the wrong choice // d.l.m.

forty five

y/n walked into the great hall, noticing essentially everyone had already been seated. she made her way to the slytherin table and sat on the opposite side from where she usually sat, she didn't want to sit next to draco.

"y/n?" blaise asked from next to her, "why aren't you sitting over there?"

"over where?" she asked, avoiding his question completely. she noticed draco's eyes on her as she spoke but she did absolutely everything she could to avoid them. "sorry i'm late guys, ran into a sort of predicament on the train."

"predicament? are you alright?" marley asked.

"fine." y/n spat, finally turning her eyes to glare at draco.

"very best of evenings to you all." dumbledore spoke up as he walked to the front of the room, "first off, let me introduce the newest member of our staff, horace slughorn. professor slughorn, i'm happy to say, has agreed to resume his old post as potions master. meanwhile, the post of defense against the dark arts, will be taken by professor snape."

y/n rolled her eyes and turned to blaise, "thank merlin. umbridge was an absolute nightmare."

he chuckled, "agreed."

draco was sat staring down at the table with his head rested in his hand. y/n looked at him sadly. she was angry at him, of course, but she knew something was off. he usually would cause no physical harm to anyone, especially not with her around. she kicked his leg from under the table and he looked up at her, giving her the smallest smile he could possibly give.

"now as you know, each and every one of you was searched upon your arrival here tonight. and you have the right to know why. once there was a young man, who, like you, sat in this very hall. he walked this castle's corridors, slept under its roof. he seemed to all the world a student like any other. his name? tom riddle." dumbledore said.

y/n sighed and looked down at her fingers. voldemort was the last topic she wanted brought up.

the head master continued, "today, of course, he's known all over the world by another name. which is why, as i stand looking out upon you all tonight, i'm reminded of a sobering fact. every day, every hour, this very minute, perhaps, dark forces attempt to penetrate this castle's walls. but in the end, their greatest weapon is you."

y/n once again looked towards draco, he still held the same expression. she thought back to the words harry spoke and in a way she knew that what he had said was true, she just didn't want to believe it.

dumbledore released all of the students up to bed and everyone stood up to leave. y/n didn't take her eyes off of draco and he crossed his arms, sighing quietly.

"come on." she said gently, reaching her hand out. he let his eyes land on her face.

"i'm sorry. i'm so sorry." he said, staying in the same position.

she shook her head, "please. i'm tired and i just want to lay with you."

finally, he stood up. he grabbed her hand and placed a slight kiss to the top of it. they walked on opposite sides of the table and met at the end, walking quietly together towards the slytherin dormitories.

"i know you're angry with me. i shouldn't have done what i did." he spoke as they reached the door.

"you shouldn't have, correct. it just wasn't you, draco. you tease him, of course, but i didn't think you'd go as far as you did." she said sadly, "will you just tell me what's going on? it's not just your problem, it's ours."

he grabbed her hand, "i'm okay. just not in the best of moods."

y/n sighed as she looked at him. he looked broken and she wanted to do everything she could to fix it. they finally walked into the common room and she went up to her room after telling him she would meet him in his after she unpacked.

marley and pansy were also unpacking and the room was awkward. y/n unpacked as quickly as she could and swiftly left to go towards the boys dorms.

~

"attention to detail in the preparation is the prerequisite of all planning." slughorn said as he demonstrated a potion the class would be working on.

harry and ron walked in and everyone turned towards them. "ah. harry, my boy, i was beginning to worry. we've brought someone with us, i see." slughorn said as he smiled at the two.

"ron weasley, sir." ron said as he clutched onto his bag tightly, "but i'm dead awful at potions. a menace, actually."

y/n smiled at the two boys as she leaned into dracos side. she could feel him take a deep breath and she looked up towards him, pressing a short kiss to his cheek. he looked sad, and it broke her heart into a million pieces.

"now, as i was saying, i prepared some concoctions this morning. any ideas what these may be?" slughorn asked.

both y/n and hermione raised their hands. "yes, miss," slughorn began.

"granger, sir." hermione said. slughorn then turned his attention to y/n.

"and miss,"

"y/l/n." she said through a small smile.

the two girls walked towards the cauldrons, smiling at each other.

"that one there is a veritaserum. it's a truth telling serum. and that would be a polyjuice potion." hermione said as she pointed to two. she then turned towards y/n, nodding her head so she would know she could share her knowledge as well.

"and this last one is amortentia, the most powerful love potion in the world. it's rumored to smell differently to each person according to what attracts them. for example, i smell green apples, peppermint, citrus, and a slight bit of chocolate." y/n said through a large grin.

she looked over towards draco and he smiled warmly at her, knowing most definitely that she was smelling him.

"amortentia doesn't create actual love. that would be impossible. but it does create a powerful infatuation or obsession." slughorn said as many girls could be seen inching towards the cauldron, desperately wanting to know what it is that they would smell.

y/n once again leaned into draco and this time he wrapped an arm around her shoulder. he leaned into her ear, "ever since we walked into this room your scent has been stronger than it ever has."

she could feel her heart swell with love and her cheeks burn red, "happy to know that you're just as obsessed with me as i am you."

professor slughorn then turned the students to the potion they would be trying to create today, draught of living death.

y/n stood around a table with draco, blaise, marley, crabbe, and goyle. laughter was shared amongst almost all of them but draco focused harshly on his potion, his face incredibly concentrated.

"baby," she said as she watched him struggle to cut up a sopophorus bean, "let me help you."

he looked at her and nodded and she let her hand rest on his, crushing the bean instead. "i found its easier to get to the inside if you do it that way." she said.

"thank you, princess." he said quietly as he went back to making his potion.

the hour went on. y/n found the potion much harder to make than she had anticipated but at the end she found that it turned out okay, definitely not top of the class.

slughorn then announced that harry had won and she smiled proudly at him. she hadn't even wanted to win the liquid luck, she was already as lucky as she could possibly be.