in a new body
pairing: draco malfoy x fem!insecure!reader (enemies to friends and maybe lovers, but not stated)
request: imagine being insecure about your stomach because of draco then he gets to know you and makes you feel more comfortable in your skin? please
warnings: body-hatred, insecurity of body, body dysmorphia(?), honestly just hating one's body
notes: this one hit home, just cried to my therapist last week about this! haha! live, laugh, love!
you hated draco malfoy.
actually, hate is a strong word; you extremely disliked draco malfoy. he believed he was better than everyone else with his stupid face, his stupid slytherin family history, his stupid rich background, and his stupid cruelty towards you.
draco malfoy was stupid and you highly disliked him.
for years, you had received as much torment as harry potter from draco malfoy due to your weight, especially your stomach. you'd be the laughing stock of malfoy and the rest of his slytherin gang, no matter how many times ginny weasley and hermione granger would tell you, "don't pay that evil little cockroach any mind."
you wish you could say the same thing to the voice in your head, screaming at you to do those ab workouts, to not eat as much during the school meals. you wish you could just flip a switch, that draco would stop asking you how many pounds you put on just from breakfast alone, or if you had any trouble fitting into your skirt that morning.
"or you can just sock him in the throat," mentioned ron, mouth full of food.
"you wanna do it for me?" you asked back, an eyebrow raised. ron shook his head and went back to his plate.
hermione sighed beside you, "why not bring it up to dumbledore? or even snape? they should hear the vile things he says to you."
you shrugged, "i don't know, i don't think it's worth it, honestly. that might just make him come at me more and at the moment, i cannot handle that." you tried to laugh at the end, but it came out struggled.
ron gave a smile across from you, mouth full of food, "at least you're not harry, fighting draco constantly to see who the heir of slytherin is."
harry's face turned red, "ron, please, can we not?"
you gave a quiet laugh, "i actually appreciated that ron, thank you." harry groaned beside the redhead.
ginny was about to comment until you heard the goblin voice of draco malfoy himself directly behind you, "hey, y/n, walk any steps today to shed off some pounds? looks like you need to."
hermione glared at draco, "how dare you speak to her, or anyone, like that! you are utterly repulsive!"
draco glanced around the table, "granger, when?"
hermione shot him a look, "when what?"
draco snickered, "did i ask? but seriously y/n, give your legs a break from carrying all that!" and with that, he walked away, proud of himself as he pounded knuckles with crabbe and goyle.
ron and harry stood up, ready to lunge at draco before you gave them a look, shaking your head.
you bit your lip, "suddenly not hungry anymore. um, i think i'm gonna head up to the dorms. see you guys later?"
before anyone could disagree, you stood up from the benches and made your way out of the great hall, running into fred and george who quickly noticed your watery eyes.
"you alright there, y/n?" fred asked, and you nodded quickly, "yes, i'm fine but i have to go - study. goodbye."
the twins looked at one another, and then at your retreating form, "y/n, are you sure-" their question dropped as you continued on.
and with that, the twins were left dumbfounded until they were informed by their friends, brother, and sister.
not long after that incident, draco left you alone, making you and your friends become very suspicious, as if malfoy had a trick up his sleeve. but shockingly, he didn't, and he continued to not talk to you until potions class.
when professor snape decided partnering up different classmates was a great idea, and you two ended up together. he had wandered over to your desk, sitting beside you.
he smirked, "y/n."
you nodded, "listen, just let me do this potion so we can get a decent grade and then you can go back to torturing me, ok? unless you want your grade to suffer?"
draco stayed quiet, somewhat taken aback by your words, "i can help, you know, might as well make sure someone like you doesn't screw it up."
you looked up from the textbook, "someone like me? right, because i'm so repulsive to look at, draco. thank you for the reminder, i'll make sure to dedicate my next workout to you, you git."
with tears on the verge of falling, you grabbed your textbook and hastily walked out the room, professor snape yelling, "and two weeks worth of detention for you, miss l/n!"
you flipped him off right outside the classroom, somewhat bummed and relieved at the same time that he didn't see it.
draco was stunned, simple as that. he knew he was a jerk, a total asshole, but to him, it was pure fun. there was no harm - at least to him. but now, as he sat in potions class, noticing how all eyes were on him, he came to the realization that there was harm done.
draco never actually thought you were heavy or overweight, or even ugly; by merlin no, he thought you were so pretty. yet, he wanted to slap himself as that was no excuse to bully her until she cried - no, he knew that was the wrong way to go about it.
so then why did he do it? he hated that stupid saying that guys bullied girls because they liked them, but draco wondered if that were true in his case. or if he just didn't want to acknowledge his feelings for you.
he pondered the rest of potions class, speechless as to why he thought making fun of your weight was any excuse to talk to you. all he did was hurt you so deeply, cut wounds into your being.
draco knew he was an asshole, and knew he messed up. so how does he apologize?
apologizing was not his strong suit as he never needed to; well, at least to anyone besides his parents. why apologize to anyone else if nobody was as important as them? oh, but you were. you were so full of life and jokes, so kind to him when you all arrived as first-years, yet he has always been so cruel to you. was draco seriously this foreign to kindness that he decided the easiest way to reciprocate was to be mean?
yeah, i guess so.
draco stood up, his chair screeching against the floor. everyone looked at him and draco glanced to snape, "i've got to go." and with that, he was gone, leaving everyone with wide eyes and raised eyebrows.
hermione looked to ron, "where do you think he's going?"
ron shrugged, "beats me. maybe thinking of new insults to hurl at y/n. it's been a while."
hermione sighed and shuffled uncomfortably in her seat, "i wanna go look for her, ron."
harry heard her and shook his head, "bad idea; i think snape might lose it if one more person leaves or even raises their hand."
severus snape was indeed distraught at the behavior that was taking place in his classroom.
but he was not as taken aback as you were now in the astronomy tower.
why had it taken all up until now for you to snap? to even come back at him with something as much as anger? draco deserved to be yelled at, to be slapped, to be, as ron said, "socked in the throat."
you wiped your tears, sitting on the concrete floor as sobs racked your shoulders again. a few owls surrounded and flew around the tower as you whispered, "i hate my body. i have so much hatred for this fat, the way i look, the way i feel. i hate it." you sobbed, feeling the tears slip down your cheeks.
you let out a shaky breath, looking in your bag to grab a tissue before snot became your worst enemy. you wiped your nose, wrinkling it at the feeling before you sighed. you sniffled, tears filling your eyes again.
"i'm sorry."
you jumped, looking around for the source of the voice until you saw draco shuffle out of the darkness by the concrete wall.
you scoffed, "ugh, merlin! go away, malfoy. you're the last person i want to see right now, if you haven't caught on."
he kicked against the floor, "i deserve that."
"and i deserved your bullying, too, right?"
draco glanced to you, shaking his head even though yours had turned back around. he stepped closer, "no, no, you didn't. i'm... i'm a git, you're right."
you sniffled, looking to him as he sat beside you. you grumbled, "took you long enough."
draco huffed a laugh, "it did. and you can still hate me after this, but i truly am sorry. you didn't deserve what i said and did to you, and i can't imagine how you must feel."
silence enveloped between the both of you until he continued, "i heard what you said earlier, about your body."
your eyes had been closed, and you hummed, "not exactly a shocker."
"because of what i said? no, it's not, and i'm sorry again."
you held up a hand, looking at him, "draco."
draco looked you in the eyes, "y/n."
you gave a slight laugh, "it's okay, i forgive you."
draco nodded, "i'm sorry for making you feel so shitty about yourself. nobody deserves to feel that way, especially you, because you were nothing but kind to me and i treated you terribly."
you smiled softly at him, "you did, but you're apologizing now. my issues i can deal with on my own, but you took the time to apologize now so i'm grateful for that."
draco was stunned, a frown on his face, "how are you kind to me right now? i was terrible to you!"
you gave him side-eye, "i said terrible shit about you in my head, so i figured i should be nice."
the two of you laughed loudly at that comment, draco's eyes crinkling. as it died down, he rested a hand on the back of your head. he turned you towards him, "you're beautiful. truly stunning, y/n. i'm sorry i said those things about you."
you gave a small smile as tears welled in your eyes, "thank you draco, it's okay."
draco leaned back on his one hand, the other still in your hair, "can i help you in any way? to help you love yourself and your body?"
you were shocked to the core at his words this entire time, but now your eyes were just popping out of your head. you stumbled, "oh - no, no, i don't think so. it's just something i need to learn, y'know, to love my body. it's just...hard."
draco nodded and he smiled, "i have an idea."
your face drained of color, worried this might have been a joke all along. draco continued, "instead of insults, i'll give you compliments throughout the day. maybe that can help?"
this draco was so sweet compared to the old one; you suddenly had the urge to just grab his cheeks and go on about how sweet he was. this was such a turn of events.
"then," draco went on, "you wont want to be in a new body."
you smiled, "that sounds like a great idea, draco. thank you."
draco's cheeks flushed, "yeah, not a problem, it's whatever."
maybe during this new change in events, draco and yourself can figure out how to deal with the pounding in your chests.
614 notes
·
View notes