| Puffskein
Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Canada
Posts: 2,438
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Chapter 28
The Studying
Slytherin won the match against Ravenclaw that weekend. Because of that, we didn’t have to play in the game scheduled for next weekend against Gryffindor. Unfortunately, that meant Harry would be practicing more throughout the week and be busy for that entire weekend. So, I decided to try reconnecting with Aurelia. I hadn’t spoken with her all week; I actually felt this weird pain over the matter that I’d never felt before. What was it called, again? Something with a G...
“So, how’ve you been?” I asked, smiling slightly as I sat down next to her at the Slytherin table.
She refused to look up at me.
“Fine. You?” She took another bite of her eggs.
“Fine I guess. Anything new?”
“I dunno, anything new with you that you haven’t yet told me?”
Well the positive thing is she looked up at me... even if it was to glare.
“Nothing important; it can wait. What about you? Any luck with... British guys?” I smiled. She scowled.
“No, like I planned before. No British guys. At least while I’m here. It’s already April – exams coming up and school almost over forever for us. No point getting tangled up now.” Her tone was noticeably sharper when she said the last phrase. I sighed, trying not to let it get to me, and turning back to my breakfast.
“Do you plan on watching today’s match?”
“Maybe. Why?”
“Just curious.”
She stopped eating. She looked at her half-filled plate and got up.
“Where’re you going?”
“The loo, wanna join me?”
I scowled, remembering when I told her the same at Christmas. She got up and walked out, leaving the Great Hall.
“What did you do to her?” Daphne slid down, filling Aurelia’s emptied space.
“I dunno,” I responded, shrugging. “Maybe she’s sick of me.”
Daphne chuckled and switched plates so she was now sitting next to me. “So, you sent Pansy to the hospital wing last week?”
“Yup,” I responded and took a bite of the last of my eggs, ignoring the fact she didn’t even try to deny my statement and changed the topic to do so. I started cutting into my sausage.
“What happened?” Daphne accidentally screeched her knife across her plate audibly, making me cringe as I took a bite of sausage.
“She got in the way for the final time.” I took a bite of the meat on my fork.
“You didn’t... kill her... right?” her eyes widened.
“No, I don’t mean like that,” I responded, rolling my eyes. “I mean I hope it’ll be the final time she bugs me; like, she’s finally learned not to get in my way.”
Daphne snorted. “The day Pansy learns to butt out of peoples’ business is the day Draco learns to consider other peoples’ feelings. It just isn’t going to happen.”
I didn’t respond to that. Ever since the night Draco snogged me, I’ve really started to doubt just about everything I thought I knew. First the truth about my father, then my mother’s lies, and now him? What’s next?
“Rosa? You sick or something?” Daphne snapped her fingers twice in front of my eyes.
“What?” I snapped, my head turning to her.
“You didn’t add an insult. About Draco. You always do.”
“Sorry, I guess I’m tired.” I finished my sausage. “I should get ready, my bag is a mess.” I got up. “See you in DADA.”
“Yeah,” she responded, continuing to eat.
The rest of the day was rather boring, just like every other day lately. Practically everyone else in my classes that I had Draco in noticed something had been wrong for the past week; we’d gone from regular fights to avoiding each other at all costs to a total freeze-out. It was more awkward now than before, honestly. If it was awkward for me, I could only imagine how it felt to everyone else.
It was 3:30pm when my last class, DADA, ended. I gathered my things quickly and left. I was hurriedly making my way to the common room, but was stopped before going too far.
“Hey.”
A hand grabbed me by the shoulder and spun me around. People really had to stop doing that. I turned with it, ready to yell at whoever it was, but realized it was just Harry.
“Hey. How’re you?” I asked, legitimately smiling.
“Not bad, but I was more curious about you.”
My eyebrow rose. I turned around and began walking; Harry walked alongside me.
“Is something wrong...?”
“What makes you think that?” I cut in.
“Well considering you and Malfoy have been at each others’ throats like two dogs in a fight to the death since September and now you two just suddenly started avoiding each other at all costs and not speaking... something’s wrong.”
Oh, something was wrong indeed. But I wasn’t about to tell him the truth. He freaked out about the bruise that came from him; this would only fuel the fire.
“You know when fights just get so out of hand you start to ignore the other person?”
Harry opened his mouth, but a confused expression joined his expression. “Not exactly.”
“Well... that’s all it is. Grow, grow, grow, plot thickens, climax, falling action...”
“No resolution anytime soon?”
I scoffed while simultaneously fighting back the tears that pooled in my eyes; I knew when the ‘resolution’ would come and it wouldn’t be pleasant.
“The only time a resolution will be happening is when one of us is dead,” I responded. We were heading for the library. I was at least; I bet he was going to go to practice shortly.
Harry chuckled. “Better him than you.” As we entered the library, he squeezed my shoulder. I managed a smile and passed through a maze of shelves until I found an empty table. I dropped my things onto it and sat down. He sat down opposite to me and I started yanking out my books. I still couldn’t believe exams were starting in 5 weeks – I had to start studying more. As I started flipping pages, I felt Harry’s warm fingers graze the skin of my cheek as he brushed some of my carmel-coloured, purple-streaked hair behind my ear.
I was on edge. The next while that passed was spent with my reading and taking notes while Harry just... watched. When he checked his watch after while, he said, “I have to go.”
“Practice?” I looked up from my book to him.
“Yeah. Until dinner, probably. Big game’s tomorrow.” He smiled.
“Good luck.”
“Thanks.”
I let him kiss me as he got up and left, hurrying just a bit. I stared out into the space where Harry just stood, considering the feel of his mouth on mine. Why was I comparing his many kisses to Draco’s one? It was really beginning to annoy me; I hate what Draco stands for, I hate him.
Turning back to my book, I continued reading and taking notes in silence.
“You haven’t told him yet.”
I looked up and saw Ginny standing behind the chair directly across from me. “What makes you say that?”
“He’s still around you.”
“Maybe he accepted it.”
“Or maybe you just didn’t tell him.”
I scowled and she sat down, leaning back in her chair as if it made her look cool. “There’s one other thing you left out...”
My eyes widened, despite me telling myself not to let them do it. She leaned forwards in her chair, over the table. She smiled. “Who would’ve guessed the daughter of Sirius Black is also engaged... by arranged marriage.”
I levitated my text book and sent it flying at her simultaneously. She managed to block it, and the book dropped onto the desk with a thud.
“Only few people know. How in the world did you get that one out of them?” I demanded.
“I have my ways.” She smiled. “Apparently Mrs. Malfoy and an alleged Ms. Black have been putting in orders for some flower bouquets. You know, for the bride and her bridesmaids?”
My fists clenched. I broke my quill in half. The sharp ends of the quill poked into my skin, making me want to itch like mad.
“You haven’t been out of...”
“You know how you insulted me for having such a big family? Well it turns out that also comes to a great advantage.” She smiled wryly.
I bet it was those blasted Weasley twins who own the bloody joke shop in Diagon Alley. I knew I’d end up hating them one of these days.
“Look, Rosa,” she started sweetly. “Wouldn’t this be considered cheating? Or is it already considered having an affair?”
I grabbed my book and slammed it shut. I shoved it into my back. I started to put the top onto my ink container and put that into my bag.
“And now you walk away. Do you do that every time you’re faced with a problem you don’t wish to solve?”
I pushed myself out of my seat and stood up.
“Would it be considered two-timing if you’re having an affair with Harry yet make out with your fiancé? I mean, he is your fiancé, yet you’re with Harry, so you’re having an affair, which is like two-timing Malfoy, but now that you’re with Malfoy would that be two-timing Harry too? Or is there a whole new terminology for that? Maybe three-timing?”
I spun around on my heel. “What?” I snarled. How the hell is she so omniscient?
She smirked back at me.
“You remember the prefect you and Malfoy ran into while bringing Parkinson to the hospital wing? Well, let’s just say he witnessed more than he expected that night.”
“I’m gonna kill him,” I mumbled angrily.
“No need for violence,” Ginny said calmly, getting up as well. “Just keep in mind the longer you put off telling Harry, the worse it’ll be.”
“If you tell him yourself I will personally hunt you down and send you to St. Mungo’s. Maybe you’ll turn out like the Longbottoms.”
Ginny glared at me venomously. “You don’t have long until the end of school. Watch your back.” She then spun on her heel and walked off. I growled and turned around, stalking off in the opposite direction.
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Last edited by MalfoyzBeloved; 09-28-2010 at 10:26 PM.
Reason: deleting un-story-related comment
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