NEMESIS || Draco Malfoy

36

Time passed quickly after the first cursing. The full moon came and went, and so did the new moon of December.

Everything had been going extraordinarily well. Contrary to my expectation, I didn't run into Malfoy once in the room of requirements. It seemed we worked on different schedules— lucky me.

Potter kept his distance after our last encounter, too.

So, there was only one more session left; the one on the 24th and the reason I had to stay at Hogwarts during the Christmas holidays. It wasn't ideal, but worth it all the more.

And I felt like I deserved a little bit of a treat, stomping through the snow on our way to Hogsmeade; Theo to my left, Pansy to my right. It's not like the brunette would've let me bail on their trip again.

It was the last of the year, after all.

The Three Broomsticks invited us in with the pleasant ring of the bell placed beside the door and bewitched to do so whenever a new customer entered. It was warm, and quite frankly, packed as I spotted a few familiar faces sat on the various tables and in the booths.

My sister sat in one of them, her usual group surrounding her as she laughed at one of their joke's, butterbeer clutched between her hands, and a little of the foam stuck to her upper lip.

My eyes merely flickered over the Gryffindor trio sat at another table in the middle of the inn. Though, in the short amount of time, I noticed Weasley complaining about the drink he had just spilt all over himself, Potter laughing at him and Granger's eyes on us.

I didn't think much of it; the bell did just announce our arrival and drew a few curious glances our way by doing so. Most of them diverted right after, though hers lingered.

With a sigh, I followed Theo as he squeezed through the small aisles created by the different tables, knowing he was headed for Malfoy and Blaise occupying one of the booths.

Blaise had waved us over as soon as we entered, the pair clearly having reserved a booth for our group. I could tell they were confused to see me accompany Pansy and Theo — probably thought I'd opt out of going like I usually did.

I couldn't imagine Malfoy being too happy about my sudden appearance. Though, if he was displeased, he didn't show it.

Instead, he threw the three of us a quick smile, nodding in our direction before focusing back on the conversation they had before. I slipped into the booth next to Theo, Pansy and Blaise opposite us, and Malfoy next to him.

"Took you long enough," Blaise muttered playfully, his lips still forming a straight line like they always did while his brows raised in what could've almost been contentment.

As the three of us shrugged our heavy coats, hats and scarves off, realisation seemed to hit Theo like a bolt of lightning as he groaned loudly before a "Shit" passed by his lips.

The rest of us threw him cautious glances as he shook his head vigorously. "I have to pee," He sighed after a moment, gesturing for me to let him out of the spot that had separated Malfoy and me up until now.

A string of swears flew out of my mouth, my voice low as I turned to the side and let Theo squeeze right past me. "I'll get us a round of butterbeer while I'm at it," He shrugged before walking off towards the bathrooms.

Gaze following the brunette until he disappeared out of my field of vision, I moved up the seat, keeping enough distance between me and the blond beside me. My eyes set on him when I turned back around, not failing to miss the smirk on his lips and the general upbeat attitude he seemed to radiate today.

"We were just talking about Slughorns Christmas gathering," Blaise broke the silence as he took a sip of his drink, the white foam collecting on his upper lip and a stark contrast to his dark skin.

The sight made me smile, though as soon as Pansy's head shot in his direction, I had to suppress a groan.

"What gathering?" She asked pointedly, eyes darting back and forth between Blaise and the boy sat opposite him.

"Pansy," The latter quickly butted in, catching where this was going and trying his best to stop the almost inevitable conversation. His voice was calm, though he shot Blaise a knowing look, lightly shaking his head as if to tell him, 'I know you did that on purpose.'

He shrugged with a smirk on his lips, and it was the only answer either of us needed.

"What gathering?" The girl repeated once more, and Malfoy gave in with a roll of his eyes.

"Slughorn's Christmas party before the holiday's. Slugclub members and plus ones only."

Pansy huffed, a scowl on her face at the explanation. "Of course," She muttered to herself, carelessly taking a sip of Blaise's butterbeer. After a moment of silence, she continued. "I don't care," She said, clearly lying, though I did admire her for trying. "See? 'Couldn't care less."

She leisurely leaned back into her seat, taking a deep breath. Despite not caring, she went on. "If he asked me to attend right now, I wouldn't accept—" Her nose scrunched up in irritation. "Who wants to be part of that anyway? It's stupid. Anyone who's in it is stupid—"

"I'm in it," Blaise reminded her, an amused expression on his lips, and it seemed as good of an opportunity as any day to tell her "Kai invited me," as quickly as I could. She waved both of us off.

"See?" She turned to face Malfoy. "Proving my point," She said with a slick smile.

"Okay, ouch."

"Draco and I are simply going to have a friendship night in," She declared. "Isn't that right?"

I snorted dryly, humour lacing my features while even Blaise's lips twitched into an amused smile. Though, as my eyes darted over to the blond — no doubt expecting his lips turned into a scowl, nose scrunched up and eyes rolling — he nodded.

A smile on his lips, head leisurely resting in his hand as a "sure," rolled off his tongue. The words escaping his mouth made him sit up straight, leaning over the table to pat her head in a playfully condescending manner. "Whatever Pansy Parkinson wants."

And while the girl seemed pleased, even her brows had raised in surprise at the little convincing she had to do to get him to this point.

Especially knowing what I knew, his chipper mood and complete disregard for other plans he might've had was more than just odd to me. 

Maybe he didn't need to think of any other plans— maybe he had completed whatever it was he wanted to complete.

Maybe he had been faster. Maybe he'd kill Dumbledore tomorrow.

I could feel the uneasiness brewing, my eyes still darting over to him long after Theo had returned— long after the subject of Slughorn's Christmas party had been dropped.

Restlessly, my leg bounced underneath the table — discreetly enough for no one else to notice but just enough for me to feel occupied. My finger absentmindedly tapping against the wood, I sighed.

I thought that boy would be the death of me one day. Now, I wondered whether I'd be his. 

A/N: Adreanna got murder on her mind :) 

I'm very excited because we're starting to get to the plot points that made me want to write this in the first place hehe

Hope you liked it. <3