enigmatic || potter

1.07 | the teenage tragedy

"Huh. Didn't know you were interested in divination."

"Yeah, this book has actually been fascinating, so far. I was reading Treasure Island but then I decided to put it away and read this book instead because I was just so riveted by it. My interests are far and wide, you know," Alexa said, lying through her teeth.

Malfoy scoffed, "Yes, of course, because a branch of pseudo-magic is just absolutely fascinating."

"You sound like Hermione," she noted. Upon seeing Malfoy's sneer, she said, "Stop being a prat. I don't want to hear any of your prejudiced bullshit."

Malfoy rolled his eyes at the girl, "Well, anyway, can you take a look at my Herbology work and make sure I labeled everything correctly?"

Alexa motioned for him to hand it over as she fished through her bookbag for her own assignment, which was to draw and label the plant that they were studying and discuss the magical properties of each part. The girl examined Malfoy's paper closely and compared it to hers. Nearly everything was labeled incorrectly and there were multiple factual inaccuracies, but Alexa was amazed at how detailed the drawing was. The shape, the shading, the texturing, it was all fantastic, in the girl's opinion.

"Incredible," she muttered to herself.

"It's good?" he asked her, shocked.

"It's great!" she exclaimed.

"So, it's all correct?" he asked. "I can give this to Sprout tomorrow?"

"Oh, no, some of the information is wrong. Actually, a lot of the information is wrong. But the drawing! It's incredible! Where did you learn to draw like this?" Alexa asked incredulously.

"My mother..." he said sheepishly. "She used to sign me up for art classes."

"Incredible," Alexa repeated. "Better than Dean, but don't tell him I said that."

"But you said the labeling and information were incorrect? What was wrong with it?" he asked, concerned.

"Oh, yes, you labeled the whole top half of the plant incorrectly, and the roots are actually useful in antidotes, not poisons. Maybe if this school used pencils instead of quills, mistakes would be easier to fix," she said the last part under her breath.

"So, can I see your answers to fix it?"

"Absolutely not. You're not copying my paper."

"You know, your sketch is awful," he said, trying to peer at her paper.

"Yes, well, we all can't be a modern-day da Vinci."

"Who?" he asked.

"Never mind..." she trailed off. "What if we go up to the greenhouse and take a look at this plant and I can point everything out to you?"

"Yeah, alright," he said, beginning to gather his belongings, as well as the bag of treats he had brought for the evening. Alexa promptly did the same, slowly getting up from her spot under the tree.

As she stood up, the girl felt a wave of nausea wash over her. Oh, no. Not now. She clenched her eyes tight and hoped it would pass. More importantly, she hoped Malfoy didn't notice.

"So, isn't your birthday tomorrow?" Malfoy asked, not realizing the girl was still trying to stand up. Alexa quickly shoved all of her books into her bag, hurrying to catch up with the boy who was now several paces ahead of her, swallowing her discomfort along the way.

"Yes, actually. How'd you know?" She asked, trying to push back the waves of nausea and dizziness overtaking her.

"I overheard Weasley talking about it."