Sincerely, Yours (Draco Malfoy X Reader)

Chapter 3 ~ A Potions Parley

After leaving Malfoy at the Hospital Wing the other day, Y/n returned to Hagrid's lesson and still got a full forty minutes before lunch started. It was a great decision to have Hagrid as a Professor but worry tugged Y/n's mind knowing that Malfoy might blabber to his father about Buckbeak. All her friends suspected the same thing. Hagrid just needed to be a little stricter.

Y/n and Aura sat in the Great Hall finishing up their first week's assignments, sitting a few spaces up from the trio. Y/n was deep in thought, failing to answer the questions for her Transfiguration work. Aura broke the silence, "So, you and Jack caught up yet?"

"Yeah, sort of." Y/n nodded, feeling a mixture of relief and frustration. Dropping her quill on the table, she gave up momentarily on her assignment. Y/n was a diligent student, academically strong, and had been excelling in all her subjects. However, she knew that staying ahead of the curve was crucial, especially with the increasing difficulty of the content.

Aura raised an eyebrow, curiosity piqued. "Oh? Well, haven't you talked before yesterday?"

Y/n shook her head. Things were just so busy, but it was rather odd the distance between Jack and the girls. "I guess we haven't had the chance to properly see him. Do you want to go look for him after Potions?"

Aura agreed, her attention only half on the conversation as she continued reading her book. "Sure. By the way, the answer is Lapifors to question three," she said, pointing at Y/n's notebook. With a grateful smile, Y/n quickly jotted down the correction.

"Listen to the idiot. He's really laying it on thick, isn't he?" Ron muttered in disgust. Malfoy was complaining to Pansy, Crabbe and Goyle about the hardships of having a sprained arm. He even had a sling on.

Y/n turned towards them, expressing similar concerns "I don't have a good feeling about this. Either way, Hagrid's going to be in a lot of trouble."

Seamus ran over to their table, slamming a newspaper on the table "He's been sighted! He's been sighted!" Everyone rose from their seats, crowding around the newspaper. Y/n peered over Harry's shoulder.

"Dufftown, that's not far from here," Hermione said, biting her lip. Y/n stared at the front page of The Daily Prophet, where Sirius Black's face screamed in agony and desperation. "You don't think he'd come to Hogwarts, do you?" Neville asked.

A knot twisted in Y/n's stomach at the mere mention of the Dementors. "Dementors, he slipped past them once already. Who is to say he won't do it again?" Seamus countered. That's a very good point, or Sirius Black could have been really lucky. Dementors were guarding the entire castle but if someone like Voldemort could infiltrate the castle without anyone's notice, then why could not the prisoner of Azkaban?

"That's right. Black could be anywhere. It's like trying to catch smoke," the boy from the Divination class said, his voice carrying an air of uncertainty. "Like trying to catch smoke with your bare hands."

Aura cleared her throat mentioning, "He was imprisoned for the murder of twelve Muggles and his former best friend Peter Pettigrew. Pettigrew was a student here at Hogwarts, in Gryffindor."

Y/n shook her head, not knowing what to believe. The Daily Prophet had a way of spinning everything. Though, the name Peter Pettigrew sounded familiar to Y/n but she could not remember why. Perhaps, she'd read it somewhere.

~
Y/n entered the Potions classroom, the first class of the new school year. Professor Snape was at the front of the room, fumbling with pieces of parchments looking stern as ever. Y/n made her way to the table in the first row, towards the left next to the wall. Malfoy was already seated there. He leaned over pieces of parchments and his notebook. He was reading intently and occasionally casting glances at the cauldron in the middle of the long marble table. To Y/n's dismay, Malfoy was once again her potions partner, for the third year in a row. Despite the animosity between them, Professor Snape claimed that they had a good working dynamic, which Y/n refused to believe. Although, Y/n knew it was true. Nevertheless, the two of them had developed a set of rules over the years to ensure they could work together properly.