"SHE'S KIND OF WEIRD."
Elara hummed, distracted, her eyes skimming over the parchment in front of her. "Is she?"
Amelia nodded, vigorously. "She's always doing these strange things. The other day, I went to find her because she'd missed Charms and she was trying to feed a slice of apple pie to the Giant Squid."
Elara let out a soft laugh. "She is a Ravenclaw after all. We tend to be a bit..."
"Weird?" Amelia offered, helpfully and Elara smiled with a shake of her head.
"We just don't see why we should follow rules," she corrected, fondly.
"Yes, well, whatever it is - I love her," Amelia beamed. "I'm so glad you made us be friends, Ellie. Lucy's my bestest friend now."
"I'm glad - Ames, did you do this essay all on your own?"
Amelia nodded. "Yeah. Why?"
Elara went over the lines again, looking for a mistake. Finding none, she sat back, dropping the quill. "Because it's perfect. There's not one mistake."
"Really?" her little sister squealed. "Oh, thank Merlin. George said I'd fail Transfiguration for sure."
Elara rolled her eyes. "Of course he did. But really - there's nothing wrong with this. I'm pleasantly surprised. You sure you did this all on your own?"
Amelia flushed pink, ducking her head, and Elara clicked her tongue, tilting her chin back up. "Alright - spill it. Who helped you?"
Her younger sister looked sheepish, chewing on her lower lip. "You won't like it."
Elara stared at her. Who could help Amelia in Gryffindor that she wouldn't like?
Oh, Merlin, don't let it be Fletcher -
"You know that boy in Slytherin?"
Elara jerked out of her thoughts, blinking. "What? Who?"
Even as she said it, it dawned on her and she shut her eyes.
She was going to kill him.
"The tall, blond one," Amelia went on, oblivious to Elara's reaction. "I think his name is Malfoy? That's what I call him anyway."
Elara exhaled, loudly, and opened her eyes. "And how in the world did he decide to help you?"
"I was crying - I couldn't finish the essay on time because I'd been out all day with Lucy - with the Thestrals, you know. It takes an awful long time to get them to cry and we had just collected some tears when -"
"Ames."
"Sorry. Well, I was crying here in the library and he was passing by. He saw me crying and asked if I was your sister." She scrunched her petite nose. "I found it awfully rude. There I was, sobbing, and he didn't even ask if I was okay!"
Elara held back a smile, thinking back to the times when Draco would hold her when she was in despair. "Yes - he has a habit of doing that. Go on."
"Yeah - well - then he just sat down to help me," Amelia finished with a shrug. "And he's been helping me ever since."
"Amelia!" Elara scolded. "You can't just let him tutor you! He probably has lots of other things to do -"
Like me.
"It's not like I told him to!" Amelia protested, indignantly, yanking Elara out of her unholy train of thought. "I may have shed a few tears to make him feel guilty but I never told -"
She shrunk back at Elara's withering look. "He's only been helping me. It's not like he's been writing all my essays."
Despite the stern expression she plastered on her face, Elara's heart warmed at the thought of tall, cold Draco sitting at a table with her boisterous, loud sister, explaining how to turn a rat into a teapot.
"Next time, try to do it on your own, okay?" Elara told her, tucking a strand of her younger sister's frizzy hair behind her ear. "And if you still can't do it, come find me. I'll help as much as I can, whenever you need it. There's no need to cry."
Amelia nodded, burying her face into Elara's huge sweater. "I was just frustrated."
Elara smoothed her hair and dropped a soft kiss to her head. "I know. But nothing is more important than your well-being, okay? Your homework is not worth crying over."
"Okay," Amelia responded, pulling back. "Are we done now? Lucy said she's going to try to attack the Whomping Willow."
|
Elara balanced the cake, carefully, in one hand and moved the other to rap on the door in front of her. She could hear Pansy and Theo arguing over something inside the room and wondered if she should come back later.
But then, the door was opening and Blaise stood there, blinking against the light and squinting to see her. "Oh. It's you." His tone was disappointed - as if he'd hoped she wouldn't come.
"Nice to see you too," she shot back, coolly.
He rolled his eyes, stepping aside. "Draco, your little girlfriend is here."
Elara stepped into the room just as Draco swung his legs off of the bed from where he'd been stretched out, looking surprised.
"Elara," he said, questioningly, right before his eyes fell on the cake in her hand. "Oh, Salazar -"
"I told her not to," Blaise told him, returning to his seat on the sofa that they'd brought into the room to make more space to sit. "But her and Pansy insisted."
Elara smiled, her stomach flipping at the sight of Draco, wearing a black shirt, sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and trousers, the dark colour a stark contrast against his pale skin. "Happy birthday."
Draco was crossing the distance between them then, shaking his head, a small smile on his face. "I told you not to tell her, Pans."
Pansy snorted from where she was lounging on a chaise, taking a swig of Firewhiskey. "As if. She would've killed me if she'd found out."
"Is it chocolate?" Theo piped up from beside Pansy. "If not, I'm not eating it."
"Good thing it's not your cake then," Elara retorted, teasingly, turning her head to look at him just as Draco's hand grabbed her jaw and brought her lips to his in a soft, sweet kiss.
She almost shivered, unable to touch him due to the cake in her hands, and his lips moved gently against hers.
She heard Blaise gag and Theo make some sassy comment but then Draco was pulling back, leaving one last quick kiss on her mouth.
She recognised the thank you.
"This is such a Muggle thing to do," Blaise grumbled as Elara moved to set the cake down on the table in front of the sofas. "What, is he going to blow out candles now?"
Pansy rolled her eyes. "It's your best friend's birthday and you can't be happy for a second?"
"I'm just saying -"
"Can we cut the fucking cake?" Theo interrupted before the other two could flare up into an argument.
The cake had taken Elara and Pansy approximately two hours to make. Mainly because they had to be extremely quiet since it had been close to two in the morning and the kitchens were dangerously close to the Hufflepuff common room.
Pansy had said Draco's favourite flavour was vanilla - and Elara had spent a good while decorating the cake with sliced strawberries and cream on top, choosing not to use her wand to scrawl a message on top.
"I fucking love strawberries," Theo muttered as he picked some off of his slice and popped it into his mouth.
"I can't believe we're sitting here eating cake," Blaise scoffed even as he shoveled another spoonful of cake into his mouth.
"You don't look too unhappy about it," Draco commented, slyly, as he nodded at where Blaise was reaching for another slice.
"Pansy, won't you eat?" Elara asked as she settled in next to Draco on the sofa, trying not to touch him for Pansy's sake. She didn't want to make things awkward.
Pansy shook her head, looking remorseful. "I'm trying to lose some weight -"
"Shut up." Draco slid a slice of cake that he had cut for himself onto the plate and pushed it towards her. "It's my birthday. Eat."
Pansy opened her mouth to say something but when Draco raised an eyebrow at her, she rolled her eyes and took the plate. "Fine. But I'm only having one."
Pansy did, in fact, end up finishing most of the cake, although Blaise helped her, considerably.
It was an hour later when Elara found herself curled up next to Draco, her head resting on his shoulder as they watched the others argue over who was the hottest witch in school, as they all took swigs of Firewhiskey.
"It has to be Granger," Theo was saying, his words running over one another from the alcohol. "I mean, look at her! And she's a prude too - makes you really want to corrupt her -"
"It is, hands down, Indigo," Pansy cut him off, whacking him but her hand missed him in her drunkenness. "You know - Elara's friend? The one with long, black hair and -"
"Oh, is she the one who wore the red dress to the Ball?" Blaise interjected, wiping the back of his hand across his mouth. "With the black jewels? Fuck, yeah, she's hot."
"Can we not -" Elara began but Pansy talked over her, loudly.
"She's mine, Zabini, don't try," she warned, pointing the bottle at him and nearly spilling it. Theo lurched forward and righted it in her hand before it could. "Oops!"
"I mean, Elara comes a close second to Granger," Theo was saying, his tone sly, seemingly ignoring that she was sitting right there. "I mean, did you see her that night at the Ball in Slytherin colours? If Draco hadn't fucked her that night, I would've - "
Draco made a dangerous sound low in his throat. "Nott, if you don't shut the fuck up, I will -"
Theo's mouth snapped shut, a triumphant smile on his features. "I kid, I kid. Although Jacobs, if you're ever up for it -"
"Hard pass," Elara cut him off with a wry smile, feeling Draco's arm rest, possessively, over her shoulders.
Draco sighed, his breath brushing Elara's ear. The two of them hadn't drunk much - they both liked to be fully sober when they fell into the sheets.
"What a couple of idiots," he murmured in her ear, his hand sliding to bring her legs over his lap, running up and down the bare skin. Elara shivered and nestled into his warmth, the little alcohol she had in her system making her buzz. "It's taking everything I have not to kick them out and take you on this sofa."
Elara giggled and slid her arms around his neck, kissing his cheek. "They'd probably offer to join."
As Draco rolled his eyes with a smile, Theo piped up again, speaking over Blaise and Pansy who were apparently still arguing over Indigo. "Well - Draco?" he slurred, his dark brown hair flopping over his forehead. "Who's the hottest witch in Hogwarts?"
Draco raised his eyebrows, an amused smile playing on his lips. He pretended to think as his arm around Elara's shoulders tightened. "This should answer your question."
And he turned his head and pressed his mouth full against Elara's, tasting like mint and Firewhiskey and Elara gasped in surprise, her eyes falling shut immediately.
His tongue slid into her mouth and his arm around her moved down so his hand could press against the small of her back, making her sit up straighter and arch into him. His hand on her legs glided further up to the point where her shorts ended.
She tried to pull away, her face heating up, but Draco persisted, tilting his head to kiss her better before taking her bottom lip into his teeth and pulling it back. He released it and moved back, a cocky smile on his lips when she almost keened into him, and turned to face his friends again.
Theo coughed, loudly, acting like he hadn't been staring. "I didn't ask for sex -"
"Well, I'm going to have it anyway," Draco said, smoothly, glancing back at Elara. She caught the desire simmering under the surface of him. "So get out."
Blaise groaned, getting to his feet immediately. "Please - at least cast a Muffliato first - I'm so tired of hearing -"
"Out," Draco ordered and watched, unbothered, as his friends stumbled to their feet.
"Next time, can I join?" Pansy called as she left, clinging onto Theo, and Draco flicked his wrist, causing the door to shut behind them, pushing them out the rest of the way. They heard Pansy's muffled squeal and Theo cursing as he tripped.
"Draco," Elara scolded even as he forced her down onto the sofa beneath them, his eyes hazy, "You can't just kick them -"
"Muffliato."
Then, his mouth was on hers, hot and searing, and his hands were already hitching the sweater she was wearing up over her hips to rest his hands on her bare skin.
Elara sighed into his mouth, fisting the material of his shirt at the back and tugging him closer, letting him sink on top of her, warm and all consuming. He buried his head in the crook of her neck, leaving hot kisses right where she liked it, making her head drop to the side to give him more space.
She slipped her fingers into his hair, the snake ring on her right index pressing into his scalp. Draco's mouth pressed against the base of her throat and he kissed up it, breathy gasps falling from her lips when he nipped at her skin. Then he pulled back, balancing himself above her and grazing his fingers through the top of her hair, eyes dark and needy.
"So pretty," he murmured under his breath as his eyes drifted over her bright eyes, her flushed cheeks, the colour spreading up her neck, his other hand squeezing her hip.
Elara's heart softened and she reached up to kiss him, a ghost against his lips, and his eyes shut, his mouth straining to press harder against her.
"Draco," she breathed, pulling away, a thought suddenly coming to mind. "You can't tutor my sister without telling me."
Draco stilled, staring at her and then made a sound of exasperation. "You really want to talk about that right now?"
"Yes," she replied, stubbornly, dropping her arms from around him to cross over her chest.
Draco's eyes flicked between her own before he gauged that she was serious and he groaned, dropping his head momentarily to rest against her chest before heaving a heavy sigh and moving off her to sit on the sofa instead.
She scrambled up, not wanting to be away from his warmth for long and deciding to make this quick. "Well?"
"She needed help," he said, his lips red from the kissing and Elara tapered down the feeling of pride at the sight.
"You helped her multiple times," she chided, settling back against the armrest of the sofa and stretching her legs out over his lap to show him she wasn't angry. "You know people take money for that? It's called tuition."
Draco rolled his eyes, his hands caressing her thighs, his rings cool on her skin. "I'm well aware, thanks. But I told her shagging her sister was payment enough."
Elara's mouth dropped open and she leaned forward to hit his shoulder as he chuckled at her expression, catching her hand and dropping a swift kiss to it. "I'm kidding. But it is, if you're wondering."
She shook her head at him, tingling as he squeezed her thigh. "I'm serious."
Draco scoffed, tipping his head back to rest against the back of the sofa and turned to look at her, strands of his white-blond hair falling onto his forehead. "What are you gonna do, pull out a few Galleons right now and pay me?"
Elara quirked an eyebrow at him and reached into the pocket of her shorts, pulling out a small brown pouch. "Yes."
She tossed it at him and he caught it with one hand, staring at it for a moment.
"It's fifty Galleons," she told him, easily, wrapping her long hair up into a knot. "Ten per lesson. And if you insist on continuing to do Amelia's homework for her, I will insist on giving you more."
Draco's lips parted and he looked back up at her. "I'm not taking this."
He threw it back to her and she huffed, grasping it in her hand. "I'm not giving you the choice."
She tossed it back and he shook his head again, plopping it into her lap. "No. I barely helped her -"
"I checked her essays, Draco," Elara told him, sternly. "There was not one mistake and Amelia's intelligent but no first year can write a perfect essay on how to turn a rat into a teapot."
She picked up the pouch to chuck it back at him but he leaned forward and caught her wrist in his long fingers, fixing her with intense grey eyes. "Elara. I'm not taking it. I have enough money of my own and I'm sure as hell not taking it from the girl I happen to want to spend the rest of my life with. It's just not happening."
He sat back, not even seeming to register what he'd said while Elara's heart halted in her chest, her throat suddenly dry. Did he just say what she thought he did?
Draco glanced at her, obviously wondering how he'd made her back down so fast, knowing she was a lot more headstrong than that. "What? Do I have cake on my face?"
Elara swallowed hard and realisation seemed to dawn on Draco's face. Her heart immediately sank at his expression - as if he couldn't believe what he'd just said either.
She rushed to say something, not wanting him to feel awkward. "No - I - It's fine - It's just the Firewhiskey - " She made a move to slide her legs off him, her gut twisting, but was thwarted when Draco's large hands slid under her thighs and pulled her on top of him so she was straddling him.
Her breath hitched in her throat. She looked down at him as he rested one hand on her waist, the other traveling up to brush a strand of her hair away from her face. The breath was stolen from her lungs when he spoke.
"It's not the Firewhiskey," he said, quietly, and she knew it was true because his hands were steady, his eyes alert. "Elara."
She was staring at the hollow of his throat, unable to meet his eyes until he tilted her chin up, gently, his features serious. "Elara."
Elara shuddered at the perfect way her name fell from his lips and looked at him, expectantly, despite the way her stomach was squirming.
"I slept with those stupid fucking stars on my ceiling every single night for the past two months," he went on, his voice low and rough. "Just because they reminded me of you."
Her chest bubbled with warmth.
"You think I don't want to keep this going for as long as I can?" he asked, softly, dragging the rough pad of his thumb over her cheekbone.
"That doesn't mean - the rest of your -" Elara struggled to put the words together.
"It does."
He leaned in and kissed her, longingly, mouth soft and loving, a promise sealed with a kiss. She melted against him, sighing when he pulled back an inch and met his silver eyes again, wondering how she'd come to love him so much, so fast.
"Bet?" she asked, her voice hoarse, every inch of her tingling.
Draco gave her a small smile that was almost sad. "Bet."
[alrighty, not much happened here BUT the next chapter might very well be the last fluffy one y'all get so SAVOUR IT WHILE IT LASTS]