they were just kids [draco malfoy]

Year 4 - 55

Astrid Ninomae came back inside the school triumphant.

It was the 20th of December, the school term had ended and the Yule Ball was coming closer. Astrid had spent the whole day outside searching for and then cutting apart different wide wooden planks and collecting the big pieces of bark that the trees of the Forbidden Forest had shed. The day had been a pain in the arse and the girl was quite exhausted but at least she knew it had all been worth it. Their secret Yule Ball night activity would be splendidly fun. 

Skipping over the stairs Astrid made her way into the common room and had soon plopped down on the couch next to Theo and across from where Daphne and Blaise were sat. They paused their conversation, instead, turning to look at the wee bit dishevelled girl, who had a single stain of dirt on her cheek and who had just accioed herself a random glass (probably belonging to some stranger) and conjured some water in it.

Having just taken a sip, the girl noticed the stares and stopped her movements. Astrid swallowed the water thickly, then looking over her classmates. 

"What?"

"Darling, have you seen yourself?"

Astrid snorted. "No." She looked around unimpressed. "Like I'd have a bloody mirror out by the forest."

"Well, Ash, you look horrid."

Astrid smirked, "at least I only look so today."

Daphne gasped, then letting out a laugh. Blaise put a hand over his mouth while Theo broke out in a shameless 'ouu'. Astrid's own smile was stretching from one ear to the other, though it quickly disappeared, a frightened expression exchanging it, once Daphne pulled out her wand, pointing it at the girl.

"Woah, Woah," Astrid placed down her glass of water and instead raised both her hands in the air. "I was just joking, chill out."

Daphne narrowed her eyes, jumping here eyebrows once. The girl raised her wand even higher, pointing it straight at her friend's face, and spoke an incantation.

Astrid immediately winced, covering herself with her hands, whining and expecting the worst. Not many boys might've believed that but Daphne Greengrass was very smart and quite potent too.

But Astrid felt nothing coming, her heart rate only increasing. The sound of sudden laughter made her slowly look through her fingers, making sure there was no more impending danger. As her friends kept on laughing Astrid touched her face and her hands looking for a sign of a second nose or maybe some horns having grown onto her. She checked her hair for a change of colour and ran her tongue over her teeth to make sure they hadn't grown. But nothing seemed out of order. Instead, she actually felt sort of refreshed.

"What did you do?" Astrid questioned her giggling friend who slowly stopped her laughing fit and then took a small breath to answer.

"I just cleaned your face."

Astrid crossed her arms, now a little embarrassed from having gotten frightened like that and decided to mask it with slight anger and annoyance. "What's so funny then?"

Daphne just shook her head turning back to face Blaise and placing a hand on his shoulder to gain his attention. "Back to the conversation."

"No, I don't like it," the boy whined and Daphne shushed him.

"Blaise, come on... you have to pick somebody. Those girls have been making their eyes at you for over a week already. Why haven't you chosen any one of them?"

"Yeah, Blaise," Astrid chimed in, her eyebrows perking up innocently, "why haven't you asked anybody?"

Blaise sent her a glare before turning back to look at Daphne. Everyone in the room but the blonde girl herself knew that she was the very reason he was not asking anybody else.