"It was kind of... inappropriate." Draco stated mildly. Rebecca pressed her lips into a thin line and nodded, kind of agreeing.
"And... I don't actually know how much of it you understood in the end..." He continued and Rebecca half shrugged.
"And whatever it was you got out of it... I'm sorry." He apologized, appearing nervous. Rebecca smiled a little bit but tried not to let it show.
"Yes." She agreed, "And it should probably be forgotten and we should pretend it never happened." She concluded. He nodded and shoved his hands into his pockets, watching his feet as he walked, feeling very defeated.
"But... it happened, and I haven't forgotten," Rebecca reminded him, and he appeared to brace himself for what was coming.
"I'm kind of glad it was said." She said finally and Draco relaxed a little as he looked across at her.
"Is that what you meant when you said 'It's fine'?" He asked and Rebecca nodded, allowing her smile to surface.
"So... you're okay with all of that?" He asked.
"Depends... You really meant it?" Rebecca asked before answering his question. He bit his lip and nodded shamefully. Rebecca in return nodded her head in response to his question. He smiled a little bit.
"So... a raging fire?" She asked curiously and he groaned inwardly.
"You could have just said..." She began and he sighed.
"I know. But...I wanted to say something. I don't think I really knew what though, or how well it was going to go, and afterwards... I kind of hoped you had forgotten." He looked nervous again.
"Well... you're a brave one for saying anything at all." Rebecca said quietly as they slowed to a halt. The mood seemed a little more intense than less than a moment ago as they stood very close. Silently they swayed even closer together as Draco reached forward and held both of Rebecca's hands, careful of her bandaged one. She felt her heart rate increase dramatically as he leant down and she reached up. They were less than millimetres apart when the corridor was suddenly flooded with students moving to their next classes. They jumped far apart almost immediately, feeling as though they'd been caught. Rebecca looked away and folded her arms as Draco scratched the back of his neck, hoping no one saw them.
"So, umm, we should probably get started on that potion soon..." Rebecca said as if they had been talking about it the whole time.
"Uh, yeah. Are we still gonna do the Monday, Wednesday, Friday thing?" He asked, playing along with her.
"Yeap."
"I'll meet you in the library after school then?"
"I'll see you there." Rebecca smiled as the last of the students had passed them and they watched them walk around the corner. As soon as they were out of sight Rebecca quickly closed the unwanted space between them, stood on her toes, and gave Draco a chaste kiss quickly and sweetly once on the lips. As soon as she retreated he looked quite surprised. For the first time Rebecca had made the move to kiss him rather than him kissing her. Rebecca felt her cheeks burning as Draco went to kiss her again, although they were quickly interrupted by someone clearing their throat.
"No public display of affection Miss Whyte and Mister Malfoy. Detention with me tonight, eight o'clock." Snape snarled in his usual drawl, clearly disgusted.
"Well, I wouldn't say it was in public, Sir. No one else is here but you." Draco quickly 'defended'. Snape looked like he could have growled.
"Tonight and tomorrow night, eight o'clock!" He snapped as he turned to leave.
"Just because he's never kissed a girl." Draco grumbled, a little too loud.
"That's it! Detention every night this week! Eight o'clock sharp!" He yelled, now very annoyed. Draco went rigid; obviously surprised that Snape had in fact heard him.
"Gee, thanks." Rebecca mumbled, also a little annoyed.
"Uh... sorry." He stuttered guiltily. It was silent for a moment.
"You know what? We'd better go and see Slughorn now." Rebecca said as she realised something.
"What for?" He asked confusedly.
"Because we only had two weeks to do that potion, and we can't do it in one. We have to spend our first week in detention, unless Slughorn can do something about it." She explained.
"Yeah, alright." Draco mumbled, agreeing, as he realised he may have gotten them both in strife.
"So you're saying you got a week's worth of detention just for spooking a first year?" Slughorn asked the both of them incredulously. Rebecca looked sideways at Draco.
"Well he also retorted a couple too many times." Rebecca added to Draco's little story, which they had used instead of telling Slughorn the truth about their detentions. Draco then looked at Rebecca sideways.
"I see." Slughorn said in a monotone manner, a little annoyed at how vulnerable they were to receiving detention.
"Well, I'll talk to Professor Snape at dinner tonight and then we'll see. Otherwise you may have to use your lunch breaks and do more work in your free time on the weekend. I suggest you still go to your detention tonight in case." Slughorn instructed.
"Thanks, Professor." Rebecca said.
"Thank you..." Draco mumbled rather harshly, sounding like he didn't mean it. Rebecca frowned at him, wondering what had gotten him in such a twist in such a short time. Slughorn nodded once before they turned to leave the dungeons.
"What's the matter?" Rebecca asked once the door was closed behind them.
"He didn't believe us!" Draco frowned, annoyed, and Rebecca laughed at his low level of maturity.
"He didn't say he didn't, and he's still going to do something about it isn't he? So it doesn't really matter. ... And if he didn't it was because of your lame little story we used instead." Rebecca said.
"My lamestory? It was a hell of a lot better than your excuse." Draco retorted.
"Excuse me? My excuse was a whole lot more believable than yours!"
"Yeah right... taking our time to get to class...! Pathetic." He mimicked.
"Spooking a little defenceless first year... Real creative." They stopped arguing for a single moment. They stared at each other as if they were waiting for the other to say something else. Neither of them did; Draco smirked and Rebecca grinned and they simply laughed at each other instead. They argued though they both knew they were joking. Draco had found someone on the same wavelength as himself, and for reasons he couldn't explain, he couldn't help but be kind to her, even from the very beginning.
"What do you have now?" Draco asked once they continued to move down the corridor, completely moving past their little fight which often happened between them now as a form of flirtation.
"Umm... I actually have a study period with McGonagall. You?"
"Me too."
"Half the period will be over by now so I suggest we hurry up." Rebecca recommended.
"What's the rush?" Draco asked as he stopped her against a wall. "We could always study something else." He said as he properly had Rebecca pinned against the wall, his arms on either side of her shoulders.
"Is that your way of flirting with me?" Rebecca asked jokingly, just as a Slytherin second year rounded the corner and stopped dead in his tracks. Rebecca bit her lower lip to refrain from laughing at the young boy's horrified expression.
"What?" Draco asked as he dropped one arm to turn around and see. He immediately stood up a lot straighter.
"Not. A. Word." He threatened the boy menacingly. "Now get!" He instructed and the boy immediately made his way back the direction he had come. Once he was gone again Draco turned around and placed his arm back where had been a moment ago.
"Do you know him?" Rebecca asked.
"I've seen him around the common room." He replied, not giving the matter a second thought.
"Anyway," He started, but before he could finish Rebecca had slid down the wall and ducked under his arms, out of his reach and away from the wall.
"Seriously, so far we already have a week's detention and that's bad enough. Skipping classes isn't making anything any better." Rebecca said, changing topic dramatically and Draco rolled his eyes.
"Come on!" Rebecca ushered and grabbed him by the wrist to drag him down the corridor as it didn't look like he was going to move by himself.
"The least we could do is get as much research for that potion out of the way now while we have the opportunity."
"Thinking ahead now, are we?" Draco moaned. Rebecca sighed.
"Come on, you twit."
"Oh, I'm really offended." He faked, placing his hand over his heart and pulling a worried sort of face.
"I hate you." Rebecca smiled at his ignorance.
"Love me or hate me, either way you're thinking of me." He smiled cheekily.
"You self centred tosser." Rebecca poked him in the chest. He laughed just as they reached the door to McGonagall's classroom. They pushed the door open to see McGonagall standing at the front of the silent room tapping her foot impatiently. Rebecca supposed they may have been able to hear them.
"About time you two showed up! Where have you been?" She asked, quite annoyed, as the whole class turned to look at the pair. Rebecca and Draco glanced at each other.
"We had to speak to Professor Slughorn... it was important..." Rebecca said quietly as she felt the pressure of everyone's attention cause the heat to run to her face.
"Very well, sit here and stop disrupting everyone else." She said quickly, pointing to two vacant seats at the front of the classroom.
"Everyone is so annoyed today, Snape, Slughorn, McGonagall..." Draco whispered as they waded through the studying students.
"Not to mention Sprout and Pomfrey..." Rebecca added. He frowned.
"Wha-?" She had raised her bandaged hand to show him before he could even finish saying 'what'.
"Right." He said, remembering.
They made themselves comfortable rather loudly for such a silent room. They were frowned upon once again by McGonagall as they spread their books across the table. They took as many notes and gathered as much information as possible for the potion in the remainder of the lesson. Once they were dismissed they went their own ways once again. Rebecca saw Ron and Harry and quickly caught up to them.
"Hey, guys, thanks for waiting." She huffed sarcastically as she barged between the two.
"Hey, no worries." Harry waved her off.
"Can I ask you an honest question?" Ron asked suddenly, looking very serious.
"Yeah...?" Rebecca raised one eyebrow.
"Was it just me, or when you finally came to class, was Malfoy actually laughing?" He asked, still looking dead serious. Rebecca looked back to Harry for a couple of seconds as he did her before they burst into fits of laughter.
"Everyone laughs, Ron! Including Malfoy. He laughs all the time." Rebecca replied, grinning broadly in amusement.
"No, I know... but it sounded different." He frowned as he began to think.
"Different how?" Rebecca asked as her laughter settled.
"Different like... not a laugh of mockery or teasing, but... actually laughing. You know what I mean?" He managed before confusing himself.
"Right, Ron, whatever you say." Harry dusted off, although he sent Rebecca a bit of a worried look.
"Why were you so late anyway?" Ron asked.
"Oh, we just had to sort out some detention with Slughorn." Rebecca replied simply.
"What did you get detention for?" Harry asked.
"For... scaring a first year." She muttered, obviously not being the best lie she had ever told.
"Scaring a first year? You must've scared him pretty damn well to get a detention for it!" Harry laughed.
"Yeah, we got him good..." Rebecca went with him, remembering the terrified second year.
The rest of the day drifted by steadily without too many more bumps in the road. The last classes of the day eventually ended, and before they knew it all the students were in and out of the Great Hall for dinner at their own pace. Rebecca was sitting at the Gryffindor table with all her friends who were greatly engaged in conversation amongst themselves. Most of it was along the lines of classes, gossip, thank god Monday's over, and just general every day stuff. At the present moment they were having a laugh over some stupid joke about 'pumpkin heads'.
"Whyte..." Rebecca looked down the Gryffindor table thinking she had heard someone call her name. She couldn't see anyone trying to grasp her attention so she simply recoiled back into the conversation.
"Whyte...!" She heard once more, sounding a bit harsher than the last time. Again she looked up and down the table. Seeing no one yet again, she frowned and then sat still and waited to hear it for the third time.
"For Merlin's sake!" She heard someone mutter behind her. She twisted herself around to see Draco turned from the Slytherin table to face her. She looked past him briefly to see Blaise watching Draco very intently. Noticing her gaze, Blaise quickly looked from Rebecca to Draco, then back to Rebecca again and a small smile formed on his lips and he winked. He startled Rebecca and jumped a bit in surprise. What was that for? Rebecca thought, puzzled.
Draco, in seeing Rebecca's confused reaction, followed her gaze and turned his head to see Blaise. Blaise's attention quickly turned to Draco as he said something bitterly to him, causing Blaise to simply roll his eyes and turn back to his fellow Slytherins. Rebecca couldn't have heard what Draco had said above the noise of the chattering students.
Once he turned back to Rebecca again, he shook his head as if to brush off whatever had happened in reference to Blaise. He then cocked his head, motioning to the front of the Great Hall where the teachers sat. After a moment of searching for what he may have been looking at, Rebecca saw Slughorn talking to Snape.
"You mean Slughorn and Snape?" She asked over the noise. He nodded and then they both turned to watch the two professors, keeping an eye out for any clue regarding their detentions. It took them only a few minutes.
At the beginning it had looked like a casual conversation, but the more they talked, the more distressed Slughorn seemed to become while Snape remained quite calm, possibly very persistent on keeping the detentions he had set.
Only towards the end had Snape actually turned to see Slughorn properly, as though he had heard something that he hadn't before. They talked for not too much longer, Snape looking a bit frustrated and Slughorn quite baffled, until Snape nodded his head and Slughorn also did in return before they turned away from each other. They had finally agreed on something, obviously involving the pair's punishment. Rebecca wasn't sure whether it was good or bad. She glanced at Draco who looked to be just as unsure as she was. He looked back to her with a blank expression and shrugged in defiance. Rebecca pouted before they both resumed back to their separate tables.
Rebecca looked up to catch Harry and Hermione diagonally across from her who had quite obviously been watching their interaction. Hermione quickly looked away, though Harry looked between them and the teachers before looking at Rebecca questionably once more.
"It's nothing!" She moaned, thinking over all the possibilities that could be going through Harry's head. This had now caught onto Ron's and Parvati's attention who were sitting on either side of Rebecca, and the twins' attention who were sitting directly across from her.
"What's going on?" Ron asked, looking from Rebecca over to Harry. Harry and Hermione naturally looked past Rebecca and over to the Slytherin table before saying anything. Everyone had silenced before they heard a distraught Pansy Parkinson screech from the Slytherin table behind them.
"Draco!" In the very same moment Rebecca's group of friends all turned to look at the Slytherins directly opposite them, only to see a group of them of around the same size turn to look at them, as well as a few onlookers. Draco and Rebecca instantly locked eyes, wide eyed and mortified, knowing exactly what the other was thinking. Blaise had been acting as suspicious as Harry and Hermione had which caused the Slytherins to turn around to see what he had been looking at. Rebecca and Draco both turned back to their own tables again, though the two groups continued to stare for a moment longer. Rebecca swore on her life she had never been so embarrassed or red handed, and her face had never felt so hot. She felt like shrinking to never be seen again.
After what felt like hours, the Gryffindor group finally turned back, wondering what on earth had just happened, and hopefully the Slytherins had done the same. Rebecca knew Pansy Parkinson was a drama queen, and she was definitely one for a scene. Rebecca knew that without even personally knowing her all that well. It made her want to disappear all the more when a fair amount of students watched the minor scene behind her, knowing that she could well be the cause.
"Aargh!" Pansy screamed before marching straight out of the Great Hall dramatically. The usual chatter noise picked up again once she was gone and Rebecca heard Blaise laugh while Draco cursed at him.
"What the hell just happened?" Ron asked.
"I have no idea." George replied.
"That was really weird." Parvati added.
"Have we done something?" Fred asked.
"We haven't." Harry muttered before raising his eyebrows questionably in Rebecca's direction, and hers shot up as well as she realised he was pointing the finger at her.
She looked up quickly to see Professor Snape leaving the Great Hall. She turned around slightly to see Draco look at her, also noticing that Snape was leaving. He cocked his head again, this time motioning to the huge oak doors to leave. They nodded at the same time before Rebecca turned back to everyone again. It appeared that Rebecca and Draco's silent communication was greatly improving.
"What time is it?" Rebecca asked no one in particular.
"It's... ten to eight." Hermione said, checking her wrist watch.
"Okay, thanks. Umm, I'll see you guys later, okay?" She said, getting up.
"Where are you going?" Parvati asked.
"I have to go to a detention." She said, and everybody looked at her quite surprised. Apparently Rebecca wasn't the usual type to get a detention.
"A detention for what?" Hermione asked.
"I'll... explain later..." She smiled hopefully before walking away. As she did she heard Ron say something about scaring first years.
Draco was walking a bit ahead of Rebecca in terms of leaving the Great Hall. She felt a monstrous wave of relief almost drown her after leaving her friends. Snape had good timing, saving her from digging her deep, deep hole even deeper. Though, the Pansy and the Gryffindor versus Slytherin stare off wasn't helping her climb her way out either.