All the Wrong Things (The Rights and Wrongs series) #2

6

Thursday, February 1, 1996

Severus has been staring at me for fifteen minutes.

I know it's a test. I know he's probably reading me at this very moment.

But damn, I'm bored.

I've been coming to his office twice a week for the past month. I've been meditating, and clearing my mind three times a day per his instructions. We've built walls – literal walls. Last week I came in and there were bricks and mortar waiting for me. Two hours later I had made a three-foot-high brick wall.

But he hasn't mentioned the bloody jewelry box once. It still sits at the bottom of my trunk, hidden underneath spare robes and old parchment.

I don't take my eyes away from his. But I do start on my Ancient Runes essay. Mentally. Ten minutes later he finally speaks.

"I think you're thinking of late Egyptian. Not Scandinavian."

I blink, for what feels like the first time in half an hour. He lifts a brow at me.

"Congratulations, Draco," he says. "You failed your first test." He crosses his arms and swoops away from me.

My mouth opens and closes. I huff. "How did I fail if I didn't know what the test was?"

"Do you think the Dark Lord will give you a warning before he searches your mind?" He warms a kettle by his desk. My cheeks warm with it.

"This is ridiculous." I stand, grabbing for my school bag. "You haven't taught me anything! You're shit at this, you know that?" I spin on my heel, a move I learned from him and stomp to the door.

"Do you want to know what I learned while you were working on your Ancient Runes essay?"

"No." I'm reaching for the handle on the door.

"Miss Granger drinks coffee, not tea." This stops me, my back still facing him. "She laughs to herself more often than she laughs out loud." I swallow. "She likes Sugar Quills. And while that revelation led me down a rabbit hole of dark fantasies I wish I'd never followed—"

"Stop."

"—The fact remains that your mind is not as well prepared as you think it to be. Miss Granger is not safe as long as you remain incompetent."

I spin back to him. "Safe?! How am I going to endanger her? She does a just fine job of that herself!"

He studies me. "He has plans for you, Draco. You must know."

I blink at him. I pretend I do know. "And?"

"And your loyalty will be tested."

I march back to him. "I am loyal to the Dark Lord," I hiss.

"For Miss Granger's sake, I hope so."

I stare at him. The tea kettle whistles. He turns and pours himself a cup.

"Are you ready to begin again?" he asks.

The muscle in my jaw ticks. "I cannot comprehend the idea that the Dark Lord would spend hours searching my mind. Your lessons make no sense," I seethe.

"It's not about the hours, Draco. It's about patience and training." He sips his tea, and then sets it on his desk.

"Patience and training for what? You've told me nothing of that damned jewelry box or how any of this will actually help me –"

"Legilimens," he whispers.

A bolt of light speeds towards me, and I throw up a brick wall in surprise.