36 Questions // Draco Malfoy

Chapter 3: Trying Again

    "How's your project coming along?" Hermione asked Amelia as she combed her fingers through her hair.

     "Hermione, I can't do this," Amelia admitted, still in her pajamas. "He's insufferable."

     The girls were in their dormitory, getting ready to head down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Hermione and Amelia were typically the first ones awake and out the door, but unfortunately for Hermione, Amelia had lost all motivation and refused to get out of bed this particular morning. Hermione knew her two options were to either miss breakfast or to convince her best friend to get out of bed so the two of them wouldn't starve.

     "It's just a class project," Hermione reasoned, fastening her robes in the view of the floor length mirror perched between their beds.. "It's not like you have to be his friend."

     Amelia collapsed face first back onto bed, unable to muster the energy to get up. "I just want an easy O," she exclaimed, muffled through her pillow. "He is anything but easy."

     "Well, what's your topic?"

     Amelia was embarrassed to say, but she knew Hermione would be the last person to tease her. She pointed blindly at the newspaper that was folded on her nightstand. "The 36 Questions."

     "Oh that's clever!" Hermione smiled, eyes glazing over the article that Amelia had bookmarked. "My parents asked each other the questions when they were first dating. They have the answers typed up in their wedding album and–" she paused. "...I can see how that is not the most...comfortable...topic to study with Malfoy."

     Amelia sat up, blankets still tucked under her chin. "It's a great idea. If it were literally anyone else," she groaned. "I swear he thinks I'm trying to make him fall for me or something."

     "Millie, I think you're stressing out for no reason," Hermione reasoned, sitting next to her best friend on the bed, offering her a hairbrush. "If you're so worried, just see if he brings it up today. If he does, just suffer through the rest of the project. If he doesn't, come up with a new project."

     Amelia sighed. "You're right."

     She completely expected Draco to never mention a word about the project and for her to have to initiate the conversation about their new topic, And when he barely nodded as they passed in the halls, she was sure of it. Amelia spent lunch racking her brain for a new idea, but she couldn't come up with anything remotely interesting. Most of the topics that crossed her mind were from her other friends' projects, and she found it impossible to clear her head long enough to make room for an original thought. After lunch, she made a beeline for the library, taking a shortcut through the courtyard to get a breath of fresh air. She barely watched where she was going as she walked swiftly through the grass.

     "Where you off to, Alderidge?"

     The familiar voice stopped her in her tracks. She turned to see Draco sitting by the tree, clearly waiting for her.

     "Not trying to bail on me, are you?" he said smugly.

     "No, I–" Amelia tried to think of an excuse off the top of her head. "I left something in the library. I was just going to grab it real fast."

     "Get it later," he said impatiently. "I'm not waiting out here all day."

     Amelia sighed, letting her bookbag slide off her shoulder as she sat down in front of him.

     "Ok what happened yesterday isn't going to work," Draco said bluntly. "Not if we want to pass this damn class."

     "I was thinking the same thing," Amelia felt a sense of relief that Draco was leading the conversation so she didn't have to. "It was stupid and I–"