𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐄𝐋𝐒 | draco malfoy ✔️

90. sectumsempra

TRAINING WHEELS

SECTUMSEMPRA

6th May 1997

March tickled by, bleeding into April. The cold weather was starting to fade, the leaves were beginning to come back to the trees surrounding Hogwarts, and sunshine poured through the Hufflepuff common room's windows every morning now. It managed to lift Amora's spirits; it made getting out of bed every morning that little bit easier. She noticed Draco was the opposite, though. He was looking worse and worse as the days went on, and it felt like he was slipping through her fingers - like there was nothing she could do to make him feel any better.

At some point in the early days of April, he had come to her in a panic. He asked her what she knew about this map that Harry had (which she knew little to nothing, much to his dismay) and then claimed that Harry knew where Draco went when he skipped lessons and 'disappeared.'

"He was waiting outside for me," Draco had managed to get out amidst his panic, one hand still gripping onto her arm like a vice, the other moving to adjust his tie as if to give himself more room for breathing. "He was there for hours, Amora. The only reason I knew he was there was because Blaise and Theo had just left as he came round the corner, and they caused a commotion so I would know, but Merlin, if they hadn't - if they hadn't -"

"Hey." Amora reached up, her hands touching his face and trying to soothe his worry lines. "Point is, Blaise and Theo were there. Fate was on your side, Draco. And you didn't get caught, did you?"

"No," Draco swallowed, "And I had charms up that stopped him entering. But - but what if he figures it out? What if -"

"He already has figured it out. He knows, Draco," Amora reminded him firmly, "But luckily for you, nobody believes him. That's what you have to keep remembering. Nobody believes him, and as long as it's just him thinking it, you're fine."

"For how long?" Draco ran a hand through his platinum hair. "How long until someone believes him?"

"Until you slip up, I guess," Amora told him. "But you're smart, Draco. Too smart to slip up. Aren't you?"

"Yeah," Draco breathed out, closing his eyes and nodding to himself. It looked like he was finally calming down. "Yeah. Yeah, you're right."

Amora had offered him a weak smile. "Of course I am."

Perhaps it was Harry working out that Draco spent all his time in the Room of Requirement that was freaking him out, or maybe it was something else. Amora dreaded the summer for him. She knew it wouldn't be pleasant. She wished so desperately she could take him to the safe house she'd be going to, but she knew that was out of the equation altogether.

She dreaded the summer for herself too. She quite looked forward to seeing her mother again, after all, she'd never gone this long without seeing her face before, but last summer had been absolute hell being locked inside with both her parents, and this year she was willing to bet they would be even stricter.

April was mainly spent doing work and spending time with her friends. It was a wonder that nobody but Luna and Harry had worked out that Amora and Draco were secretly hooking up, but based on the extra glares she received from Ron, she supposed Harry had told his best friends too. However, her own best friends had absolutely no idea. Yet, when Amora and Draco interacted in a friendly-setting, nobody batted an eye. It was like everybody had forgotten they'd broken up.

Kathy and Pansy had had their first ever fight as a couple. It lasted three days, but they were three of the most tiring days of Amora's entire life. She felt like she was being used as an owl, going back and forth and back and forth to deliver messages between the pair of girlfriends. Draco, Theo, and Blaise all found it highly amusing from their spots in the Slytherin common room, watching Amora come and go with a tiresome expression on her face. When they finally decided to apologise and makeup, it was the biggest relief ever. She'd had enough of them asking whose side she was on, or who she would sit with for each meal.