Through the Dark (Draco Malfoy x OC)

Chapter Twenty Five

The flower pot was nestled between my palms, plain, unadorned, but filled with soil and a small shoot; the beginnings of a jasmine flower. The pot was terracotta. A colour that reminded me of a holiday I had taken in Italy when I was young. We were currently in Herbology with the Gryffindors today.

"Now have you all got your pots?" Professor Sprout asked as she walked down the length of the greenhouse, surveying us with her cheerful grin.

A chorus of yes' and ma'am's trumpeted in the greenhouse. "Now today we will be learning the fundamentals of the Herbivicous Charm. You should have come across it in your reading," she said. "Who can tell me what it is used for?"

No one bothered, Hermione's hand had shot up straight away. "Miss. Granger," Sprout smiled at her.

"The Herbivious Charm is used to rapidly increase the growth rate of plants," she said proudly and with a fulsome lift of her head. Meanwhile Ron boredly picked at the soil in his pot beside her.

"Correct," she chimed with a happy bounce. "Now, we all know a simple transplant, right? We are going to go over to the gardens by the training grounds and plant them. The school wants more jasmine around there."

We all gathered our pots and headed down the long gallery to our destination. I noticed Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnegan to my left, yet slightly in front of us, laughing in conversation. I was enraptured as the curve of Dean's lips revealed a row of perfectly carved out dazzling teeth. Teeth even better than Cedric's.

"Thomas has nice teeth," I said to Payton beside me as I admired his smile.

"I guess," she replied carelessly with confusion.

"Payton, the ball is in a week." I clarified, "I need a date." It was true, I was started to regret some of the boys who had asked me at the start of the whole fiasco. They now all had dates and very few people were left available. Thanks for House and class gossip, I knew who was still looking for a date and Mr. Dean Thomas certainly was after being rejected by Beauxbatons.

"Thomas?" Faye jeered in hushed tones, having overheard me. She pushed in between Payton and myself with an adamant appearance. "Mel, let me set you up with a Durmstrang, there is sure to be one left."

"Most of them are taken by Beauxbatons." Daphne said, also having overheard us.

We started crossing the middle courtyard in the castle and I scouted Dean again, the ghost of a smile lingering on his face as Seamus spoke. "He's kind of cute." I contemplated with a tilt to my head.

"It's the desperation talking," Payton said.

"Please don't go with a Gryffindork," Daphne pleaded as she watched me watch him.

"At least let me look at your options in Durmstrang, first." Faye added.

Their attempts to stop me went straight through me. I had never had a problem with Dean, he was always very kind and optimistic. We had never really engaged in a conversation, but we had shared a few words whenever he was around Harry. Ignoring the girl's protests, I decided to make quick work. I only had a week until the Yule Ball and with my current non-existent status of relationship with Dean, I had a lot of work to do.

"Walk with me," I ordered them as I quickened my pace to linger right behind him and Seamus.

One of them groaned as they accompanied me, and I am sure they shot a couple eye rolls and angry snarls my way.

"It's just a scratch match they organised to see if their training is paying off. Of course, the Hufflepuff's are the only ones who were willing to actually do it." Seamus was saying to Dean. "Should give everyone their Quidditch fix since it was called off for the bloody tournament." He finished.

"When is the game?" Dean asked.

"This Wednesday afternoon," I chimed in, having heard Harry excitedly tell me after lunch one day that he was going to be able to play Quidditch.

"He wasn't asking you," Seamus shot at me, looking back angrily.

"Seamus," Dean threatened in a low voice. He smiled at me, letting me see his sublime smile again. "Thanks Melody." First name basis already and he made Seamus stand down for me, I was sold! Dean Thomas would be my date this weekend. I stretched my lips into the most delightful smile I could pull off.

The class followed Professor Sprout into the clearing between the training grounds and the D.A.D.A tower. There was already an empty patch of soil prepared for planting and we all moved into a spot to plant our sprouts. To Daphne's great embarrassment, I dragged her, to share the same patch of soil as some Gryffindor's, including Dean and Seamus. Harry and Ron were also sharing the area and all four Gryffindor's looked at us with befuddlement.

"They're mad," Daphne whispered to me, her eyesight locked on the Slytherins scowling in the distance.

Class continued, and I took every opportunity I was presented with to talk or interact with Dean. Harry and Ron's presence made me feel a bit less foreign for sharing the space with Seamus and Dean. I didn't miss all the glares Seamus threw my way, but luckily, he left it to just his eyes. We transplanted our shoots of jasmine into the soil and with Sprout's instructions were able to make the flowers bloom nicely. The hand movement of the Herbivicus Charm was quite hard to get right, and I kept finding myself swishing my wand too much. Nevertheless, the jasmines eventually bloomed and danced in the wintry breeze, releasing a delicious fragrance into the air. I smiled happily at the small feat whilst purposely creating eye-contact between myself and Dean. He returned it in full force before shyly looking away. The tiniest hint of ruby surfacing his apple-round cheeks.