MAUVE VIOTTO

"Oh isn't it such a lovely day today?" Theo throws one arm around me, and the other around Draco. I give him a subtle glare, thinking that he must be up to no good.

"Theo..." Draco also gives him a warning glare, much to my surprise.

He only grins at the two of us. "Ugh, I love being in the know— I have the most knowledge in this whole friend group!" He announces with a wide smile.

"I literally made the group chat though," I huff, giving him a deadpanned look. "How does that even make sense?"

His grin widens, "well, did you know—"

Draco's head snaps towards him, "one word, Theo. I dare you." My eyebrows fly up at the threatening tone in Draco's voice. He seems to really dislike the idea of Theo revealing whatever he was about to reveal.

I give him a curious look, but not once does he meet my eyes. I wonder if it has anything to do with the rapid texting conversation he had with Theo yesterday. The three of us make our way out to the field to meet the rest of our friends. Draco and Blaise have quidditch practice, and the rest of us are going to watch.

We spilt off when we reach the change rooms, and I wave goodbye to Draco as he disappears behind the door. Theo doesn't waste any time before speaking as soon as Draco is out of range.

"You excited to watch your boyfriend play?" He teases, bumping my shoulder repeatedly with his. We begin walking to the stands, where we can faintly see Finley and Alyssa sitting near the front.

I roll my eyes, bumping him back a little harsher. "Oh, shut up."

"I'm just saying!" He laughs, raising his hands in defence. "Oh! Have you seen the picture Alyssa took?" He asks with sudden excitement, a wide grin stretching across his features.

"Picture?" I question with confusion. "What picture?"

His grin stretches to a larger one and he slips his phone out of his pocket. He fiddles with the device for a few seconds before turning the screen to face me. My eyes widen and I immediately grab the phone from his hands.

"What the fuck?" My mouth is open, my cheeks flushed, as I observe the photo. I had stopped walking when I saw it, my feet remaining planted firmly into the ground.

Theo leans over, a teasing smile as he glances down at the photo. "Cute, right?" I can't even tear my eyes off the image. His arm is wrapped around me the way it was when I woke up, but it looks as if he's pulling me closer. My head is leaning on his chest, right over his shoulder. His head is leaning over mine, and I can't shove down the thought that we look like a couple.

"Wha— when did she take this?" I hand him back the phone, but the picture stays engraved in my head.

Theo laughs as he pockets the device. "She went to go check on you. We noticed that Draco went missing after first class and we had a hunch, so she went to check. Of course, none of us were expecting that when she sent the picture."

I blush, shaking my head. "It felt intimate." I admit, shrugging.

He gives me a grin in return and we continue to walk towards our other two friends. "You weren't the only one who felt that way."

Immediately, my ears perk up. "What? What do you mean?" He shrugs, but a knowing smirk plays on his lips. I shove him lightly, "what do you know?"

He brings his fingers to his lips, pretending to zip it. "The only thing I'll say is Draco has never voluntarily come to me to tell me something that's happened, not like that. He's never wanted to tell me about a situation like that." He confesses, leading us up the stairs of the stands. "But that's all I'll say," he tosses a wink to me right before we find Alyssa and Finely. I huff at the vagueness of his response.

"What took you guys so long?" Finely questions as we sit down beside them. "We saw you walking here ages ago."

"We were just chatting," I wave it off before Theo responds.

He shakes his head, "I showed her the picture of her and Draco."

I redden when I recall the memory, and when I realize that everyone here is aware of my crush on Draco. I shove him, "shut up," I murmur.

Alyssa laughs, slinging an arm around me. "Ah, young love." The Slytherin team walks out of the changing rooms and disperses into the field. We watch as they do some drills, with Draco frequently looking over at us. And apparently, I'm not the only one who notices.

"Draco's dumbass is going to get hit by a fuckin' bludger if he looks over at you one more time." Theo snorts, rolling his eyes. He nudges me with a knowing look in his eyes.

Finely laughs, "geez, Mauve, stop distracting your boyfriend."

"Call him my boyfriend one more time and he won't be the one getting hit by a bludger." I roll my eyes, giving Finely a joking glare. He raises his hands in defeat.

"Maybe you should wave or something," Alyssa suggests when he looks over once more. He never looks for more then a second, it was always a simple glance in our direction. Compared to Draco, Blaise was completely focused on their drills.

When Draco glances at us again, I bring my hand up to give him a small wave. He does a double-take when I do so, and I catch the slight beginning of a smile before he turns away.

"Aww, you guys are so cute," Alyssa gushes. "It's like having a middle school crush in Muggle schools."

I roll my eyes, "it's not as nerve-wracking at Muggle schools." Like Alyssa, I'm also a half-blood. But both my parents were slightly more accepting about me being a witch and attending Hogwarts. I spent a few years in a Muggle public school and the atmosphere is very different.

"Have you ever had a crush on a Muggle?" Theo inquires curiously. Theo and Finely are both pure-blood wizards, but are both entirely fascinated with all things Muggle-related. I would love to bring them around the Muggle world sometime.

I nod, a grimace forming on my face. "Once," I tell him, holding up a singular finger. "Never again after that— I'll tell you, even the worst people here are better than the 'best' there."

"Well the worst person here is Draco, and you have a massive crush on him." Theo retorts, clearly joking. I laugh loudly, shaking my head.

Sometimes I wonder whether Draco would have spoken to me earlier if I wasn't a half-blood. Would we have been friends sooner if I was a pure-blood witch? Obviously, he doesn't have as much distaste to those that aren't pure-bloods as he used to, but I'm not sure where he stands now with all that. I know he grew up that way, Theo did as well, but surely he must have an altered view now that we're friends... right?

Their practice finishes quickly and we walk out to wait for the boys outside of their change room. It's almost time for dinner, and we decided that after practice, we would walk to the great hall together. Draco emerges from the doorway and I need to take a second to re-collect my thoughts. His platinum blonde hair is messy, his eyes bright. His duffle bag is resting on one shoulder, and he's wearing his striped quidditch jumper with the embroidered badge of Slytherin stitched on the top left-hand side.

"Hi," I smile when he walks over.

"Hey," he leans against the wall beside me, "did you watch the whole time?" He asks, as if he wasn't checking to see whether I was or not during the entire hour. His duffle bag is placed on the floor beside him as we wait for Blaise to finish changing.

I nod, "you were great." I tell him honestly. It's no doubt that Draco was one of the best players, if not, the best. He could definitely play competitively if he wanted to. It's no surprise that he was offered the captaincy of the team without even asking for the position.

He grins, "thank you."

I suddenly remember what Theo told me earlier, and a smirk tugs on my lips. "A little birdie told me you were talking about me yesterday." I start, becoming more amused when his face flushes pink. "What'd you say?" I see momentary relief flash in his eyes when he realizes I don't know what he said.

He turns to Theo, "you're so dead, Theo." The brunette's eyes widen, and his hands fly up in defence as he takes a few steps back to create some distance between him and Draco.

"I didn't say anything," he reassures him, but Draco continues to stare at him with a challenging look. When sweat is nearly about to drip down his forehead from his nervousness, he turns to me, "heyyyy Mauve, don't you have a secret crush we don't know about?" He attempts to shift the attention on me to change the subject.

Oh he's so fake. I shake my head at his attempt to change the topic. "No—"

"Hold on, he's got a point." Draco turns back to me with an eyebrow raised.

I shoot a glare at Theo, who's snickering under his breath. Still looking at Theo, I announce, "I'm exposing Theo— he knows who I like."

Theo's face falls as Draco turns to face him in record time.