snowflake

eleven

October 4th, 1993

When Malfoy said he would give her three hours to change her mind about not wanting to talk to him, Elissia thought he would give her exactly that. Instead, he ended up giving her six hours and buying her two more butterbeers. Even when they were still talking, with seemingly no finish, Madame Rosmerta ordered them to leave the pub since she had to close up soon. Malfoy looked at the older witch with disgust, scoffed and turned back to Elissia with a small smile.

Elissia kicked his foot under the table and smiled at Madame Rosmerta. "So sorry, we'll just be going now, have a good night!" She said apologetically, looking pointedly at Malfoy. Madame Rosmerta nodded kindly, walking back to the counter to finish with her cleaning.

"What'd you do that for?" Malfoy demanded, a very ungrateful scowl replacing the smile that was prominent just a few seconds before. Elissia rolled her eyes and got up, taking his hand and pulling him up with her. They walked out of The Three Broomsticks, Malfoy sporting a sour expression as Elissia led them away.

"She told us to leave and you were being rude." She said simply as though it was were the most obvious thing in the world.

He furrowed his brows and scowled, yanking his hand away from hers to cross his arms; choosing not to notice how much colder his hand got after moving it from hers.

"I wasn't being rude, it's called wanting to spend some time with and talk to a friend." He corrected in a matter of fact tone. She snorted and rolled her eyes, earning her a slight swat on the shoulder from him. "Don't roll your eyes at me! It's the truth and you know it!" He exclaimed, Elissia only laughed and shook her head; continuing to walk back to the castle.

Malfoy rolled his eyes and walked beside her, silently keeping his gaze on her. Her hair didn't move very much since she wasn't walking fast, but it did sway a little and the slight breeze only helped it to move even more. She was swinging her arms a little, not to the point where it hit him though. His eyes travelled up to her face, admiring the way her glasses looked on here. He did a pretty good job picking them out for her, if he did say so himself.

He smirked when an idea came to his head. "Say, Reyes?" Elissia hummed in response, turning her head slightly to look at him. "Didn't you bet me 20 galleons if I was able to make you talk to me the entire three hours?" He asked, his smirk growing when she stopped walking. He put his hands in his pockets and looked at her, completely stopping his tracks.

"You- you never said that!" She stammered in shock, the question having just the effect he intended. Malfoy raised his eyebrows and brought his pointer finger up to his chin, adopting a feigned look of thoughtfulness.

"Mm, see that's where you're wrong darling. I distinctly remember telling you back at The Three Broomsticks that the bet would include a wager of either you or I getting 20 galleons."

Elissia gaped at him, blinking a couple times before laughing and starting to walk again. Malfoy looked after her in confusion, his eyebrows furrowed as he ran to catch up with her.

"I'm not joking! That's what we agreed on, you need to owe up to your end of the bet." He huffed, narrowing his eyes at her; or rather the side of her face since she wasn't facing him. She shook her head disbelievingly, an unconvinced smile evident still on her face.

As they were walking towards the entrance of the castle, Malfoy sighed and swiped his tongue briefly over his bottom lip. Elissia stifled a laugh, she was well aware he didn't say anything of the sort he was telling her. It was also clear he knew he never said any of it either. He was making an attempt, albeit a poorly executed one at that, to trip her up into believing what he was saying; and ultimately end up paying up "to her end of the deal."

She wasn't going to fall for it though. Instead, she was going to try and switch the cards on him. He was an intelligent boy, there's no doubt about that, but that didn't mean she had no chance of getting him to finally crack a little.

"Look," Malfoy started, walking to the Slytherin Common Room with her. "You don't believe me, I can tell. But here's the thing, I know I'm right and deep down; you also know I am. So why don't you just pay your debts and we get rid of this whole ordeal?" He asked casually, looking at her from the corner of his eyes.

She scoffed and plopped down on the couch, making herself quite comfortable. "Why don't you pay your end of the deal first? I have nothing to pay." She asked with raised brows. Malfoy's smirk dropped and he furrowed his eyebrows. She could practically see the gears turning in his head, but they didn't seem to get anywhere since he didn't look any less perplexed.

It was Elissia's turn now to smirk, she tilted her head mockingly and crossed her arms. "What? You don't remember? Allow me to refresh your memory then." She stood up and walked towards him, there was a very prominent mischievous glint in her dark green eyes.

"You said if I was able to endure talking with you for the entire time, you'd get 20 galleons. But, you're missing the part where you also implied that I had to enjoy our conversation."

Malfoy's face twisted uncharacteristically in confusion. He didn't recall saying the last part, but there was always the possibility he had simply forgotten. Butterbeer did have an abundant amount of sugar, and they did end up taking more than they should've. Either that or, the likely solution, she was playing him with the same game he was playing with her; it was extremely likely that this was the case. Even though every sign pointed towards the latter, he refused to believe it was reality; it couldn't have been happening.

"So, now that you've been all caught up," Elissia clapped her hands together with a wide grin, "I think you owe me twenty galleons, Malfoy." She said gleefully, out-stretching her hand towards Malfoy for him to give her the money. He stared at her hand for a few moments before shaking his head and sitting down on the couch, where she was moments before. She watched with a dumbfounded expression as he parted his lips to speak.

"Instead of giving into your little game which, I must add, you executed better than I thought you would've, why don't I give you what you really want?" He proposed, leaning closer to her and resting his elbows on his knees.

Elissia's, now inquisitive, eyes shot to his. She furrowed her eyebrows and raised her chin slightly in curiosity. "And what exactly would that be?" She asked slowly, Malfoy smirked while shrugging his shoulders, he leaned back on the sofa and crossed his hands together.

"Don't you want to know why I've been so nice and doing all these nice things for you lately?"