Origami // Draco Malfoy

Chapter 9: Poisonous Toadstools

For the fifth time in only two weeks, I found myself sitting across from Draco Malfoy. It was almost becoming a routine now. Every other day I would go down into the dark Hogwarts dungeons and wait for him in front of the entrance of the Slytherin common room. We would sit down, take out our books, and study together without talking about anything other than homework. Because that's what it was: just homework. We weren't friends. It was all strictly business for him, a tactic to drain every last bit out of the deal I had made with him for teaching me the origami bird charm. You would think I would get used to the whole situation after some time, but he still had this controlling power over me. I couldn't help but feel intimidated or scared he would suddenly completely go at it on me and I wouldn't have anything to say in return. Yet, I wasn't giving him all the credit for my anxiety; my nightmares had also been getting worse. I barely got any sleep anymore and was living off of 3 hours of rest a night. The piece of chocolate Lupin had given me a week ago was now long gone, and although it helped for a bit, the effects were temporary, and I quickly returned to my usual apprehensive self after just a few minutes.

I was sat on the floor of the Slytherin common room. All my books were spread across the antique oak coffee table, of which Draco was sitting on the other side. His bleached hair laid over his face, hiding whatever agitated expression that was probably plastered on his face. We were scanning our History of Magic textbooks for any information on witch burnings during the 14th century. A few months ago, Professor Cuthbert Binns had assigned us an essay in which we had to explain why the burnings were completely pointless. I had already written quite a bit for my paper, like how it was nearly impossible for a Muggle to capture a witch so, burning just a couple of us wouldn't cause the whole wizarding population to go extinct, but I wasn't content with just that. If I wanted to stay at the top of my class, I needed more information. When I finally found the textbook's page on witch-hunting, I saw that the writer barely explained anything about the futility of it all.

"Fine. Let's go to the library to find some more information," Draco suggested, much to my surprise.

"Aren't you afraid of your reputation being damaged? You may be seen with me," I asked teasingly.

Draco didn't seem to enjoy me mocking him, "Oh, get over yourself," he dismissed, though once we had left the common room, he added, "but keep your distance."

Although I hated doing whatever Draco told me to do, I was following his identical track only a few steps behind but staying far enough to stretch out the space between us. I was only doing this because I was just as scared of being seen with him as he was of being seen with me. Draco isn't particularly known to be the kindest student at Hogwarts. Being friends with him meant you were most definitely a pureblood Slytherin that looked down on any other blood status or house. It was safe to say I didn't, and didn't want to, fit into that specific category.

The library was almost entirely empty, aside from a few students, including Hermione Granger who was deeply invested in whatever she was reading. She seemed tired and burned out, even more than I was. She ran her fingers through her long frizzy brown hair and let out a sigh that was loud enough for Madam Pince to shush her. She apologised, her voice quivering from the stress. I felt bad for her, knowing she was putting herself under a huge amount of pressure to prove to people she was a real witch, and a smart one at that. I wanted to go to her, tell her I understood whatever she was feeling. I too felt like I always had to prove myself for having a Muggle father. I hated being seen as only a half-witch, and that feeling only intensified when I was around Draco. As I was about to make my way towards her, Draco cleared his throat to get my attention. I guiltily turned away from Hermione and kept scanning the library for any book about witch-hunting.