NEMESIS || Draco Malfoy

25

The great hall was almost completely empty; only a few students still scattered around the tables doing their homework or just having stayed behind after dinner today.

The Ravenclaw table itself was practically empty as well, apart from me and Kai huddled together at his usual spot, a calendar and a relatively thin book sprawled out in front of us.

"Why do you need to know this again?" Kai muttered, eyes squinting slightly as he compared the chart in the book to the calendar, his fingers tracing along the page.

"What do you think I need moon phases for?"

I snorted dryly, shaking my head at the seemingly absurd question that — if you thought about it — wasn't absurd at all. Because if I'd be honest with him, I'd have to tell him I need the dates and times of both full- and new moons for the next few months in order to curse an object to kill Dumbledore.

Instead, though, I said, "Astronomy, of course," in a mocking tone. "It seems Professor Sinistra has made it her personal chore to not let me pass this year." That, however, wasn't a lie.

Humming in recognition of my words, he nodded absentmindedly. "Makes sense," He muttered, making my brows raise as I waited for him to go on.

I wasn't quite sure if he was aware of the fact he was speaking out loud. "—Seeing as her boggart is You-Know-Who and your mum—" He cut himself off, eyes flickering up in light panic.

He quickly shook his head, then, eyes darting back down to the pages in order to avoid my stern glare. "Sorry," He sighed, swallowing thickly.

It was silent between us for a while, his eyes trained on the charts in front of him while mine were trained on him. His head rested in his left hand; arm propped onto the table. He rubbed his eyes or scratched his nose with his free hand every now and then, though made no other movement apart from that.

"Anyways," He suddenly exhaled, clearing his throat as his green eyes darted back up to mine, a small, apologetic smile on his lips. "The next full moon is on the tenth of November," He pointed out, my eyes trailing down to follow his finger tapping the date on the calendar. "I'll mark the next... four moons up for you?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "That would be nice, yeah."

With a low grunt, he acknowledged my words, his quill gracefully circling each date before drawing either a small full- or half-moon in it.

"I can't help but feel like you should've been able to do that by yourself?" Placing the quill on the wooden table, he looked back at me, a glimmer of amusement in his eyes as the words left his mouth.

I huffed, rolling my eyes playfully. "Maybe," I teased. "I don't see what's wrong with just wanting to spend time with you, though," I added quickly, and it took everything within me to keep my lips from curling up into a grin.

A playful gasp escaped his mouth, and he shook his head in the same manner. "I cannot believe you're just using me for my brains, Adreanna Hayes," He scolded, his own lips turning upwards into a smile at the words.

I snorted dryly, a singular laugh escaping my lips as I hit his shoulder lightly. "Come on, Alire," I muttered as I got up, waiting for him to mirror my gesture as he handed me the calendar. "You know I'm using you for more than just your brains."

"Is that so?" Brows raising as he threw his arm around my shoulders, he gently guided me out of the hall, a smirk on his face. "Who says I'm not the one using you?"

my lips twisted into a wide smile, eyes rolling as I let my head fall against his shoulder. "Nobody uses me."

"Really? Because I remember you asking me to do so just—"