"what do you mean you aren't coming to quidditch practice?"
i stare across the lunch table at draco, my brow furrowed. our friends fall silent, looking between him and i. draco shrugs, taking another spoonful of soup
"i mean i'm not coming to quidditch practice" he says dryly, not looking up. everyone turns their eyes back on me as i speak again
"adrian will have your head for not coming" i raise my eyebrow, "i mean- jesus, draco you'll be kicked off!"
"i won't be kicked off" he shrugs, "because i quit"
pansy has a small gasp and theo chuckles under his breath, widening his eyes and looking away
"you what?" i lean forward slightly, keeping my gaze on draco
"i quit" his eyes look up to meet mine, his expression still blank
"you- what?" i exclaim louder, my brain not being able to comprehend this choice, "you- draco- you were adrian's top pick for co-captain-" i stammer out
"i know, he offered me the spot right before i quit" he says back cooly
"are you-" i scoff, shaking my head, "you can't be serious" he stays staring at me, shrugging again. i look around the group, my eyes wide, "is no one else bothered by this? he's being insane-"
"well, he already told me" theo says, looking over at me from dracos side
"me as well" blaise adds, biting his lip nervously. crabbe and goyle nod along, indicating they knew also. i sigh, tilting my head and looking at pansy
"i heard from theo" she nods guiltily, avoiding my eyes
with i straight face, i turn to daphne next to me, who's been oddly quiet the whole meal, picking apart her chicken. she notices me staring and looks up, taking a deep breath
"now, look, pansy told me-"
"you're kidding!" i cut her off, "you knew too? i mean- god i expect it from the rest of you lot but really, daphne? you?"
"i didn't think he would take this long to tell you" daphne sighs, "i thought you should hear it from him"
"fine you're off the hook, but-" i pause, "this long to tell me?" i raise my eyebrows and look back at draco, "when did you quit?"
he clear his throat, "um.. couple weeks ago"
"a couple.." i rub my forehead, sighing, "i- you're the best seeker we've had in ages, adrian's gonna be pressed to find someone-"
"pucey will be fine-"
"the first match- against gryffindor might i add- is only two weeks away! adrian's gonna-"
"i'm not going to waste my time playing some stupid game-"
"stupid game? you love quidditch-"
"i loved quidditch-"
"don't give me that bullshit, malfoy-"
"oh so pucey is adrian but i'm malfoy?"
everyone goes quiet, staring silently between draco and i. he looks into my eyes, his own widening slightly as he swallows, biting in his cheek
"that's my que to leave" theo mumbles, grabbing his bag and standing up
"right behind you, mate" blaise and the other follow him out of the great hall, leaving the remainders of their meals on their plates. pansy nods to me awkwardly, taking theo's hand as he offers it and standing
"good luck with that one" daphne sighs under her breath, standing as well and stalking away to the ravenclaw table, where she takes a seat with some of her other friends. i look back over at draco, who's still staring nervously back at me
"what did you say?" i raise my eyebrow
"i just-" he clears his throat, "you always use his first name-"
"you've got to stop it with that-"
"and the way you danced together-"
"are you talking about the party? draco, you know that was just to make you jealous-"
"on your end, yeah, but- jesus- the way he looked at you-"
"we danced once"
"he has a thing for you" he scowls, "always has"
"well, tell adri- pucey, i'm not interested" i shrug, "i only have a thing for you"
draco meets my eyes again, smiling slightly, "yeah?"
"one hundred percent" i nod, "i've never even thought of him like that"
he clears his throat, smirking and nodding his head as he looks back down to his food
"don't get too big of a head" i roll my eyes, "you're still being an ass"
"sorry" he mumbles, looking up at me through his eyelashes, "i get... nervous" he says quietly. i raise my eyebrow and he continues, "about you leaving me again..." his voice trails off, his eyes turning away again
"and i fucking hate pucey." he adds under his breath, still not meeting my eyes
"draco, you know i'm not-" i clear my throat, reaching my hand across the table to rest over his. he looks back up, "please, don't think like that" he nods slowly, letting my hand fall off of his as he reaches up, leaning his head against his hand
"i'm sorry i didn't tell you about quidditch" he mumbles, "i have to focus on... you know" he takes in a breath, "and at the time you didn't know about that so i wasn't sure how to explain..." he begins to ramble, trailing off at the end and shaking his head, "i'm sorry"
"apology excepted" i nod, bringing my hand back to my side of the table, "you're shit at apologies" i smirk, and he looks up at me with a chuckle
"i'm working on it"
"sure you are"
we smirk at each other for a second more before the bell rings, calling our attention away from each other. i look back to him and he raises his eyebrows, already standing and grabbing his things, "time for potions" he smiles, gesturing for me to stand as well.
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we walk into slughorns classroom, draco's hand on the small of my back as he leads me through the doorway. i see theo, pansy and blaise already standing at our normal table, talking amongst themselves as we approach. as they notice us, they quiet down. theo clears his throat, his eyes darting between us anxiously
"we aren't fighting anymore, so you three can stop staring at us like that" draco drops down his bag, going to stand at the other end of the table
"yeah- um... what he said" i add timidly, smiling slightly to take the edge off of his words. our friends nod, continuing on with their conversation as i walk over to draco, taking my usual place by his side
theo meets my eyes, raising his eyebrow, questioning if i'm alright. i nod back at him and he looks down, nodding his head in approval and then turning back to pansy
"... and then after you have practice you can meet me there?"
"hm?" i say focusing back on draco
"i said i'll work while you're at practice, then we can study together after, for astronomy" he raises an eyebrow, "up in the tower... alone" he draws out the last word, leaning towards me slightly with a smirk
i roll my eyes, nudging my shoulder against his to push him away. he only smirks wider
"you'll show" he looks over at me, smiling again before turning foreword as class starts
"today we will be learning about golpalott's third law" slughorn begins, "is anyone already aware of-" draco's arm raises next to me, just as hermione shoots her hand up across the room. slughorn's eyes pass over draco, finding hermione and smiling, "ah, yes, miss granger?"
"un-fucking-believable" draco mutters under his breath, crossing his arms as hermione rattles off the answer
"it's a law for making antidotes, sir, stating that if a poison is mixed- the antidote isn't simply a mixture of all of the antidotes for the separate poisons"
"correct as always miss granger, 10 points to gryffindor"
my whole table groans collectively as hermione smiles with pride, looking cheerfully back into her textbook
"little mudblood bi-"
"shut it, pansy" draco rolls his eyes next to me, and i inwardly smile. pansy glares at him for a moment, before disregarding him and focusing back on slughorn
"as i'm sure you could have all ascertained from that, today we will be making antidotes according to this law. now, if you please turn to page 54..."
a shuffle a book pages turning fills the room, as we all settle on the recipe for a particularly nasty poison. slughorn rattles off a list of three other page numbers, all containing their own poisons
"here" he lifts a vial, "i hold i mixture of the potions i just pointed out to you all. you're task for the next hour is to work out the antidote for it, good luck" he smiles, placing the vial back in its holder and walking back to his desk
"where do you think we..?" i look over at draco, but he's already walked away, going into the storeroom, "start" i finish my sentence, walking after him to the stock shelves
"we'll need sopophorous beans, valerian root, fluxweed..." draco trails off, walking away again to a different shelf and gathering more things into his arms. i admire him for a second- being so in his element and naturally confident as he whisks around the room, picking things off of shelves, his ingredients floating in front of him (held up by his wand).
i smile, taking a few steps over to him and starting to copy the things he's grabbing
"don't bother" he says, "got you it already" he gives the smallest of smiles before turning away, making his way back to our table, setting down his things, and getting to work
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i leave dinner early to run back to the dormitory and change for quidditch practice. it will be our first day back this year, and i've never been more excited. well- it would be better if draco was coming
i shake it off, throwing on my jumper and grabbing my broom before running back upstairs and out towards the pitch
"y/n!" i hear a shout from behind me on the hill, and turn to see pucey jogging towards me
"hey" i smile lightly as he reaches my side
"i wanted to talk to you before practice"
"alright" i nod
"you and malfoy are back together, right?" he starts to walk with me down the hill
"that's right" i smile. see? draco had nothing to worry about, adrian is perfectly respectful of our relationship. i look back to him as he continues talking
"any chance you can get him to join up again?"
"no way" i laugh, "he's quite stubborn"
"figures" he groans, "i'm up to my knees in shit because of him- i mean, how the hell am i supposed to find a seeker-"
"it'll be fine, adrian" i smile over at him, "you've got urquhart as the other captain now, yeah?"
"yeah, yeah, beside me as the other chaser"
"well he's great! and goyle and crabbe have always been fine beaters-"
"doesn't matter how good the rest of us are if our seeker is a rookie. got some fourth year vaisey to sign in..." he trails off, shaking his head just as we get to the entrance to the pitch, "hey, at least your full-time keeper now instead of bletchley. no more of flint benching you 'cause marcus couldn't take a girl besting him"
"always a bright side" i smirk. adrian laughs, holding open the tent and letting me onto the field. he follows me out, assembling the team members that are already there and commencing practice
it doesn't go horrible at first- definitely not as good as previous years- but not horrible. adrian's a great captain, much more encouraging than flint was and much less eager to cheat. he's always been one of the nicer slytherins.
"oi! new kid! watch it!" goyle yells as a bludger he just hit goes soaring up, nearing the vaisey's head- whack!
a loud snap echoes across the field as the bludger slams his straight in the jaw, knocking him off his broom
"oops" goyle winces, watching him fall towards the grass below
"jesus, goyle!" adrian shouts, fighting his broom to go faster and he flies towards vaisey's tumbling body, catching him just before he hits the ground, "you've just knocked out the best-!" he starts to shout, but then takes a few deep breaths, touching down to the ground, "you know.. let's just" he shakes his head, "practice over. meet back here tomorrow, same time. i've got to bring him to the infirmary" he mumbles the last bit, hoisting vaisey over his shoulder and yelling to urquhart to bring his things back to their dorm for him
i fly down from my post, looking after adrian as i walk over to goyle, who's cursing under his breath and hitting himself in the head
what an awful start to the season
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