"She's the sweetener to his bitter self."
"And maybe he can get her sober."
In which Draco Malfoy falls in love with a muggle-born Ravenclaw who likes to pretend she doesn't have substance issues.
part 1// 6th year AU (ongoing)
//started: july 2020
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"NICE ARM Jojo. And look at you actually showing up before the start of class." Draco said playfully with a slight upturn to his lips; normally she'd be running in seconds before the professor would begin class. Joanna still had a sling on her arm which helped to hide a white cast, he figured it would have been fixed by now seeing thanks to potions. Seeing her made his heart strings tug a bit as it was hard not to feel bad. He'd wanted to help her get situated but she beat him to it and he wasn't sure how to ask anyway.
"Why thank you. Fashion statement." Joanna said back with a roll of her eyes as she took a seat next to draco for Alchemy. She placed her bag on the ground and got out her notebook and quill. It was getting harder and harder for her heart not to skip a beat when se saw him.
Draco took a deep breath in. The next words that followed he had contemplated asking, they made him nervous and made him seem like he cared, "who shoved you?" Draco asked intently. He couldn't stop thinking about her the last two days, desperately wanting to know if she was okay. Clearly she was, but god he wanted to text her so many times to make sure, "and I'm not asking because I care-"
"Oh shut up," she smacked his arm, "I don't know her. But she's from your house."
"What'd she look like?" this made him frown. Normally he'd have thought it was funny due to her being a mudblood but.. it was Joanna.
"I know she was blonde. I don't know, I mean she was pretty." Joanna scrunched her face as she tried to recollect the encounter, "maybe she had some freckles. But something about her screamed mean.."
"She did shove you down some stairs. You're lucky you only broke your arm." Draco realized right then the idea of who it could be and it hit him hard. But if there was no proof...
"Aw Draco! Have you been worried?"
"No." like a boy caught by his mother in a nefarious act he was blushing trying to look away and come up with an excuse, "Can't have you slacking on the paper now can I? A broken arm makes you rather useless."
"Pfft, okay then." she said trying to make it seem like it didn't hurt her, "you know, we're almost done." she then said somberly as realization hits her, they were probably days away from finishing. The deal was almost done.
"Done?"
"With the paper."
"We still have to put it together and edit. That could prove to be a disaster." he reminded her with a small tsk, while feeling a small hole form in his chest, "What do we have like three more weeks?"
"Maybe more? I haven't memorized the calendar or anything. But since we play Gryffindor in quidditch next weekend I think there's like two weeks after that."
"I almost forgot that'll be match 6.. damn." it was hard to think the end of the year had actually been flying by, normally Draco hated every second so it dragged out.
