𝒯𝒽ℯ 𝒫𝓇ℴ𝓂𝒾𝓈ℯ𝒹 𝒪𝓃ℯ | 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐟𝐨𝐲 |

#14 Dates for the Dance

Draco and I met on the astronomy tower almost ever night since then. We never arranged to meet there, we just simply knew to go right before curfew. It wasn't awkward, it wasn't strange or I didn't had a guilty conscience for that matter. After all, we were just hanging out.

As it turned out, Draco was more eager to learn about star constellations that I original thought. Maybe he just wanted me to ramble on about everything I learned, just listening I presume.

For our questioning thing, he wasted just one more question to ask about my favorite book.

I did two.

One for asking what his secret talent was he never ever showed in class or around the common room, surprisingly he claimed to be good at playing the piano which wasn't at all what I expected. Second, for asking about his future plan where he was more closed up about. The boy told me that he didn't really have an idea for his future planned out yet, he just knew what he didn't want to do and that's nothing he told me on this night.

For Maribel, she was already asleep as I returned back to the common room on the day of the Hogsmeade visit. In the morning she already was out of bed as I woken up and when I got to breakfast, I didn't see her either. Not gonna lie, it was torture to not talk to my sister for more than 24 hours, especially not telling her that I met up with Draco on the tower and more important, that I really felt good around him. But it didn't feel like this was something I could talk to her in general, which was something new, something painful.

I did see her on the afternoon when I thought about the one place which was her escape most of the time like mine was the tower - the Owlery.

As I arrived, she sat on the edge of the window, stroking Pippin's feathers who sat secure on her shoulder like he always did. As soon as she spotted me on the entrance, she signed and started to cry again.

That's how this worked.

We fought, we ignored, we met, we cried, we apologized.

So, I ran over, hugged her tight and we apologized for whatever bothered the other one. What wasn't like normal was the fact that Maribel seemed still closed up afterwards. I felt kinda distant to her, but I wouldn't dig on that as long as I could see her dealing with her current break up. This was her first love, the first time she truly cared about a boy enough to kinda betray the family traits for. If her way to deal with this included closing up, then that's the way it was. Everything to help her in any kind was fine with me.

But I didn't talk to her about Draco.

Since the exams started after Christmas break, El, Hermione, Maribel and I spent a lot of time studying in the library or Great Hall if we needed a rest from endless shelves of old books. I loved that everyone of us had their own favorite and best subject on which we helped each other out if the others needed to.

El was a professional in Astronomy, I was good too, but nothing compared to her. If she ever ended up lost in a grown over wood, she definitely would find her way back in a blink of an eye just by reading the stars.

Maribel could tell us everything about Herbology. Whatever problem had to be solved, if it was healing, strength or simply ingredients for potions. She knew which plant was the best to search for.

I, of course, was still the best in Potions. And Hermione simply took the rest on her back like History, Muggle Studies and Charms.

Preparing for the exams seemed like the right thing to do in times like this. It seemed like a natural thing, a steady task keeping the days casual. 

So, on a Wednesday morning the week before we would return for Christmas break and three days before the Yule Ball was taking place, El and I sat in the Great Hall studying again. Hermione, Ron, and Harry excused themselves to go find a way solving out the quiz in the egg and Maribel wanted to write to our parents before joining our little tutoring club. Maybe doing some damage control before we headed home.