Chapter Seven

Third Person POV

Draco stood up from his chair and smiled at her, the first true smile that he'd had in about a month. She smiled back and he grabbed his cloak. "You're actually a few classrooms off. I'll show you." he said, walking up to her. "Thanks." she said and he motioned for her to go ahead of him. "I'm Draco Malfoy by the way. And you are?" he asked leading her down the hall. He knew exactly who she was, but he wanted to hear her say it, sort of a confirmation.

"Taylor Hawkins. You have no idea how happy I am that I found you. I thought I'd end up wandering the dungeons for the rest of the day until someone found me." she chuckled and Draco grinned down at her. "I'm sure you would've found your way eventually." he said and fought the urge to wrap his arm around her waist and pull her closer. He kept his hands clenched in his pockets and fought everything nature was telling him to do. The biggest one, pushing her up against the wall and claiming her as his right then and there.

He didn't want to make a bad first impression though.

"Here we are. I'm sure Professor Slughorn will understand why you're late." he told her, stopping outside the familiar classroom. "Thank you so much!" she exclaimed, a bright smile gracing her face. "It was my pleasure." he smiled back. She thanked him one more time before walking into the class. He waited till the door closed behind her before taking a much needed breath. Quickly making his way back to the classroom he'd been occupying before, he quickly grabbed his thing, essay completely forgotten, and made his way to his godfather's classroom. He needed to tell Severus immediately.

He made his way to the DADA classroom, clutching his books in his hands as he went in a way to keep himself from going back to the potions classroom and be as close to her as possible. He quickly walked into the classroom, ignoring the looks the first years gave him, and made his way to the front of the class where his godfather was standing. The older man gave him an odd look and then something must have clicked because he snapped shut the book he was holding and nodded for the younger man to go into his office. "Get back to work." he barked before following his godson into his office.

"It's her. The new girl." Draco said as Snape shut the door behind him and went over to sit at his desk. "It's taking every ounce of willpower not to go back down to the potions room and rip the throats out of anyone who even looks at her the wrong way." he went on, pacing in front of the desk. "And what exactly would be 'the wrong way'?" Snape asked, grinning at the boy. Draco stopped pacing and glared at him. "Anyway is the wrong way." he practically growled.

Snape sighed and stood up before going over to one of the cupboards. He opened it and began sorting through the various bottles before pulling out a bottle filled with light blue liquid. "Like you were told before, you have till her eighteenth birthday to win her over. If not, well, you know what happens. Drink this." he said, passing the boy the vial. Draco took it and looked at it skeptically. "What is it?" he asked, holding the vial up so the sun shone through it. "It'll hold back some of your...urges. It'll keep you from violating her in class, during meals, or even in the halls. It'll last for about a week. Come back after that. It'll give me time to make more." Snape explained, shutting the cupboard.

Draco nodded and uncorked the vial before downing the contents.

After everything was gone, he placed the vial on Snape's desk. Then he dropped into one of the chairs in front of said desk with his head in his hands. "What do I do? How do I get her to love me back?" he asked. Now that his primal urges were suppressed, he could actually think clearly. "Well, where's that Malfoy confidence? I thought, and I'm quoting your father on this, a Malfoy could get any woman he wanted?" Snape asked, slightly amused by the boys sudden lack of confidence as opposed to his normal overpowering arrogance.

"This time is different, Severus! All those other times, it was only about getting them into bed. I want to spend the rest of my life with Taylor. And I want her to want to spend the rest of her life with me!" Draco said and Snape raised an eyebrow at the boy. "Do you even know anything about her?" he asked and Draco blanked. "Exactly. Why don't you start by actually getting to know her and letting her get to know you. I would leave out the being a veela for now, though. It might put her off." Snape advised, getting up from his chair. "I'll let Dumbledore know about your predicament." he added and left the boy alone to his thoughts.

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Draco wasn't sure how long he spent in Snape's office, but it was long enough to get his thoughts back together. Judging by how dark it was getting in the office, he decided he should probably leave and head to the Great Hall. Despite how much he wanted to go back to his room and sleep for a while, he knew he needed to eat something. He quickly grabbed his books and left Snape's classroom, heading for the Great Hall when he bumped into Blaise.

"Hey, where the hell have you been all day? Pans and I were starting to worry." Blaise asked, brushing nonexistent dirt off his robes. "I'm fine. Much better actually." Draco told him and straightened out his robes. "You look like crap, mate. You sure you're alright?" Blaise asked, giving the blonde a skeptical look as they continued to the Great Hall. "Yeah. I'm positive." he said, letting a small grin show through as he thought about how he'd finally found Taylor.

"Well, I'll take your word for it." Blaise chuckled and they headed for their table where Pansy was already waiting for them with Crabb. He had to pause for a moment when the smell of apple cinnamon flooded his senses for the second time that day. Looking over at the Gryffindor table, he tried to suppress a groan when he saw Taylor sitting with not only the Golden Trio, but their sidekicks as well. Just his luck that she'd befriend the people who hated him most.

He didn't really have an issue with them now. The war had changed a lot of people, himself included. He was still prejudice, it was the way he was raised, but he was able to look past it easier now. He was civil to Granger, but a lot of that had to do with them being Head Boy and Girl. They had to get along or nothing would ever get done. Something hit him then. He could use Granger's friendship with Taylor to his advantage.

A/N: I'm so happy I got this done as quickly as I did. I can't say the same thing for the next chapter however. It might take me a little longer. If anyone has any ideas, I'd love to hear them. So, don't forget to leave a review! I'd like to hear from you!