Love & Leather | A Draco Malfoy Romance

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"Why do you take a calming potion all the time?"

Oh. My throat all of a sudden felt tight and my mouth quickly became dry. I swear he could see just how anxious I was but thankfully I was able to regain my composure once more and save my slip up. "I have anxiety," I said. "Really bad anxiety. So I take it about once a week. It helps me talk to people especially since I've moved."

He grew quiet and examined my face as an awkward silence filled the air. I prayed that he would buy it and for a moment I thought I was screwed.

"Okay," he finally said. "So you're going to share your anti-anxiety potion and in return you get Wolfsbane? How is that a fair trade?"

I internally sighed and smiled up at him. Good, he bought it. "Because you can use the Draught of Peace for yourself as often as you want. Wolfsbane doesn't benefit you. At least, not that I know of."

He did a soft breathy laugh and smiled for a split second. He ran a hand through his hair and for a moment I felt my heart start to beat faster. Was I actually anxious right now?

"Fine, DuPont. We'll need both of our cauldrons and I'll talk to Professor Snape to book one of the study halls for tonight, after dinner." I smiled brighter and bounced on my heels slightly in excitement.

"Perfect, I'll see you there." I moved out of his way and let him keep walking towards his next class. He didn't move though, and just looked at me for a few moments longer than I was expecting. "What?" I asked him. Was my hair messed up? Or my robes wrinkled?

He shook his head and the smile that was previously on his face vanished. It was replaced with a snarl and another disgusted expression that made me question if the conversation we just had actually occurred. Why was he so bipolar? What was his problem? Eventually he moved and kept walking through the somewhat empty hallway and left me alone, thinking about what could be possibly going through his head.

. . .

It was a few hours before I was meant to meet Draco and I was sitting by myself at the grand hall. I was early for dinner and the food wasn't quite at the tables yet. Light chatter filled the air but I was too focused on the book in front of me: Mid-Century French Potion Making for Witches and Wizards.

"What are you reading?" Rita sat down across from me and I smiled. I showed her my book cover and she let out an interested 'ooh'. "I forget you speak French, I don't know how with the accent you have." I smiled and out a bookmark in before closing the textbook.

"I grew up bilingual. I spoke French with my mother and English with my father. They both understood each language but it helped me learn growing up." I explained and felt a tinge of sadness thinking about how I'll never talk to my parents again. Thankfully I've gotten good at holding my expressions in about them.

"Where are your parents now?" She asked curiously. "You don't talk about them much."

I shrugged absentmindedly and toyed with some pages on the side of the book. "They're back at home, in France. My mom is a botanist so she's at home a lot and my dad is a photographer for Magical Creatures." Those were lies. "He travels so it was me and my mom home a lot. Now that I'm here, I'm sure my mom is traveling with him to keep each other company." More lies. I can feel myself smiling despite how heavy my chest feels.

"Oh that's cool!" Rita smiled brightly and relief fell upon me seeing as she hopefully bought my story. "A botanist and photographer work well together, did she ever help your dad find magical creatures with her botany skills?"

"Sometimes, she dabbled more with medicine with plants. That's why I took an interest in potion making," I gently tapped the book that actually was a hand me down from my mom.