Ecdysis

Chapter 11 - Fourth Year: Rudimentary

Silvery green flames roared in the common room's monstrous fireplace. Someone had repositioned the Slytherin-emblazoned fire screen to the side, allowing the icy dungeons to fill with a warp of precious heat and the sweet heady scent of burning firewood. I stared at the wavy flames until my eyes stung, minutes slipping by seamlessly.

The common room was deadly quiet. Hogsmeade Saturday, upper-years were out and the first and seconds in the Great Hall for breakfast if not sleeping in. After changing into dark trousers and a wool Slytherin jumper, I headed downstairs to lounge in front of the lake view window. A cup of tea from the common room's self-replenishing kettle steaming next to my thigh, lineless parchment, self-inking quills, and a blank envelope scattered all around me.

Christmas was fast approaching and everyone was scrambling to get their holiday shopping done in time. I'd used the tunnels to sneak into Honeydukes to swipe an assortment of Toothflossing Stringmints for Mum. For Dad, I bought a large Slytherin jumper and ordered Magical Geographic books that I thought he'd like. I planned to wrap them up and send them via a school owl a week early to avoid the holiday air traffic. I was still trying to figure out how to tell them I would not return for Christmas.

Thirty minutes rolled by before footsteps resounded from the dormitory stairs. Draco rounded the corner, wearing almost exactly the same thing as I was, except his fingers were arrayed in platinum rings. He looked over his shoulder, straight at me. Fairly hidden behind the sofas, and not in the direct line of sight from the dormitory stairs, he shouldn't have noticed me right away in my little corner by the glass wall, but he'd glanced over like he knew I'd be here.

Wordlessly, he crossed the room, poured a cup of tea and summoned a ceramic sugar pot from mid-air to sweeten the oversteeped brew. Then settled on the nearest armchair, facing the fire. A serpent was carved around the jutting stone mantel, intricate scales etched into a tail that spiralled at the tip. She moved occasionally, slithering around the hearth before returning to her original position in the centre of the Slytherin crest.

The sole of Draco's leather boot made a soft thudding noise on the dusty embroidered rug, tapping an off-putting beat I could not tune out. I shot him an irritated look, though he could not see me. His hair fell down to his ears, tousled and curling slightly at the ends, possibly wet from a shower. It was odd seeing him on his own. Draco was far more intolerable in a group setting, puffing up beneath infectious beams of third-party attention as if it were the sunshine we desperately lacked. Without eyes and ears on him, he was but a shadow of himself.

As if feeling the weight of my gaze, he looked over at me, a flicker of surprise passing over his eyes. Perhaps he hadn't sensed me staring after all. I wondered if my attention unsettled him. If I'd achieved enough in my four years at Hogwarts to make him fear me just a little.

I didn't think he would speak to me, but he jutted his chin, as if to confirm he was addressing me and that we weren't the only two people in the common room. "I beat you in Potions last year," he stated, matter-of-fact.

I opened my mouth to retort, but stopped myself. He hadn't insulted me. That was new. I smoothed my expression—he hadn't insulted me, but he was wrong.

"I asked Snape about it," he went on, noting my doubt. "He said I was top of the class by half a mark. But they don't count halves, so it looked like you did better because you're Granger and I'm Malfoy. It was an alphabetical fortune on your part."

How did he expect me to respond? Pull a Pansy tantrum and storm out? Stand up and applaud his third-year efforts? Certainly, he didn't expect me to grin and shrug. So I did exactly that.

"Fine then. You beat me at one subject. I had a bad year, anyway."

"I reckon if I asked the other professors, they'd have similar answers." His eyes glinted in that way they did when he was trying to get a rise out of someone. Draco had mastered the scowl and the snark, but couldn't yet hide the sentiments from his eyes.