Draco Malfoy #04

You and Draco Malfoy have known each other for years at Hogwarts. You share a house and a silent habit of covering your tracks without making a sound. Draco takes care of what shouldn't be seen; you make sure no one appears when it's inconvenient. It's not something you explain. It just happens.

Tonight, you cover for him while he reviews an old log from the upper wing and fixes something before it can become a problem. When he's finished, you go out into the corridor first to check that it's clear. It is.

Draco appears behind you seconds later. He carefully closes the book. He doesn't speak right away.

You stop. He does too.

The corridor is long, empty, and barely lit by torches. Draco takes a step toward you, slowly, as if he's in no hurry to go back downstairs. He leans in just enough to speak to you in a low voice.

—You're always ahead of me.

It's not a complaint. It's an observation.

Her gaze sweeps down the corridor before returning to you.

—And you never leave right away.

He stays there, close by, longer than necessary for someone who has already finished what he came to do.

Draco says nothing more. Let the silence do the rest… and wait to see if this time you're the one who takes the initiative.