Antipode

chapter two

the potions room

**

"Have you and Adrian spoke yet?" Daphne asked quietly, sneaking a glance at my expressionless face as we walked briskly towards the Great Hall. A small frown fought its way onto my lips as I looked back at her, thinking of the dark haired boy I had grown to love.

"He's been avoiding my since last night."

"How are you even going to explain the situation?" I let out a deep sigh, absentmindedly playing with the hem of my sleeves. "I honestly have no clue. There's really nothing to explain either, Malfoy just seems to have it engraved into his puny brain that my mother will someday arrange a marriage for us."

"Will she?" I shook my head, giving her a soft smile.

"She does believe he's better than Adrian, something about his family being 'more pure' than the Pucey's, but she's said she won't push me. She keeps telling me when the time is right I'll decide for myself who's best or some rubbish like that. Lucius and Narcissa are a different story though." Daphne smiled slightly, walking to sit at our usual spot at the Slytherin table.

"Nothing is set in stone then, just let him know. Adrian will understand."

"Not if that ferret keeps up his charade." I scoffed, sitting across from her. She smirked, and began to fill her plate with egg whites whilst I grabbed a piece of toast, chewing silently.

"Is that all you're having?" A deep voice murmured quietly, taking the empty seat beside me. I froze, watching as Theo took his usual seat next to Daphne before nodding my head.

"Not hungry."

"Oi, what classes do you have first?" Theo asked loudly as he shoved a scone into his mouth, attempting to make the awkward tension reside. I bit my lip, quickly scanning over my classes. "Urm...double potions with Ravenclaw, what about you?"

"We have care of magical creatures." Daph frowned, taking a look at their times tables. Adrian leaned over his bowl of cereal to peer over my shoulder, his eyes scanning my schedule. "I have potions as well, I suppose I'll walk with you." I quirked an eyebrow, but nodded slightly as I stood, slinging my knapsack over my shoulder.

"We best be off then, I'll see you during free period Theodore." He saluted me as Daph waved, letting Adrian and I go.

The silence lay on my skin like poison, seeping into my bloodstream as our feet quietly tapped against the cobbled floors. Adrian didn't offer any comfort, walking quickly towards the dungeons. I stayed quiet for a moment, listening as our steps echoed through the ancient walls, before averting my gaze from his broken stares. The void was a cruelty he had inflicted upon me unintentionally. To him, it was only a wall made up dividing his patience from my pride. I suppose I couldn't blame him, he was just one of two puppets who's string had become interwoven with someone he couldn't decipher. A confused mass.

"Adrian." I whispered, forcing myself to look into his ice blue eyes. He looked back for just a few seconds, seemingly surprised that I had been the one to speak first, but then his jaw tightened and he stopped his fast paced strides. His eyes were hard, unblinking, waiting for me to somehow string together an explanation. "It's not what you think." I started, frowning deeply as a humor filled scoff erupted from the back of his throat. His stare was accusatory as he ran his hand through his untidy hair, a nervous habit he had picked up on through the years. I pursed my lips as I leaned against the cold castle wall, trying to piece together my jumbled thoughts.

"What is it then?"

"What he keeps insinuating, it's never going to happen. The Malfoy's keep pining after an arranged marriage to 'bring honor' to the family name." I paused, making sure no one was in hearing range before lowering my voice. "They believe that if the dark lord returns, binding me to Draco will forgive them of their past mistakes." A look of fear quickly flashed before his features as my words started to register into his mind. He mumbled an apology, seeming to forget that he had been mad at me.

"So it's true then, he's returning?" I snorted and took ahold of his hands.

"It's a load of rubbish, trust me. Even if he were to return, we have Harry. He's the chosen one you know." I joked, before leaning forward and softly pressing my lips to his, smiling as he returned the gesture. "You have nothing to worry about."

*****

I let out a dejected sigh as we entered the potions room, realizing our conversation had made us more than a few seconds late. "Ah, Ms. Ashwood, Mr. Pucey how nice of you to finally grace us with your presence." Snape drawled, pausing his lesson as the door slammed shut behind us.

"I apologize for the hold up sir, it must've been an agonizing 2 minutes." His lip twitched slightly, as if a ghost of a smile were fighting its way onto his stoic features, but disappeared almost as soon as it had come. He pointed to one of the last seats in the room. "Pucey, next to Mr. Boot, Ashwood you can join Mr. Malfoy this term. Surely he'll be more than graced with your companionship." I rolled my eyes as I stepped towards the smirking blonde, throwing my bag down swiftly.

"Fancy seeing you here Ashwood, what was the hold up?"

"Frankly, that's none of your concern Malfoy." I snapped, quietly setting my supplies down. Raising an eyebrow, he let his chin fall to his palm lazily, staring me down. I chose to ignore him as Snape droned about the Draught of Peace, a difficult potion that was normally assigned to 5th years.

"Draught of Peace?," he murmured quietly as I began to tap powdered moonstone into my cauldron, waiting for it to turn green. "I wish it was peaceful to make,"

"I don't think your imprudent commentary is necessary." I remarked furrowing my eyebrows in concentration as I began to stir the concoction. He scoffed, watching as it changed from a nasty ogre green, to a beautiful cerulean before adding more moonstone. I smirked slightly when it appeared to take on a royal purple, and sat back allowing it to simmer. Malfoy straightened, giving me a sideways glance.

"Listen Ashwood," he started, running his hand through his platinum blonde hair. I raised my eyebrows questioning his apologetic tone, as he let out a long sigh. "Just this once, can we call a truce?" I bit my lip to keep a maniacal laugh from erupting, looking at him as if he were clinically insane.

"Are you serious?" He visibly tensed, turning back to add several drops of hellebore to the cauldron.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"You're rude, cruel, insulting, insufferable," I began a long list of rants, my voice reaching a higher octave each time. He clenched his jaw angrily as he clutched the powdered porcupine pills tightly, and shook his head. "Forget it."

"No, I won't just 'forget it'," I snapped, looking at him furiously. "You've made my life a living hell since first year, you torment my friends relentlessly, and now that your mother and father deem me worthy of your attention, you think we can just 'call a truce'?,"

"Potter and his gang of mudblood scum aren't exactly divine company, if your mother ever found out you were associating yourself with the likes of them, you'd never hear the end of it."

"Sod off Malfoy." I glowered, looking away from his intense stare. "It's a good thing she'll never find out. Adrian, Daph and Theo make sure of that."

"And how are you so sure I'll keep your secret." He sneered, lowering the heat to let the potion simmer, staring as a silvery vapor was slowly released. I shook my head slowly as Snape walked over, his long cape billowing behind him.

"Outstanding Ms. Ashwood, Mr. Malfoy. 10 points to Slytherin, the rest of you quickly put your abominations into your tubes and set them on my desk, class is dismissed." I let out a small sigh as I began gathering my materials, shoving them quickly into my knapsack.

He looked down at me for a few seconds, before shaking his head and slamming his book shut, letting his grey eyes roam around the room. "I won't..." he hesitated, making me look up at him with a questioning gaze, before he continued. "Your secrets safe with me." He spat, turning away as he quickly strided out of the room.

"What was that all about?" Adrian questioned, coming up behind me. I frowned, furrowing my eyebrows before shrugging my shoulders.

"no clue."