Innocent | d. malfoy

- three -

Aria Rowen

School sucked.

With every day that went by, another set of classes and lectures were thrown at us by our professors.

"Does anyone know the answer to number twenty-seven? Twenty seven anyone?" Professor Slughorn paced back and forth at the front of the classroom.

Most of the teachers from our previous years at Hogwarts stayed after the war ended to continue teaching, but that didn't mean that their memories were left unscarred.

"Anyone? -Oh! Miss Emans?"

My head turned from where I sat with Jenna Ryles to look at Indy, who sat at the back table with her Slytherin boyfriend and his friend group, which included Blaise Zabini, Draco Malfoy, and Theodore Nott.

"Fig tree leaves?" Her voice was soft as she lowered her raised hand.

"Very good! 5 points to Gryffindor for your answer, dear child!"

I watched in disgust as Luke Carrow leaned over and whispered something, undoubtedly 'praising' his girlfriend for getting an answer correct. It irked me that Indy couldn't see how manipulative or abusive he was towards her.

Yeah, they acted like a perfect couple in public, despite being in different houses, but I'd seen the bruises, so had Jenna and Dylan.

Luke was in his returning year, just like most of his friends, and Indy was still with him- even after finding out that his father, Amycus Carrow, was one of Voldemort's most loyal followers and had done sickening things to the students while in his teaching position last year.

"Now... I will be assigning you all partners for our upcoming project-" At least half of the students let out a groan.

"-and you are to follow the guidelines on this paper-" With a flick of his wand, papers flew to each person's desk,

"-to achieve the perfect Draught of Living Death potion and write a four page essay on the topic..."

I looked around the room, hoping that I'd be paired with one of my friends.

"I chose your partners at random, so here's the list..." Upon saying that, the majority of students rushed to the front of the class, desperately trying to get a good look at who they'd be doing their project with.

If you were like me, you'd just be looking forward to leaving this hellhole called Potions.

Jenna and I stood up from our table and we each walked to where the other students were gathered.

Dylan emerged from the cluster, looking satisfied with whoever she got, but she was also trying to hold back a laugh as she looked towards me.

"Ha... good luck Aria," She stuffed her hands into the pockets of her Slytherin robes before strutting back to her own desk.

Good luck?

I exchanged an eye roll with Jenna, who looked just as confused as I was.

Once the pile of students had cleared up a bit, we both approached the piece of paper that laid on his desk, scanning the list of names for our own.

Jenna Ryles and Hannah Abott

Lucky her. She got a partner who would be willing to do the entire project herself.

Aria Rowen and-

Fuck no.

I abruptly turned around and pushed my way through the crowd of eager classmates, making my way back towards my desk. I grabbed my books and shoved them into my bag before slinging it over my shoulder, lastly snatching the instruction paper from my table.

There was no way in hell that I was doing my project with Draco. Fucking. Malfoy.

I headed straight for the door at a quick pace.

"Miss Rowen— Where are you going—class is not dismissed!" Professor Slughorn tried to call after me.

I set my hand on the doorknob but stopped myself before opening it. Turning around, I made eye contact with about half of the class who were all staring at me. I looked down at the potions assignment in my hand, then back up at our Professor.

In a swift motion, I dropped the paper and let it fall to the floor.

The confused look in Slughorn's eyes said it all, and with that I turned back around, opening the door and leaving before he got the chance to say anything else.

I was not going to work with Malfoy.

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