Salutations fellow humans. I would like to apologize in advance for this chapter, as it is probably the worse thing you'll ever read. It's my first time showing my work to other humans. Luckily, it's short, so you don't have to suffer for long. This is actually my second time posting this chapter. The first time was an absolute failure. All you could read was a whole bunch of incomprehensible letters. I would also like to ask forgiveness for not fixing the error I made immediately. I mistook it as a sign from the spirits, telling me that this was not meant to be. I managed to regain a little bit of my self-esteem, so I decided to retry. Who cares about them spirits, as the voice in my head likes to say. Again, my apologies.

The Scent of Love

For the longest time, Draco thought love was only for the fragile, but at that point in time, he didn't understand what love really was. Of course, Draco had a few crushes. He liked Hermione a bit during his second year; he even helped her out by giving her a page he ripped from a book about basilisks, which helped the Golden Trio figure out what the monster was and how it moved around the castle without alerting anyone. He's also in a relationship with Pansy Parkinson. Draco didn't take it seriously, but it was obvious Pansy was a little too passionate about their relationship. It got tiring after a while, but he didn't break it off so he doesn't hurt her feelings. If you think this to be ironic, you're right, but Pansy was still his friend, and he didn't want to hurt her feelings.

But this isn't a story about Draco's delicate mind. This is a story about a love so strong, so unbreakable, everlasting; that it can surpass any judgement that the world may give them. This is a story about a boy and his apple. A fruit and her lover. A pair standing against the world. This is a story about Draco and his apple.

Despite what you may think, Draco isn't mean. Well... He kind of is. But is that really the point? The point is that he went through a lot of stuff, what with the Dark Lord watching his family's every move, his father's vigilant eye, et cetera, et cetera. It's almost impossible to comprehend the pressure Draco is feeling.

Fortunately, he found the one whom he could tell all his emotions too. The one who could comfort him when no one else could. Who could show him that everything will be alright. Draco found his true love. He found his apple.

The first time he took a bite out of her, he felt the distress clouding his soul float away, like it was never there at all. He first saw it during Care of Magical Creatures class. He was hungry, and the apple was the first thing he found in his pack. When Draco first glanced at it, he saw a flash of green; A green that so complimented his eyes, he never wanted to take his them off it again. But he had to. He can't spend the rest of his life staring at an apple, as much as he wanted to.

He brought her closer and took a sniff. Then another. And then an even longer one. It's scent was addictive, and like all addictions, they were dangerous. They can consume you without you even knowing. But there has to be good addictions. Draco was convinced this was a good addiction.

He was going to put the apple back in his pack, so he could continue to smell and look at it, when a fellow Slytherin stole her from him, and contemplated eating her.

"Hey! Give her back!" Shouted Draco, unaware of the ruckus he was causing.

"Her?" Laughed his classmate. "Since when were apples a her?"

Draco realized what he said, and laughed it off, aware that he might be causing Apple some pain by laughing, but right now, he was focused on getting her back from his classmate. He'll have to apologize later, but not before thinking about why he acted like the apple was a person. But now was not the time to think about what he said. His reputation was on the line.

"I can use whatever subject that pleases me," glared Draco, "so give her back before my father hears about this."

"Suit yourself", replied he, as he threw the apple back.

Draco carefully placed his apple back into his back, and when he got back to his dormitory, he placed it carefully on his bed.

I called it a her, thought Draco. An apple's an inanimate object! It isn't capable of having feelings! Yet why am I acting like she does?

Draco couldn't explain it, but he knew one thing. What he felt for this apple was different. She gave him much pleasure, and he wanted to spend his entire life with her.

He put a charm on her so she'd live forever. Draco was not going to let her turn into a pile of dirt. He spent the rest of the night stroking his hands on his apple, memorizing her curves and smoothness so that every time he closed his eyes, he could see her image on the back of his eyelids. He breathed in her scent, and every time he inhaled, he felt an emotion he never felt before.

Draco may not have known what love is before, but he surely understands what it is now.