Innocent | d. malfoy

- twenty one -

Aria Rowen

Indy and I sat at the Slytherin table with Dylan, and I kept glancing at the end to see if Draco would appear, but he never did.

I left his room early this morning, just after he'd woken up, and went back to my own dorm. To my surprise, Indy was packing up her few belongings she'd brought with her to sleep over, stating that she was finally ready to sleep in her own room again.

Sure, I was glad to have my dorm to myself, but I couldn't help but worry for her. She wasn't exactly good at asking for help when she needed it. Hell, I was just lucky she'd come to stay with me in the first place.

"Why weren't you in your room when I woke up?" Indy's sweet voice coaxed me away from my thoughts and brought my mind back to the conversation.

"Oh— I just— woke up early, and went on a walk," I lied, trying my best to sound convincing.

She gave a small nod, but I could tell that she was still suspicious.

"Jenna said to meet her in class, want to head on over there?" Dylan spoke as if she was in a hurry as she stuffed the rest of her breakfast into her mouth.

"What's got you all eager for Potions?" I laughed as I grabbed my books and stood up. Indy and Dylan did the same.

"I'm just... excited, that's all."

"She means that she's excited to see Blaise—"

"Shut up," Dylan reached over and lightly punched Indy in the shoulder before she could finish speaking, causing us all to laugh.

The three of us arrived at Professor Slughorn's class, but our positive attitudes were ruined almost the moment we entered.

All of the other students were seated or standing at their chairs, and there were only three seats available.

One next to Blaise. One next to Jenna. One at the back— by Luke Carrow.

I could hear Indy begin to take deep breaths and Dylan was looking at me frantically as if she didn't know what to do.

I took one look at Luke, and the devious smile on his face was enough to know that he'd hoped for something like this to happen. He wouldn't dare try anything on Indy if her friends were around her, but if she was alone with him...

Without hesitating, I pushed past Dylan and Indy and began walking to the back of the class.

Carrow may have been able to mess with Indy, but I wouldn't let him mess with me.

He rolled his eyes when he saw that I was going to take the fall and sit with him, rather than his ex-girlfriend.

"Hello, Mudbl—"

"Shut the fuck up already... you know perfectly well that I'm a Pureblood," I snapped back at him before he got the chance to insult me.

He scoffed and looked away as I set my books down and took a seat. "I went to the Gryffindor common room the other night to... talk to her, but they said that she wasn't there."

I ignored him. He shouldn't have gone looking for Indy in the first place.

"Any idea where she might've been?"

"I don't think that's any of your concern..." I sent him a sarcastic smile and opened my potions book.

He seemed as if he was about to say something else, but Professor Slughorn entered the classroom just in time. "Hello, students! Lovely to see you all..." He scurried to his desk and dropped his belongings before running back to the front of the room.

"I would like to assign you and your desk partner a simple potion! A... Draught of Peace, if you will," With a flick of his wand, a piece of chalk flew to the board and began to sketch the ingredient list. "Get to work and have the vial and your reports on my desk by tomorrow!"

Great. Just great. I would have to actually work with Luke on this bloody ridiculous potion.

"Get the supplies..." He snapped at me as he opened his book, causing me to roll my eyes and stand up.

"That's not how this is going to work. You don't get to order me around like th—"

"Oh yeah?" He stood up to where he towered over me by almost a foot, and I could see how Indy was intimidated by him.

I let out a shaky breath and turned around, only to see that Draco was staring at me from a few desks away. There was obvious worry written across his face, but I sent him a reassuring nod to show him that I was fine. He nodded back in return, but didn't take his eyes away from Luke and I for even a second.

Carrow reluctantly left our table to get the ingredients, since it was obvious that I wasn't going to.

I spent a couple of minutes noting down the steps and materials we would need from my book to include in each of our reports, which I wasn't looking forward to writing.

Luke didn't say anything else to me. He started working on the potion while I took the progress notes.

Before I knew it, class was over and I rushed to pack away my things before I had to communicate with him any longer.

"So. We aren't done with this yet. The potion still has to settle before we add the final ingredients."

So much for not talking to him.

"What's that got to do with me? Hm?"

"It's a group project, Rowen..." He placed both of his hands on the table in front of me.

"If you actually wanted me to help you, you wouldn't be treating me like this, would you? You get what you give..." I stared at him for a second before grabbing my books and leaving.

No one would treat me like that. Indy may have tolerated him, but I wouldn't.

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A/N- This was short and whatnot but I'll have another chapter out tomorrow evening!

Remember to drink plenty of water and eat something! Take care of yourself because I LOVE YOU!