Can you tell I'm a procrastinator?
.
"Hey!" I heard Draco call out to me, but I ignored him, and kept heading forward. Not taking that sitting down, Draco stood from the sofa and rushed to meet me before I reached the common room door. Once close enough to where I could still hear him, he lowered his voice. "Where are you going? You just got back from the Room."
"You're the one who complained about me cleaning it" I argued, but he seemed to not have heard that and continued his lecture.
"Breakfast is not ready yet; you shouldn't be wandering off."
"Well I feel like having a walk, so I'm going on ahead."
"Oh, are you?" he asked, not really expecting an answer. It was obvious from the look of my bag across my body that I wasn't planning on coming back to the dorms. I gave a small nod anyway and attempted to take another step forward. Draco followed suit, now placing himself between me and the door. We looked at each other for a moment before he caved with a frown. "Fine, whatever, but if you're not there by breakfast I'm finding and dragging you back into the Hall."
"Good morning" Pansy called loudly.
She was addressing the group which Draco had just left. They all gave her a brief greeting before she realized there was one missing. It only took a second of her looking around the common room to realize he was standing right next to me. Draco must have felt the stare too as he turned back to look at her. For a moment they exchanged a silent conversation, and I took the opportunity and attempted to scurry away. Not being as distracted as I had hoped Draco extended an arm, stopping me from reaching the door. He frowned down a moment as I pushed his arm back towards him. There were other things for him to worry about. Besides, I wanted some fresh air, and Pansy had just provided the perfect opportunity to help us both.
"I'll see you in class" I called as I rushed past the door.
"I said breakfast" Draco called after me, knowing full well that probably wasn't going to happen. I waved a hand to him before disappearing from sight. Once I was safely out of the Slytherin Dungeon, I slowed my pace.
Draco wasn't the only person I didn't want to get too close to at the moment. I had tried to talk to Pansy earlier, but failed. Part of me felt I should have an open dialogue with her about Draco, but how exactly was I supposed to bring it up without her taking it negatively? I had never thought about it much before, but of the issues I had experienced with Pansy all stemmed from her jealousy about our relationship. In the past I had just figured she wanted Draco to pay more attention to her, not that she was in a sense fighting for his affection. With that thought in mind, the whole thing was clearly more one sided to begin with. Anyone would be frustrated to be losing a battle that the other person wasn't even fighting for. Still, it wasn't as if me acknowledging he had feelings for me would make things better between her and myself, it might even make them worse. And how could I possibly wipe away a rivalry years in the making?
Ignoring those thoughts for a moment, I maneuvered myself towards the kitchen. The house elves at work gave me a small greeting, rushing back and forth between me and their work, not sure which was a more important priority for them. It seemed like a smart idea to grab something to eat before I wandered off by myself. I didn't really want to spend breakfast with them, and I did need some fresh air, but I knew Draco would not let me hear the end of it if he knew I had skipped a meal entirely.
Having finished a treat, and not wanting to disturb them further, I made my way up the stairs and towards a nearby courtyard. It was fairly empty, as most were still either waking up or in the Dining Hall. That, and the bit of rain that had come down didn't help make the grounds any more pleasant. Willing to stand a mild discomfort for my stubbornness I kept on, staying near the corners of the courtyard as to not get too drenched. There weren't too many placed I could go so I settled for leaning against a wall near the Herbology room. I watched the rain come down until it eventually turned into a light drizzle as the smells of earth and rain blended with one another.
"Hey" a familiar figure called from the rain, making his way towards me.
"Oh, hey Fred" I smiled, setting my things to the side to offer him one of the few dry spots in the area.
"Extendable Ear?" he offered with a smirk as he shuffled to my side. I gave him a smile back but shook my head.
"If I need to find information on a conversation I have my ways, thank you."
"Fair enough" he conceded, tucking the ear back into his pocket. He frowned a moment looking up at the rain, as if it had spoiled some plan of his.
"What are you two up to?" I asked since, though I didn't see George nearby, I figured he was somehow involved.
"Market research" he answered, not batting an eye at my question. "Also getting some sales in before Herbology. George is in the other courtyard. Figured we could double our sales if we were in two places at once. Although, considering the change in weather, this time might be better spent looking for some test subjects."
"Still working on the snackbox then?" I mentioned looking back at the rain.
"We tried to post an advert on the notice board in the common room but Hermione made us take it down" he whined at the last bit. I gave him a smile as he continued to pout. "Give someone a badge and they think they can lecture anyone."
"Some of us don't need a badge for that" I mentioned, which made him chuckle a bit.
"The problem is we need to get those finished soon. Which, by the way, if you ever need any, we'd be willing to arrange a discount" Fred mentioned, before pausing a moment to think. "But I should warn you, we still haven't figured out how to fix the Nosebleed Nougat."
"I'm alright, but again I appreciate the offer. Are you still having that issue of over bleeding?" I asked, as Fred nodded in response. "Sounds to me like you found a delicious way to inflict people with Hemophilia. Aim that towards the proper market and you could make a fortune."
"Man, life would be so much easier if our goal was Evil Genius instead of a Joke Shop owner" Fred shook his head disappointed for himself. I giggled at his response before I felt something slam onto my side. George looked smiling down at me, with hair visibly wet. I gave him a look which he ignored, deciding to kiss me on the cheek as if he hadn't just slammed against me without warning.
"What are you giggling about?" he asked with a smile still on his face.
"Apparently if we ever decide to become Criminal Masterminds, we're not too far off" Fred answered as George made himself more comfortable next to me.
"Let's keep that as a Plan B" George scrunched up his face at the thought before turning to his brother. Fred gave him a nod in return, accepting that as a proper idea.
"So why the hurry?" I mentioned, thinking back to our previous conversation. "Why are you in such a rush to finish the Snackbox?"
"Because we are men of the people" Fred announced proudly.
"That's really going to hurt your future Criminal career" I giggled in return.
"We want to get them done before the fifth year's exam preparations really start to roll out" George answered more seriously, placing his arm around me. "The OWLs might not be so bad for you, but about half our year had some form of breakdown during the span of our fifth year. We managed to come off it alright though."
"That's right, you both got three each, was it?" I asked, thinking that I heard something similar before.
"Four total between us" Fred nodded at me, holding up the fingers to reinforce his statement.
"We both got OWLs for Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts," George clarified, "'Fred got one in Transfigurations, and I go one in Herbology."
"I expect it's because of all that time he spent pining after you that year."
"We weren't dating back then" I glanced over at his remark.
"I know" Fred nodded simply. He kept his smile as I gave him a confused look. But in the end, I rolled my eyes, knowing he wouldn't explain any of this to me.
"Well, speaking of, I should head to class" I called, getting a better grip of my bag.
"Or you could stay here instead" George cooed, leaning closer to my shoulder. I gave him a smile but sat up, getting ready to stand.
"It is the first day, and already you want me skip lessons? Aren't Gryffindors supposed to be the goody-goodies of the school?"
"No, I think you're thinking of Hufflepuff."
"My point being" I continued, ignoring the comment from Fred, "you might be complacent with the markings you have, but I need at least an Outstanding in five different courses in order to become a Healer. So, if you'll excuse me, I have a class to get to."
"Isn't it only required for you to get an E not an O to become a Healer?" George interrupted.
"Yes, what's your point?"
"All they ever do the first day is lecture you about how important exams are" Fred waved the comment away flippantly, as George just shook his head at me. "If you already know that, you can skip at least half of the lesson."
"I'll see you later" I announced and stood up, but took a second for George to let me go. He caught me and pulled me back a moment to kiss my cheek. Eventually I was able to seperate myself from the two and headed back towards the castle.
Unfortunately for me, they had been pretty spot on about what the lesson would consist of, for the most part. It was a lecture alright, but not one I had been expecting. I shuffled into the class, being one of the first to arrive. Umbridge sat, in her usual sickeningly-pink cardigan, literally looking down on everyone as they filed in. Ignoring her glances, I found a seat in the middle. Sitting in the front would earn me some unwanted attention, the back would earn me suspicion as to why I had chosen to sit there, so the middle was the best decision. From my bag I pulled out the assigned text, giving it an annoyed look as it lay in front of me.
I had read through it a bit and I could already tell this class was going to be incredibly boring. Theory didn't necessarily have to bore, yet she had found just the right book to accomplish that. Still, I placed a quill and unused roll of parchment next to the text, ready for the lesson to start. I knew myself well enough to know this class wouldn't end well. But Defence Against the Dark Arts was one of the subjects I needed that Outstanding from, so I had to get a good start in what I knew would be a difficult class.
The chair next to me pulled itself back a moment before Draco threw his things down on the table, sitting right beside me. He frowned at me, clearly annoyed I hadn't gone to breakfast like he wanted, but didn't say the sentiment aloud. I smiled at him slightly, wanting to keep things friendly but still not completely certain of how to speak to him. We waited quietly, if not somewhat impatient, for the last of the students to file in. Blaise, of course it was him, slowly stepped towards whatever empty seat was nearest him. From near the back, occupying the seat next to the one he had just taken, I saw Daphne giving Umbridge a deep frown, still looking personally offended at her choice in wardrobe. But either not noticing, or not taking it personally, Dolores cleared her throat in that annoying way she did and began the lesson.
"Good morning" she called, with that sickeningly sweet honey tone in her voice.
"Good morning" the class half-heartedly greeted in return. But apparently even a polite welcome, half-hearted though it may have been, wasn't good enough for her highness.
"Now we can do better than that" she called down as if we were a group of five year olds she was babysitting. Already I was sick of her, but I needed to be accommodating, at least this early in the year. "Please, when greeted, I should like you to reply with 'Good morning, Professor Umbridge'. Now, one more time, students. Good morning, class!"
"Good morning, Professor Umbridge" the class complied, although the faces didn't all match the greeting.
"There, now, much better" she announced, pleased with herself. "Now, wands away, you won't be needing those, and quills out, please."
I frowned as I slid the wand onto my lap. Already I had known she wanted a bigger focus on the theoretical part of the class, as opposed to the practical side, but why did we have to set our wands aside? She couldn't possibly be planning to keep us from using our wands the entirety of the lesson. Next to me, Draco placed his own wand in his robes pocket, not overthinking the request nearly as much as I was. He gave me a look, noticing my already short fuse getting shorter, but he didn't make the comment aloud. Back near the front, Umbridge twirled her wand in her hand a moment, watching to make sure everyone had the items she had requested out. Once enough seemed to have followed her request, she walked slowly but with purpose towards the blackboard.
"Defence Against the Dark Arts, A Return to Basic Principles" she chimed, words appearing on the board as she spoke. "It is disturbing the number of teachers you have had to work under; many of whom do not seem to have followed any Ministry-approved curriculum. Unfortunately, this has resulted in your being far below the standard we would expect to see in your OWL year. But, you will be pleased to know, that these problems are now to be rectified. We will follow a carefully structured, theory-centered, Ministry-approved course of defensive magic this year. Please, copy down the following."
Once more, as she spoke words began replacing others on the chalkboard. Now the Course Aims were plastered above as everyone began to scribble a copy of her unreasonable demands;
Understanding Principles,
Learning Legalities,
and Practical Use of Spells.
One could almost feel the mixture of suppressed laughter and vivid annoyance coming from the students. This woman was beginning to give me a migraine, and in record time I might add. But as instructed we jotted down the Course Aims and, once the scribbling stopped, she spoke again.
"Has everyone got a copy of Defensive Magical Theory, by Wilbert Slinkhard?" she asked, as if there would be a reason for anyone not to. But, now knowing the kind of answer she was expecting, everyone complied.
"Yes, Professor Umbridge" the class called in unison, with some only now reaching for their text. Dolores smiled, pleased with the results.
"Good. I would like you to turn to page five, and read Chapter one, Basics for Beginners. There will be no talking" she added before walking back towards her chair.
Unfortunately she was right, there was no talking for the remainder of the lesson. Although I did have to admit, she had some sort of talent. In one day she had turned a course which I had previously loved, to one so monotonous it felt like a second History of Magic. With a pout, I did what any good student would do and began my diligent note taking. Not about anything in particular, seeing as there was nothing interesting or of note in the text, but of things I suspected she would ask about later. Most of the book contained either common sense, deeply biased opinions, or completely useless information. For a moment, when reinking my quill, I took advantage and glanced up in our dear professor's direction. As expected, she was just sat there, watching us. I frowned back down at the text; that would be a problem.
As I continued with the notes, I could feel Draco getting closer to me. Suspecting it was just my imagination, I focused my eyes on the dribble of a paragraph in front of me. But just as I focused more on the words, movement caught the corner of my eye. He was trying to get my attention. We couldn't speak here, not with everyone else as silent as they were, so I couldn't think of what he could possibly want. Curious as to what he wanted, I set my quill down and stretched, using that as a proper excuse to take a look around the room. In between my casual glances I turned to my side at Draco. He wasn't even leaned towards me so I once again decided it must have been my overly anxious imagination. Focusing back down on the page, I continued to scribble a few more note before I felt a kick. I kept my posture pointed forward but my eyes darted angrily in his direction. Draco still wasn't looking at me, staring at the book in front of him instead, but his notes were angled and pointed in my direction. Taking the hint, I focused my attention on the sloppily scribbled text at the top of his parchment.
"Write better! I can barely read that"
I couldn't help but let out a smile as I read that. From his corner, I saw Draco let out a smirk too as he adjusted the notes back to a normal writing position. Upon closer inspection, I realized that message was the only thing written on his page of notes even after this long into the class, not that it should have surprised me. I turned my position slightly, to make it easier for him to write, using movement to disguise the kick I felt I owed him. Draco gave a squint, as he reached down to cradle his leg. It had hurt. Good.
For the rest of the lesson I continued to write a little bigger, making it easier for him to cheat off of. Normally I wouldn't condone this sort of behavior, not without some argument thrown in, but this was not a proper learning environment. How could I lecture him on paying more attention in class when the professor wasn't even bothering to teach? I glanced up every so often to see if her beedy eyes were still fixed on us, and they always were. Internally I gave her a few choice words, but managed to keep my composure for the remainder of the class. Eventually the bell rang, and just as quietly as we had been, everyone began to happily pack up their things. The hour had passed but somehow it had felt like a much longer lesson. I had never before experienced time moving in such a slow motion. Truly her dullness was its own form of wizardry.
"Now, before you go" Umbridge called, making me let out an audible groan. I head Draco chuckle next to me as we all turned our attention to the front. "There have been whispers of some troublesome students spreading takes meant to frighten you. The Ministry of Magic guarantees that you are not in danger from any Dark wizards. If you are still worried, by all means come and see me outside class hours. If someone is alarming you with fibs about reborn Dark wizards, I would like to hear about it. I am here to help. I am your friend."
It had never occured to me how stupid she thought we were until that moment. Everyone nodded at her properly, but I doubted any of them would actually give it a second thought. We weren't four year olds who needed our professor to save us from the bad kids. In fact I would argue half the students present would fall into that category themselves. But as everyone began to stand, a particular smirk caught my eye. With a grown, knowing what it probably meant, I watched Draco stand and raise his hand.
"Yes, Mr. Malfoy" Dolores called, with disturbing familiarity. Draco gave her a slightly more innocent, yet clearly staged, smile.
"I believe I know of a student like that, Professor Umbridge" he called, and I had to turn away from her to properly roll my eyes. Ignoring me, he went on. It's Harry Potter, professor. He is going around telling everyone… He's telling everyone You-Know-Who is back."
Still facing towards the back, I shifted just enough to give him a look. I had gotten used to him wanting to constantly stir up trouble, but it was another thing entirely to condone her idiotic behavior. Umbridge, either clearly the idiot I thought her to be, or simply taking advantage of his little outburst, gave him a look of concern. Or at least she attempted to do so, though the delight she felt was plain as day in her eyes.
"Thank you, Mr. Malfoy, for that information. I will be sure to keep an eye on him as time passes."
"Happy to help, Professor Umbridge" Draco smiled, meaning what he said. I let out an audible sigh and walked towards the door, bumping into him as I went. He took that as enough of a signal to leave and grabbed his bag, following after me.
I glanced back once more and there was no denying the happiness she was exuding. I'm sure he knew what he was doing, but Draco had just handed her the excuse she needed to do what the Ministry had probably sent her in to do. Past the door, most of the others lingered in the corridor, waiting for us. As we joined them, they all began to silently head downstairs. Thankfully for my sanity we had Potions next. No one said much for a few steps as we headed down to the Slytherin dungeon but eventually Blaise opened up the conversation by making kissing sounds in Draco's direction, symbolifying what we all felt that conversation had gone like. Now out of view from the professor, Draco threw his bag in his direction, hitting Blaise on his side with some decently thick reading materials. And with a couple of laughs out of the way, we began to discuss our newest Defence Against the Dark Arts professor.
"D'you suppose the fact that she only showed us 'theory' spells means she doesn't know any herself?" Daphne asked, making air quotes at the word.
"Theoretical" Theo corrected, shaking his head at her, "but I highly doubt it. She is in too high of a position within the Ministry of Magic to be completely useless in that department. I believe this is more of an attempt by the Minister to insert his influence directly into the school."
"Why would that matter?" Draco asked, done with his little spat against Blaise. Next to him I noticed Pansy snuggling closer to his side as they walked. I turned my attention back ahead, not finding it necessary to watch them do so.
"Have you never heard the phrase 'children are our future'?" Theodore asked rhetorically. "I suppose they wanted to start there, and what better way than the school closes to their circle of influence."
"We are not children" I argued with a frown.
"And if we're the future, these must be some dark times we're living in" Blaise chuckled to himself. I gave him a bit of a smile and Theo shrugged in return.
"In their eyes we are children" he went on. "Children who are under the direct influence of our headmaster, Dumbledore. So what better chance to mold our minds to their own beliefs than inserting one of their members as our instructor."
"I get why they would want to do all of that, but why did they have to choose her?" I frowned at my own complaint.
"I quite like Umbridge" Draco objected from behind me, but I continued to look ahead.
"Sure sounded like it" Blaise smirked and, unlike me, turned around to face him. Pressing both hands against his chest, he let out a profound sigh. "Oh, Pwofessor, I know a bad student that's been scawing me with his stowies. Pwease hewp!"
"That I don't mind so much either" Theo interjected, as Draco and Blaise went at it again. "Any idiot who gets caught talking about a thing like that in the open is at fault for what happens. What I do mind, is her choice in curriculum."
"I have to agree on that" I nodded, frowning down at my back containing the course material. "The book she assigned is far too biased to be a useful source of information, and too simple of a read. I'm sure anyone over the age of nine could finish the entirety of its contents by the end of the week."
"You know what would really show her, Volkov? If you did just that, took diligent notes, and distributed them to the whole class. That would put her in her place" Blaise gave me a smirk as I rolled my eyes at him.
"Neither voicing any concerns to her, nor that" I added with a look to Blaise, "will cause any change in the curriculum. She thinks herself so high and mighty any criticism will be taken as a direct attack to herself and her abilities, and any argument will be seen as a sign of rebellion."
"So what other actions do you suggest?" Theo asked, experiencing the same frustration that I felt.
"My plan is to, in a sense, treat this just as I would History of Magic" I sighed, not seeing anything else to do. "The class is boring, and simple to a fault, that it could serve as an effective place to catch up on work from other courses. The only issue might be not being able to properly disguise the work as being for the same lesson, seeing as she's decided to just sit there the whole time overlooking the class. But, if hidden properly, it could serve as a useful way to catch up on coursework."
"So Umbridge is really not going to teach us any spells?" Daphne asked, finally focused on something other than what atrocity she will be wearing.
"Why would she need to? Anyone who mentions any danger from Dark wizards is obviously fibbing" Draco gave her a smirk, bringing our conversation full circle as we finally reached the dungeon.
"Half of your family is made up of Dark wizards, Malfoy. Tell me, how is your aunty Bella doing? Still in Azkaban?" Blaise asked with a chuckle.
"Shut it" Theo interjected this time. He gave a look between him and Draco. "Not here. Did you two learn nothing from the conversation we just had?"
"I'm not the one who brought it up" Draco hissed, not happy to be included in the reprimand. Blaise rolled his eyes at the two but stayed quiet himself.
The two kept giving themselves looks as we entered the Potions room. I looked around to see that, luckily, all Gryffindors had yet to arrive at the room. Putting a tab on the conversation, we all began to take our usual seats. Professor Snape never cared about something as trivial as assigned seating but, having done this the previous four years, it was all but a routine. I settled into my seat and soon after Draco sat himself beside me. It didn't take too much time waiting before the Gryffindors trickled themselves into the room. Professor Snape wasn't one for tardiness, and expected nothing less of his class. Arriving just moments after everyone had found their seat, he closed the door behind him and silence overtook the room.
"Settle down" Professor Snape demanded, taking further steps into the room. He continued to address the class as he made his way to his desk. "Before we begin today's lesson, I think it appropriate to remind you that next June you will be sitting an important examination, during which you will prove how much you learned about the composition and use of magical potions. Moronic though some of this class undoubtedly are, I expect you to scrape an 'Acceptable' in your O.W.L., or suffer my… displeasure."
Professor Snape a moment to look around the room. He gave a particular glance in Longbottom's direction, who followed with a gulp.
"After this year, of course, many of you will cease studying with me" he went on after his moment of silence. "I take only the very best into my NEWT Potions class, which means that some of us will certainly be saying good-bye. But we have another year to go before that happy farewell, so whether you are intending to attempt NEWT or not, I advise all of you to concentrate your efforts upon maintaining the high-pass level I have come to expect from my OWL students."
"Which means, I'm going to need those notes to be neat and clear" Draco called to me, under his breath. I narrowed my eyes at him, which he answered with a smirk.
"You'll take my notes as they're written and you'll like it. You're lucky to have gotten this far because of them" I lecture quietly.
"You argue that all you want, but we both know you like to have this kind of thing hanging over me" he called and his smile widen. I turned forward again just as the cupboard door popped open. I frowned, turning to the board with now some ingredients written. Just as I started analysing them, Professor Snape's voice cut through my thoughts.
"You have an hour and a half… Start."
"Now you've gone and distracted me" I turned to glare. Draco rolled his eyes at me. "Start setting up our cauldrons, I'm going to go pick out our ingredients."
It took a minute to choose the appropriate ingredients, gather them at our table, and begin the process. I separated the tasks between us, from cutting, to stirring, and so on. Of course I made sure to keep an extra close eye on my own brew, but I wasn't going to leave him to fail. Draco wasn't mindless, he was just a bad student. He wasn't very studious but thankfully, at least to this point, he was pretty good at following instructions. He liked being the center of attention, so giving him attention certainly helped him learn. And as we neared the end of the lesson, Professor Snape made a near finishing announcement.
"A light silver vapor should now be rising from your potions" our professor called, as he stepped forward to commence his rounds.
"Not bad, huh" Draco smirked confidently. I looked closer into his brew, noticing it stuttering about.
"It's viscous" I mentioned, which made him roll his eyes at me. "You didn't let it simmer long enough, did you?"
"You just have to find mistakes in everything, don't you?" he answered, with a question of his own.
"How else would I get you to learn" I smiled, though I'm sure he meant his comment as rhetorical.
"Potter, what is this supposed to be?" Professor Snape's voice interrupted any conversation we might've had. But Draco seemed just fine with that, however, turning over to see the show. I rolled my eyes but, curious, turned my attention to them as well.
"The Draught of Peace" Potter answered with annoyance. I wasn't sure why, seeing as Professor Snape wasn't actually looking for a response.
"Tell me Potter, can you read?" the professor continued. Draco let out a laugh, already beside himself. I swatted his shoulder but he ignored me, still focused on the conversation happening beside us. "Read the third line of the instructions for me, Potter."
He went on, reading each step slowly, and most likely not seeing where the professor was going with the lecture. But as he read on his voice faltered, having gotten to the line Professor Snape was aiming for. After a small moment passed, he inevitably said the words that were expected.
"I forgot the hellebore…" he finally spoke out. And having gotten the answer he wanted, Professor Snape moved to face the rest of the class.
"Those of you who have managed to read the instructions, fill one flagon with a sample of your potions, label it clearly with your name, and bring it to my desk for testing. Homework: twelve of parchment on properties of moonstone and its uses in potion-making, to be handed in on Thursday" Professor Snape assigned, and with that, adjourned the class.
Everyone settled their potions into their flaggons, as per the instructions. As they poured, some looked worse off than others. Draco chuckled a bit watching Gregory try to put out a fire that had spread from his flask to his robes. I frowned, realizing he looked like he had failed to grind some of his ingredients fine enough. Turning away from the scene, I turned back to my potion and signed my name before moving towards the desk. The bell rang, though we had been allowed to leave as soon as soon as our flaggons were submitted. Having left at out individual times, we met together at the Slytherin dungeon. With the table already filled with food, we took out plates and dug in. Chewing lingerly, I stared up at the staff table, looking at who was sat. Hagrid was still missing and, in his place, that same woman from last time.
"He's still not back" I let out a grumble, staring at the assigned substitute.
"Volkov, since when do you care about other people?" Blaise leaned in with a sarcastic smile on his face.
"She's just worried our how our Care of Magical Creatures will be affected" Draco answered with a smirk.
"Of course I am!" I interjected, not agreeing with the way he had stated that. "I don't want that Grumpy-Plant woman ruining things like last time."
"Grubbly-Plank" Daphne corrected, not minding the change the substitute had brought herself. I made a face in return.
"Well, I'm sure he's still busy, with all his very important… gatekeeper duties" Draco called slowly, letting out a particular smile with his words. It wasn't something that went unnoticed.
"Malfoy, do you know something that we don't" Blaise called, half sarcastically but also clearly curious.
"Of course I do, I am much smarter than you" he answered, but Theodore interrupted before they went too far.
"Smart enough to realize that, if you do know something, you should not be saying it, I would hope" Theo called slowly, making sure his point ran clear.
"Why do you have to be such a killjoy" Blaise complained, but dropped the subject.
It would be a lie to say I wasn't curious about what Draco was about to say, although Theo was entirely right. There were too many people around, and if it's something that hadn't been announced to us already, the gatekeeper's absence was something of a sensitive issue. The wise thing would be to keep it quiet. The others seemed to agree, as a couple pouted but no one disagreed. I did make a note to bring up the subject later, at least when not surrounded by professors and students who would not mind their own business. We finished up our meal, not taking up the topic again. The rest of the day was a blur, nothing interesting happening aside from normal course lectures. All spoke about the OWLs, as if we hadn't heard about it all day from every other professor we had.
It was pretty boring, but I looked at the silver lining and spent the time thinking of how to organize the class work within one another. Through my thinking, I decided to skip on dinner. Knowing, once again, that I would not hear the end of it from Draco, I stopped by the Hufflepuff dungeon for a snack. With a bit of pastries in hand, I scurried back to the Slytherin dungeon. Setting a few different books and scrolls around myself, I settled into a corner of the common room. With my St. Mungo's internship taking a good part of my summer, I didn't have time to review some of the course work. Most of the classes I did look over were ones that were directly associated with my career path.
I was rusty, I needed practice, so I started my work with Study of Ancient runes. It wasn't just reviewing, but relearning, as runes were all about details. After some time I finally shut the text and raised my arms for a stretch. A few students had wandered in since I had began, though I hadn't noticed them until that moment. That meant more would start to trickle in soon, so I had to start on other courses. With a bit of a groan, knowing what waas next, I put away my runes book, and reached into my bag for the dreadful Defence Against the Dark Arts text.
I frowned down a moment, not wanting to start. But this was something I had to do, regardless of how difficult Umbridge was making it be, and I had to find a start. Grabbing my previously scribbled on roles of parchment I looked over the notes, looked over the book, and went over what I believed to be points of interest. There was nothing interesting in the text, not innovative, not even necessary to a group of students who had already studied the material for the previous four years. But if I took detailed notes, and if I took a head start on the course work she could have no complaints.
Towards the end of the first chapter I noticed a shadow crossed me. It sat on the other side of my sofa, making a displeased noise when I didn't immediately turn in that direction. But I didn't bother looking up, knowing exactly who it would be. He didn't seem to like that. Fed up with my indifference, he reached in front of me and slapped the text shut. With a sigh, I looked up from my notes. Still not looking at him, I opened the book back where it was, as far as I could remember. That only worked to annoy him more, as he let out an audible groan.
"This morning I thought we might be over this" Draco complained, resting against the back of his seat. "So now you're not avoiding me, you're just ignoring me."
"It's been a day, do you really expect me to change overnight?" I asked, not looking up from the course book. From the corner of my eye I saw him make a face at me.
"It's not like you haven't done that before" he grumbled again, somewhat quietly to himself. I went back to ignoring him, focusing on the task at hand. The first chapter was done, revised notes and rewrite included. Now it was time for chapter two.
"Common Defensive Theories and Their Derivation?" I grumbled at the atrocious mouthful. Seeing I wasn't going to continue our talk, he sat up, deciding on it himself.
"So we're still doing this then? Really?" Draco called accusingly when I didn't pay him any attention. He grew even more impatient an reached out, taking hold of my jaw and turning my face to look at his. I gave him a frown.
"You weren't saying anything" I answered angrily, pulling away from his grip. Draco frowned at me in return.
"I thought we were over this. What was Potions, then? What was last night's—"
"I told you I would try, and I am trying, but these things take time" I hissed back. His frown deepened and I gave him a sigh, looking back down to the book. "You know that I'm not good with this sort of thing. That, my nact of over analyzing things, coupled with your obvious impatience makes this even more difficult. I just end up overthinking the whole thing and it gives me a headache. You give me a headache."
"No, you overthinking something?" he called sarcastically.
"Because of that," I went on, not minding his comment, "I'm going to need a little time. I can't stop overthinking this and I can't unlearn what you've told me, so for now you're just going to have to be patient with me."
"Well, I don't like to be ignored" Draco insisted. Letting out a slow breath, I put my quill down and turned to look at him directly.
"Draco, last night you asked if I was willing to stand for this; if I was willing to try for you. Well I am willing, and I am trying. Now I'm going to ask you, are you willing to wait for me?" I asked, not looking away from him. "I'm not going to rush this and, if you keep trying to rush me, we'll only end up angry at each other. So can you promise me that you'll at least wait a bit, give me enough time so we can set things back to normal?"
"You already made me wait like nine years" I heard him grumble under his breath. At that comment, I threw up my arms in defeat.
"Alright, either say that it doesn't matter, or be upset with the time, because I'm sick of you trying to have it both ways" I complained, done with his flipping of opinion. At that he let out a smirk, and I couldn't help but smile back.
"Why does everything have to be difficult with you?"
Draco let out a tiny groan before leaning back against the sofa frame. Not knowing the proper response for that I gave him a shrug and turned back to my textbook. Out of the corner of my eye I saw him let out a smile. From behind him I noticed a shadow etching closer to us. I turned completely in their direction to see someone gingerly walking to our table. I wasn't sure if she had been trying to be stealthy or if it was a matter of not wanting to break up our conversation.
"Hello? I'm not interrupting something, am I?" Astoria slowly called to us
"Did it sound like you were interrupting something?" I asked, wanting to see how much she had overheard. She let out a sigh.
"No, but I couldn't hear you very well. Besides, I never know with the two of you" she mumbled out, and reached to grab a chair from the empty table beside us. "I need to call in my favor."
"You owe her a favor?" Draco piped up, leaning in beside me.
"Hush" I raised a hand at him. Draco made a face at me but I ignored it. "What do you want, exactly?"
"To beat Daphne" Astoria answered seriously. I waited a moment but she didn't make anything clearer.
"As in… physically?" I asked, when she still didn't clarify. Astoria rolled her eyes.
"Well…" Astoria paused a moment but after a second of thought she shook her head. "Sometimes yes, but not right now. I mean beat her in search of knowledge."
"Search of knowledge? Can't you just go to the library for that? With your sister, you might not even need that" Draco scoffed. Astoria turned to him, and then back to me. I turned to give Draco the same look and with that he seemed to get the hint. "So you two have some sort of bet then?"
"Yes and no, I suppose" Astora answered, and began to explain. "Every so often, around winter holiday, our parents decide to take us out on a family trip, as most do. During the summer they decided that this year we would be the ones to choose where to go. But Daphne and I kept disagreeing on where to go, what to do, basically on the entirety of the trip. Our parents got a bit sick of it and said that we had to decide by the end of October or there would be no trip."
"Seems harsh" Draco argued.
"I don't expect you to understand, only-child" Astoria mumbled at him. Draco frowned at her and I couldn't help but let out a giggle.
"So whichever one of you wins the bet get to make all the decisions for the trip" I surmised, and she gave me a nod. "Alright, I get that, but how do I specifically fit into this whole thing?"
"The bet is to see who can get access to the prefect bathroom first."
"Why choose that?" I asked but before she could answer, Draco interrupted again.
"Wait, hang on, did you say bathroom?"
"Prefect bathroom, and yes" Astoria answered, then looked at me. "Basically, since we both knew neither of us would be prefect this year, we would have an equal chance of having to talk someone into it. And you still owe me one, so I figured I could just ask you for it."
"But I'm not a prefect."
"Yeah, well whose fault is that" Astoria answered accusingly. I gave her a look and she sighed at me. "Well I was expecting you would be, I had been planning on that actually. I mentioned the idea to Daphne, hoping for that. She agreed since at least one of her roommates would be prefect, so she could try to talk one of you into it."
"Jumped off the broom too soon, didn't you" Draco gave her a small smirk.
"Not the point," she answered with a look to him, before turning to me, "the point being you owe me one, and now I want to cash in. It seemed like a fair trade for what I did for you, considering I could have gotten in a lot of trouble I were caught holding those."
"Holding what?" Draco turned to me, but once again I ignored him.
"Fine, I'll help" I gave her a shug. "You did your part well, and I got what I needed out of that transaction. I'm sure there's some barrier preventing entrance to anyone who is not a prefect, so you might have to work around that, but if there's not that's an oversight in your favor."
"And how will you be getting the password exactly?" Draco asked with a look. I turned, leaning closer to him, and gave him a sweet smile. Not trusting my expression Draco looked back warily but, after a moment, caved. He rolled his eyes and answered in a sigh. "Cotton Bloom. Fifth floor, fourth door to the left of the Boris the Bewildered statue. Not sure how often the password changes, I started to drift off during the meeting on the train, but I know that as of right now it's Cotton Bloom."
"Thank you" I called sweetly, patting his cheek. He slapped it off and rolled his eyes at me. Astoria smiled too as Draco pouted. "I'm not sure how quickly it changes either, so I would use it sooner than later, but for now I think that makes us even."
"So why is it that you never owe me anything when I do a favor for you?" Draco continued to pout.
"We're too deep into this friendship for you to start asking those sort of questions now" I answered, waving a hand at his comment. Astoria, still with a smile on her face, turned back to me. "You got the code, so now what?"
"Well, I thought this would take longer, so I'm not too sure yet" she admitted, turning to look at the stairs, a ways behind her. "Either way, I know Daphne doesn't know yet. She says she does, but I don't believe her; she would have proven she's won already. Knowing Pansy she'll want to drag this out as long as she can and Daphne won't rush it since she'll think I have no one specific to go to myself. But that's all I needed from you, so thank you, and that's all."
Astoria waved a goodbye and rose to wander off, satisfied with herself. I made a note to cross that favor off my list, also glad with how smoothly that transaction had gone. I tried to keep the number low, making it easier to manage and track.
"So, really, why don't you ever owe me anything?" Draco insisted, watching Astoria grin up the stairs, probably on her way to see her sister.
"You're never satisfied with what you have" I replied, shifting on my seat, closer to the table where my text lay.
"People who are easily satisfied are idiots?" he shrugged in return.
With that out of the way, I turned back to scribbling on my notes. Draco reached to forward to my pile of snacks, wanting a bite. I watched him a moment as he chewed a bit. He turned to look back at me, and raised an eyebrow. Realizing we were alone again, I set my quill down and turned more directly to him.
"I've been meaning to ask you, seeing as we are in better speaking terms now" I began slowly but paused. Draco waited, looking at me. "You should know better than I do, at least…"
"So you're finally admitting I'm smarter than you are" Draco gave me a smirk.
"Shut up, no" I rolled my eyes at him. Draco's smile softened after seeing my reaction. I came to realize he was trying to lighten the mood with his usual facetious attitude. I gave him a smile in return. "I wanted to ask about what's happening with the absence of Professor Hagrid."
"Missing the giant buffoon that much, are you?"
"What's happening?" I asked more seriously, and quietly. "Do you know where he is?"
"His summer vacation seems to have lasted longer than he expected, in Belarus" he replied in a singsongy sort of tone.
"Belarus?" I repeated, not sure if he was being honest or flippant again.
"Minsk to be exact" he continued, showing he was being serious. Draco shifted his posture and leaned in towards me. "He was sent to a nearby Giant colony, by Dumbledore I think. Not just him either; that Beauxbaton mountain of a woman too."
"Madame Maxime?"
"Sure" he shrugged, probably never having bothered to learn her name.
"Why were they sent to a Giant colony? And how do you know this when it wasn't properly announced?"
"He's bringing presents, trying to butter them up, so to speak" Draco waved a hand at the phrase. "And before you ask, yes, I know all of this because my father told me. Dumbledore isn't the only one trying to butter them up."
"I hope you're not involving yourself too much with this" I interrupted, not happy with what I was hearing.
"I've only been told, or overheard, certain things. I'm not being asked to contribute to any sort of planning" he reassured, although his tone suggested he wanted more involvement than he was given. "But they're making moves, both sides are."
"Did you recognize that dog?" I asked suddenly, seeing him reach for another snack. He took a moment to look at it between his fingers before turning back to me.
"You're asking a lot of questions today" Draco commented, taking a bite of the pastry he had grabbed. "You mean the one with Potter by the platform? I didn't recognize it necessarily, but I have a guess as to who it was."
"As to who it was?" I repeated, and he nodded. Draco stretched a moment to take a look around. Not seeing anyone focused on us he leaned in once again.
"Animagus" he smirked when seeing my reaction, but kept his tone under his breath. "He's an unregistered one, of course. We have reason to believe that the dog you saw was Sirius Black."
"Black?" I repeated startled by the name, leaning into him, wanting to know more. "If you're so sure, why not report on this, then?"
"And what, have him run away again?" Draco mocked, but stayed close. "Besides, father thinks he won't be much of a problem, weak as he is."
"Weak or not, he did manage to escape Azkaban" I mumbled as he just shrugged at me. "But if that's true, why were they together?"
"All of them are trash, maybe they have some sort of club" Draco smirked, leaning back against the back of the sofa.
"Their moral compass is pointed too far north for that" I shook my head at him. "They wouldn't be the type to overlook murder, no matter how capable said murderer is. They care about their values and wouldn't start any sort of club… or order…"
"Order what?" Draco asked, confused by my train of thought. But I had caught something that hadn't been made apparent to me before. Ignoring his confusion, I moved on.
"The House of Black, where was their manor located, do you recall?" I asked, trying to piece together my half formed thought.
"Somewhere in London I thought, not really sure where. Why do you ask suddenly?"
I didn't answer him right away, focused on piecing together the information scattered in my mind. If all of that was true, it was possible… Black was part of the Order of the Phoenix. George had mentioned they were staying with someone this summer, and I hadn't understood before, but this explained his lack of detail. He couldn't very well state state he was staying with Sirius Black without receiving a hundred follow-up questions. He mentioned they had stayed in London, where a property of the House of Black resided. There was reason to believe Black was an animagus, one who had been spotted with them not long ago. And though I wasn't sure who the old woman was, it wasn't too difficult to piece together that everyone on the platform with them seemed to be someone said Order might want in their ranks. It was all fitting together far more easily than I would have liked.
"Do you know something I don't?" Draco asked, watching my face carefully. I snapped out of the string of thoughts and fixed my face, turning back down to my coursework.
"I would say I know quite a few things you don't. For example, have you bothered to read even a page of the assigned Defense Against the Dark Arts text?" I asked trying to through him off. Draco didn't fall for it. A hand slammed down on the page my book, covering the words I was pretending to read. Looking up I saw Draco frown at me.
"No, you think I wouldn't know that look of yours by now?" he accused, moving closer to me. "What do you know? Why did you ask where the House of Black estate was? Spill it."
"Curiosity" I tried to defend. "Mostly just thinking out loud. Maybe that's where he's hiding out?"
"And what Order are you talking about? Did that weasle say something to you?" Draco insisted, not even listening to my attempt at a diversion. Knowing where he was going to go with this, I sighed.
"Yes, but I can't say what. I promised George I wouldn't say anything to you" I admitted, not wanting to directly lie to him.
"And you promised me we would always tell eachother everything. So, tell me, which promise is more important to you?" Draco called, narrowing his eyes at me. I frowned back at him.
"I have never forced you to tell me anything you weren't comfortable telling me."
"Should we revisit what happened in Bulgaria!" he raised his voice at the comment. My frown deepened.
"I said I was sorry, and you said you were over it!" I matched his tone. "Besides, it was your own fault. You should have known I was bluffing."
"Again with this" he threw up his arms. "How was I supposed to know? Half the things that come out of your mouth are coated in three layers of lies!"
"Because you know everything, don't you? You always act like you do, at least" I struck back. Draco let out a humorless smile.
"Oh, I'm the one who acts like I know everything? Me?" he asked incredulously, to which I nodded. "You pain-in-the-ass little brat—!"
"Little?!"
"What's gotten into you two?" Theodore interrupted suddenly. With our arguing I didn't even realize he was nearby. He ignored our agitated expressions a moment and looked down at the table in front of us. "You're working on the Defence Against the Dark Arts work, right? How far are you?"
"Who invited you, Nott?" Draco snapped watching as Theo took the empty seat Astoria had left behind.
"I'm almost through Chapter Two" I answered, deciding to ignore Draco. "It's a simple read. I was otherwise distracted or I would have been much farther along by now. Are you trying to get a head start on it as well?"
"I've been glancing over it every so often, and I meant to get a more focused start on it, but I can't seem to get into the proper pace with the dreadful thing" he explained, taking out his own copy from his bag.
"We were in the middle of something" Draco insisted, still sounding irritated.
"In the middle of what?"
"Nothing" I interrupted before Draco could start. "And it's nothing we can't discuss at a later date."
"Whatever you want!" Draco exclaimed, slamming down his palm on the desk before standing. "You always do whatever you want, don't you? I'm going to bed. And you better have those notes legible by tomorrow's class!"
"Good night" I called as he stomped his way off, up the stairs and I assumed to his room. Once he was out of sight I turned back to Theo who was trying to find his place in his book. I waited until he looked up to ask my question. "So how much of our conversation did you actually hear?"
"I walked in around the point Malfoy mentioned the House of Black estate" he mumbled, looking back down. "Then he mentioned some Order and that Weasley of yours."
"Don't you want to know what all of that was about?"
"Not my business, and additionally, I don't care" he answered, looking back up to look at me.
"If that's true then why did you wait so long to interrupt?" I asked, not quite sure if I believed him.
"I figured I could simply wait for a lull in your conversation to intrude, but then you started arguing, and I know how long those can take. I have been kept from my bedroom for many nights for that very reason. And I wanted to get through this before the week's end."
"I see" I mumbled a response. Watching his expression it looked plain, honest, not showing any signs he was attempting to hide anything. Fair enough. With that out of the way, I moved to my own book. "So you said it's the pacing of the book that's keeping you. Is there a specific pattern that you can't seem to adjust to?"
"Frankly it's the structure of it as a whole" Theo commented, letting his irritation on the text show. "The only spells mentioned are ones that four year-olds with half a brain would know. Unless the target demographic was Muggle Toddlers I do not understand how this was approved as a proper tool for fifth grade students. What am I expected to write notes of?"
"I've been focusing on key points; the sort of things I think she would ask stupid questions about in class."
I don't think that was much help considering his issue. I agreed this was definitely way below our expected level of learning. Umbridge was treating us like idiots, something she had briefly mentioned, though very subtly, through one of her many speeches. But that suggestion was all I had. And, with that suggestion, I shifted my notes towards him. Theodore took them and skimmed through the words, wanting to see what points exactly I had thought less insignificant than the rest. As I shifted myself and my books he made a comment that seemed to come out of nowhere.
"Katerina, whatever is going on between you and Malfoy, it is not going unnoticed."
Out of shock I turned to him. He was still not looking at me, focused on my notes, but I knew I hadn't imagined his words. He shuffled onto my more revised scroll of notes before I thought to respond.
"I thought you said you didn't care" I mentioned, still watching him.
"About the details of your discussions or arguments, no. About Daphne not letting me focus on reading, eating, or sleeping because she wants me to help her speculate what your fight could have possibly stemmed from, that I do care about" Theo looked up with a tired expression on his face.
"I told her we didn't have a fight" I rolled my eyes.
"And she knows you lied; you two always fight" Theo explained, which was true. "Either way, please fix it, or at least hide it better. I do not want my OWL examination scores to reflect the damage she is causing to my previously organized study sessions when she barges into my room to complain about how you don't trust her enough to confide in her even after years of living together. It would be… unfavorable, to say the least."
"You could just say you hate her, then she'll go bother someone else with how you won't confide in her either" I suggested. Theo gave me a bit of a smirk but shook his head.
"If I did hate her I would have done so long ago. I honestly do not mind her company, it is just tedious in particular situations like this" he sighed before looking more seriously at me. "Just fix it, please, before I have to rely on more disagreeable methods."
"I'm no Seer, but I'm pretty sure you just threatened me" I gave him a smile, to which he shook his head.
"Not that I would be above such actions, but I did not mean you" he clarified. "I've come to notice we have very similar ways of structuring thought. That is also why I believe Daphne is more comfortable with me than the others, because she sees the interactions she has had with you reflected in my behavior. But because of that I am also sure if I ever had any sort of threat or plan I may plot against you, you could easily figure out my thought process and details, making the point moot. But this problem has two points of interest and Malfoy, on the other hand, is much more impulsive and simple-minded, making him an easy target."
"I'm going to tell him you said that. Maybe that will have him whining at you instead of me next" I thought aloud, but Theodore didn't find that as amusing as I did.
"Cause the two of them to simultaneously disrupt my work and I may rethink my previous statement."
"Now that I know was a threat" I giggled. Theodore gave me a bit of a smile before returning to me my notes.
"I'm a bit behind where your notes seem to stall, but if you are not against it I believe we could work together to make this more tolerable. That, and I somehow promised Daphne I would write a spare set of notes for her, since it's apparently too complicated for her to grasp" he commented and shook his head, clearly not believing her lie.
"Even she's not that slow of a learner" I agreed, giving him a smirk. "You know… I'm working for Draco and myself, you're working for Daphne and yourself, we might as well just take Blaise's suggestion and distribute notes to the entire class."
"I'm sure Daphne and Malfoy will see to that on their end, and I don't think Zabini needs to know we will consider absurd suggestions like that from him, for as little work as he does now" Theo noted, turning back down to his book. I nodded, thinking it a fair point, and moved on to making my notes more legible.