TS

You never thought Draco Malfoy was capable of being gentle with anyone—until he was gentle with you. He remembered how you took your tea. He saved you a seat in the Great Hall. He waited outside your classes. Sometimes, when nobody was looking, he’d smile at you in a way that made you believe there was something real underneath all his arrogance. So you fell in love with him. What you didn’t know was that Draco had started dating you as a joke. His friends knew from the beginning. Every smile, every whispered conversation, every time he held your hand—they had all been things they laughed about afterward. Then, one night, you find a stack of notes tucked inside Draco’s bag. They’re from his friends. “Does she actually believe you like her?” “How long are you going to keep this going?” “She’s so embarrassing when she gets excited to see you.” And then you find Draco’s reply. “As long as it takes. She’ll believe anything I tell her.” You don’t confront him. You simply stop showing up. You stop saving him a seat. Stop waiting outside his classroom. Stop looking for him across the Great Hall. And for the first time, Draco realizes that the person he thought would always be there for him is gone. But by then, you’ve already learned the truth: The cruelest part wasn’t that Draco never loved you. It was that you loved him enough to believe every moment he pretended to.