Masquerade (Dramione)

chapter 11

"You have no idea how good it is to see you." I exhaled in relief. A friendly smile danced across October's face and I couldn't help but compare him to Draco, which I hated myself for. October smiled easily, it was like he felt obligated to be cheerful at all times, like a real life Christmas elf. The constant presence of his smile was almost off putting. Dracos smiles were different, they were few and far between, but they always felt genuine. Something about October personality seemed practiced, he was almost too well mannered.

"You seemed a little down." October murmured, unbuckling the straps on his satchel. He pulled out a couple of large books and placed them on the table, the large serving plates automatically slid down and created space, I was once again in awe of the convenience of Magic, Wizards really didn't understand how good they had it. I felt that as a Muggle born I appreciated Magic more, which was the reason I felt so strongly about my grades at Hogwarts, I felt like an education in Magic wasn't something I was willing to waste.

"Gotta love magic." October commented, I immediately felt self conscious, I didn't like the way he had seemingly read my mind, in fact he seemed to be able to do that a lot now that I thought about it. I tried to shake off the uneasy feeling, and changed the subject.

"Finishing some Homework?" 

"Sort of" 

"What does 'sort of' mean?" I laughed.

"Well it's studying, but not applicable to my current academic involvement." He stated matter of factly, flipping through one of the books.

"I see, so what are you studying exactly? If I can ask."

"I'm studying for my LSATS"

"Law school?" I asked, confused.

"Yeah, I actually completed some university while I was in school, I was a bit ahead of my class, anyways I decided to come to Hogwarts for my last year of school. I received a letter when I was eleven, but I decided not to go."

"Wait." I was baffled. "You didn't want to go to school and learn Magic?"

"Well at that point I had already decided I wanted to be a Lawyer like my father, my Mom died when I was born, and he didn't want anything to do with the Wording world, so I went along with it to make him happy."

"How did you keep up with all this school work, plus magic? That's crazy. I tried to take a lot of extra classes in my third year, but more than the usual Max course load was way too exhausting."

"I've always picked things up pretty quickly, my Moms brother Uncle Frank helped me out a bit, but I mostly learned magic from the Hogwarts school books, I would just drop by Diagon Alley every month or so and pick out a few more books." He explained, but I could tell that he was distracted, the text had caught his attention, so I let him read in silence while I started eating, the nervous feeling in my stomach now gone.

I was extremely impressed by Octobers dedication to his education, I almost felt jealous of all the knowledge he had been able to acquire. I found myself gazing into the distance, finally understanding why Harry and Ron don't like being around me when I'm studying. My eyes landed on a familiar face and Draco and I locked stares, his expression didn't change, just as emotionless and cold as ever, but I knew he knew I was looking at him, and neither of us looked away. I wanted to tell him what I was thinking but, I wanted him to tell me what he was thinking first. What if he wasn't thinking the same thing I was thinking??? Merlin Hermione, get a grip! I wanted to yell at myself. I didn't understand why everything about Draco felt so right, while everything with Toby seemed more logical. Harry and Ron would love Toby, Toby was perfect for me, I SHOULD love Toby, but it doesn't feel the same...