Doing her homework in the common room was the worst decision she made in her life, especially with Draco now pestering her for some reason to date him. "Leave me alone Malfoy," she snaps every five minutes.
"This will end once you say yes," Draco wiggled his eye brows at her, his grey eyes meeting her emerald green ones. She tried her best in not getting mesmerised with his grey eyes, and most of the time she was successful.
"Like I said last time you blond Toe rag, not a damn chance," she hissed as she kept on reading her Arithmancy book with her roll of parchment on the other side of her. It wasn't helping her situation that both her friends were in detention and it was only the first week of classes.
"Hey Evans," Draco called once again.
"You're getting on my nerves now Malfoy."
"Let's raid the kitchens," the sound of the kitchens was good to her ears at this point, glancing towards Draco once again and towards her watch that was clasped on her wrist. She wanted to raid the kitchens with him, but she was also not getting any work done if Draco was still pestering her. And tomorrow was the first DADA class with a new teacher that she had never met yet.
"No."
"Come on, please? I'll even help you with your Arithmancy," Draco insisted.
"You're not even in my class you git," she glared.
"Well I'll try and help you then."
"I doubt that you know anything about Arithmancy," Finley remarked as she finally closes her Arithmancy book and giving Draco a challenging one.
"You'll never know," the blond boy only grinned.
Finley needed to control herself, she was getting too soft for obliging to raid the kitchens. She knows that Cedric was still a Prefect at this point as well, but it didn't mean he was stationed at the kitchens again. Worth a shot as Draco held her hand creeping around the castle to the kitchens near the Hufflepuff common room clutching her school bag that contained her books and parchment for homework. Trying to not get caught as Filch was on a hunt for students who were out of bed, and Peeves the mischievous ghost who always gave them hell if caught.
"If we get caught, I'm stabbing you with a spoon."
"How can you stab someone with a spoon?" Draco asked amused at Finley. The amusing things that come out of this girl's mouth was truly astonishing to him.
"Do you want to find out then?"
"Is this your way of seducing me Evans?" Draco grinned as he opened the kitchen doors.
"Bold of you to assume that I'm straight," she retorted. Draco's smiled dropped for a brief second. "But you are straight aren't you?" Draco asks a bit pale with this some sort of bluff that Finley threw at him, leaving him flustered.
Both of them stood in front of busy house elves who cleaned, some who were already getting started on breads. Others cleaning every crook and cranny of the kitchen. Question of sexuality was left unanswered when they happen to smell the delicious scent of honey and cinnamon in the autumn evening.
"Good evening," elves stopped working. All of them starred at the two Slytherins who were nervous of what if the elves told on them. "Miss Finley is here!" On Elf cheered.
Relief washed over Finley and Draco as they were given stools and a small tea table. "It's been too long since the start of classes miss, have you not wanted to visit us miss?"
Finley chuckled, of course she wanted to raid the kitchen in the first night, if only she didn't pass out, she would've had Blaise and Theo with her and camp in her room til morning. "Classes are too much," she replied.
"I baked cookies for you miss!" On elf said as he presented a plate of good looking chocolate chip cookies.
"I baked pies for you miss."
"I made hot chocolate miss."
Draco glanced at Finley who looked at the selections in awe, "They seem to forget that I'm with you."
"You're forgettable," she grinned, parting his shoulder as she displayed a mocking expression on her face.
Rolling his eyes, Draco requested an elf to place all the delights in a basket once again. As if on routine, he now held a basket of food on one hand while Finley held nothing. Even with Finley's protests, pointing out that he was the injured one out of the two of them that she should be the one carrying the basket.
"I'll said it once, and I'll say it again Evans," Draco gave Finley a pointed look. "I'm capable of carrying the basket."
This lead Finley pouting with her arms crossed as both of them were now in the hall, wondering where they would eat the food they had.
"We can't take these to the common room," Finley had said. Knowing the people in Slytherin they will ask questions, and rumours around the common room was too fast and loud.
"Room if Requirement it is."
"This is new," Draco remarked as he saw the room of requirement's new room for them, it was full of books and a machine with a black circle like disc on the corner of the room. Beside that machine were stacks of square boards. There was one table on the side near the window, book shelves the other side of the room, and finally living room couches by the fire place.
Draco approached the machine first, holding up a disk inspecting the contraption. "Hey Evans, you know muggle things. What is this?"
"A record player," Finley replied as she placed down her bag on the table near the window. Fascinated with the shelves of books, she found every single required text book in her year.
"How does it work?" She heard Draco ask again. Now she faced him to see a disk in his hand that labelled a well known singer in the muggle world.
"It makes music," she said taking the disk from his hand and placing it on the record player. "How?"
"Curious one aren't you Mr Malfoy?" She teased as she placed on the needle to the record machine. Music started playing in a soft motion, relishing the instruments playing.
"I see trees of green, Red roses too. I see the blue, of a wonderful world," Finley sang to herself. Draco was surprisingly enjoying this particular song that he hummed along with it.
"We should get started on my Arithmancy homework," Finley said in a happy tune as she went to reach for her bag taking out her books, completely amazed at how many books there were in the shelves.
Eating and writing, occasional singing later, the two Slytherins managed to finish through their first week of homework and managed to advance a bit for their core subjects thanks to the books on the shelves.
"This is enjoyable," Finley commented as she ate the last cookie from the basket from the kitchen. Draco glared at her for taking the cookie that he took the last tart as well, "How so?"
"Well, for one. We aren't fighting," she said. Which was somewhat true, they don't always fight, thy were bickers and most of them were from him bullying his lion friends. But as of the moment she wouldn't know if he was bullying them still or not as she was always avoiding Gryffindors left and right.
"We hardly fight Evans, you ignore me too much, I start to wonder if you have a vendetta against me," Draco feigning hurt, placing his hand on his chest milking the reaction. Finley rolled her eyes at him.
"You're annoying on a daily Malfoy, what do you expect?" She shots up.
"You're just really stubborn Evans," Draco had said. It was a fact that she was even more stubborn than a painting not opening with an incorrect password, if you hit her in the head with a boulder, the boulder itself would break in to smithereens. Finley pinches the blond boy's good arm which made him yelp.
"And two, you are actually smart so that was a shock," Finley grinned.
"I take offence to that, I'm second in all of Slytherin."
"Yes below me and fifth in the year," she rolled her eyes at him. So far the ranks were Finley in the first, Hermione and a Ravenclaw tying for the second spot. A Hufflepuff as third, and another Ravenclaw in fourth, Draco came in fifth and below him was Blaise in par with another Ravenclaw. The amusement she had for Draco was mocking, she knew he was smart and yet she still thinks that he's stupid because he doesn't act like it really.
"Yes well, who else would make Potter's life a living hell?"
"You do know that he's orphaned right? Not only that, he is also my friend."
Both Slytherins went quiet, the conversation was in a halt. Music still played in the back ground in a slow tune, steady and serene. The silence indicated the awkwardness that landed between the two of them, unsure how to get pass it, normally someone would interrupt them, but they were alone.
"I have a question," Draco finally spoke up. It was bothering him and possibly every other Slytherins who knew Finley.
"What?"
"Why don't you talk to your lion friends anymore?"
She dreaded the question, she gathered her books, she wasn't ready to answer that just yet. "Where are you going?"
"We should get back, we have DADA tomorrow," she found her voice shaky and frantic.
"You aren't avoiding this, tell me Evans. Did they do something to you?"
'No they didn't do anything' was what Finley wanted to say but she couldn't just spill what ever beans she had, at least not until she was in the clear. "Draco please, we should leave—"
"We aren't leaving," she avoided his eyes the best she could, she wasn't ready to tell anyone what her legal guardian put her on. Even if it pained her to practically keep it to herself, she wanted to tell someone but she wasn't ready just yet.
"You're crazy," she said picking up her bag from the table on her way to the door. Her only time for escape that.
"Finley."
She stopped now scared for her mind, it wasn't his business, it was between her and Snape who only wanted what was best for Finley. "What Draco?"
"Dance with me." This baffles Finley, was the blond git actually asking her to dance? No pranks? Hexes? Or anything at all? It was far fetched for her to hear that she looked back at him to see him holding out his hand.
"What?"
The blond boy stood up from where he sat and walked towards her, taking her bag and placing it on the couch that was near. Then she noticed the music was just lovely to dance with, it was one that Ms Thorns never stopped singing in the kitchen in the mornings.
"Come one Evans, you don't have to answer the question anymore, just dance with me," Draco teased holding both her hands in one hand, her left placed on his shoulder and the right hand he held.
"Draco—"
"Come on, its just a dance."
She gave in, she dislikes the way she acts around him, all distaste with everyone else and when they're alone, they were close. It was confusing her lately, she should be hating this boy troubling his lion friends. Why couldn't she?
Take my hand
Take my whole life too
For I can't help
Falling in love—
"With you," she sang to herself as both her and Draco swayed to the music, out of tempo, out of beat. She liked it. An odd sight to see for her, but she really did like it. Grey eyes meeting her green ones, the awkward silence replaced with a comforting one, her anxieties were temporarily forgotten. She felt awake for the first time since they got back.
"Who knew muggle music was this good?"
"You have no idea," she replied leaning her head on his shoulder, the hold on his left shoulder was relaxed. Though he had a cast on his well arm, she felt comfortable as they both swayed with the music.
"Hey Evans."
"What Malfoy?"
Draco found himself smiling, tightening his hold on her right hand. "Go on a date with me."
"No Malfoy," Finley laughed, and somehow the way she answered him gave Draco a little hope. Maybe if he pushed a little harder he would have a chance, just maybe.