Green Apples and Parchment

Chapter Seven

The weekend passed much too quickly. I threw myself into my homework to try and distract myself from thoughts of Draco, but it didn't work. I couldn't understand why I kept thinking about him. Everyone knows that the Malfoys were death eaters, and they likely raised their son to follow in daddy's footsteps. I was a half-blood; Draco probably thought I was worth less than the dirt under his shoes. My mind kept replaying the moment that I realized I could smell Draco in my amortentia: the blood rushing from my face, the smirk on his. 

I could imagine the endless taunting that was in store for me. I was positive that Draco would never let me live this down. 

Monday morning arrived, and it took a lot of willpower to get myself out of bed. I was on autopilot as I got ready for class and headed down the the Great Hall. I piled whatever was closest to me on my plate, not really paying attention to what I was eating. 

"You just took a bite of a muffin and some sausage with ketchup at the same time. Is everything okay, Cass?" Justin, another fourth year Hufflepuff, lazily pointed at me with his fork, speaking around the food in his mouth. 

I looked down at my plate for the first time, then looked back up at Justin. "Huh? Yeah, I'm okay. I'm just... distracted."

He raised his eyebrows, and I could tell he didn't believe me. "Okay. Whatever you say, I guess." Thankfully, he dropped it and went back to eating. 

I waited as long as I dared before leaving for Transfiguration, slipping into class and sliding into my seat just as the bell rang to start class. 

I spent all of class staring straight ahead at the chalk board, avoiding letting my eyes drift towards Draco's table like my life depended on it. Now that I was making an effort not to, I realized how often I looked at him. God, there must be something really wrong with me.

Hannah kept up a whispered conversation with me, commenting on anything and everything but the Slytherin boy to distract me. You wouldn't know it from looking at her, but Hannah knows most of the Hogwarts drama. I think it's because people always ignore the Hufflepuffs, and are less careful to stay quiet around us. An unforeseen benefit in being a member of the trustworthy house, I suppose. 

"So anyways, I heard that Marisa is hoping that Justin is going to ask her out. Justin doesn't like her, but he's too nice to tell her." Hannah told me while we were supposed to be practicing our spells. 

I was glad for the distraction. "Marisa is in sixth year, right? Ravenclaw? And she wants Justin, our Justin, to ask her out?" Hannah nodded. "You know, that really surprises me. I like Justin, I do, its just... Marisa is out of his league."

Encouraged by my participation in the conversation, Hannah eagerly kept talking. "I know right! I asked Justin why he doesn't just ask her out, and he said that he's interested in someone else."

"Who?"

"I don't know. He wouldn't tell me. I overheard him asking Cedric the best way to ask a girl to the yule ball, so maybe we'll find out who it is when he asks her. I do have a couple ideas of who it could be though-"

McGonnagall, noticing our conversation, looked at Hannah and I with raised eyebrows. "Miss Abbott, Miss Connolly, back to work please."

Hannah quickly looked down and stopped talking, waving her wand with a little too much enthusiasm. Once McGonnagall's attention was elsewhere, I quickly whispered to Hannah. "I still want to know who you think Justin is secretly in love with. Tell me after class?" She nodded, a smile back on her face. 

The bell rang. "Alright, who do we think this mystery girl is?" I asked Hannah.

She waited until we walked out of class to go back to talking. Hannah rattled off a few names, some of which I was familiar with, a few I only barely recognized. "And I've noticed that Justin has been looking at you a lot, so honestly Cass, you're also a possibility."

"No way. Justin and I are just friends. I don't like him like that, and I'm sure he doesn't like me."

"We'll see about that." Hannah said, raising her eyebrows.

*

After lunch, I headed down to Hagrid's hut for Care of Magical Creatures. I was really hoping that today would be a silent reading class or something. I was exhausted from avoiding thinking about Draco. 

Hagrid led us to a section of the forbidden forest. "Today, we'll be following animal tracks. A section of the forest has been cleared of all dangerous creatures, so make sure not to leave the dedicated section."

It was just my luck that today would be a partner work day, and of course, I was partnered up with Draco Malfoy himself. 

The groups spread out, so I was left alone with the boy I most wanted to avoid. I was trying to get through the activity with as little talking or interaction as possible, but Draco didn't seem to share my goals.

"Bit quiet today, Connolly."

I didn't respond. 

"Why don't you step a little closer. You probably can't smell my cologne from all the way over there. I wore it today, just for you." He cocked his head and winked. 

I sighed. "Leave me alone, Malfoy."

This only seemed to encourage him. "Ah, but is that really what you want? It didn't seem like that on Friday."

I looked around, hoping for one of my classmates to save me, but no one else was nearby. Draco stepped closer. I wanted to back away, but I couldn't do anything but stare into his eyes. 

"Admit that you want me." Draco was now close enough that I could easily reach out and touch him. 

"No. I don't." My voice came out weaker than I hoped it would. 

He laughed softly. "If you're going to lie, you could at least do a better job of it."

He took a few more steps closer to me. I could make out all of his pale eyelashes. I'd never been this close to Draco before, and I couldn't look away from him. His eyes stared right back into mine.

"Connolly-"

A voice could be heard from the distance, cutting Draco off. It sounded like another group was coming close to where we were.

Draco abandoned his thought, and quickly moved far away from me. 

After a few minutes, the other group reached us. They stopped once they got to our clearing. The girl, who was wearing Ravenclaw robes, spoke up. "Hey, Hagrid told us to start rounding up all the groups. Class is almost over, so we're supposed to all meet up."

I nodded, and started walking to the edge of the forest. Draco, the Ravenclaw girl, and her partner (a boy in Gryffindor robes) followed closely behind. Draco ignored me for the entire walk back. I was relieved, but a part of me was curious and disappointed. I wanted to know what he was going to tell me, but there was no way that I was going to ask Draco if we could finish our conversation. Some things are just better left alone. 

Class ended, and I headed to the dungeons for potions. I sat down with plenty of time before class started. As much as I tried not to, I couldn't stop thinking about Draco. Why was he acting so weird? He had kept the mocking to a minimum so far, but maybe he was planning on telling the entire potions class that I smelled his cologne in my amortentia? And what was he going to say to me in the forest?

I was startled from my thoughts when Draco sat down next to me. I braced myself for the worst, but he barely glanced at me before getting out his books and looking straight ahead at the chalkboard. 

Almost the entire class passed without a single word coming out of Draco's mouth. Every time I heard a sound from around where he was sitting, I flinched, sure that he was about to embarrass me in front of the whole class. After about my tenth time doing so, Draco finally spoke to me. "Jesus, Connolly, will you cut that out? I'm not going to hit you, or whatever you think I'm planning on doing." He angrily turned back to his cauldron. 

The bell rang, and still nothing traumatic had happened. I packed up my stuff, and watched as Draco rushed out of the room. We weren't assigned any partner work today, so there was no need to arrange a library meeting. 

I was incredibly relieved that Draco didn't do anything terrible, but it also made me feel weary. What was he playing at?