t interested in anyone.

“Are… are you sure?”, Blaise asked. His tone made you suspect he had expected a different answer to come out of his friend´s mouth.

Draco nodded.

“Absolutely sure.”, he confirmed.

“But…”, Pansy spoke up, but Draco quickly interrupted her.

“You were the one giving us Veritaserum, so how should I be able to lie right now?”

Pansy didn’t seem to know the answer either.

Now that her mission, as well as Blaise´s, had failed, Pansy decided to start all over again.

“(Y/n), truth or dare?”, she asked.

You cursed yourself for choosing truth the last two times because now you had no other choice.

“Dare.”, you sighed.

“I dare you to sit on Draco´s lap for the rest of the game.”, the girl stated as if she hadn’t just asked you to do the impossible.

You let out a small gasp.

“I beg you pardon?”

“Sit on Draco´s lap.”, Pansy repeated.

“But…”, you protested.

“Pansy don’t get carried away, I´m warning you.”, Draco growled, leaving Pansy completely unimpressed.

“Dare is dare.”, she shrugged.

“But it´s my dare. Not his.”, you argued.

“You didn’t mind when you kissed Granger.”

“That´s different, she´s my friend.”

“That was mean (Y/l/n).”, Vaisey chuckled.

“I mean… I´m not… That´s not just about me, Draco wouldn’t be comfortable with it too.”

“As if he would have ever minded a pretty girl on him.”, Blaise grinned.

Draco threw him a deadly glare.

“It´s a game (Y/n). It´s just fun. Or is there any other reason you don’t want to do this?”, Pansy asked innocently.

“What? No, of course not.”

“Well, then there is no problem, is there?”

You glanced at Draco, who shrugged his shoulders, looking defeated. As you looked at your friends, Harry and Ron were shaking from silent laughter and Hermione didn’t look as disgusted as you had thought she would. You cleared your throat and slowly stood up.

“I think so.”, you mumbled.

You made your way to the other side of the sitting area, hoping your shaky legs would keep you up until you reached your destination.

When you stood in front of Draco, you uncomfortably shifted from one leg to the other.

The boy let out a sigh and patted on his lap.

“The faster we do this, the faster we go on and end this stupid game.”, Draco said.

So you took a deep breath, carefully sitting down, having as little contact with Draco´s body as possible. The way you were only sitting on his knees, most of your weight, still resting on your feet, wasn’t the most comfortable way to sit, but for sure the least embarrassing.

“C´mon (Y/n), you can relax. I´m sure Draco won´t mind.”, Blaise mocked.

You hesitated.

“We have all night, you know?”, Pansy added.

Slowly, you shuffled a bit backwards, trying to get a little bit more comfortable without getting too close to Draco. When the boy noticed you moving on top of him, his breath slightly hitched.

“Better?”, you asked, trying to conceal the shakiness in your voice with annoyance.

Pansy grinned.

“Well, Draco, you tell us.”

The boy hummed in response. The noise vibrated through his entire body, making you feel it as well.

“I think we can go on then.”

“You tell me if I get too heavy, won´t you?”, you asked Draco in a low voice.

He only hummed in response again, the feeling going right through you once more.

“(Y/n), I guess it´s your turn now.”

Nearly half an hour later, you were still playing, and you were still sitting on Draco´s lap. You were still nervous, but slowly, you allowed your body to relax. But as you sank slightly backwards, your back suddenly touched Draco´s chest, making you jolt back.

“Damn it (Y/n), don’t make such a fuss.”, Draco said. “Lean back if you have to. This can´t get any worse.”

You hesitated, before you finally obeyed, slowly leaning back again, until your back was pressed against Draco´s chest. It felt strange, his body was hard and tensed, yet soft. His chest was rising and falling regularly. You could smell his scent intensely now, a mix of his cologne, the care products for his broomstick and the alcohol he had drunk tonight. All of this lulled you in, more than you wanted to admit, and you realized you could have easily fallen asleep like this if it wasn’t for your pride that prevented you from making anyone only suspect you actually enjoyed your new place.

You brought your attention back to the game. A genuine laugh escaped you, as you listened to Vaisey singing the Gryffindor version of “Weasley is our King”. While the boy looked like he would rather be anywhere else, you and your housemates were shaking from laughter, whipping away some tears.

Only when you felt a strong arm wrapping around your waist, you realized Draco had tensed behind you.

“Could you stop that?”, he hissed into your ear.

“Stopping what?”, you giggled, eyes still fixed on the performance in front of you.

“Moving.”

“Sorry, I didn’t realize I wasn’t allowed to laugh anymore.”, you said, rolling your eyes.

Another laughter escaped your lips as Vaisey finished the song and tried to bow in front of his audience but nearly fell over, due to the Firewhisky still pulsing through his veins.

Only when you heard Malfoy pressing out a high-pitched whimper, you stopped.

“Shit, did I hurt you?”, you asked, immediately stopping your movements.

“Something like this.”, Draco grumbled. “So if you could please stop this now…”

“Yeah. You could´ve just told me earlier.”

“Well, I tried, didn’t I?”

“You didn’t tell me it hurt.” “You have no idea (Y/l/n). Also, I didn’t know I needed to establish some rules for someone sitting on my lap.”

“Don’t act like I´m the first girl to do so, Malfoy.”

“You´re the first who didn’t beg for it.”, he responded.

“And I highly doubt I ever will.”, you chuckled.

“We´ll see about it.”, Draco winked. “And now finally stop laughing.”

“I might keep on doing so, but not here.”

“What?”, Draco asked in a raspy voice.

“If you don’t mind letting go of me, I will use the bathroom now.”

The grip around your waist loosened, Draco´s finger slightly brushing over your thighs, making goosebumps creep over your skin.

“Don’t wanna hold you back.”

“I guess you also don’t want me to get back ever again.”

“At least not like this.”, Draco responded, feeling relieved he seemed to finally get the hang on how to tell the truth without giving away too much. And in a low voice, he added: “If we´re lucky the others will forget about this stupid dare when you returned.”

“At least once a thing we would both benefit from.”, you said and stood up.

But both of you knew, you wouldn’t be as glad about it as you stated.

As you entered the common room again, the heads of the others turned.

“No need to sit down again (Y/n).”, Ron grinned.

You frowned.

“Why?”

“The next dare.”, Blaise said.

“No, this can´t be right. I wasn’t even in here. You can´t choose dare for me.”, you said in an irritated voice.

“Not your dare (Y/n). Draco´s.”

“What? Again?”, you asked.

You saw the others grinning and nodding.

“What is it this time?”

“Seven minutes in heaven.”

“Are you kidding me? That´s the most stupid game.”, you stated.

“So said Malfoy.”, Hermione said.

As you saw your best friend was grinning and didn’t seem to be bothered by the situation, you narrowed your eyes. You knew Hermione didn’t like Draco. Actually quite the opposite. There was no way she would be okay with you being locked up with him for several minutes.

“What do you know that I don’t?”, you asked your friend.

“It´s just a game, (Y/n).”

“Oh yeah, Harry? I wanna see how you would react if you would get locked up with Malfoy.” As you looked at said boy, he looked slightly offended by your words. “This wasn’t even against you.”, you added. “Well, not primarily.”

“You think I want this?", the blond boy hissed.

“That´s not about what you want but about what we want, so let´s go.”, Pansy interrupted him. “Let´s get you in there. I´ll take the time.”

Hidden behind a banner, there was a door, leading to a small closet. You eyed it distrustfully, highly doubting that there was even enough space for both of you.

“After you.”, Draco sighed.

You glanced at your friends one last time before you stepped into the closet. Draco followed you. As soon as both of you had entered the room, the door slammed behind you.

“Time is running.”, you heard Pansy´s muffled voice from the other side of the door.

You squinted. Except for the bit of light that was shining through the gap under the door, the room was completely dark. And quiet. The only thing you could hear was Draco´s breathing. And you couldn’t only hear it. While your back was pressed against the wall, your chest was nearly touching Draco´s. Whenever you inhaled and your chests rose, they slightly touched. Also, you felt Draco´s hot breath hitting your face.

“So what are we going to do now?”, Draco finally broke the silence.

You shrugged your shoulders.

“Waiting I guess.”

“Probably.”

“Or do you have any other things on your mind?”, you teased.

You blamed the fact that you had dared to say this on the alcohol.

“Several.”, Draco answered. “But I highly doubt we want to do any of these.”

Silence.

“Or are there any things you want to do right now (Y/n)?”

Luckily, the effect of the Veritaserum had by now decreased, yet you doubted, you would be able to actually lie to him.

"Don´t ask questions when you don´t wanna know the answer, Malfoy."

Silence.

“How much time do you think has passed?”, you asked.

“Probably about the half. If they actually leave us out after seven minutes.”

“Won´t stay any second longer in here than necessary.”

“Neither will I, but how will we know?”

Draco had a point with that.

“Why do you think they are doing this?”, you changed the topic.

“What?”

“Trying to… Well, pairing us up all the time. It feels like they arranged it.”

“Don’t ask questions when you don’t want to know the answer (Y/l/n).”

“So you know something?”

“I suspect.”

“And what?”

“Don’t make me answer this (Y/n). Please.”

Draco´s voice sounded different this time. You knew due to the truth potion still running in his veins you could get your answer, but as he said this, it seemed to be unfair to you to sound him out. You may not liked the boy -at least you still tried hard to believe so- but that didn’t mean you wanted to harm him. Also, you weren’t quite sure if you wanted to know the answer yourself. There were many different reasons why you were in this situation right now, but one was even less likely than the other.

“Never mind then.”, you mumbled.

Draco let out a sigh of relief.

“Thanks.”, he muttered.

“Don’t tell me you actually just thanked me.”, you teased.

“Don’t pride yourself on that (Y/l/n).”

“This wouldn’t have come to my mind at all.”

Draco chuckled.

“You can be really annoying you know that? Sometimes I wonder how I manage to not do something to you we would both regret afterwards.”

You could feel a stinging in your heart. You knew Draco thought like this about you, You thought the same about him. But by now you felt as if your annoyance with him had different reasons than his.

“At least I know you´re honest with me this time.”, you tried to make your voice sound jokingly, but you highly doubted you had managed to do so.

“What? No that´s not… I didn’t mean it in a bad way… I mean…”

“Just save it Draco. It´s fine, I get it. I mean this wasn’t a secret after all, was it?”

“You can be really annoying you know that? Sometimes I wonder how I manage to not do something to you we would both regret afterwards.”

Silence.

Draco bit his lip. He had said the truth, but he highly doubted you understood what he meant by that. Of course, he was annoyed by you. He was annoyed by how beautiful you were. By how good you smelled and how soft your body felt pressed against his. By how much he had enjoyed your company this evening. But mostly he was annoyed by how weak you made him feel. And how he didn’t know how he was ever supposed to continue after tonight, when you wouldn’t be drinking from the same bottle as him ever again, laughing at the same jokes he laughed about, dancing with him, sitting on his lap, and being as close to him as you were now. And he didn’t even want to get started to think about the things that came to his mind whenever he saw you. All the ideas of what could happen between you if things were different. The things he wanted to do to you…

“At least I know you´re honest with me this time.” Your voice sounded hollow.

Draco had never expected to be capable of doing so, but the sound of your voice made him suspect he had hurt you. While he had thought he would be happy about the fact that he was able to hurt you, since that would mean, he meant something to you, now that he had done so, he realized, that he had you rather feeling nothing for him at all and being happy, than having whatever feelings for him and being sad, even though you tried to hide it.

“What? No that´s not… I didn’t mean it in a bad way… I mean…”, Draco stuttered.

How was he supposed to tell you? He for sure couldn’t tell you why you annoyed him that much, but he also didn’t want you to think that this was all that he felt for you. How was he supposed to tell you how he felt, without telling you?

“Just save it Draco. It´s fine, I get it. I mean this wasn’t a secret after all, was it?”

While Draco was desperately trying to find the right words, the door was torn open.

And as you stepped out of the closet Draco knew, he had screwed up.

You squinted, as you stepped out of the small room. As your eyes had gotten used to the light, you saw the others had gathered around the closet, staring at you curiously.

“And?”, Pansy asked.

“And what?”, you responded.

“You had… fun?”

“Who wouldn’t have fun there, Pansy? Stuck in a damn closet.”

You weren’t quite sure why Draco´s words had upset you that much. But by now, you weren’t only annoying, as the boy had stated, but also annoyed.

“You care to give us any more details?”, the girl grinned, ignoring your sarcastic undercurrent.

“Save it Pansy.”, Draco snapped, looking as harried as you.

“Why don´t we just get back and continue playing?”, Katie suggested.

“Honestly, I´m really tired. I´ll get back to our dorm.”, you stated, earning a surprised look from your friends.

“Already?”

“It´s far after midnight.”, you responded.

“So?”, Pansy asked.

“No, really, I´m just tired. But thanks for the invitation. It was a great evening.”

Except for the last seven minutes.

“Well, okay, maybe we can do it sometime again.”, the girl said, sounding slightly disappointed.

You threw her a weak smile.

“Of course.” You needed to gather all your strength to get this lie over your lips, but after all, you did.

“I´ll join you.”, Hermione offered, after you had wished everyone goodnight.

But you shook your head.

“You don’t have to.”

“I want to. I´m tired too.”, you could see she was lying once more since she avoided your gaze again.

“You are not.”, you clarified. And in a lower voice, you added: “I feel like Ron would be very disappointed if you would already leave.”

You could see Hermione flush.

“Are you sure?”, she asked.

“I´m fine. I promise.”, you assured her.

And it was true. You were fine. Or at least you would be. But now, you just needed some time to unravel your thoughts. And you would be able to do this better on your own.

You gave your friend a last calming smile before you made your way back to your own dorm.

As soon as the door shut, Pansy spun around to Draco.

“What happened?"

Draco shrugged his shoulders, letting himself fall onto one of the couches defeated.

“I ruined it.”

And after Draco was done with his report -interrupted by some explanations for the people who weren’t aware of what exactly was going on right now- everyone was silent for a moment.

“I should just forget all of this. Forget her.”, Draco sighed.

He had sunken so deeply into his self-pity, and in that state, mixed with some alcohol still affecting him, he didn’t even care about the Gryffindors - who he had always refused to be that vulnerable in front of- sitting right in front of him.

“Don’t you dare.”, Pansy growled. “You better get out there and get after her.”

“It doesn’t make any sense Pansy. And it´s better that way. She deserves more.”

Pansy reared in front of the guy, her hands on her hips.

“Don’t you dare to think so Draco Malfoy. You´re whining about this girl for months. One time you say you don’t care and the next moment you look at her as if you want to propose right away. I´m done with this. I set up all of this just so you could shoot your shot. Hell, do you know how much it took me to get Urquhart into agreeing to this? And all evening you did nothing else than awkwardly stare at her and then, as a culmination, you insult her. You know, I don’t care, what you do next, but if you rather pity yourself than get after her, I´m done with you. Then I never want to hear you complaining ever again, you hear me?”

When Pansy had finished her speech, she glared down at Draco, panting.

Everyone else stared up at her in awe. No one, neither her friends nor the Gryffindors had ever thought Pansy would ever stand up to anyone like this. She always reached her goals. But she did it quietly, without drawing too much attention to it. The only time she got more visible was when she was bullying other students. And not in their wildest dreams anyone had ever thought, Pansy Parkinson would stand up like this. Especially not to Draco Malfoy.

“She´s right, you know that? I can´t promise you this will have a happy ending, I don’t even know if I want it to, but (Y/n) is my friend. And I want her to be happy. And if that´s with you, then I´m alright with that too, I guess.”

“See, even the mudblood agrees with me.”, Pansy said, puffing her chest.

“Don’t call her…”, Ron spoke up, but Hermione interrupted him.

“Let her. Just this one time.”

Draco´s gaze drifted from one to the other. Then Harry cleared his throat.

“Now go and get the girl, Malfoy.”

And Draco did. He sprinted out of the common room and down the corridors, running faster than he had ever done.

Your steps were echoing through the empty corridors. You just prayed none of the teachers would notice you, since it was far after bedtime. Especially now you needed to be careful since you were still in the dungeons, the territory of Professor Snape.

Draco´s words were still echoing in your head. You weren’t quite sure why you were so affected by them. People had said far worse things to you, many of them Draco had said. But the mix of alcohol, fatigue, the closeness to Draco at this moment and the entire evening, as well as the knowledge that this time he had for sure meant what he had said, made it much more hurtful than any other thing.

Tomorrow you would probably feel differently about it. And hopefully also different about Draco. You had always been aware of the fact that you were much more attracted to him than you should be, but tonight you had realized, that it might be even more. The way his hands had felt on your hips, while you were dancing, the way you felt safe in his arms while you were sitting on his lap, the way you had been locked in this room, where anything had been possible, all these things had made you craving for more. Made you crave for more with him. But as you now realized -even if you had always known- these feelings were biased. You would have to live with what you had gotten until now, accepting that there would never be more.

Suddenly, you heard a second pair of footsteps. The sound was getting louder quickly. You cursed under your breath. If Professor Snape would catch you here at this time, you wouldn’t see the sun for the rest of the school year.

“(Y/n)!”

You froze. This wasn’t Professor Snape´s voice. Neither the voice of any other teacher.

“(Y/n)!”

You knew that voice.

The footsteps were now really close.

Slowly, you turned around.

When Malfoy had reached you, he was panting heavily. You felt your heartbeat quicken at this view. At the same moment, you cursed your heart for betraying you.

“I´m a douchebag.”, Draco pressed out.

You raised an eyebrow.

“Don’t you say.”

“No for real. I´m a complete idiot.”

“How did you come to this realisation?”, your voice sounded cold. You were proud of how much control lay within it.

“I told you, you annoy me.”

“You did.”

“And that´s true.”

“Thanks for reminding me.”

“Could you stop being so snappish for a second?”

“For what reason.”

“Because I´m trying to tell you that I´m absolutely crazy about you.”

You blinked in confusion.

“What?”

“That´s why you´re annoying me so much (Y/n). Because I just can´t think straight when you´re around. I mean do you have any idea how it feels when I´m trying so hard to hate you and I just can´t? I mean, you´re a stupid Gryffindor, and I swear to Salazar, everything I ever wanted to do with any of you was hexing you so badly you would never come back to this school again, and then you walk by with this stupid perfect smile and all I want to do is… I mean when I said that I want to do things to you we might regret… things with you… I mean, whenever I see you all I want to do is…. not hexing you.”

You stared at the boy in front of you in disbelief.

“I know, you don’t feel the same (Y/n). I´m not stupid. You live in your perfectly normal world, with all your amazing friends and good grades and whatever.”, Draco spitted out, making it sound like the life he had just described was the worst thing that could ever happen to anyone. “But I know you were hurt but what I told you back in this closet when you… when we… There were so many better ways that I could have ruined it and I chose one that hurt you. And I… I want to apologise for it.”

“You´re kidding me, right?”, you asked, completely dumbfounded. Your brain just couldn’t grasp what was happening right now.

Draco shook his head. He reached into the pocket of his trousers and pulled out a small vial.

“I´ll prove it.”, he said, opening the phial. You recognized it from your potions class. And slowly, you started to put two and two together.

As Draco raised his hand, you quickly took a step forward, grabbing it.

“Don’t.”

Draco looked at you with widened eyes.

“I want to do it. If that´s what it takes for you to believe me.”

You couldn’t help the grin that spread across your face.

“I already do.”

Now it was on Draco to be confused.

“Why?”

“Because no one could be so stupid to think that up.”, you chuckled. “Besides, I knew something was off tonight. I just didn’t know what it was. Until now.”

Draco mirrored your smile shyly.

 “So what do you think?”, he asked. “I mean you don’t owe me an answer and I know that we will never…”

He was interrupted as you pressed your lips on his. You could have stayed like this forever, but you gathered all your willpower and after a second, you pulled back again. Draco stared at you, completely mesmerized.

“You really don’t know when to shut up, do you?”, you smiled.

“If that´s what it takes.”, he grinned.

You rolled your eyes.

“And you´re telling me that I´m annoying.”, you sighed.

Draco laughed.

“Well. You have no idea how long I waited for this, you can´t expect me to keep my cool.”

You raised an eyebrow.

“Since when does Draco Malfoy lose his cool?”, you mocked.

“Ever since he loves you.”, the boy responded promptly.

You looked at him with widened eyes.

“Sorry, that was…”

“No need to be.”, you whispered against his lips. You could feel your heart beating even faster at his confession. “You don´t have to apologise. Not for this.”

“If you insist love.”, Draco responded.

His lips were brushing over yours tenderly, making shivers run down your spine. You slowly brought your hands up to his neck, slightly caressing his cheeks before you tangled them in his hair.

“I insist.”

Draco brushed a strand of your hair out of your field of vision, before he cupped your cheeks, his thumps brushing over your soft skin.

“So, do you only kiss me to make me shut up or are there also other things I can do?”, Draco mocked you, his lips leaving yours, hovering over your skin, making their way to your neck. He spread some featherweight kisses on your delicate skin, making you tilt your head slightly and bite your lip to suppress a whimper.

“If you keep on teasing me, I won´t kiss you again, no matter what you do Malfoy.”, you mumbled.

“Says the girl who was grinding on my lap for more than an hour. If you consider this as teasing, this has been torture.”

You could feel your cheeks heating.

“Oh.”

“Yeah, oh.”, Draco grinned.

“Well, I can make it up to you now. But you have to let me.”, you responded.

That was all Draco needed. He let his lips crash on yours. You immediately returned his kiss, pulling him only closer.

When you finally pulled back, your hair was a mess and your lips were swollen, but your smile could have brightened up an entire room.

“You´re gonna be the death of me, you know that?”, Draco mumbled, as his thumb brushed over your lips.

“That´s a good way to die after all, don’t you think?”, you smiled.

Draco pecked your lips.

“The best.”

But just as he pulled you in once more, you heard a door banging somewhere in the distance. You froze,

“Did that come from the common room or was it Snape?”, you whispered.

“I don’t know. And I don’t want to find out.”, Draco grabbed your hand. “Let´s get out of here.”

“Where?”

“I´ll bring you to your dorm.”, Draco responded. “Or do you have different plans?”

“Don’t ask questions when you don’t wanna know the answer Malfoy.”, you laughed, as you were hurrying down the corridor.

“But I feel like I really want to know the answer this time.”

“And I feel like we got plenty of time to figure it out.”

Draco looked at you and smiled.

“I´ll exploit every second you´re willing to spend on me, love.”