Yes, Professor Malfoy?

t w e n t y - n i n e

"How is it so close to Christmas already?" I asked as I passed the joint back to Iris.

Christmas Eve was a mere five days away, and the castle was positively buzzing with excitement.

"Because you've missed pretty much all of November shagging your teacher-"

I clapped a hand over her mouth as a group of third year students strolled past the courtyard.

She poked her tongue between her lips and licked my hand, her hot breath feeling scalding against my freezing skin. Flinching away, the blonde laughed before taking a hit.

I pulled a face and wiped my hand on my robe as Scorpius approached.

"What're you doing out here? Aren't you cold?" He called out, hands stuffed in his pockets.

Iris held it up and signalled for him to move quicker down to open corridor towards us.

"Don't you have a class right now?" I asked the blonde as I made room for him on the wall. The stone scratched my behind and thighs through the thin material of my tights; my skirt was tucked up at the back.

"Yeah. Arithmacy. I can't bear it."

I winced and my cheeks warmed, despite the outdoor temperature dropping by the minute.

"You okay?" He asked, eyes dropping and jumping back up to my face as he took the space between us.

"I'm sure she's just sensitive." Iris snickered knowingly, coughing slightly. "From-"

"Right. Your lover." Scorpius shook his head at Iris who held her hand out in offering. "How is Diggory?"

I drew my legs up tighter to my chest, licking my lips as I bargained for time to find an excuse. "He's fine. Great, actually. But it's... not going to last."

The words were sour on my tongue as I spoke.

He put his hand on my knee with a small smile. "That's a shame. You seem to be having a lot of fun."

"Oh, I am." A smirk turned up the corner of my mouth and the pair of them watched me for a moment. I felt myself feeling guilty: I hadn't spent anywhere near as much time researching the blood curse as I'd hoped to.

I vaguely remembered stashing the book from the library in the bottom of my sock drawer. It wasn't a huge secret or anything, I just didn't want anyone to see it and start asking questions. I shelved the thoughts and tried to focus on the present.

"But it's complicated. I'm not sure how it's going to work in the long run."

That much was true.

"You'll work it out. You always do." Scorpius assured me.

I squeezed his hand and smiled warmly. His hands were colder than mine. Icier. There was a moment of silence that seemed to stretch out. It lingered in the air more than the stench of weed.

My eyes scanned the courtyard for something to focus on, not knowing what to say.

"I think Evan's in the Great Hall if you want to go there. It's assisted study so we'll have to be fairly quiet. But it'll certainly be warmer in there."

Iris tossed the roach into the edge of the courtyard as the three of us stood from the stone. "Sure. It'd be nice to be able to feel my hands."

"My, if only there was some form of clothing to wear on your hands to protect you from the cold." He snorted sarcastically as we paced towards the hall. The walk was short with our determination to heat up - much shorter than it would have been had we decided to hang out in one of our dorms.