"You have to what?!" Hannah practically shouted after I had relayed the whole incident to her moments after telling Zach.
"It's only for a few nights. Plus he's failing and willing to cooperate with me over this," I said.
"Come on! He's obviously a Death Eater, Davis, he'll kill you. I can feel it," she said angrily.
"Hannah, look at me," I said sternly. "I understand your concern about this and Zach is up planning his murder right now, but I chose to do this. It was me who agreed to tutor him and help him get his grade up. From what he's going through right now with his family, he's taking all the help he can get to ease his mind."
"What? Has Lucius already tasked him with a deadly responsibility?" Hannah snapped.
"How am I supposed to know?" I retaliated.
"Wait, you two aren't buddy-buddy yet? God, Davis, I'm just trying to protect you. Malfoy is nothing but trouble and I don't want to see you get pulled into the middle of whatever it is," she said a little quieter.
"No, we are very far from being buddy-buddy. I just wanted to tell you because I thought you'd understand," I said examining my shoelaces in great detail.
"You thought wrong," Hannah said looking over at me with a steady gaze.
"Obviously," I said, hopping into bed and pulling off my shoes. I drew the curtains around my bed and changed into my pajamas.
"Davis, don't do anything stupid," she said before closing her curtains on me as well.
I glowered at the ceiling as though that made a difference. She was supposed to support me as a friend. The study sessions were only going to last for a grand total of four nights. What could possibly go wrong?
I stumbled up to breakfast the next morning groggy and starved. My three friends were bent over toast and juice and whispering fiercely about who knows what. I was about to take my seat when Johnny barreled into me with a letter clasped tight in his hand.
"Hello, what's this?" I asked as he brandished it in my face.
"It's from Mummy and Daddy about your detention!" He said excitedly.
"Why are you so happy then?" I asked successfully pulling it from his grasp and removing the letter.
"Cause they're both so happy I'm in Hufflepuff with you!" He chimed.
"That's a relief. Looks like it'll take more than that to get them to disown you," I said with a wink.
"Davis, watch your mouth! That's not a nice thing to say! Frederick, tell your daughter to apologize," he said mocking Mum.
"That was scarily accurate," I laughed as I scanned through the letter.
"Dear Davis & Jonathan,
We'd just like to congratulate you, Johnny, for making Hufflepuff with your special sister! Couldn't be more proud of you!
I'm sure Davis is setting a perfect example of how to behave in classes and around others. Or according to a recent letter we received from Professor Sprout, she hasn't been.
Davis, we are very disappointed in you for getting detention. This is the first time you ever have. Couldn't have timed it more poorly. Your brother is just starting out and he doesn't need to see his convict of a sister behaving in such a way! We are appalled at this behavior! But as you already been given your dues, we have reserved to not punish you when the both of you come back home for Christmas Break.
Congratulations again to you, Johnny dear, we're so happy for you!
Love & Hugs,
Mum & Dad"
"'Love and hugs'," I grumbled stuffing the letter deep in the pocket of my robes.
"Isn't it great though? They're so happy I'm in Hufflepuff!" Johnny said oblivious to my disgruntled expression.
"I am, too," I said patting his shoulder. "I'm going to get breakfast, have a good day."
"Bye, Davis!" He said and rushed off.
I swallowed and stalked over to the beach. I must've sat down hard because the next thing I remember, Zach is pulling a butter knife from between my fingers and telling me something about the fact I just murdered my morning toast. I blinked as though it would help clear my head and focus.
"Earth to Queen of The Nerds!"
I rubbed my eyes and blinked at Ernie who was waving his hands in front of my face.
"What? Oh, morning," I said reaching for a fresh slice of bread.
"You don't look so good," he said as I gently scooped butter and jam onto my toast and calmly spread it. "Is it that Malfoy thing?"
"Zach tell you the whole story?" I ask through a bite of the intact toast.
"Sounds totally wicked, I can't believe you're really gonna do it," he said sounding impressed.
"Thank you, Ernie, seems as though you're the only one who thinks so," I said smiling at him and eyeing the other two suspiciously.
"I got your back, Queen," he said.
The rest of breakfast passed and before I knew it, Zach was pulling me at break-neck speed towards Potions. As we took our seats, I wondered if he was failing. It wouldn't come as a surprise to me if he was.
Malfoy actually showed up to class today and on time. That meant I wouldn't have to make another potion on my own for a change.
He didn't look so good. He seemed to have lost weight and not slept for a week straight. Another astounding thing I picked up on was that the professors didn't seem to notice that he was wasting away. I observed Slughorn weaving between the students tables greeting them and talking for a long while with Harry Potter as if they were the best of friends. When he passed by Malfoy and I, he greeted me and barely even acknowledged Malfoy. At first, I just dismissed it and went to get the supplies as he dragged out his textbook and rubbed his eyes tiredly.
"Rough night?" I asked not making eye contact as I started chopping spider legs up.
"You wouldn't know," he muttered staring blankly at the cauldron
I simply shrugged and scraped my cutting board contents into the boiling water and started on counting red oak leaves.
"If you're too exhausted, you don't have to---" I began.
"I'm coming tonight because I need to, not because I want to," he said.
I nodded and crumbled leaves into the mixture.
"You wanna stir that? I have to get beans from the cabinet," I said making to get up.
Malfoy flinched when I said cabinet causing me to sit right back down. He might be ill or something.
"Yeah, I can stir," he responded heavily and picked up the ladle.
I nodded and rushed over to the jar of beans shelved away. That was odd. I counted out the beans carefully and made my way back over to the table. Malfoy was stirring, but painfully slow. I shook my head and went to cut a bean. It slipped from between my fingers and rolled away. I seized it and tried again only to get the same results.
"You're supposed crush it, can't you read, Nine?" Malfoy asked.
I re-read the instructions and grimaced at my mistake.
"I'm going to go with no," I said blushing and squishing it harder than necessary.
He just exhaled, clearly annoyed.
In the end, the potion came together perfectly. Somehow, Harry Potter managed to amaze Slughorn with his potion for what seemed the billionth time. We cleaned up just in time to be dismissed to Charms.
During Charms, Professor Flitwick had us working from the textbook and I observed him brushing over Malfoy like he didn't exist. Like he was fading into nothing.
"Davis, what did you get for questions one through thirty?" Zach asked pulling me back to reality.
"What? That's the entire assignment!" I hissed back.
"I know, so what did you get?"
"No."
"Please, Davis?" He asked trying to get a look at my parchment.
"You have a brain, why don't you use it," I suggested as I covered my own with my arms.
"It doesn't function well. I need assistance," he said poking me with the quill.
"You could always raise your hand and ask Flitwick," I suggested sarcastically.
"He's busy and you're right next to me, please?" Zach persisted.
"Wait for him to get un-busy then," I said blocking his view of what I was writing with the textbook.
"Un-busy isn't a word," he said through a chuckle.
"Here's a hint: read the question and answer it," I said gesturing toward the page.
"You're never going to be able to teach---" he started.
"Shush, he might hear you!" I whispered.
"Are you embarrassed? I can still put a stop to it, you know," he said clenching his hands into fists.
"There will be no death involved with this, got that?" I asked him pointedly.
"That's what you think," he said quietly.
"Hannah said the same thing. I'm not going to die," I said.
"I didn't mean you'd die, someone else might unexpectedly go missing or something," he said raising his hands in mock surrender.
"That's a start, what am I saying? No death, all right?"
"I can't promise that," Zach said as Professor Flitwick told us to pack up and head to our third period class which was Astronomy.
The remainder of the day dragged on and on for what seemed like ever. Though all four us ended up at dinner discussing the homework load and swapping the occasional bad pun.
That night in the Common Room, Zach and Hannah tried relentlessly to convince me to not go to the library tonight to help Malfoy.
"You couldn't even help me today during Charms, how are you supposed to help him?" Zach asked with raised eyebrows.
"I don't think Malfoy will be constantly poking me and begging shamelessly for the answers for a start," I said. "Plus you're just annoying."
"That's my job," he said winking.
"Really, don't go tonight!" Hannah interjected.
"Did any of you three see him today? The guy looked like he was about to drop dead from exhaustion. I doubt he'd have the strength to produce a curse or jinx," I said.
"Which means he obviously needs rest and can't go then," Hannah fired back.
"I asked him today during Potions and he said he would be there," I said confidently.
Zach, Hannah, and Ernie all exchanged a look and Hannah sighed deeply.
"I appear to have you all stymied so I'm going to go prepare for tonight," I said and got up before anyone could stop me again.
Sitting up in my dorm, I ruffled through my Charms notes and thought where I'd start with Malfoy. I was pretty nervous about this, what if he stood me up? Or wasn't cooperative? Or what if he did kill me tonight? What about being caught after hours by Filch? I couldn't stand that thought of another detention followed by another condescending letter from my parents. Despite all that running through my brain, I was bound and determined to help Malfoy out.
Eleven o'clock came around and I had every single piece of Charms notes, study guides, textbook, and old quizzes spread hectically over my quilt. I had an hour to pull myself and notes together before facing the unwelcome cold of the hallways and library. Hannah had given up dissuading me from going out and gone to bed and Susan was snoring softly.
11:40pm and I had packed my bag full of Charms stuff and was seriously questioning if I had the guts to go out this late after curfew.
I took a deep breath and exited the dorm. No one was in the Common Room or the kitchens, so I slipped quietly into the hallway. I was only a few floors away from the library so it should be a piece of cake. The school seemed so much bigger at night and was absolutely freezing. I trekked up the stairs and noticed a light at the end of the hallway I was entering. My heart leapt into my throat when it hit me that Filch was out patrolling the corridors.
I pressed myself against the wall as flat as I could as it was solid concrete. My pulse was racing in my ears as he passed by with a lantern and his scrawny cat, Mrs. Norris. I thought he was going to turn around at any given moment and spot me, but he kept walking on. When he rounded the corner, I inhaled and exhaled deeply before continuing my quest to Restricted Section. Luckily, Madam Irma Pince wasn't still in the library so I quietly slipped inside and weaved through the bookshelves to the back. I opened the door to the Restricted Section as softly as I could and was greeted with a resounding groan of the hinges. Hoping no one had heard that, I quickly closed it and found a table near the back of the library next to a really tall window that let in the moonlight.
Not five minutes later, I heard the familiar groan of the hinges and Draco Malfoy appeared. I instantly noticed he hadn't brought anything with him. This was going to be an interesting hour or so.
He took the seat across from me and I pulled out my textbook.
"Did you happen to bring yours?" I whispered pointing at my book.
"No," he whispered back.
"What about your notes?"
"No," he said again.
"Well, what was the first test you failed?" I asked.
"I don't know, it was over Chapter Five or something," he muttered.
I opened to Chapter Five. It was a review of Chapters Three and Four.
"The first review quiz. What was it about Three and Four that gave you trouble?" I asked.
He let out a small chuckle before replying with, "I didn't do any of the work."
"That'd be an issue. Do you have parchment with you? You could copy my notes or re-read those chapters," I suggested.
"Or you could just do the work for me," he said fiddling with his left sleeve.
"Chapter Three focuses on performing Charms silently and Chapter Four focuses on executing them perfectly. Tricky concept, but easy if you put your mind to it," I said ignoring his last comment. "Do you want to copy my notes to study from and then retake the test tomorrow?"
He nodded and I handed over some parchment paper and a quill. Malfoy examined my notes and sighed.
"You write too much, Nine," he said squinting.
"Then summarize it," I said faster than I meant to.
For the next hour, he copied my notes and kept asking me what this word was or what that symbol meant and why my hand hadn't fallen off yet. I didn't feel so nervous and he even laughed once.
When 1am rolled around, he gave me back my notes and folded up his. I ran a hand through my hair with one hand and stacked together my notes with the other.
"You have really short hair for a girl," Malfoy commented after I had packed up.
"I like it this short. It's easy to take care of," I said absentmindedly touching it again.
"Same time tomorrow night?" I asked awkwardly.
"I guess," he said as he got up.
I followed suit and we left the library together.
"You aren't the worst teacher in the world, Nine. I don't know what Smith was carrying on about during Charms today," Malfoy said quietly.
"He was just out to copy me is all," I said smiling in the dark of the hallway.
I reached the staircase that would get me back to the Common Room the safest.
"Goodnight, Malfoy," I said and started down the stairs.
"Goodnight, Nine," he said and disappeared down the hallway.