NEMESIS || Draco Malfoy

62

"Adreanna—!"

Another groan escaped my lips at the urgency in the tone, and I rushed out of the bathroom with toothpaste still surrounding my lips.

"Theodore Nott," I warned, voice raised to make sure he'd hear it through the closed door. As I slipped into a pair of knee-high socks, the black turtle neck barely tugged into my still-open skirt, I added, "Excessive knocking on my door will not make me get ready any faster."

A relieved sigh escaped my lips at the quiet that followed, the continuous sound of his knuckles hammering against the wood stilling at once. Peaceful, and—

Frustration leapt out of my body with my next groan, throwing my head back at the reoccurrence of his knuckles hammering against the wood. "Theo!"

The skirt closed, one sock not quite reaching my knee, I twirled around once, pocketed my wand and threw on the first jacket I laid my eyes on, not thinking twice before rushing towards the door and opening it forcefully.

Theo's hand halted in the air, raised as it was ready to continue knocking for Merlin knows how long, with an expression just as annoyed as it was amused by my frustration.

"Long night?" He asked cockily, hand lowering as he began walking down the corridor.

"Nothing you could imagine," I quipped back, knowing his mind was wandering off to anything but Malfoy and I standing together in silence — enjoying a spring night and, maybe, even the others company — for what must've been at least half an hour.

I released my hair from under the jacket, having it spill over my shoulders in what I could only assume to be a mess— not that I had time to tend to it, now that we began our way out of the dungeons and in front of the castle where we'd meet the rest of our friends.

"Why don't you bother Pansy like that?" I grumbled, wiping at my mouth just in case any of the now-dry toothpaste still stuck to my skin or lips.

"Because Pansy, unlike you, has been up for hours and is meeting us in Hogsmeade— she's a lot more efficient than you are, you know." The teasing tone in his voice didn't go unnoticed, skipping up the stairs before the sun greeted us with its natural light just moments later.

I snorted humorously at his words, shaking my head at the same time as we stepped out of the castle. "Efficient? Pansy?" I shot back, unsure when my best friend had become anything other than lazy. And Theo seemed to agree, nodding with an amused expression on his face, a shrug accompanying the gesture.

"I felt the same way hearing that come out of my mouth," He laughed, confusion still lacing his words. "It's true, though. You must have noticed—?"

Funnily enough, I did.

"Actually studies, spends her free time in the library, of all paces—" Another laugh interrupted his joyful enumeration, head shaking once more as we came to a halt by the fountain in the middle of the courtyard, Blaise and Malfoy sitting by the edge of it.

"What's funny?" Blaise asked as soon as he noticed our amused expressions, brows raised in interest as both him and Malfoy got up before he ushered us to go on our way leisurely.

My gaze stayed pointed forward as Theo explained, absentmindedly listening to their wild theories on what might've gotten her to suddenly care about her academic career. We were always convinced nothing could.

Malfoy and I had fallen behind, just a few feet from the two boys in front of us, and he had been quiet up until now. I felt his eyes on me every now and then, though other than that, it seemed he was just as mesmerised by the spring scenery around us — trees greening, flowers blooming, and fairies tanking sun on a few petals.