The Malfoys and Me

16. Studies, Stress, and Sneaking Out ~Part 1~

You sigh loudly, and a prefect shushes you. You stick your tongue out at him when he turns away, but manage to contain the rest of your anguish. It's a week or two into classes, and you're already failing History of Magic. Again. Out of the corner of your eye, you see Cayla shoot you a sympathetic look (Hufflepuffs and Slytherins have a free period at the same time, and you decided to study together).

"You doing ok, Y/n?" she whispers in her distinctive American accent.

"I don't know," you sigh, and close your textbook with a thud. "Scorpius said he'd help me with History of Magic, but I guess he's been too busy with his part of our Defence Against the Dark Arts project."

"I'll put in a good word for you," she says with a wink. You start to protest, but are interrupted by yet another prefect shushing you with a passion. You shut your lips tightly, gather your books, and head for the dorms to grab your Defence Against the Dark Arts textbooks.

~-----------------------------------~

You collapse onto a squashy sofa by the fire, exhausted from a day of classes. You've barely seen Scorpius all day—he sat on the other side of the room in most of your classes—and you half hope that Cayla's talked to him about tutoring, but you really don't want to bother him with your troubles...

Someone plops onto the sofa beside you, and you look up with a start to see Scorpius beside you. He drops three giant textbooks onto the coffee table in front of you.

"Alright," he says, "here's how this is going to go; I'll tutor you in History of Magic like last year, and you'll teach me some advanced transfiguration. Deal?" you look up at him in astonishment.

"B-but I'm not—"

"Look," he says, looking you straight in the eyes, his pale face serious. "Everyone knows you're the best in our class at transfiguration—heck, you're better than some third and fourth years!—and everyone knows that I'm... very sub-par." he winces. "I... I need to get better, Y/n; I'm a Malfoy. I don't think my mum or dad will care if I'm not too good at it, but..." he looks broodingly into the fire, and you put a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey," you say gently, "I get it. Of course I'll help you with transfiguration! I would've helped you even if you didn't help me with History of Magic, you know that!" He turns to you quickly with a small, almost disbelieving smile.

"Th-thanks, Y/n," he says, straightening up. "Really. I needed that."

"Anytime." you say, and match his smile.

~-----------------------------------~

"...And then in 1783— Y/n? Y/n, are you listening?" you jerk awake. It's been weeks since Scorpius has started tutoring you. Things have been going well, all things considered, but right now he's trying to help you cram at 11 at night, and you're nearly exhausted.

"Sorry, Scorpius," you say with a yawn. "It's just all so... so..." you gesture vaguely with your quill, spattering the table with green ink.

"I get it," he says with a sigh and a small yawn of his own. "The Coven Traditions of Yugoslavia isn't exactly riveting material."

"I know what'll wake us up!" you say, and jump up, nearly startling Scorpius out of his seat. "We should prank the potions supply cupboard!"

"W-what?!" Scorpius actually does fall backwards out of his chair at that.

"Oh, come on," you say, pulling his gangling frame up into a standing position. "You act like you've never done anything like this in your life!"

"Well..." he says, and looks away. "I-I don't know about this, Y/n..."

"Oh, come on, Scorpius," you whine, "let's do something exciting for once!" he still looks indecisive, so you take both his hands, and look into his face. "Please?" He looks down at you for a second, conflicted. Finally, he drops his eyes.

"Alright," he mumbles with a gentle laugh, "but if my father finds out about this, I'll be grounded for life!"