Missy tried to put the awkward memories of the last night's kiss out of her mind as she went through her lessons the next day. She desperately tried to concentrate on all of the new material she was learning, but that moment when her lips met Harry's continued to flash behind her eyes whenever she wasn't actively not thinking about it. She knew she would have to snap out of it before tonight; Professor Snape would not be happy if she was constantly distracted during their first lesson. She finally got a chance to talk to Harry right after lunch, he had lingered near where she had eaten with a Hufflepuff seventh year until she had finished.
"Uh, hi Missy," he mumbled, seeming to find the floor near his shoes very interesting.
"Listen, Harry, about what happened last night," she started.
"Yeah? What about it?" Harry asked quickly, his head snapping up in attention.
"Well, it's just… This is a new situation for me, and as much as I enjoyed our kiss, and I did, I just don't want to be…tied down," Missy explained. Harry tried to show no reaction, but his eyes conveyed his disappointment when he looked up at her as he bid her a hasty goodbye and shuffled out of the Hall.
Missy sighed as she watched him leave, she hated to do that to him, because he really was a nice guy, but she hardly knew him and there were lots of other boys around. She had to hurt him a little now to save him being hurt more later. Besides, it's not as it she had denied any possibility of a relationship of some sort in the future. And she wasn't going to stop kissing him or anything, cause that had been a really nice kiss.
She felt better as she went about the rest of her day, being able to concentrate on what she was learning better. But she was still distracted enough not to notice Draco Malfoy approaching her at supper until he was right next to her.
"Hello there, Artemis," he greeted, whispering huskily into her ear. Missy jumped at the sound of his voice and let out a small squeak. Draco chuckled at her surprise. "Sorry there, didn't mean to scare you," he apologized lightly.
"No, you just…startled me," Missy said once she was able to speak again.
"Well, I happen to be Professor Snape's student aide, and he's asked me to lead you down to the classroom for your first lesson tonight," he explained.
"I do know where the classroom is, I don't need a guide," Missy retorted, a little offended that Professor Snape thought she needed assistance in locating a very well known classroom. She stood and made for the exit. "I need to stop by my room for supplies anyway, so I will just meet you down there…"
Draco's hand on her arm stopped her, both physically and verbally. "It's alright, there are all the supplies you need in the dungeon," he murmured. "And it was me who asked Professor Snape if I could escort you down for your lesson. I need to do some work down there myself, plus, I wanted to spend more time with you."
His comment made Missy blush, but she followed him out of the Hall and down to the dark dungeons of the castle. He led her not to the normal Potions classroom where she would have expected to have her lessons, but to a small workroom a few doors down. There were two large wooden tables, each with a cauldron and assorted ingredients.
Just as she was looking over the ingredients on the table Draco had indicated was hers, Professor Snape breezed in through a small door on the west wall, which seemed to lead to his office. "I see you've found the room fine," he said to her, with a sideways glare at Draco. "The instructions for the first potion are on the parchment there," he said, indicating a roll of paper beside the cauldron, "They shouldn't be too hard for you to follow I hope. If you have any questions, ask Draco here. I'll be in my office if you happen to melt any limbs off." With that he strode back through the door and it slammed shut behind him.
"What'd you do to piss Professor Snape off so soon?" Draco asked.
"He thinks that since I was Muggle raised, I won't have any talent for Potions," Missy explained, looking over the parchment. She didn't comment on his lack of response to this revelation. Looking over the items on her table, she asked, "The parsley looking one is the Stagswort, right?"
Draco nodded, but still said nothing as he worked on his own potion, which was a strange violet orange colour. Missy ignored his silence as she started the preparations for her own potion, which she recognized from her textbook as a rather advanced potion to start out on. She got to a point where the mixture needed to simmer for four and three-quarter minutes, and she couldn't take it any longer.
"You didn't know I was Muggle raised, did you?" she asked quietly.
"Never crossed my mind," Draco admitted. "You seemed natural to this world, and Dumbledore and McGonagall seemed to know you."
Missy chuckled at this. "Of course they know me, they're my parents," she explained.
The speed at which Draco's head shot up was credit to his position as the house Seeker. "Your parents?" he asked, incredulous. When Missy nodded, Draco's head fell back down. "Don't tell me those two…Aww, I so didn't need that image," he complained.
Missy giggled again, and then added the correct amount of powdered unicorn hair to the brew in her cauldron. "Apparently there was a lot of firewhiskey involved, if that helps," she comforted.
"Now I'm in need of a lot of firewhiskey," he muttered.
They worked on silence for a few minutes again, both needing to concentrate on their work at the moment. Finally, Draco spoke again.
"So, if they're your parents, why were you Muggle raised?" he queried.
"They sent me to this other dimension to protect me from Voldemort," Missy replied. "It was a world where magic didn't even exist like it does for Muggles here. I learned about Hogwarts and all from a book series."
"We're a book series?" he responded. "Am I in them?" At Missy's nod, he asked, "Am I the main character?"
Missy grimaced at his question. "Actually, the books, and movies, are all about Harry. They're even titled as such, every one starts with Harry Potter and…" she said.
Draco let out an outraged yelp. "That bastard steals everything! It's all about him, Harry Harry Harry. I can't stand him," he blustered.
They lapsed into silence again, Draco fuming and Missy worrying. Missy finally spoke up again. "So, you don't hate me for bring Muggle raised?" she asked.
"Well, no. I hate that you were raised in a world where Harry freakin' Potter is the star instead of me, but I don't hate you," he said. "The anti-Muggle stuff, it's mostly for show. It's more my Dad's thing, but if I don't keep up with the pretence here at school, Crabbe and Goyle will tell their Daddies and I'll get in trouble."
Missy's potion had turned a semi-opaque electric blue, which is what it was supposed to so, according to the parchment. She had Draco take a look at it, and at his appreciative grunt, she knocked on the door to Snape's office.
"What is it?" Snape asked, annoyed.
"I've finished, sir," Missy said respectfully. Snape looked surprised, but told her to put a sample in a vial and leave it on the table after she's cleaned up.
"I'll walk you back to your room," Draco offered as he tidied up his workspace as well.
"I don't need a bodyguard," Missy joked.
"I know," was all Draco said in response. They spoke little during the walk up five levels, and only when they reached her room did Draco look straight at her.
"I think I know what it is I want," he told her, answering her question from a couple nights before, as he leaned in and captured her lips with his own.