simple

10.

Hera strutted down the halls in her tall black leather boots. A black beret covered her hair and kept her head warm against the bitter November winter air. She was headed down to the library when Yasmine ran up to her.

"Your mother is here! She's upstairs, waiting. I'd say it's best you not keep her waiting. She seems to be in a hurry..."

"Well" Hera said, stopping her from going any further. " She can't simply demand my presence at whatever time suits her best interest, and I have things to do. Please tell her I'll be in the library if she needs anything."
Yasmine nodded violently and obeyed, vanishing.

Now surrounded by books, Hera resisted the urge to lean down and smell the pages of what she was reading: Atmospheric Spells. It was a large yet thin one; paper aged and browned.

"Was this necessary, dear?" Diona Nostrova said as she apparated into a chair next to Hera. She was wearing an extravagant fur coat, which Hera knew was to simply show off around Hogwarts. "You know how little time we have to spend together, and now we have to do it in a dusty environment too! How I wish you would be more pleasant sometimes and remember that I have allergies! How I wish you would be more pleasant at all, in fact..."

"A pleasure to see you too, Mother."

A few moments of awkward silence passed as Hera flipped through the pages.

"So, darling, I've missed you! How have you been, Hera?"

"I've been diligently studying, as you can see, Mother. And how are you?" She didn't look up from her book.
She didn't want to.

"Well, I am here with a purpose, dear. I've been notified by your father that you must receive your inheritance now. On account of some assets moving around, that's all. This is simply a visit of bureaucracy, I'm afraid."

Hera flinched. Her father was dead.

This was his will.

She tried to compose herself mentally.

"Of course," she said quietly, swallowing. "Just give me the papers. I shall read them and mail them to you."

"That's a good girl! Always reading the terms of an agreement like we taught you. One should always know what they're getting themselves into when signing a contract! Read and sign every page, " she recited, almost like a poem or an old saying. "Even if we're your parents!"

"Of course," Hera replied dryly. Her mother seemed to relax in her chair, changing the subject.

"So how are things? Any new gossip? Do you have a boyfriend?"

"Ah, yes. An essential question," she said with contempt. "There is no gossip. Not around me anyways. It never seems to reach me, it seems."

"Then perhaps it's all about you, Hera. Gossip avoids those who are impenetrable. And this, mind you, can also lead to downfall. "

"Perhaps." She wasn't in the library, she was somewhere else, far away.

"What about boys? You didn't answer my question." Any deep path their conversations would take would always find its way up to the surface again.

"I don't have a boyfriend, mother. However, I do think somebody is terribly fond of me."

"Oh my! So there is a boy!" she sqealed.

Clearly the concept of 'library' was hard to grasp. Luckily, they were alone.

"You're not going to tell me who it is, are you?"

"Something tells me you already know."

"I know nothing, silly."

Diona Nostrova shifted in her seat and crossed her arms. This gave her away. Hera looked up and raised her eyebrows towards her mother.

"Don't look at me like that, Hera, you'll get forehead wrinkles. I just think it would benefit us both if you were honest," she added quickly.

"Is that right?" Hera said, dumbfounded by the hypocrisy of her mother saying that to her. "No, please, my mind is feeling a bit foggy today, please repeat yourself. I be honest? What about you, mother? "

Diona's eyes darted away from Hera. She stood up from her chair and wandered around the table slowly. Hera's breathing was aggravated by her anger that inevitably seeped to the surface of her skin, upon realising that her mother had tempered with the weather.

"I really don't know what's gotten into you, dear. Your cheeks are all red."

"You know very well how I don't like parental interference in my affairs. Why did you do it? What's it to you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, Hera," her mother answered defensively, fixing her hair as if she had somewhere to go.

"Never do that again," Hera threatened.

"It was lovely seeing you again, my dear. Send me the contract back, when you can, " she said and was gone in the blink of an eye.

A ray of sunshine shone onto the long wooden table and held within it millions of dust particles.They floated in the golden light, undisturbed by her mother's visit unlike she was. The books kept everything quiet, and there were only the comforting whispers of the other students behind bookcases that could be heard. Hera closed her eyes and sighed deeply.

When she opened them, Draco was sitting in front of her, on the other side of the table nonchalantly, looking at his nails. She flinched a bit, surpised.

"You've been avoiding me, Nostrova," he whispered. "Why is that?"

She sighed again, a bit annoyed that her peace had been disturbed, but also looking for a convincing enough answer in her head. Her heart's obvious flutter was ignored.

"It was uncharacteristic of me, that night. Kissing you, I mean," she whispered back. "I've taken decades before getting to that point with others. "

Draco considered this for a moment:
"So you're saying it scares you we've taken so little to get to this point?"

Hera thought about it. It did scare her how much she felt understood by Draco, without even exchanging many words. It did. Perhaps that's what she was actuallt scared of: the intimacy between them.

"No," she whispered quickly.

Draco frowned, but his lips rose into a grin. He had never seen her even the slightest bit nervous. She was, now.
"You're lying, Nostrova, you're scared,"

"I don't want to do anything that isn't like me, Malfoy. I was slightly drunk, too, so don't get ahead of yourself."

Hera was really trying to not look preoccupied but it was not working, and she seemed to be spilling out words before she had the chance to go over them in her mind.

"Sounds like you're being defensive to me," Draco said, rising from his chair. Hera shook her head and looked out to where the ray of light was coming from. She couldn't think of a response that was not stupid nor would make her sound defensive. So she tried looking annoyed instead, rolling her eyes. She continued to stay silent and watch the dust particles, not looking at him.

"I'd be okay with this distant approach if it were anybody else, Nostrova. But I'm afraid this won't do," he said, coming to sit on a chair next to her. "I need...to know you."

She swallowed hard, not being able to look him in the eye. Oh, fuck. She wasn't able to look him in the eye. His low voice was very attractive to her, and she knew that she was blushing very hard right now. At times, she cursed her pale white skin. She was cursing herself again and again mentally for reacting this way to Draco Malfoy.

When she said nothing, Draco did not know what to do except for keep talking. He rested one arm on the table and searched for her gaze with his eyes:
"I've let down all of my guards for you. If you do not wish to do the same, I understand, but don't let me go on like this, seeing you everyday and wondering if you share my feelings. Wanting you. Better tell me to piss off now and spare me my time."

Hera squeezed her eyes closed but opened them quickly.

"Piss off, Malfoy," she said.

He was gone when she opened them.