OCEAN EYES | Draco Malfoy

Chapter 16: Heat

'Oh, that's a pity', Luna pouts and grabs a blueberry muffin from the plate in front of her.

As I am about to do the same, Slughorn mentions my name and I flinch.

'Ms. Black, your father was a remarkable seeker. Have you ever tried playing quidditch? You must have Regulus's talent!'

I suddenly feel so anxious and pressured. The mentioning of my father feels like a punch in the chest. A man I know so little about. Sometimes I wonder if I have the right to call him my father as I don't know him at all. I've blamed my mom a lot for that, but I've come to understand that it's not that simple, and her pain about Regulus is forever going to be bigger and deeper than mine, and I will probably never understand it enough.

'I haven't actually', I answer. 'Flying is not my favorite activity. I am scared of heights.'

Slughorn nods faintly as he chews two biscuits at once.

'It's okay, it's okay. You compensate with your brilliant mind, right?'

He smiles widely revealing his colored teeth underneath. He must have eaten too many blueberry muffins.

'Same goes for Ms. Granger. I don't remember two so clever witches in the same course at Hogwarts. It is...'

Slughorn is unable to proceed as the door of his office suddenly opens, revealing the slim figure of Mr. Filch, dragging Draco by the sleeve of his white shirt.

'Sir', Filch shouts. 'Sir, I caught this boy out of his dorm, and he claimed that he was invited to your dinner party, but happened to be late.'

Draco is trying to keep his distance away from Filch, and his gaze is locked on the ground. His hair is kind of messy, the top three buttons of his shirt are undone. I suddenly feel more excited than I was during the whole day.

I didn't have the chance to interact with him much during the last week, and I could feel a need for his presence deep inside me. It was nothing definite, in a particular form, but it was there, and it was strong enough for me to be unable to ignore it.

Slughorn coughs under his nose as he observes Filch and Draco standing on the opposite side of the room.

He then suddenly stands up and gets close to them.

'Thank you, Mr. Filch. You may go now.'

'But the boy...?'

'Leave Mr. Malfoy here.'

Filch lets go of Draco's sleeve and leaves Slughorn's office with an unpleasant look on his face. All the students are throwing glances at Draco and Slughorn as the two of them discuss something, but in such a quiet manner that it's impossible to catch a whole phrase.

My whole body feels tense. The skin on my face is warming up.

'What is he thinking?', I hear Theo's voice beside me. 'Why is he always getting himself into trouble?'

'Mate, it might be a misunderstanding, I don't know', Blaise says.

'A misunderstanding, my arse. Malfoy is...'

'Could you please shut up?', I cut him off. My fists are clenched, I don't even know how I managed to generate so much rage in such a small amount of time.

Bella suddenly grabs my hand under the table.

'Hey, Ness, relax', she whispers in my ear.

'What...', Theo begins, but I stand up and leave without letting him finish what he had to say.