Fire & Ice - A Draco Malfoy fanfiction

Chapter 24 - And why is that a bad thing?

When You Are Ashes Remember This: they will insult you, hurt you, defeat you, betray you, injure you, set you aflame and watch you burn.

But they will not, shall not, cannot destroy you. Because you, like Rome, were built on ashes, and you, like a phoenix, know how to riseand resurrect.

- Nikita Gill

"I swear to Merlin, Malfoy, if you don't stop messing around I will hex your arse into oblivion", I snapped at him. I had sat down in front of Draco during Charms and he had spent the entirety of Flitwick's lecture levitating locks of my hair. I shot him my nastiest glare, but he just grinned in satisfaction. Ever since I had left the Pucey debacle behind me, he had gone back to annoying me and enjoying it thoroughly.

But not even seconds later, another one of my pieces of hair miraculously started dancing in front of my face.

"Titillando", I whispered, swishing my wand in Draco's direction. The tickling hex was harmless and even less harmful than it's big brother Rictusempra, but I knew that Draco would feel humiliated if anyone caught him giggling in class.

I grinned in satisfaction as I heard him squirm behind me, trying not to make a sound. I turned around casually and grinned at his clenched jaw and slightly red face.

"Everything alright, Malfoy?" I asked innocently, to which he scowled. He grabbed his wand and forced out a counter-curse, causing his muscles to relax again.

"I'll get you back for that, Selwyn", he growled. I shrugged and slumped back down in my chair, but I could feel his glare on the back of my head.

"Since when do you and Malfoy get along?" Tracey whispered suspiciously.

"Get along?" I huffed. "I'd hardly call that getting along." Flitwick was eyeing us suspiciously so I tried focusing on today's lesson again.

Charms was the last class on Monday, which resulted in a few hours of free time before supper. Spring was very slowly starting to break through the freezing winter weather, so we found ourselves in the Courtyard to enjoy the first genuine rays of sunshine.

"So, have you heard who our new Divination teacher is going to be?" Daphne huffed, wrapping her cloak a bit tighter around her.

"No, who?" I frowned. Professor Trelawney got sacked the other day by none other than Dolores Umbridge. I thought the woman was an absolute nutter, but nothing Umbridge did was justified.

"Firenze, one of the centaurs from the Forbidden Forest. Has Dumbledore actually become demented?" I had never been in the Forbidden Forest before, but I had heard and read about the centaurs. Centaurs didn't even like humans, so why hire one as a teacher?

"Well, certainly beats Trelawney's wack predictions all the time", Tracey shrugged.

A group of Slytherins walked by, Adrian among them, so I turned my head.

"Has he still been trying to talk to you?" Tracey asked.

"No, hasn't looked at me since I lashed out at him. As he should", I said. Adrian had followed my advice and stayed far away from me, where he should be.

"How about you? Still strung up on Draco Malfoy?" Tracey turned to Daphne.

"It's no use, he doesn't like me like that", she shrugged. "Spends more time around Lea than around me lately. That means he really is avoiding me."

"That's no true", I said, but I had no proper arguments. "He just likes to get under my skin, that's all."

"But he still prefers that over hanging out with me", she said, resting her head in her hand. Why couldn't she just get over this bloke? He was not that special and had nothing to offer her. It was quiet for a while.