by my side¹ - d. malfoy

Fourteen

CHRISTMAS AT Hogwarts seemed over the top to Laura. Based on what Draco had told Laura, it usually wasn't that grand, but since there were other schools, they wanted to impress them.

The Great Hall had twelve giant trees lined up, and the regal look accompanied food. The house elves were cooking up a storm, yet it seemed as if Fleur was the only one who had critiques on the food.

"It is too heavy, all this Hogwarts food," Laura heard her say one night. "I will not fit into my dress!"

"I can't believe she's complaining about that," Laura laughed, snorting. Fleur turned to see who laughed. Laura turned to Blaise, starting to talk about Quidditch.

"So, who do you think is going to win?"

"Ireland, for sure," Blaise said, catching on.

"Lame, they definitely aren't," Laura said, seeing as Fleur narrowed her eyes but turned away. "Thanks, Blaise," she added, winking at him.

"Of course, Laura," Blaise grinned, sending her a wink back.

"Well, I'll be back," Laura said, getting up.

She needed to ask Harry something, so she started for the Gryffindor table. When she walked over, Ron was interrogating Hermione.

"Hermione- who are you going to the ball with?" Ron had asked.

"I'm not telling you," Hermione sighed, "you'll just make fun of me."

"You're joking, Weasley!" Draco said the Gryffindors all turned around.

Laura jumped; she hadn't realized Draco had trailed after her.

"You're not telling me someone's asked that to the ball? Not the long-molared Mudblood?" he asked. Harry and Ron looked enraged, but Hermione cheerfully waved to someone behind Draco.

"Hello, Professor Moody," she said.

Draco went pale and turned around to see if Moody was there, but he was still sitting at the staff table. Laura had to admit even she was a little nervous to see if Moody was there.

"Twitchy little ferret, aren't you, Malfoy?" Hermione said scathingly, getting up and leaving.

"I need to talk to you about something later," Laura told Harry. Harry nodded, and he and Ron followed after Hermione.

Laura then turned around to see Draco cursing something under his breath. Laura laughed a bit, seeing his expression; he was still pale from the scare.

"What's that for, Potter," he snapped, seeing her laughing at him.

"Pickering," Laura said, rolling her eyes at him. "I think you deserved that, Malfoy."

"Think that was funny, do you?" he asked, folding his arm.

"Yeah," Laura smiled, "and? What are you gonna do about it?"

"Oh?" Draco said, a smirk replacing his scowl, "I have a few ideas."

"Shut it, Blondie," Laura said, covering his mouth with her hand, "I don't want to hear any of them."

🪐➶.✧༄

Laura and her roommates woke up bright and early on Christmas morning. None of them wasted any time finding the presents sat waiting for them at the foot of their bed.

The first one Laura opened was from Pansy. It was a Hogwarts-branded snitch, which Laura adored. Blaise had gotten her two gifts, the first being a Bulgarian jersey with Viktor's number as a gag gift. The other gift was a jade rock bracelet. Her gift from Snape was a small photo album with the Hogwarts crest on the cover.