𝖉𝖆𝖗𝖐 𝖕𝖆𝖗𝖆𝖉𝖎𝖘𝖊, 𝐝. 𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐟𝐨𝐲¹

𝟎𝟎𝟑. MAGICAL MISHAP

        She did not even have to look up to know who it was. His colonge was pungent enough, the scent of spiced leather tickling her nostrils as Draco sauntered away. She should not have frozen that morning in the common room. She should have smacked him upside the back of his arrogant head!

       Victoria grabbed Topaz's wrist before she could storm off after Draco. "Easy," she said with a quirk of her brow. "Do you think you can manage to go one day without some kind of interaction with Malfoy?"

       "I don't know what you're implying," she snapped as she yanked her wrist out of Victoria's grip. She looked away just as Draco cast a glance over his shoulder, his pale eyes briefly meeting Topaz's. She watched as his bright eyes slid down the length of her body, his pale brow twitching briefly as his gaze returned to her face. He looked incredibly disinterested, other than the cruel twist of his lips as he turned around and continued on.

       Topaz, however, was blushing furiously. She thought, for a brief moment of ignorance, that she was the only one who noticed Draco's strange glance. Until she looked at Victoria and Amber, both of whom stared at her with dropped jaws. "Oh, my god!" Amber squealed, her eyes wide as she grabbed Victoria, whose shoulders were beginning to shake with laughter.

       "Oh, eat slugs!" Topaz spat, her cheeks burning hotly as she stormed away, her head bowed in humiliation.

       She knew that did not just happen...it couldn't have...not from Draco, of all people! 

       Victoria and Amber were not spurned by Topaz's crude language and it wasn't long before their shrill giggles started to grow louder and louder as they chased after their humiliated friend, who settled against a half-wall of mossy cobblestones, her arms crossed over her chest as her glare found Draco's smug face across the courtyard. He was laughing aimlessly, his back half turned to Topaz.

       "Malfoy totally just checked you out!" Amber cackled, her own cheeks pink, though not from embarrassment. No, it seemed Topaz's friends were thriving off her humiliation.

       "He did not," she grumbled, her glare sharpening.

       Victoria settled against the half-wall next to Topaz. "Oh, sweetie," she murmured rather condescendingly, her gaze following Topaz's across the courtyard. "You might want to ease up on the glare, Topaz. You might set him aflame if you're not careful."

      She humphed in response, thinking to all the times her magical abilities were provoked by the neighborhood bullies in her youth. "I could think of nothing sweeter," she grumbled, "than seeing Draco Malfoy run across this courtyard with his trousers on fire."

       Victoria hummed in agreement as she produced her monstrous book from her satchel. "I suppose, though the others might think you fancy him if you keep staring." Topaz's nostrils flared in irritation. She would find out when that blasted rumor started and whose lips were responsible for it, and she would knock their teeth in.

        "Oh, enough with that codswallop!" she groaned. "If I so much as hear one more person say that, I think I might actually lose my mind."

         Whatever snarky remark Victoria had on the tip of her tongue was interrupted by a sudden commotion in front of the trio. Topaz yanked her head around only to find Neville Longbottom writhing on the ground, his clothes shredded as he desperately grappled with his monstrous book. Draco made a snide remark that earned a few laughs from the rest of the class.

       When the poor boy stood again, he was promptly dragged back to the ground by the snapping jaws of his book, much to everyone's amusement. Topaz shook her head as she pressed her foot against the top of the book, pinning it to the ground as she extended her hand to Neville. He looked up at her with wide eyes for a moment, his chest heaving, before he finally grasped her hand.