My Father Can't Hear About This | Draco Malfoy

Pumpkins

I scuttled out of potions class just before anyone else could catch up to me. Draco knew something. His face had said it. If you would have read the room after I described my Amortentia scent, you would know that something is going on in Draco's head that I am missing. I knew he would take interest in speaking to me after class, so I zipped out the door as fast as I could to not let that happen. Not yet.

Hermione caught up to me as I was on my way out the door, headed towards Hagrid's hut even though I had no damn idea where I was going - just wandering to clear my head.

"Elle, are you alright? Do you need to talk?"

I whipped my head towards her and she could see the blankness on my face that something wasn't quite right. "Let's go to Hagrid's. We can speak there in peace." I nodded. And thank Merlin, because I had no idea where I was going at the moment.

~

We arrived at Hagrid's. He didn't seem to be there, but he usually didn't mind if the trio (including me accompanying Hermione) came in and stayed a bit if they had no where else to go.

"Alohomora." Hermione had whipped out her wand and aimed it towards the locked door, which was now unlocked after using the Unlocking Charm.

A deep growl could be heard as the door creaked open. There sat the most massive boarhound the world has ever seen. The growling stopped as Hagrid's dog, Fang, recognized who was entering the hut. He was a softy on the inside. Probably the least ferocious beast you could ever meet, even though he was trying to be an unnerving guard dog.

"So, tell me what's the matter. Something seems to be troubling you." I didn't respond. Instead, I stood facing the window, gazing at the massive walls of Hogwarts. What a magnificent sight it is from down here. "Eleanor." I made eye contact with Hermione.

There is no way in hell I could spill the beans about Draco. There's no way I could tell her his future. No way that I could tell her my plan. Well, that is, if I had a plan. This boy had me stuck. In the past year or so I have been stuck in a loop. Anytime I tried to hang around him, even for a moment, he was preoccupied whether that was with Pansy or with being a bully to anyone but his measly little friend group. Trying to have a real conversation with this boy, I would get lost in his eyes, or I would fantasize about what his hair smelled like; That was, until I would just be called a 'mudblood' or some insulting shit like that and my daydreams of him would end and I would have no other choice but to walk away as if it didn't bother me too much. He wanted a reaction from me, and there's no fucking way I was going to give it to him. Not if I am to get on his good side one day. One day.

"I don't know." I lied. Hermione could read me like a book, and she reads a lot.

"I just can't figure out the meaning behind my Amortentia scent. I mean, I got some odd looks from my housemates when I described what I smelled. What could it be? Is it something bad?"

Hermione was thinking. "I don't think so. I mean, I like mint. It reminds me of toothpaste, which is what I smelled from the potion. And for green apples. That is just oddly specific." She paused a brief moment. "I can only correlate green apples with one person and that is Draco Malfoy."

I leaned back against the window in thought. Maybe she was right. I had been watching Draco for the past few years. And I knew a few things about him. He is egotistical, his favorite color is green, he likes to bully people that he feels are inferior to him to boost his self esteem (power hungry much?), he relies on his father when he is in trouble, and his favorite snack is.. apples. Green apples.

"I don't believe he would even smell like apples though, so it could really mean anything." Hermione added. "And besides, who on this Earth would smell Malfoy of all people in their Amortentia potion?"

"Other than pig-nosed Pansy of course." I chuckled that sentence out. Hermione did not think it was so funny. She could despise Draco all she wanted, but she rarely made fun of anyone else, and she looked at me as if I truly belonged in Slytherin. I apologized. I did not want her to shun me for being in Slytherin. I did not choose this life.

Fang suddenly perked up. I could hear Buckbeak rattling his chain outside. Something was surely stirring up trouble out there if the animals were making racket.

Hermione and I stepped outside, locking the door behind us. We drew our wands as we travelled down the steps to see what the commotion was around us, just in case of a danger.

Promenading down the hill was Draco, followed by Pansy of course. What a shocker.

"Playing hard-to-get, huh, mudblood?" Draco bellowed at me. There was that word again, except this time it could pertain to either me or my sister, but I knew he was talking directly to me. I could feel Hermione's gaze on me, giving me a 'WTF' face, but I ignored her. I was more focused on this boy strutting down the hill towards me, with his black robe fluttering behind him.

He stopped a few feet in front of us, Pansy at his flank. "I had to catch up with you sometime Granger. We need to talk." He stared right at me with some sort of smirk on his face. I stared right back. I couldn't tell what that smirk was for.

"And what do you want with her, Malfoy?" Hermione interrogated. Man I love when she stood up for me, like a big sister would. But now was not the time.

"I need to speak to your younger sister.. alone." He insisted. Anyone would be able to tell that he wasn't taking no for an answer. "Parkinson. Go." And just like that, she obeyed his order like the little puppy that she is and staggered back up the hill, turning her head around to check back on her leader every so often. What a surprise.

"Hermione. I'll be okay. Go on. I'm sure you've got another class to get to, right?" This was me trying to propel her to be a good student and get to class, and to be a good sister and leave me be when I ask. She huffed a bit, I'm not sure if Draco heard it, but she left us alone and followed Pansy back into the castle.

"What is it, Malfoy?" I locked eyes with him. He could see that I was getting defensive.

"What was that Amortentia shit you spoke of? Are you trying to mess with me, Granger?" He stammers, inching closer to me.

I stand my ground. "I have no fucking clue what you're talking about."

"Don't give me that. I heard everything that you described, mint, green apples.. do you think I am an idiot?"

At this point I am even more confused. Yes, I smelled those things. Why is he so persistent on questioning me about it? "Again, I have no fucking idea what you are talking about, Malfoy."

His face backed away, as if he was also confused, but his body kept creeping closer. "Did you make those scents up?"

"No, I didn't. Why are you asking?" I backed my foot up slowly, only to be stopped by the large pumpkin behind me. Well shit. He was only a foot or so away from me now. Inches.

"I smelled pumpkins. And isn't it just ironic that I find you at this oaf's house.. surrounded by pumpkins? Am I attracted to this field or some shit?" He is now just inches from me now. I hold my ground, but there is no where I would be able to go but forward, and I'm not doing that. He was close. He was trying to interrogate me. He was trying to get something out of me, but I wouldn't budge.

I could tell Draco was smelling something. He was thinking, too. He leaned in a little closer and I could hear him inhale. Well this is getting a little weird. "I can smell your hair, mudblood. Do you purposely smell like pumpkins now? Or did I smell you in my potion?" He grabs my wrist, as if I were planning to run from him or something stupid. He leaned in closer and lowered his voice. "I find it hard to believe that I would love the scent of a mudblood such as yourself."

In that moment, his eyes were locked into mine. I could read him. His face and his body language read that he was threatening, intimidating, superior to me. But his eyes. Those beautiful gray eyes showed me something different. You could unravel mysteries behind those eyes if you studied them long enough. While he was known as this dark and evil being on the outside, I could see in his eyes that he had no intention of hurting me.

I pulled my wrist away from his cold, now sweaty, hand. He was so close, that I could smell the minty cologne that he spritzed on himself this morning and I could detect the scent of the green apple he had eaten earlier on his breath...