March turned to April which dragged into May that went on endlessly as with an excessive amount of homework and preparation for the upcoming N. E. W. T. S. (Somehow Malfoy had avoided studying with me because of the cabinet and was barely passing Charms. I was too preoccupied with my own grades to worry about him). These exams were absolutely brutal and I had never spent so much time in the library in my life. Everyday after dinner ended, a group of us Hufflepuffs marched to the library to study. The members included Wayne Hopkins, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Susan Bones, Leanne, Ernie, and I. The six of us whiled away the hours behind the towering bookshelves until the library closed. Zach never joined us as he had begun to grow distant. Hannah was obviously not coming back so Ernie and I had to make do with the other four.
Susan was very quiet and reserved. She spent a great deal of her time with us revising her notes and tugging worriedly at her hair. Ernie had asked me on the way back to the Common Room once if it had started falling out. Also along those lines, Wayne and Leanne would study quietly, but still within the group. It was Justin, Ernie, and I that made the most noise oddly enough. Justin was a very opinionated person that reveled in being right 100% of the time. I had often overheard people compare him to that Hermione Granger in Gryffindor because of how bright the two were. Everyday, Ernie or I would make a point about a spell or question and somehow Justin always had to counter it and always be correct. Despite the small and intense conversations over these matters, the six of us got along quite well.
This evening, Susan and Leanne were reviewing McGonagall's latest essay while Wayne frantically scrambled to organize his Divination notes. Meanwhile, Justin was tearing into Ernie about how he had misread the instructions on his Potions essay when in fact he hadn't. I peered over the top of my Astronomy book to watch as Justin squinted at the tiny font in an effort to prove Ernest wrong.
"It clearly states right there in the first line that this essay is to be on the 'Effects of Dangerous Potions On The Human Body'. I don't know where you got 'History of Dangerous Potions', but that's not what our class is writing," Ernie stated monotonously.
Justin was lost for words as he scanned over the directions once more, this time taking care to read each letter carefully. I didn't have the heart to tell Justin that Ernie was right for a change. If I opened my mouth, I ran the risk of 'studying for Astronomy wrong' in Justin's eyes. Ernie finally shook his head and pulled the paper away from Justin's grasp. He pulled out his quill and ink pot and set to work. Justin screwed his face up in concentration and looked down at his own notes as if they held the answer. I returned to skimming my book for constellation names. There didn't seem to be any possible way that I was going to have these all memorized by the time the exam rolled around.
I glanced up at everyone sitting here as I couldn't focus. Susan was running her hands through her thick, red hair and looking pained at the last line Leanne had just written down on the essay. Leanne began scratching out what she had just written and tapped her fingers on the parchment gently. My gaze travelled to Wayne who had finally organized his notes to perfection and was silently mouthing the words to himself. I stole a quick look at Justin again. He had leaned down and was scribbling hard at something in his pile of unkempt notes and Ernie was watching him with an amused expression on his face. I glared back down at the heavy textbook in my lap and sighed.
"Oh, come on, Ernie!" Justin's voice cut through my internal monologue abruptly.
"No!" Ernie protested rather loudly.
I jumped and looked up quickly to see exactly whatever it was he was protesting against.
Ernie was holding his essay above his head and glowering at Justin who was making a grab for it with his pudgy hands. Luck favored Ernie with his height and kept it just out of Justin's grasp. Though I was quite sure why the potions essay had suddenly become the center of a game of keep away in the first place.
"You've got your thesis wrong! Let me fix it!" Justin said jumping and failing again at retrieving the parchment.
"It's my thesis you bloody idiot!" Ernie practically shouted which earned a harsh shushing from a passing Ravenclaw. "If it's wrong, Slughorn will let me know! I don't need the likes of you ruining my homework."
Justin slumped back in his chair and huffed. A few of his normally perfect black hairs hung dejectedly over his scheming brown eyes. Wayne, Susan, Leanne, and I all stared at the boys as though one would have a go at the other. Yet Ernie was doing a miraculous job of ignoring Justin and the rest of us onlookers so he could properly finish his thesis statement. I noted Justin was about to make one last attempt to snatch away Ernie's essay and cleared my throat. Justin flinched and looked back at me.
"Do we need to separate you boys?" I asked him jokingly.
"No, I wasn't going to do anything," Justin mumbled and looked away to hide the redness growing on his cheeks.
"Thanks, Davis," Ernie said without looking up from his work.
"No worries," I answered and went back to my Astronomy book.
For the remainder of our study session, no more outbursts or thesis statement arguments ensued. The six of us even shared a pleasantly quiet walk back to the Common Room. I lounged in a chair near a few large pots of Tentacular Plants and watched my brother, for the thousandth time, chat with Gwendolyn Tanner. He was so lucky to have met her and I really hoped they would remain friends for life. After he went to bed, I decided it was time I retire as well. The warm quilt and soft mattress were extremely inviting after a long evening of studying and I fell asleep rather quickly.
Around 11:30pm, I was awoken by a continual, soft tapping on the window nearest to my bed. Rubbing sleep from my eyes, I groggily sat up and blinked at the window. A black eagle owl sat perched on the sill and watched me expectantly through the glass. Malfoy's owl. I recognized it from the time he had sent me the necklace. Stealing a fast glance to make sure that Susan and Leanne were both still asleep, I cracked open the window enough to let the owl in and plucked a small folded note from its beak. The owl flew back out and I latched the window tightly. I lay back on my bed and unfolded the note. Upon looking at the handwriting, I was graciously reminded that I couldn't read it without my glasses. After putting on my glasses, I read the familiar scrawl of Malfoy's hand:
Midnight. Library. I'll be there this time. Promise.
Sighing, I wrapped myself in a cloak and gathered together my Charms notes and snuck out to the Common Room.
I grumbled as I crawled slowly out of the barrel entrance and stood up in the freezing cold kitchens. Hopefully this will be the absolute last time I have to meet Malfoy after hours. I really wanted to tell Professor Flitwick that he was going to have to drop Malfoy from the class and I had even rehearsed ways to say this.
Shivering, I made my way slowly out of the kitchens and up the stone stairs towards the library. Mr. Filch and Mrs. Norris were nowhere to be spotted which was somewhat unnerving. It felt as though every time I rounded a corner, he'd be right there with that lantern and awful smile. Thankfully, I reached the library and slipped quietly to the back table.
About a quarter after midnight, Malfoy showed up and sat down across from me. He seemed agitated and fidgety as I started reviewing Chapter 23 with him. I finally couldn't take anymore of Malfoy not paying attention and slammed my Charms book shut causing him to flinch. I felt kind of bad, but this wasn't going anywhere with him not cooperating, especially after he had owled me to meet him this late.
"Malfoy, what's going on? You aren't focusing and it's—" I started but he cut me off with four simple words.
"It happens tomorrow night."
I froze. The library air turned very thick and it was suddenly very hard for me to take a deep breath. 'It happens tomorrow night.' My brain spun with several thoughts all at once and breathing wasn't one of them. Draco Malfoy was going to kill Professor Dumbledore tomorrow night and there was nothing I could do. I couldn't tell anyone, I couldn't stop him, and I most certainly couldn't fathom the idea that Malfoy was going to become a murder in the name of Voldemort. Malfoy and I sat in an extremely sticky silence for the better part of who knows how long until the clock on the wall struck 1am. We both jumped as the clock's bell rang out. I had never noticed that before, but must have this time do to the uncomfortably loud silence.
I turned and looked at Draco, illuminated by the subtle moonlight from the large window. How pale he looked now, ghostly. At that moment, I suddenly wanted to tell him that everything was going to be all right, that everything would work out for the best, that what he was doing was perfectly normal. Common sense told me it wasn't normal and nothing would be the same after tomorrow night. A part of me still hoped that he wouldn't do it tomorrow and the other part said he was ready for this. I knew he wasn't from the look on his pale face. If I had learned anything from staying up late at night and watching horror movies with Hannah, it was that people who were ready to perform some ungodly task were calm, cool, and collected. Draco appeared the opposite of all three characteristics. He'd never be ready.
Malfoy awkwardly rose from the table and gathered his bag. He glanced wistfully out the window towards the Great Lake and sighed quietly. I stuffed my book ungracefully into my bag as well and stood alongside him. His grey eyes scanned the grounds outside until they pulled away from the outside scenery and locked onto mine. I stared back curiously. In that very moment, the world's most unexpected thing happened. He leaned down and kissed me.
For the second time that night, I was utterly and completely paralyzed by this boy. Literally everything that he had told me about himself and this dreadful escapade left my brain because Draco Malfoy had his lips pressed against mine. It felt right, wrong, and perfect all at the same time and I didn't have time to decide which one it truly was because before I knew it, he pulled away. My head was light and I was very convinced I was about to pass out for a few moments. The taste of his breath lingered on my lips sweetly, like a dew drop clinging to a flower petal as the morning heat slowly evaporates the drop. Like that same dew drop in the morning, he was gone in a flash as though I had imagined the whole scenario. Only thing was, I hadn't.
I sat back down rather hard in my chair with the realization of what had just happened, I kept thinking about how Zach had teased me for having the biggest crush on Malfoy since this whole tutoring thing had started. I knew how right he was. What scared me the most was what Malfoy was supposed to do tomorrow night and how wrong it felt for me to like him in the midst of this. It felt so wrong, but the kiss had tasted so right.