MAUVE VIOTTO

Draco would not stop whining for the entire walk. "Mauveeeeee," he rests his head over mine. I'm glad he can't see the colour of my cheeks from his position. "How could you tell Theo but not me?" He stands up, pouting at me.

"I have a valid reason," I tell him, chuckling under my breath. I'm not ready to confess yet, that's why. "But I can't tell you it."

"Theo, what the fuck, man?" He expresses his frustration at Theo instead and swats his chest, resulting in him wincing in pain.

He groans, "I'm sworn to secrecy, dude!"

Seeing Draco pout again, I pat his cheek. He might be childish, but he's still cute too. "Look, you can have my fudge during dinner, stop pouting." I offer, but of course, it's not that easy.

He huffs, turning away childishly. "I don't want your stupid fudge." He crosses his arms, still looking away. I roll my eyes, shaking my head at his behaviour.

"Well, can I have it then?" Finely questions with a grin. I know he loves sweet food almost as much as Draco does.

I can't even open my mouth before Draco responds. "Fuck no, it's mine."

"But you didn't even—" Finely sighs, dropping his head. "Stupid couples," he mutters under his breath. I hit his shoulder, glaring at him. He's lucky neither Draco nor Blaise heard that, or I would have killed him on the spot.

When we get to the Great Hall, I'm immediately met with Cho's heated glare from the Ravenclaw table. I sigh, turning to the three boys. "Can I sit with you?" I murmur, looking away from her. I turn to face Theo and Draco instead, who give me concerned looks.

"Of course," Theo throws arm over my shoulders without asking any questions. I smile at the action. Draco's eyes travel down to find Cho's angry one and he sighs, shaking his head.

Finely turns to us with a pout. "Hey, no fair! I want to sit with you guys too!" He complains.

Blaise rolls his eyes, "sure, it's not like we have designated tables for our houses or anything." He says sarcastically, but I know he doesn't mind at all if we sit together. He wouldn't say it out-loud, but I could tell he's warming up to us. Draco is too.

Alyssa beams, "you're right, Zabini!" She agrees jokingly, skipping away to follow him down the Slytherin table. "Great idea."

He shakes his head, muttering something incoherently under his breath. We all take a seat— Theo is sitting in between me and Fin, with Alyssa directly in front of me, followed by Blaise and Draco beside her.

With our food at the table, I pick up my plate with fudge and hand it over to Draco. His eyes brighten as he attempts to hide his smile. His slim fingers brush against mine as he takes the plate with a grateful look on his face, goosebumps racing down my spine as he does.

"Fuck—" Blaise mutters, rolling his eyes.

We look at him in confusion and he tilts his head slightly to the left. "Parkinson at 3 o'clock."

She appears not long after, basically shoving herself on Draco's lap. My hand flies to my mouth in shock and amusement, trying very hard not to laugh at Draco's clearly disgusted face. It's obvious he's uncomfortable— his eyes are sending us vivid SOS symbols.

"Geez, Pansy, I'm trying to fucking eat." Theo doesn't bother hiding his evident distaste of the unfortunate view in front of him, earning a glare from Pansy herself.

"I'm not here for you, Nott." She rolls her eyes, placing a hand on Draco's chest, giving him an overly sweet smile as she looks up at him. He winces, a deep frown etched into his face.

Theo leans over to me, muttering under her breath. "Thank Merlin she's not— a complete nutter, that one is." I let out a small chuckle and Pansy's glare shifts towards me.

Her annoyingly high-pitched voice reaches my ears, "and what are you laughing at? Dumb Ravenclaw." I open my mouth to tell her off when two others do it for me.

"Shut the fuck up."

"Do you ever shut the fuck up?"

Alyssa looks at Draco with shock, but a hint of pride. I can tell she didn't expect him to stand up for me, and frankly, I didn't either. He avoids eye-contact and Pansy looks absolutely livid. I feel constant nudging on my right and turn to find a smirking Theo. Shielding his face from Draco's view with his hands, he makes kissy faces to mock me. I shove him, muttering a quiet "fuck you."

Pansy remains on Draco's lap for ten more minutes— we endure the uneasiness for ten whole extra minutes, until Alyssa finally snaps. She gets up from her spot next to Blaise with determination in her eyes. Blaise, like the rest of us, can tell she's about to do something probably not good, and shuffles further away from Draco.

Theo fumbles with his phone, discreetly pointing it at Pansy and Draco. I lean over, whispering him to send me the video after.

Within minutes, Pansy is no longer seated on Draco's lap, but is on the floor instead. Alyssa looks proud, and Pansy enraged. When I see Pansy shuffle to grab her wand, I stand up with my wand already in hand. I give her a challenging glare, "I dare you to try and touch her." I spin my wand readily in my hand— mostly so she can clearly see that I have my wand in my hand too.

Draco frowns, also standing up. Since we're near the end of the table, he easily walks around, and sits me back down. Both his hands push lightly on my shoulders as he guides me to sit back at the table. This action alone is enough for Pansy to get up and scurry out of the Great Hall. "Aww, why not?" Theo pouts, realizing Draco doesn't want me to fight.

"We all know Mauve would win!" Finely adds on, leaning forward to give me a wink.

Draco sighs, having sat beside me now. "She could also get hurt, or in trouble." He gives them a deadpanned look. He looks at me with softness in his eyes, my mouth parting in awe.

Alyssa and I share a look and I make a move to squish his cheeks. "Awe, you care." I grin teasingly, ignoring the rapid beating in my chest.

He rolls his eyes, "of course I care dimwit, we're friends."

I can feel my face fall at the harsh reminder, but I try not to let it show. "Right. Friends." I gulp, nodding. I pry my hands off, fiddling with them in my lap. "I uh— I forgot about this thing. I'll see you guys tomorrow, yeah?" I get up, ignoring the food I haven't finished.

Alyssa gives me a concerned look, and probably caught on. "Want me to come with you?"

I shake my head, giving her a weak smile. "Maybe later." She nods, clearly understanding I wanted some time alone.

"Where are you going?" Theo asks with a pout. "Why can't we come?"

Finely rolls his eyes, reaching to smack Theo behind his head. "Read the room, you daft cow."

I turn to leave when Draco grabs my wrist lightly. I spin around and face his furrowed brows, his features swimming in concern. "Are you okay?" He asks lowly, clearly not wanting anyone else to hear our conversation.

Lying right to his face, I nod. "Yeah," I respond in the same low tone. His hand falls and I don't waste any time walking out of the room. I walk straight out the castle and find a bench to sit alone and gather my thoughts.

I'm not mad per se, I know we're just friends. I suppose it was just a harsh reminder— he views me as a friend, nothing more, nothing less.

After a few minutes alone someone's shadow falls over me, and I look up to find Harry Potter once more. He gives me a small wave, "hi, Mauve. Can I sit?" He gestures towards the empty spot beside me.

I nod, shuffling over to give him some more space. "Sure."

"I couldn't help but notice you rush out of the Great Hall earlier," he says as he sits a few centimetres away. "Anything bugging you?"

I shake my head, "just thinking. You really are observant, hmm?" I muse, recalling our last conversation from the Astronomy Tower.

His eyes widen and he looks embarrassed, "well erm—"

I laugh, cutting him off. "I'm just teasing, Potter. No worries." He looks relieved and his shoulders slump out of their tense position. "What about you?"

"Hmm?"

"Why are you out here? Dinner's still going on."

He shrugs, "fancied a small walk, I suppose." I hum in response, not knowing what to say. For a few minutes, we just stare out at the scenery in front of us in silence.

"How do you do it?" He asks suddenly, turning to me.

I raise a brow in confusion. "Pardon?" I don't know what he's talking about, and that's evident in my facial expressions.

"I mean— being friends with them, with Malfoy. You're so nice, and they're... not." He crinkles his nose as he describes them.

I purse my lips, "there's good in everyone, even if it doesn't show in the surface. There's good in Slytherins, there's good in Draco." I give him a small smile, "sometimes you need to get to know someone before you can judge them."

"Is that why you're basically friends with everyone?" He inquires, earning a laugh from me.

"Me?" I point to myself, amused. "I'm not friends with everyone."

"But you're nice to everyone." He points out.

I nod, "yes, because I don't know their stories, Harry Potter. You can be happy and poor, the same as miserable and rich."

"Well—"

"Potter." I roll my eyes at the familiar voice, standing to face Draco. He has a glare aimed right to Harry, his eyes narrowing as if to watch his every move carefully. I can see his hand travelling to the pocket of his robe, most likely to grab his wand.

"Malfoy." Harry huffs, standing up as well. "We were having a conversation. A nice one, if you must kn—"

Draco doesn't even let the poor boy finish. "I don't care. I could Crucio you just for talking to—"

I roll my eyes at how dramatic he's being and place a hand on his chest. "Draco, don't be silly." His eyes flicker down to mine, the hate disintegrating when we make eye-contact.

I turn to face Harry with an apologetic smile, "I've got to go, sorry, Harry!" I wave, as I pull Draco away by the hand.

"What was that?" I question him as soon we're out of reach. My eyebrows are raised expectantly as I await a response.

"He didn't hurt you, did he?" Draco asks instead, his own brows furrowed as he holds onto my biceps gently.

I shake my head, "no, we were just talking."

He frowns, but looks relieved. Without another word, he pulls me back into the castle, keeping his hand in mine the entire time.