The Slytherin common room was quiet but it didn't matter, since the rushing in your ears made up for the lack of noise. You tried taking deep breaths to calm down, but nothing worked. Your frustration was too strong. Another date turned to an utter disaster, this time with someone you were very excited to see.
When the sweet Hayden from Hufflepuff had asked you out, you had eagerly said yes. Most of your dates didn't work out for you, so you were very excited to go on your first one in a few months. You were acquainted with Hayden, and he was nice. So dinner with him in Hogsmeade sounded fantastic.
However, that's as far as your excitement went, because the date was far from perfect. From the moment Hayden had met you in front of your common room, he had been jumpy. You had written it off as nerves due to the date, but by the time you were seated for dinner, his nervousness was bordering on fear, and you couldn't be more confused. You never considered yourself intimidating.... What had made him so scared?
Halfway through your awkwardly silent meal, you began to feel angry. This happened too often. Either your date wouldn't even show up, or they'd be too nervous or scared to function. By the time you got to dessert, you stood up, giving Hayden a final glare and stomping off, back to Hogwarts and straight to your common room.
Looking back at it now, you realized you might have been a bit rude, but you didn't care. He hadn't said a word throughout your time together. He hadn't even tried to stop you as you left. What an asshole.
You resurfaced from your depressing thoughts when the couch dipped beside you. You turned to see Draco Malfoy, your best friend, next to you, grey eyes searching your face.
"Bad night?" His mouth was pressed in a thin line, hands playing with a stray thread sticking out from the couch.
"Wow, how'd you guess?" You snarked back. Draco knew of your increasingly disastrous dates, having been there to see the aftermath of all of them. He snickered slightly at your reply before pulling you into a hug.
"The nasty git didn't even deserve you anyway," he said, hand rubbing your arm for comfort. You huffed.
"It's not about that. Draco, I'm in my final year and I have yet to have any form of a stable relationship. I don't get it. Is it me? What is it about me that these things never work out?"
Draco had started shaking his head before you even finished talking. "Hey, don't you dare blame yourself! Just because he didn't make an effort, doesn't mean you're not the most perfect girl he could have had. He ruined his chance, that's it."
You sighed before sinking into his embrace. "Maybe you're right," you mumbled. "But I've had it. Tomorrow, I'm going to ask him what his problem was. And he better have a damn good reason for it."
You found Hayden in the Great Hall having breakfast the next morning. Not wanting to cause a scene, you asked him to accompany you to the deserted Entrance Hall to talk. When you got there, you spun around to face him, eyebrow raised as if to say talk.
He remained silent, however, and you felt your anger from last night resurface.
"You're a right prick, y'know? I thought you'd be different, but you're just like the rest of them. And you don't even have enough decency to apologize!"
A scowl overtook Hayden's face. "Apologize? For what? Receiving threats to stop me taking you out? I nearly got assaulted on the way to your common room. Nothing short of a miracle I even showed up!"
You shrank back at his words. "Threats? Wait... someone told you to not go out with me? Who? Why'd they do that?"
Hayden sneered. "Why don't you ask Malfoy?" Turning, he stormed back into the Great Hall.
You stood there, mouth gaped open. Malfoy... Draco....
Suddenly, all your failed dates started making sense. That one time you had to cancel it because your partner fell from his broom during a Quidditch game after a conveniently timed push from Draco. Another date had said he was sick. Yet another had bailed on you after he left to use the bathroom in the Three Broomsticks. Draco had been there, he came to chat while your date was gone. You now realized why Draco never seemed too phased when you told him of another catastrophic date. He already knew everything because he caused it.
Your shock was quickly and intensely replaced by boiling, seething anger, and hurt. Draco was your best friend. You had known him since you were kids. For the past three years, your self esteem had been crushed because of your lack of successful dates. Despite not caring too much about your love life, you still had to wonder what drove people away. And all that was Draco's fault?
You managed to stumbled back to your common room and up to your dorm, flopping down onto your bed and screaming into the pillow. It was Draco, how dare he? That little shit. Who did he think he was? You let yourself be drowned in anger until you fell asleep, your emotions exhausting you.

You successfully managed to avoid Draco for almost all of next week. You'd go to classes early and sit with someone else so he couldn't sit next to you. You'd retreat to your dorm early, so he couldn't approach you in the common room. You'd deliberately position yourself on the other side of the school during nighttime prefect duties, so you wouldn't run into him. Needless to say, you were sure he was getting annoyed.
It was like any other Friday night when you decided to head to the Prefect's bathroom. You needed a bath desperately, your tired muscles and weary eyes demanded it.
You opened the door with a sigh, but stopped short to see Draco already in there, shirtless and hair still damp. You blushed, and quickly made to leave but a voice stopped you.
"Wait," Draco moved to where you were, pulled you inside by the arm and closed the door. You immediately shrugged his hand off, as if it stung.
Draco looked at you with a hurt expression before his face turned stoney again. "Why are you avoiding me?"
You glared daggers at him, so intense he almost flinched. "Oh, I don't know. I figured you'd be so busy threatening people to stay away from me, you wouldn't notice me gone."
All the colour drained from Draco's face at your words and you scoffed.
"Surprised I found out about your plans to ruin my life? Guess you aren't as slick as you thought, Malfoy."
"Y/N, it's not what you think-"
Finally, you lost all control. "Oh, isn't it? I can't believe you Draco! How long have we known each other? Almost eleven years! How could you do this to me? What drove you to the point that you went to such extremes-"
"I did it for you! All of it! Those guys don't deserve you! They're just doing it to get in your pants. They're not sincere-"
"THAT'S NOT YOUR PROBLEM. You crossed a line Draco! And they don't deserve me? Bullshit! I suppose you know who deserves me since you're intuition is so damn good-"
'I DO! I DESERVE YOU!"
Silence took over the bathroom as you stared at Draco. He took a deep breath and continued, voice now lower.
"I want to treat you right. I want to take you out to fancy places and buy you stuff. I want to hold you and kiss you and cuddle you as you fall asleep. I want to ravish you in a way those kids never can. I love you, Y/N."
You let out a shaky breath, trying to process what he had just said. Draco had done terrible things in order to stop you dating. This was the last thing you expected him to say. Sniffling, you stared at Draco as tears gathered in his eyes.
"You have a funny way of showing it. You wanted to be with me? Trying asking next time, you dick."
Draco looked down, a tear falling, shoulders hunched. "You're right, you're totally right. I didn't think. I got so jealous every time you told me about other boys. I did the one thing I'm good at, terrorizing people."
You couldn't help but let out a laugh. "That's not all your good at. But there were other way to go about this. Did you know how crappy I felt about myself after every date? I thought there was something wrong with me."
Draco was shaking his head vigorously. "Wrong with you?" he scoffed. "Why would all those boys ask you out, then? You're too beautiful. I had to keep their dirty hands away."
You snorted. Silence enveloped you both once again and you smiled at him, feeling your anger evaporate as you looked at his distressed state. You raised an eyebrow. "Well? Is there anything you want to ask me?"
Draco's eyes widened and his mouth dropped open. "You still want to go out with me? After everything I've done?"
You gave him a smile and stepped forward. Standing on your tiptoes, you pressed your lips to his. He tensed up slightly, before relaxing into your touch and kissing you back with force. Arms wrapped around you and pulled you to his chest. You ran a hand through his hair, tugging slightly, before running your hands down his back, realizing he was still shirtless. You smirked slightly, digging your nails into his bare back, making him groan. You inhaled his sigh and kissed him again. Draco ran a hand up your back, tangling into your hair once it reached your head. Biting his bottom lip slightly, you pulled away to see his flushed cheeks and blown eyes. He still held you close as your breaths mixed together.
"Does that answer your question?"