dislike ↠ draco malfoy

thirty-seven

Over the next few weeks, I didn't act out again. I couldn't risk the punishment. It just wasn't worth it. Luckily, Ginny, Neville, and Luna didn't get too bad off a punishment for the sword heist. Hagrid went lenient on them.

It was now well into November, and the temperature had dropped significantly. The leaves were falling and turning red, orange, and yellow as the holidays approached. Fall and winter was my favorite time of the year. Everything just seemed so much magical during the holiday season.

Draco and I had grown closer. We stayed close together in classes and worked on homework together in the evenings. We weren't dating, though. We had sort of a strange dynamic. After we kissed that night of the heist, I was waiting for him to ask me out, make things official, but he didn't. We didn't even kiss again after that night.

On Thursday, our last class of the day was Herbology. I made my way to the greenhouses with Draco. The cool wind hit me in the face, making my hair fly around me.

"I don't understand the point of this class," Draco muttered into my ear. "I mean, how are plants going to help us get a job?"

"Some people's jobs require knowledge of plants," I hissed. "Look at Neville, he's so good, he'll probably replace Professor Sprout when she retires."

"Stupid job if you ask me," Draco scoffed.

"Where do you want to work, you know, when you graduate?" I asked him, tilting my head.

He shrugged and looked down at his shoes. "I don't know. I guess I haven't really thought about it." He looked up at me. "What about you?"

"Oh, I haven't really thought about it either. But we're in our last year of school now... that sounds so crazy to say out loud," I said. "So we'll have to get jobs eventually."

"I'll probably work at the Ministry," Draco replied. "Like my father."

"That's so broad," I said. "What department do you want to work in?"

"Maybe Magical Law Enforcement or something," he muttered.

"Law Enforcement?" I asked, my eyebrows raised. My eyes trailed down to his arm, where his Dark Mark lay, covered with his sleeve. "That's a bit ironic."

"I don't know, all right?" he huffed. "And you haven't answered yet. What do you want to be?"

"Well... maybe a Healer or something," I replied. "I like helping people."

He smiled. "I think you'd be a great Healer."

"Thanks."

When Herbology was over, I slung my bag over my shoulder and Draco and I went back into the castle. We headed down the stairs into the dungeons.

When we rounded the corner by the Slytherin common room, we stopped when we saw a girl leaning against the wall, crying. It was the same first year girl that I had seen crying a few months ago.

"Let's just go into the common room," Draco muttered. "Ignore her."

"Draco," I hissed. "She's upset. Come on, we have to help her." I tugged on the sleeve of his robe, leading him over to her.

I put my arm around the girl. Draco stood next to us awkwardly. "Hey," I whispered. She buried her head into my chest and continued to sob. I stroked her long hair. "What's your name, sweetie?"

"Elora," she cried, "Elora Barlowe."

"Okay, Elora, what happened? Why are you crying?" I asked quietly.

"E-everyone's being s-so mean to me," she said.

"Who's being mean to you?"

"Just e-everyone! The Slytherins say that I'm too weak to be in Slytherin, and the other houses don't like me because I'm in Slytherin," she replied, tears still streaming down her face.