Innocent | d. malfoy

- ten -

Aria Rowen

I found myself walking through the Slytherin common room— though this time it wasn't to meet up with my friends in Dylan's bedroom.

Draco had asked me to come by and work on the partner project that Slughorn had assigned us.

Not going to lie, I was already exhausted from all of the ridiculous schoolwork that our professors handed out ever so generously as if it were candy to small children. It's like they thought we enjoyed spending hours upon hours of studying material that we'd forget mere minutes after the exam.

Eighth bedroom on the left...

I repeated the instructions he had given me to find his dorm as I walked down the long hallway, finally stopping at the eighth door.

I knocked a few times and stepped back to wait, but only about ten seconds passed before it was opened, revealing an equally tired-looking Draco Malfoy.

"Hey..." He ran his hands through his hair as he stepped to the side, allowing me to walk into his room.

I hadn't fully seen the interior since, well, last time I was drunk and it was dark. I'd kept those memories in the back of my mind— not wanting to overthink what had happened that night.

His dorm was decorated like mine, with dark colors such as blacks and grays, but his room had shades of green to undoubtedly go with the Slytherin psyche he was so proud of.

I awkwardly stood in his dorm as he shut the door.

"You don't have to stand around like that..." Draco approached me and took the potions book from my hand, lightly tossing it on his bed.

I moved over and reluctantly sat on the edge of the bed, taking the book into my hands once more as I flipped it open to the page I had been excessively reading to help with the essay.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Draco moving over to his desk, where he pulled out a small triangular shaped vile. He walked back over to me and dropped it in my lap.

"You're already finished?" My eyes were wide as I examined the label.

"Don't act so surprised..." He gave a small chuckle before sitting down on the opposite side of the bed.

"Hold up... if you're finished with your part of the project then why am I here?" I eyed him curiously as I rotated on the bed to face him.

"Are you really that eager to get out of my presence, Rowen?"

I rolled my eyes at his comment and turned my attention back to the book.

"Now, you could just go back to your room and complete the essay portion on your own... or I could help you?"

I thought over the scenario a few times in my head before responding. "Sure. I'll write these three paragraphs and you can write the last one..." I pointed to a page on the book, and he leaned forward to look at it.

He'd already done his half, so it would be unfair for me to assign him any more than I did.

Draco nodded before getting up to fetch some parchment from his desk. He returned and sat back down on the bed— only this time he sat much closer than he did before. He was less than a meter away, causing me to become flustered for no reason at all.

Why the fuck was I like this?

"So..." We'd only been working for a few minutes and Draco already decided to break the silence. "There's a common room party tomorrow night..."

"Merlin, you all have those a lot—"

"What? You Hufflepuffs don't throw interesting parties?" He gave a small laugh as he leaned back against the headboard and shut his Potions book.

"Our parties suck. They're lame— and no fun," I smiled in return to his question. Hufflepuff parties were indeed terrible, filled with overreactive prefects that cowered at the sight of alcohol.

Our so-called 'parties' usually ended by 10:30 when some younger student always snitches to Professor Sprout that we were 'being rowdy'.

Slytherin parties were actually interesting since there was always dancing, alcohol, and drugs— which was Jenna's only reason to show up in the first place.

"-are you... going to go?" He seemed hesitant to ask the question.

"Why is that your concern, hm?" I scanned the open page in my book, not even reading the material as I thought things over in my head. Draco didn't even respond, making me realize the effect I held over him.

Did he want me to go?

Like... actually want to see me there?

I pushed the ideas out of my head and refocused my attention on the assignment I had been profusely been working on for the past week.

It felt like we'd been there, sitting in silence before we were finally finished.

I knew that Draco had completed his single paragraph long before I had written mine, but for some reason he waited until I was finished with my part before even moving from his spot on the bed.

"I should get going," I stuffed my portion of the essay into the front cover of my book and tucked it under my arm.

"Uh, yeah," Draco snapped out of whatever trance he was in and stood up.

He stepped in front of me and opened the door, allowing me to walk out.

"Look at you... being a gentleman," I gave a quiet laugh, careful not to disturb anyone who may be sleeping in the dorms next to his.

He smirked and looked down at the ground. "Don't get used to it..."

I gave a sarcastic smile before saying goodnight and leaving.

Something about him intrigued me. I didn't know what it was, but I was going to find out sooner than later.

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A/N- I have come to a much needed conclusion that has taken much time to process. I put almost all of my original female characters from ALL THREE of my stories together and ranked them in order of most favorite to least favorite:

Katie's OC Rankings

1. Veralee Blackwell
2. Jenna Ryles
3. Eloise Lowell
4. Aria Rowen
5. Carina Diggory
6. Dylan Hernandez
7. Olivia Dupont
8. Indy Emans
9. Alice Dupont
10. Sarah Parker

Say what you want... my mind cannot be changed.