A cold winter draft seeped in through the doors out to the Hogwarts grounds
right onto Viviel's feet where she was waiting in the Entrance Hall for Draco.
It was a Hogsmeade weekend, and he had reminded her over dinner earlier in
the week that her part of the bargain was to accompany him when he wished.
Flashback
"But Draco-"
"No buts, Viviel. You promised you'd come out with me." His grey eyes twinkled mischieviously in the candle light of the dinner table. He had chosen to sit with her for dinner, just like he'd chosen to sit next to her in Charms earlier that day and work with her in Herbology earlier that week.
"I have that essay Professor McGonnagal gave us, you know that-"
"And you'll have all of Sunday to finish it. Just come out with me-"
End Flashback
She fiddled impatiently with her green and silver scarf and made sure that her coat was snuggly buttoned for the fifth time. He was taking forever to get whatever it was he said he had left back in his dormitory. Rolling her eyes upwards the ceiling as though begging for patience, Viviel began to tap her foot as she watched the staircase the Slytherins came up from. A familiar trio caught her eye as they crossed the hall to check out with Filch: Potter, Weasley, and Granger. Weasley looked over at her appraisingly and then took off with his friends down to the road to the village.
"Got it." said a voice to her left. Draco had come back, a dazzling smile plastered onto his face and his blonde hair swept back out of his eyes.
"Let's get on with this then." she said grumpily and filed out down the front steps past Filch, who checked their pair of them off.
He caught quickly up with her and asked, "Why such a sour mood, Dorgen? It's almost like this is a punishment for you, like a detention or something."
"What do you call me Viviel on some occasions and Dorgen on others?" asked Viviel, exaspherated by the pleasent mood he seemed to be in. To her, anything that called her away from her books was a punishment. "Just call me Viviel and get it over with, for Merlin's sake."
"I'm honored. Viviel it is then."
They walked in silence the rest of the way into Hogsmeade, passing various students also bundled up against the cold December air. People were discussing gifts they had planned on getting friends and whether or not they should stop buy the Three Broomsticks for a butterbeer later on.
"You're not a very interesting companion as I thought you'd be."
"I try." she said wryly, wondering how long it would take him to realize what she thought of his imflamed ego.
"Haha. Atleast you have a sense of humor." he commented, burying his hands in his coat to keep them warm. "Do you mind if we go to Honeydukes first? It might sweeten your mood, plus I need to buy a box of their toffees for my mum and some of the fizzing whizbees. It's a favorite of one of my little cousins."
"You have cousins?" she asked without thinking, "How old?"
"This little one's four. He's a hand full for my dad's brother, let me tell you. Broke his toybroom stick already over one of the house elf's head."
She gasped. "How horrible!"
"I know, it was a premium model, too. Nearly cost 200 galleons." He shook his head and smiled. "I toss a quaffle with him when we visit. I thought it'd be nice to get him a present he can't break this year. After you."
Draco pulled open the door into Honeydukes, which was swarming with students. Squeezing inside after her, he pulled her off into a corner that had some of they're best selling sweet wrapped up in ready to go packages. A large man with a bald head had a tray of dark fudge, which she took a piece of. It was quite good, in her opinion, and she smiled as she ate the rest of her piece.
"It's too bitter for me." Draco said with a small sigh of distaste as he got at the end of the line to buy his purchases. "Aren't you getting anything?"
"Well... maybe some fudge for my dad. The ones with the chili peppers. He liked that last time I took some home." she said thoughtfully, realizing she hadn't actually thought of what she needed to by for her family that year.
"Fiery, huh? Just like you. Figures." He turned to dump some coins on the counter as a witch wrapped up his order.
They left to go face the cold wind again, this time with packages in their hands. It hadn't snow yet that year at all, but she wasn't really regretting that at all. Snow, she found, was also accompanied by an outbreak of colds and pnemonia among the students at Hogwarts. It also meant Viviel would have to spend some of her time helping Madam Pomfrey brew up cauldron after cauldron of Pepperup Potion, which smelled as vile as it tasted. Draco hussled her into a small shop she hadn't seen before called Maxwell Mixes. The moment she stepped inside, she realized that he had brought her to the Hogsmeade apothecary. Random bundles of dried herbs and flowers hung from the ceiling, and she saw various pickled body parts from different enchanted animals lining the shelf behind the counter.
"I thought you might like to see this, or even buy it." Draco said, pointing to a small bookshelf of potions books near the register. "I need to get some more ingrediants for class, so..."
She walked over to the shelf while he dictated what he needed to the elderly wizard, assumedly Maxwell, behind the counter, who he apparently knew quite well. One book in particular caught her eye. It was a faded and battered copy of an old textbook. Viviel picked it up and reading the peeling letters on the spine: "1739: N.E.W.T. Potions Standard."
"That can still be put to good use, miss." said Maxwell, peering at her through squinted eyes. "Not much's changed o'er the years, ye know."
"Oh- Thank you, sir. How much would it cost?" She was afraid to know the price after spending a good deal in Honeydukes.
Maxwell glanced over at Malfoy, who had another bag added to the ones in his arms, and said with a crooked smile, "Free, miss. I couldn't make a beauty like ye pay for that old thing. Plus, young Malfoy here, it'd do well in his courtin' ye..."
"Maxwell." said Draco, a hint of warning in his voice.
"Get on with yer young selves! Shoo- out, out!"
He glanced back at the apothecary keeper before opening the door for Viviel, who slipped her new potions books into her bag. "Come on, I'll get you a butterbeer. It's freezing. I hate the winter, especially when it snows."
"Me, too." said Viviel, surprised out of her silence. "I hate taking the potions to keep you from getting sick."
"That Pepperup Potion stinks up the entire southern wing when Pomfrey brews it." said Draco casually.
She smiled at him, glad to have someone else understand how bad it smelled. Madam Pomfrey always insisted she couldn't smell a thing, but Viviel personally believed it was because Madam Pomfrey's smelling senses had long since been dead. Soon enough they were both seat with an open butterbeer bottle in front of them, tucked in by the fireplace at a table for two.
"Why didn't Crabbe and Goyle come along?" she asked.
"Detention. Sinistra's making them chart out the entire star system from memory for breaking her telescopes during their last lesson." he told her, taking a deep swig. "I'm surprised you even came with me. I thought you'd hide up in your dormitory and not come down."
Viviel turned hurt blue eyes on him. "Why would you think that? You said I had to-"
"Well, yeah, but you never know. I guess there's more to you that meets the eye. And I suppose that's good that you keep your promises, since you plan on being a Healer and all."
"I suppose..." she mumbled, feeling guilty as she recalled her unfinished Transfiguration essay on bone structure and the components for rebuilding marrow.
"Are you willing to come to my quidditch game after Christmas break?" he asked suddenly.
"Well-"
"Come on, you'll make me happy. And you can shock all the stupid Gryffindors by appearing in public." Draco joked, grinning as she blushed.
"If you put it that way, I'll do it just to spite you." she shot back, drinking from her bottle in an attempt to hide her pink cheeks.
"You know. You're not so bad."
She didn't have a response to that.
Flashback
"But Draco-"
"No buts, Viviel. You promised you'd come out with me." His grey eyes twinkled mischieviously in the candle light of the dinner table. He had chosen to sit with her for dinner, just like he'd chosen to sit next to her in Charms earlier that day and work with her in Herbology earlier that week.
"I have that essay Professor McGonnagal gave us, you know that-"
"And you'll have all of Sunday to finish it. Just come out with me-"
End Flashback
She fiddled impatiently with her green and silver scarf and made sure that her coat was snuggly buttoned for the fifth time. He was taking forever to get whatever it was he said he had left back in his dormitory. Rolling her eyes upwards the ceiling as though begging for patience, Viviel began to tap her foot as she watched the staircase the Slytherins came up from. A familiar trio caught her eye as they crossed the hall to check out with Filch: Potter, Weasley, and Granger. Weasley looked over at her appraisingly and then took off with his friends down to the road to the village.
"Got it." said a voice to her left. Draco had come back, a dazzling smile plastered onto his face and his blonde hair swept back out of his eyes.
"Let's get on with this then." she said grumpily and filed out down the front steps past Filch, who checked their pair of them off.
He caught quickly up with her and asked, "Why such a sour mood, Dorgen? It's almost like this is a punishment for you, like a detention or something."
"What do you call me Viviel on some occasions and Dorgen on others?" asked Viviel, exaspherated by the pleasent mood he seemed to be in. To her, anything that called her away from her books was a punishment. "Just call me Viviel and get it over with, for Merlin's sake."
"I'm honored. Viviel it is then."
They walked in silence the rest of the way into Hogsmeade, passing various students also bundled up against the cold December air. People were discussing gifts they had planned on getting friends and whether or not they should stop buy the Three Broomsticks for a butterbeer later on.
"You're not a very interesting companion as I thought you'd be."
"I try." she said wryly, wondering how long it would take him to realize what she thought of his imflamed ego.
"Haha. Atleast you have a sense of humor." he commented, burying his hands in his coat to keep them warm. "Do you mind if we go to Honeydukes first? It might sweeten your mood, plus I need to buy a box of their toffees for my mum and some of the fizzing whizbees. It's a favorite of one of my little cousins."
"You have cousins?" she asked without thinking, "How old?"
"This little one's four. He's a hand full for my dad's brother, let me tell you. Broke his toybroom stick already over one of the house elf's head."
She gasped. "How horrible!"
"I know, it was a premium model, too. Nearly cost 200 galleons." He shook his head and smiled. "I toss a quaffle with him when we visit. I thought it'd be nice to get him a present he can't break this year. After you."
Draco pulled open the door into Honeydukes, which was swarming with students. Squeezing inside after her, he pulled her off into a corner that had some of they're best selling sweet wrapped up in ready to go packages. A large man with a bald head had a tray of dark fudge, which she took a piece of. It was quite good, in her opinion, and she smiled as she ate the rest of her piece.
"It's too bitter for me." Draco said with a small sigh of distaste as he got at the end of the line to buy his purchases. "Aren't you getting anything?"
"Well... maybe some fudge for my dad. The ones with the chili peppers. He liked that last time I took some home." she said thoughtfully, realizing she hadn't actually thought of what she needed to by for her family that year.
"Fiery, huh? Just like you. Figures." He turned to dump some coins on the counter as a witch wrapped up his order.
They left to go face the cold wind again, this time with packages in their hands. It hadn't snow yet that year at all, but she wasn't really regretting that at all. Snow, she found, was also accompanied by an outbreak of colds and pnemonia among the students at Hogwarts. It also meant Viviel would have to spend some of her time helping Madam Pomfrey brew up cauldron after cauldron of Pepperup Potion, which smelled as vile as it tasted. Draco hussled her into a small shop she hadn't seen before called Maxwell Mixes. The moment she stepped inside, she realized that he had brought her to the Hogsmeade apothecary. Random bundles of dried herbs and flowers hung from the ceiling, and she saw various pickled body parts from different enchanted animals lining the shelf behind the counter.
"I thought you might like to see this, or even buy it." Draco said, pointing to a small bookshelf of potions books near the register. "I need to get some more ingrediants for class, so..."
She walked over to the shelf while he dictated what he needed to the elderly wizard, assumedly Maxwell, behind the counter, who he apparently knew quite well. One book in particular caught her eye. It was a faded and battered copy of an old textbook. Viviel picked it up and reading the peeling letters on the spine: "1739: N.E.W.T. Potions Standard."
"That can still be put to good use, miss." said Maxwell, peering at her through squinted eyes. "Not much's changed o'er the years, ye know."
"Oh- Thank you, sir. How much would it cost?" She was afraid to know the price after spending a good deal in Honeydukes.
Maxwell glanced over at Malfoy, who had another bag added to the ones in his arms, and said with a crooked smile, "Free, miss. I couldn't make a beauty like ye pay for that old thing. Plus, young Malfoy here, it'd do well in his courtin' ye..."
"Maxwell." said Draco, a hint of warning in his voice.
"Get on with yer young selves! Shoo- out, out!"
He glanced back at the apothecary keeper before opening the door for Viviel, who slipped her new potions books into her bag. "Come on, I'll get you a butterbeer. It's freezing. I hate the winter, especially when it snows."
"Me, too." said Viviel, surprised out of her silence. "I hate taking the potions to keep you from getting sick."
"That Pepperup Potion stinks up the entire southern wing when Pomfrey brews it." said Draco casually.
She smiled at him, glad to have someone else understand how bad it smelled. Madam Pomfrey always insisted she couldn't smell a thing, but Viviel personally believed it was because Madam Pomfrey's smelling senses had long since been dead. Soon enough they were both seat with an open butterbeer bottle in front of them, tucked in by the fireplace at a table for two.
"Why didn't Crabbe and Goyle come along?" she asked.
"Detention. Sinistra's making them chart out the entire star system from memory for breaking her telescopes during their last lesson." he told her, taking a deep swig. "I'm surprised you even came with me. I thought you'd hide up in your dormitory and not come down."
Viviel turned hurt blue eyes on him. "Why would you think that? You said I had to-"
"Well, yeah, but you never know. I guess there's more to you that meets the eye. And I suppose that's good that you keep your promises, since you plan on being a Healer and all."
"I suppose..." she mumbled, feeling guilty as she recalled her unfinished Transfiguration essay on bone structure and the components for rebuilding marrow.
"Are you willing to come to my quidditch game after Christmas break?" he asked suddenly.
"Well-"
"Come on, you'll make me happy. And you can shock all the stupid Gryffindors by appearing in public." Draco joked, grinning as she blushed.
"If you put it that way, I'll do it just to spite you." she shot back, drinking from her bottle in an attempt to hide her pink cheeks.
"You know. You're not so bad."
She didn't have a response to that.