𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐒 - 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐟𝐨𝐲 (𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝟏)

31 - She Doesn't Know

Four days later... A week until May 24th

I'd spent most of my time with Draco outside of class. We had a potions project, so we'd meet in the library every night to work on it. We had to choose an antidote potion to make an informative poster on; we'd decided on Essence of Dittany, a wound healing potion.

"Then write about the plant there," I pointed to the bottom of the poster board. I'd drawn a picture of the potion itself and it's green smoke in the center of the page. "What should I write?" he asked quietly, holding a quill. "Give a description of what the plant is and what it looks like," I suggested, adding bubbles into the potion jar I'd drawn. "You get the fun part," he whined, looking up at me on the other side of the small round table. softly lit lanterns hung on the walls, giving the room a warm glow.

"I'll do some of the writing, I promise," I looked at him assuringly. Our feet touched under the table. "Like what, you're name?" he laughed. "Hey," I poked him, grabbing a quill out of my bag. I wrote each ingredient on the side of the poster, then the recipe. "See?" I put my quill away, pulling out my colored pencils. "Now you keep writing while I make it pretty," I smirked. He shook his head laughing. "What? It has to be presentable," I smiled, beginning to draw little dittany plants in the corners of the paper.

DRACO'S POV

We sat in the back of the library at a small round table. My feet touched hers as she carefully drew small plants in the corners of the poster. I subconsciously stopped writing, turning my gaze to her. "What?" she asked quietly, meeting her eyes with mine. "Nothing," I smiled, turning back to the paper, finishing my sentence. "Screw this," I stood up suddenly. "What?" she asked confused, looking up at me. "You're too distracting," I smirked, putting my quill on the table. "Am I, Malfoy?" she eyed my chair, motioning for me to sit back down. "The project is due tomorrow, let's just finish it," she smiled.

"How am I supposed to finish it when I can't stop looking at you?" I asked quietly. "Figure it out," she smirked, handing me my quill back. I bit my lip, going back to my writing. "You're cute, you know that?" I mumbled. "I couldn't quite hear you, you should say that again," she smirked, looking up towards me. "You, are, cute," I said a little bit too loudly. "No need to let the entire library know," she giggled, her face blushing.

Half an hour later, we finished the poster. Or at least I did. Caroline had fallen asleep, face first on the desk. I looked at the time; eleven o'clock. I leaned forward across the desk, brushing her curls out of her face, and tucking them behind her ear. Her hand was tucked under her head, and she still wore the first ring I'd given her, along with the one that matched mine. I stood up and walked over to her, crouching down next to her chair. She snored quietly. "Wake up sleepy head," I ran my fingers through her soft hair. She whined, picking her head up off the desk. "How long was I out for," she groaned, rubbing her eyes. "Not too long," I smiled.

"Let's get you to bed, shall we?" I grabbed her hands, pulling her up. We walked to the Gryffindor dormitory. She opened her door, Ginny and Hermione already in their beds. "See you," she gave me a peck on the cheek, taking the poster with her.

CAROLINE'S POV

I walked into our dorm, shutting the door behind me. "What were you two up to?" Ginny smirked, looking up from her book. "Finishing our potions project, and I have proof," I smiled, knowing what they were thinking. I held up the poster, then put it under my desk. "Fine, you pass on this one," Ginny laughed. "If you used all the hot water I'm going to kill the both of you," I walked into the bathroom, stepping into the shower.

The next morning...

Hermione's alarm blared in our ears. "Can't you turn that thing down?" Ginny whined, pulling her covers over her head. "Rise and shine," I rolled my eyes laughing. We got dressed then began walking down to the great hall. "Don't go in there," Harry pulled us aside as we were about to enter. "What?" I asked confused. Harry whispered something in Hermione's ear. "Are you serious?" Hermione gasped quietly, looking into the great hall. "Stop keeping secrets from me," I wiggled out of Harry's grip to see Draco and Pansy giggling and laughing together at Slytherin table, sitting a little too close together for comfort.

My heart dropped into my stomach. "Come on, let's go," Harry tugged at my arm. My mouth stayed open, but the only thing that came out was silence. Maybe it wasn't what it looked like; but in my mind, overthinking was part of my every day routine. We returned to the Gryffindor common room, and Harry pulled me into a tight hug. "It's okay," he whispered. Seemingly out of nowhere, tears began streaming down my cheeks. Hermione, Ron and Ginny sat on the couch, completely silent. I buried my head into his shoulder, just sobbing. No words.

I wasn't even crying for Draco. The past year had been incredibly tiring. I felt so mentally exhausted. I cried for Cedric. My Mother. For God knows what else. We stood there for what felt like hours. "Want to sit down?" he asked quietly. "Alright," I sniffled. Ginny wrapped her arm around me, as she laid her head on my shoulder. I placed mine on top of hers. "Are we sure that we saw what we saw?" Hermione questioned quietly. "Maybe we're overreacting," Ron added. "I don't know, but it sure as hell looked like flirting to me," Harry snarled. "They've always been friends," Ron answered back. "But not like that," Harry sighed. "I mean, Malfoy is bloody in love with you, it's literally so obvious," Hermione nudged me.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Harry stood up to go open it. There stood Malfoy.