If I thought prefect meetings at the beginning of the year were awkward, it was nothing like the horrors of enduring it after breaking things off with Cedric.

At least at the beginning of the year, I just had Draco that was a nuisance and despite some awkwardness with Cedric, he was mostly at my defense. Now, it was like the complete opposite. I couldn't stand to look at Cedric (which was problematic since he was Head Boy), and Draco was glued to my side the entire time.

As the Slytherin prefects, we were required to sit with each other anyway at the table, but I never remembered Draco being as vigilant as he was now. Every so often when I'd start to zone out, I'd hear him whisper a faint "everything okay?" or "you alright?", sometimes accompanied by gently brushing his fingers against mine to get my attention.

I'd admit that I probably needed the physical contact to break from my hazy mindset most times, but I couldn't ignore the fiery eyes of Cedric on us from across the table whenever it happened, even when he was talking or giving some sort of lecture. When that happened, it always seemed that Hermione swooped in and picked up right where he left off.

Part of me felt guilty, not necessarily for me, but Cedric. Although he didn't know the nature of me and Draco's relationship, the poor guy was forced to endure us sitting together, suddenly cozier than ever, right across from him after I'd told him things wouldn't work out between us. It was no wonder that whenever Draco reached out to touch me or leaned closer to whisper something in my ear, he got distracted.

"It's come to our attention that some of the patrolling partnerships are starting to become a conflict of interest," Granger spoke up, tossing a large piece of parchment in the middle of the table.

I turned my attention to it, which I quickly noticed was the patrol schedule. We'd all memorized which pairs went on what days, so we hadn't needed a physical copy in weeks. Upon further inspection, we saw that everyone's days and partners had been swapped in some way or another.

"What's the matter with the schedule? It was fine the way it was," I spoke up, noticing that everyone was having similar reactions to it. Ron, Padma, and Terry all seemed to be exchanging confused glances as they passed the parchment around.

"Some students have been accusing a couple prefects, not to name any names," Granger glared at Draco and I, "of house loyalties. Unfairly deducting points from rival houses, excessive detentions, but being let off the hook when it's their own housemates."

"That's rubbish," Draco shook his head. "And real subtle, Granger, but I haven't done anything out of sorts. Y/n can attest to that."

"Unfortunately," Cedric interjected in place of Hermione, "Y/n's testimony wouldn't make much of a difference. You two are in the same house so she has as much incentive as you."

Part of me felt offended. Did they think —rather he think— I would stoop so low as to cheating just to win the stupid house cup?

I was nothing like that. Draco, maybe; he was always more apt for house loyalties and squeezing every potential point out for Slytherin, but he wouldn't go so low as to just keep taking points from Gryffindor or another house. More importantly, I wouldn't have let him get away with it. He could have a nasty attitude while tired late at night and patrolling, but that was just his personality.

"So what? We all just switch and mess up everyone's schedule?" I asked.

"Precisely," Granger nodded. "Don't make it seem like we wanted to change, it's a hassle for us all."

"Then let's just keep it the way it was. My partnership was working fine," Draco crossed his arms over his chest.

"Yeah, tell whoever made those complaints to shove off. It's not their place to change prefect positions," I added, looking over at Draco who had his brows tugged together in an annoyed expression. I mimicked it, as well.

Cedric's eyes flickered between Draco and me, and I noticed him tense up. I knew that Cedric wasn't a fan of Draco on the best of days, but especially not now. We were essentially arguing with our superiors just to stay put together.

Wait... we were arguing just to stay put together. Since when did I start enjoying Draco's company so much that I was willing to put up a fight over it? Since when did he start doing the same?

"You're right," Cedric nodded, "it's not their place to say, but it is ours. As Head Boy and Girl we decided this together."

"That's just making more work for everyone involved, Diggory," Draco shook his head before looking to the other prefects at the table. "Shall we all just keep our regular posts?"

Ron grimaced. "I don't want to get used to a whole new schedule, but we can't have those slimy Slytherins stealing points out from under us."

"There's no switching," Granger negated. "If the Slytherins really are cheating, Dumbledore will have our heads for not making the adjustments sooner. It would mess up the whole house cup."

"We are not cheating, Hermione! Have some faith in us!" I defended, suddenly becoming more animated. How could they think we'd do that? Wasn't that the point of sending us in pairs, to cover more ground but also keep each other in check?

"If you bloody Gryffindors kept your asses in bed after curfew we wouldn't have to deduct so many points," Draco huffed.

"Everyone calm down before this gets out of hand," Cedric raised his voice, but not angrily. It was confident and orderly, but lacking that underlying hint of aggression to make it rude.

"This isn't a point for debate," Granger chimed in, holding a similar yet slightly more annoyed tone than her counterpart. "Cedric and I have already made the changes. Have a look yourselves."

Draco opened his mouth to speak, likely to argue some more, but I grabbed his forearm indicating to calm down. His eyes followed my arm all the way back up to meet my gaze, before inhaling deeply and breathing out, quite audibly trying to relax himself. He slumped in his seat, loosening up his tense shoulders and rolling his neck around.

Once the parchment made it our way, we both took a look at it and saw whose names were with each other.

Mon, Wed — Y/n Vitelli, Ronald Weasley

Fri, Sat — Draco Malfoy, Terry Boot

Tues, Thurs — Padma Patil, Hannah Abbot

Sun — alternate Cedric Diggory, Hermione Granger

"Why have you lazy lot only got one night to patrol? And every other week, at that?" Draco huffed, shoving the parchment back over to Hermione.

"Perks of being Head Girl and Boy. Not to mention how many other responsibilities we have on top of organizing your schedule," Hermione glared.

"Feel free to quit your position if you're unhappy, Malfoy," Cedric's eyes narrowed at Draco. "I've heard Theodore Nott, senior, has made a big donation to the school. I'm sure Dumbledore would happily offer his son your honorable spot for Slytherin house."

"Over my dead body," Draco rolled his eyes. "That tosser has done nothing but harass y/n for a week straight; last thing I'm doing is giving him the satisfaction of being prefect."

Right when that sentence left his lips, I turned to glare at Draco whose eyes were slightly widened with the realization of what he said. I didn't have to turn back to look at the group to feel their eyes burning into me.

"Draco," I chided him, which he returned by turning to look at me and whisper a soft "I shouldn't have said that" with a worried expression on his face. It wasn't quite an apology, but I was starting to get used to his version of one.

"Has Nott done something to you, y/n?" Hermione was the first, forcing me to turn my attention to her.

"None of your business," I averted my gaze down to my lap.

"Ron, Padma, Terry, you're free to leave. Memorize the schedule," Cedric directed the remaining prefects.

They all exchanged awkward looks and soft, uncomfortable mumblings as they shuffled out of the room. It felt like forever as I watched them pack up their bags, agonizingly slow, and head out.

The table suddenly felt bigger without the presence of the other three. With just Draco and I on one side with Hermione and Cedric across from us, I was aware of how much of a strange grouping it was. It felt cold, unwelcoming.

"Malfoy, what did you mean by Theodore's been 'harassing' her?" Hermione inquired.

"He's still acting like that?" Cedric added.

"Still?" Draco looked up, the expression of concern previously there now having vanished into one of curiosity. "Does that mean you were aware, Diggory?"

Cedric shrugged defensively. "It was petty, nothing really worth mentioning. I thought it was just some little fight between friends."

"'Little fight'? How can you say that when you know how badly it's affected her?"

"Draco, this isn't your problem," I reached out to grasp his arm again, once again forcing his attention onto me.

"This isn't about that; it's that Diggory knew?"

"I haven't told him everything," I muttered, trying to lower my voice as much as possible. "He was just there for one incident."

"And he didn't stand up for you?"

"Yes, he did—"

"Of course I did, Malfoy. I just haven't seen anything since," Cedric interjected.

"When was this, then?" Draco asked, my grasp on him tightening with the hopes of containing his attitude. I should've known it was pointless, but it was worth a try.

"Draco, it's not a big—"

"The night of the Slug Club," Cedric replied curtly, cutting me off.

The two boys were staring at each other, meanwhile completely ignoring me and admittedly Hermione, too, who couldn't squeeze a word in. She had opened her mouth to speak numerous times which the boys cut off before she could even talk. It was an improvement for her, honestly. I didn't want to hear her anymore than I had to.

"You were at the Slug Club?"

Cedric nodded, in an obvious way. "All of us were. Hermione, Theo, Blaise, y/n, and I."

"So you know Blaise has been like this too?"

"Draco, can you quit it?" I finally interrupted, pulling Draco to look at me.

"He was acting the same as Theodore the night of the dinner. They were pretty rude from the start."

"Do you have any idea why?"

"Draco! Stop it!"

Cedric looked between the two of us confusedly. "I, uh, can only assume."

"What happened with them?"

Clearly, trying to get Draco to shut up was pointless. He kept digging for information, likely because neither Theo or I had told him yet. He'd have done better to not stick his nose in it.

"Cedric," I changed tactics, "don't entertain this any longer."

Unlike Draco, Cedric seemed to halt once I asked him to. Draco kept badgering Cedric, attacking him with quick-fire questions, but Cedric clammed up. He stuck his hands in his pockets, and provided vague responses like "I don't know" or "can't say".

"Come on, Draco, we're heading out," I tugged on his arm in the direction of the door.

"Wait, y/n!" Hermione finally got the chance to speak, "don't you think we should stop whatever's on with Theo? He can't get away with—"

"Forget it, Granger. Like Cedric said, just a fight between friends."

"It didn't sound like it? If he's really harassing you, we can do something."

"He's not! It was just some spat between us, get over it. Nothing serious."

Draco rolled his eyes, looking pissed off as ever. "I know you wouldn't get this, Granger, but some things can be dealt without you knowing. I'll take care of it."

Before either Hermione could say anything else, I had practically dragged him out of the room while he and Cedric traded quips of an argument.

Once we made it out into the corridor, I couldn't hide how annoyed I was. Draco had been fantastic lately; surprising me with little gifts, activities, spending time with me just so I wouldn't be alone.

But it always seemed one step forward, two steps back with us.

I could've forgotten about the fact that he let it slip that things were off with Theo and I, it didn't take a genius to figure that one out. Anyone could assume based on the little time we spent together or if they caught the tail end of a conversation in the common room. "Harassing" was a stretch, but Draco was always melodramatic.

The problem was that once he knew Cedric had some information, he sunk his teeth in and tried to force it out any way he could. If neither Theo nor I wanted him to know, he should've let that be. It should've been left as a problem for the two of us to sort out, not him to dig his way into.

"Y/n, come on, forgive me for that little argument back there. You know I didn't mean to say it," he grasped my arms, keeping me in place in front of him.

"Draco, can we not do this here? They could walk out any second and hear this—"

"Like hell if I care! I shouldn't have told them that Theo's been 'harassing' you; I shouldn't have even used that word. Look, I know you're upset about that, you didn't need everyone knowing, I made a big deal out of a personal problem. I— I should've bitten my tongue."

"Yes, you should've."

I had my arms crossed over my chest, looking clearly unhappy with him. He craned his neck down, trying to get me to look at him, but I kept turning my head to avoid his gaze. I didn't feel like looking at him after he made a scene.

It would've been bad enough in front of the regular prefects, but around Cedric was even worse. I just started feeling better about us breaking things off, and the first prefect meeting back, we have to all start an argument.

When he figured out I had no intention of meeting his gaze, he placed his hands on my waist and pushed me flush up against his chest. A slight gasp escaped my lips as my hands rested on his upper chest, our bodies pressed together.

His brows were furrowed together, eyes looking a deeper blue than usual; the gray in them had darkened to a misty, sultrier tone. They looked colder, which was reflected in his touch. Through my clothes I could feel his cool fingers spread across my waist and partially my back.

His voice lowered to a hush. It had a slight rasp to it, which sent a shock down my spine that made my knees go weak.

"I got upset because I care about you."

If it weren't for his firm grasp on my waist, I probably would've buckled completely at his words.

His lips were parted slightly, his hot breath fanning my skin due to our proximity. My eyes flickered between his lips and eyes, so darkened that I couldn't bear to look at them for too long. They were the most intimidating thing about him. Well, that and his tall, lean figure which towered over me. If he weren't craning his neck down closer to me, I wouldn't have been able to notice the darkened tone of them.

"You keep asking why I've been doing all this, saying it's not necessary to be around you all the time. Yes, it is. When you care about someone, it's what you do. It's what I do."

I noticed his own eyes shift between mine and my lips as I did the same. It was like neither of us could hold each other's gaze, resorting to look elsewhere and landing on our lips.

For a second, a fleeting moment in our grasp, I thought he might close the gap.

"Tell me you forgive me."

It dawned on me that he was right. As uncouth and unconventional as he could be, he did do that because he cared about me. In his own way. He resorted to uncalled quips of anger or frustration, desperate to know things that should've been told to him in private, but it was his way of better understanding the situation to help.

That didn't mean I was happy with his method, but it was certainly his method. And I could deal with that.

My lips curled up in a smirk, which he looked confused at.

"I can't say I'm happy about what just happened... but it is nice having a personal bodyguard all the time. Even if it is a lanky blonde."

The end of his lip tugged up in a cheeky smirk of his own, which he finished off by pulling me in for a tight hug. His arms wrapped around my waist and back while my arms settled for his neck.

For a quick moment, I felt myself being lifted off the ground as I realized he had picked me up and spun me in a tight circle before placing me back down. His head found a place in the crook of my neck and he nuzzled into it, his grasp around my waist tightening as he pulled me impossibly closer.

"Don't scare me like that," he mumbled into my skin, us both letting out a chuckle.

He pulled his head back for a moment to look at me again, eyes glued to mine.

"That means I'm forgiven?"

"If you don't let Granger think I'm being harassed anymore."

He smirked wider, before nuzzling himself back into my neck again. We stayed pressed up against each other for Merlin knows how long, but a considerable amount of time. It felt like a few seconds from the thrill of how my skin trembled under his touch, but it could've been minutes and I wouldn't have known the difference.

"Your personal bodyguard won't allow that," he chuckled. "And he's not lanky. He's... slender."

When he walked me back to my dorm, after having wrapped an arm around my waist and pressed against his side the entire time, I found myself pondering about what could've happened had it gone differently.

I learned that it was better to take Draco's positives, his actual efforts into more consideration than his negatives, the faulty moments that slip out under frustration. It was clear that he didn't always know how to control himself; he was prone to more bad moments than good. But when he did have a good moment, it meant something. Not only to him, but he expected me to know it meant something, too.

By the time I was lying alone in bed, left with only my thoughts for company, I kept replaying the scene of my body pressed against his, him asking for forgiveness, over and over.

The sight of his eyes sent me into a frenzy of emotions. Their darkened state was intensely sensual; it sent shivers down, up, back down and around my body.

The combination of that and his pink, soft lips, slightly parted and quivering with ever the slightest noticeability, I couldn't ignore the fact that I wanted to go back in that moment and do things differently.

If I could, I would've kissed him myself.

———

A/N: Not me being exhausted from college orientation and it's been like three days- who allows orientation to be from 8 AM to 1 AM??? is that even legal???

Anyway besties here's a chapter ig yuh get into it. It's not my favorite, but the end of the chapter really is quite sweet. The beginning could've been better but #yolo bc I'm busy with school at the moment

ily all sm and hope you're doing well!! xx

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