The Darkwood Wand

Seduction

And what in Merlin was Blaise reading over there, Draco wanted to know. One of the books was splattered with blood, another was faintly screaming and the third was whipping its ribbon in an aggressive way. All Blaise needed was a big, glowing sign: "DANGEROUS DARK WIZARD HERE."

Blaise caught Draco looking and scowled. Draco glared back, then returned to his Ravenclaw target. She was attractive enough: blonde and red-cheeked, with black-rimmed glasses perched precariously on her little nose. Maybe he could ...

"... The key is the ecliptic, of course, that's why Zodiac symbols are inscribed along the bottom. But I can't determine how they affect the movement of the dials ..."

Draco almost groaned. He knew he deserved any number of plagues, curses and afflictions, but surely the gods would see fit to grant him an evening free of Hermione Granger. But no such luck, the swot and her Head Boy were heading straight to Draco's wing of the library, settling a few tables away from Irma.

He now had two choices: He could leave now and try again tomorrow. Or he could wait and hope Granger left before his quarry did. The first option was the most sensible, and therefore Draco chose the second. He didn't want to lose a whole evening.

Unfortunately, that meant he had to listen to Granger and Justin Fog-Fusspot mess about with that bloody interfering clock. He couldn't even Silence his corner so not to hear, since this section was in Madam Pince's line of sight and the librarian was death on anyone who used spells around her precious books. Nettled, Draco returned to his essay on scrying mirrors.

"One shouldn't forget the four Zodiac elements," the Puff was saying. "Fire, air, earth and water. The fire signs are—"

"Nonsense," Granger snapped. "Look, it's very simple. We're in Libra right now, and Libra is ruled by Venus. But the clock thinks we're in Aries, and that's ruled by Mars. That could be why Mars refuses to fall in line."

Draco glanced up to see the Head Boy frown, clearly offended at being interrupted and criticized. Get fucking used to it.

"I know the myriad paths of magical astrology can be complex, Hermione," Finch-Fletchley said. "Fire wields great influence, however, beginning with the largest fire, the sun ..."

"Forget it, Justin. I've told you before, I am not adding fire to this clock and that's that," Granger said decidedly. "It's a delicate instrument and it's already been through ... well, it's been through a lot."

The bickering continued, annoying the other students, including Iselda (Irene?) who glanced over once or twice, but Draco didn't mind. He found the argument a soothing backdrop to his work. He finished his scrying essay and was halfway through his Anatomy of Magical Creatures sketches when the conversation shifted.

'That's very clever, Justin," Granger said in an impressed tone entirely absent from any of her interactions with Draco.

"Simple logic" was Finch-Fletchley's satisfied response. "The gears are elliptical, and here you can see the spacing between the teeth is the width of a quill. Quite significant ..." His voice dropped and Granger nodded along as he whispered.

Granger gave a soft laugh. "Justin!"

Draco's hand clenched on his own quill and the dim candle one table over flared up, exposing his corner. Granger and the Puff jumped in their chairs. The Ravenclaw girl saw Draco as well and cringed. Blaise looked up from his gory book and raised an eyebrow.

Draco stood slowly, holding the Head Boy's eyes. Finch-Fletchley frowned, but didn't look away.

Granger replaced the broken clock in its box. "Ignore him," she said loudly to the Puff, much as she had to Pot-head and Weasel so many times before. Then she flounced out of the library, nose in the air, her whipped tosser trailing behind. Draco remained in his corner, fists clenched.