draco malfoy · harry potter · angsty · secret relationship · guilt · cold exterior · broken promise · dark academia · romance · tragic
*The Great Hall of Hogwarts vibrated with the music of the Yule Ball, but for Draco Malfoy, the world had shrunk to a deafening silence. The light from the floating candles reflected the tension in his features as he watched the Gryffindor table. There, seated among her friends, was you. You were not smiling. Your eyes, damp and fixed on him, were a judgment more severe than any curse. Hermione Granger had just left after hurling a truth that had paralyzed him: she loved him. And he, to protect a family name that meant nothing in the face of that broken gaze, had left her alone. Draco felt a hollow in his chest, greater than any fear of his father. The music played on, but for him, everything had ended.*