A/N - I know it's been a while, but enjoy!

Had she said those words out loud? She wanted to bang her head against something.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

And if that wasn't embarrassing enough, Draco had yet to respond. She felt his body tense behind her, a puff of air escaping past his lips.

Yet, still no words.

She was mortified, although she didn't regret how she was feeling, she began to regret speaking them out loud. It was too soon, she barely knew him. And now she was telling him that she loved him.

She knew he felt the same way, so why wasn't he saying anything back.

Since she had ruined the night, it was her job now to break the uncomfortable silence. She leaned off him, her hair fell over her face, creating a makeshift bubble to hide her pained facial expression.

She kept her gaze towards the book that had dropped on the floor. Still no movement from him, not a sound— if it wasn't for his heavy breathing, she wouldn't even know he was there.

"Draco..."

"Don't," he rasped, cutting her off nearly as soon as she managed to get his name out.

"Draco...I-"

"Wait— let me think for a moment," he interrupted again.

That's when she heard him shuffling, but she didn't dare move her eyes from the floor. The book was still the target for her gaze, so when she watched his fingers grasp hold of the book her heart rate increased.

Now his socks came into her vision, his knees bent and his tall frame came further and further into view.

"I'm sorry, I didn't," she sighed deeply, she hated awkward silences and most of all, she hated the feeling of rejection. The lack of response from him forced bile to creep into her throat, hesitantly, she swallowed it down.

After a few moments of silence, pure, agonising silence. She heard him let out a shaky breath, followed by a heavy gulp.

"You— you mean that?" He began, but she had yet to look at him, not wanting to feel even more rejected than she already felt.

"Tell me you mean it, say the words again— I need to hear them," his voice almost sounded pained.

She felt two cold fingers press against the underneath of her chin, with little effort he lifted her head, forcing her to meet his unreadable expression.

"Say it."

"I- I'm in love with you Draco," she sighed, flicking her eyes everywhere apart from his ones.

She could see the tension lift off his shoulders. His posture had changed, instead of being so deflated and defeated. He stood taller, yet more relaxed.

"I've waited years to hear those words— God, you don't know how much it means to me."

His entire body crouched down between her thighs. He rested his palm on one of her knees and the other settled on her cheek, which was heated. But she didn't know whether it was from his heavy gaze or the previous embarrassment she had experienced.

"You'll give me a chance? Let me show you how it was when you were mine? I'll give you everything, all I want is one chance," he whispered, he kept his strong gape on hers.

She wanted this, she knew Draco would treat her right from everything he had shown her so far. On the other hand, she still didn't know much about him, only what he had chosen to show her. She wanted to see more, know more before she fully committed to him.

"Please," his voice came out just above a whisper, if she hadn't been paying attention she wouldn't have heard it.

Reluctantly, she went to tell him she needed time. But the look on Draco's face showed that he had used his legilimency skills to seek the answer already.

With a slight nod, he lifted himself from between her legs. Standing to his entire height, "I understand—"

"Draco," she cut him off before he continued his sentence, "I need to see more, I want to know about you, I know nothing it's not fair."

"I understand, don't think too much about it— I'll show you what you want, just— keep an open mind," he breathed.

She watched as he reached for his shoes, placing them on and extending for his coat. She didn't want him to leave, yet didn't have the strength to tell him to stay. Everything was moving quickly, she had never felt the rush of emotions before. And it was overwhelming to her.

"Draco—"

"Get some sleep, I'll see you tomorrow if you want...I love you."

And with that, he apparated from her house. Only wisps of black smoke were left in his wake. She felt bad for revealing something so sentimental and then basically rejecting him. However she couldn't help the way she felt, she wanted this to work and couldn't allow herself to mess this up.

It was worth it, Draco was worth it.

She couldn't sleep that night. Her head was filled with regrets, unspoken words and frustration. She had time to go over what she should have said to Draco, instead of brushing off her comment as if it was light.

After hours of procrastinating, she knew how to approach the situation now. She'd speak to him first thing in the morning, and this time she would think of her choice in words more carefully. That left her calm enough to sleep.

                                      •          •          •

It wasn't her alarm that woke her up, it was her phone ringing. She ignored it after the first five rings, hoping whoever was on the other end would give up. But this person was persistent, which implied it was an important phone call.

Without looking, she answered her phone.

"Hello?"

"What if I was injured and you were the only person I called?"

Pansy, she could hear the laughter in her tone. But there was an edge to her voice, whatever she had to say was important.

"But you're not, are you? And you'd be silly to call me first if you were injured."

"Why? You're the best healer in that hospital, of course, I'd call you first," she said in a more serious tone.

"Okay...okay, what's wrong— what was so important to call me at—," she glanced at her phone, groaning seeing that it wasn't past 6 am, "this time."

"I need to see you, it's important and—...can you meet me at that cafe?"

"Uh...yes sure."

Since being friends with Pansy, she had never really had serious conversations with her. Pansy liked to put up a guard, and brush off her problems as if they were nothing. So, the concern in Pansy's voice had her worried.

She flung her sheets off her body, her flat was cold. The winter chill creeping through the gaps in the corner of her windows. She enjoyed wintertime, it was her favourite holiday, but she was never too fond of the cold.

She had never dressed so rapidly. She made sure she packed her work clothes in her bag, she'd never miss work, but she might be a little late, surely they'd understand.

It was cold when she left her flat, the wind was sharp against her cheeks, leaving bright shades of pink where her skin tried to warm itself back up. She was thankful that London hadn't woken up yet, it made it easier to weave through the streets without bumping into anyone.

Pansy's blunt-cut hair, partnered with her sharp facial features caught her eye first. They were the only two people in the cafe, apart from the staff that worked there.

She liked this cafe, it was owned by a wizard. And during unsociable hours, muggles didn't come to this cafe, they preferred ones that were on the main high streets, not ones down dodgy alleys.

Pansy drummed her fingers along the plastic table cloth, watching the steamy cup of coffee in front of her. She looked different, her eyes sunken, she had a plain face today, usually, she'd wear a bright shade of lipstick, but instead, she was bare.

"Pansy," she breathed, grasping the attention of her friend in front of her.

Pansy's head whipped up, her eyes smiled before her mouth did— a good sign.

"Y/N, I'm sorry to get you up this early— I needed to speak with you," Pansy ushered her to the table, her voice weakened— something bad had happened.

"What's wrong," she rushed, sitting down in front of her. She observed her posture, her shoulders were hunched forward. The blood-red nail polish that decorated her nails were chipping at the edges.

"I— this is going to sound so bad, please don't think different of me," she whispered, there was a tremble in her voice, she was on the edge of crying.

Y/N took this opportunity to reach her hand across the table, placing hers on top of Pansy's and rubbing her thumb back and forth. It was a small act of comfort, but it appeared Pansy had liked it by the way the corner of her mouth twitched upwards.

"What's wrong, tell me— you're worrying me, Pansy."

"I'm—"

In front of her, the Daily Prophet landed with a thud. Y/N retracted her hand, lifting the paper in front of her. On the front page was a large moving picture, she frowned once she realised who was on it.

"Pansy— what's...this?"

"That's what I needed to speak with you about...," her voice broke.

It was a picture of Blaise and Pansy leaving a restaurant, In the early hours of the morning, both of them snuggled up together, oblivious to the cameras that caught them leaving.

Nowadays the Daily Prophet was mostly filled with gossip, with the Dark Lord gone, there were no threats to write about, no warnings. So now, all that could be wrote about was what was happening within the future generation of the wizarding world.

And everyone knew Pansy Parkinson was with Theodore Nott. But now she had been exposed, having an affair with his best friend. One thing Y/N hated was cheaters.

She couldn't understand why Pansy hadn't told her, she definitely would've stopped her. Or told her to leave Theodore. Yet, here she is, in the middle of a cafe, reading about her close friend having an affair.

She felt betrayed, and somewhat sickened by Pansy's actions. She didn't know much about Theodore, but no one deserves to be treated that way.

"Pansy..." she began, she wondered what to say. She couldn't shrug the feeling of disgust, yet, Pansy was her friend which put her in a difficult place.

"I know, it was wrong, my whole life is ruined—"

That angered her.

"Your life? What about Theodore? Pansy, what were you thinking...with Blaise too? I'm sorry but I don't have any sympathy for you right now," she huffed, wanting to leave the cafe, but Pansy's sobs stopped her.

"Theodore doesn't pay me any attention—"

"Then why didn't you leave him? Why resort to this?"

"I didn't come here for a lecture Y/N."

"What did you want me to say? I expected better from you Pansy— this is low, have you spoken with Theodore?"

"No— I...he's working," she frowned, then raised her head towards Y/N.

"So he's going to find out at work? That you're cheating on him with his best friend? You need to speak with him— call him now."

"No— I cant."

"Now Pansy, you're not leaving until you speak with him."

She choked on a sob, reluctantly pulling out her phone and dialling his number. Y/N watched her moves carefully, her shaky hand when she lifted it towards her ear and the silent tears that slid down her cheeks.

She could hear shouting from the other line, Pansy couldn't get a word out, but she needed to face her wrongs. This wasn't right, and Pansy needed to understand that she couldn't sweep this one underneath the carpet.

The bell connected to the cafe door rung, spurring her curiosity, she turned her head to see who it was. Daphne Greengrass, dressed in a clean white shirt, and a skirt that reached just above her knee.

She didn't know what she did for work, but it may have been at the ministry, considering how she was dressed.

Daphne's eyes closed in on Pansy, and Y/N swore she could see a hint of laughter in her eyes. Which caused her to instinctively stand up and stroll over to Daphne.

"Y/N, what a wonderful surprise...I haven't seen you since the party," she smiled, analysing her outfit slowly.

"Yes, I hadn't expected to see you here so early. What do you do for work?"

"I work in the Department of Mysteries," she said, leaning her hand onto the counter beside her.

"How are you anyway?" Daphnes eyes darted between Y/N and Pansy, "is she okay?"

"She's fine, and so am I," she said with crossed arms.

"I heard you and Draco Malfoy are together again, that man always moved on quickly..." she trailed, reaching for her takeaway coffee, or tea she didn't care what was in it but that comment made her mind tick.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She frowned, standing taller, Daphne still had a smirk on her face, she took a sip of her drink, glancing at her watch and then back at Y/N.

"Nothing, you'd think he'd at least wait a few months after kissing my sister before shacking up with you again...but you were always his first choice, so it's nothing unexpected— he did the same thing with you to me in school."

"What?"

"Oh...he didn't tell you, same old Draco— always keeping secrets, I'd love to give you the details but I need to go, have a good day," she sent her a wink before leaving in a cloud of black smoke.

Y/N hadn't expected her morning to start like this, but now not only did Pansy have some explaining to do but so did Draco.

She didn't care to see the happy memories of their past anymore, she wanted to see exactly what happened between him and Astoria. And apparently with Daphne.