STAY WITH ME | Draco x OC x Theo

05

Clementine felt sick to her stomach.

The memories of the night before kept replaying in her mind. She made a fool of herself in front of her friends, her work colleagues, and most importantly Theo.

She never wanted to drink again, but at the same time she wanted to drink until she forgot everything.

Clementine made sure she was early enough on the school grounds to get in a meal at Hogwarts. She walked into the Great Hall where many of the students— the early risers, that is— we're all eating breakfast.

She let her eyes scan the Professor's table, many of the seats still empty, and she slumped down in one of the chairs to pick at the morning selection of pastries.

"You had a rough night last night, didn't you?" Cristian Maldonado took the empty seat on Clementine's left. He gave her a warm, yet knowing smile. He had seen her at her worst last night.

Clementine threw her head in her hands and groaned as her brain throbbed against her skull, "That was so embarrassing. I'm so sorry you had to see me like that."

"We were all young once." He picked up a croissant and put it on his plate.

"So you keep telling me." Clementine grabbed a scone and proceeded to put jam on it. "I promise I don't have the maturity of a teaspoon. I'm just—"

"Clearly you're adjusting to being back here after all this time." Cristian interrupted, "It can be easy to revert back to the person you used to be and lose sight of who you've grown to become."

"That was... surprisingly insightful." Clementine nodded as a small smile crept onto her face. "Thank you for that."

"Beaumont." The dulcet tones of Draco Malfoy's voice made the smile fade from her face. "Can we talk?"

"We are talking." Her voice clipped. She focused harder on her scone to keep from looking at him, spreading the jam into a thin layer.

"Privately," Draco's eyes narrowed at Cristian before he looked back at Clementine, "If you don't mind."

"I'm taking this with me." Clementine sighed as she stood up, waving her scone around in one hand. "It was nice talking to you again, Cristian."

"You as well." He smiled, tipping his drink glass in her direction before taking a sip.

"You two look very comfortable together." Draco muttered quietly as he shoved his hands in his pockets. He turned to give Cristian another quick glance while he led Clementine out of the Great Hall.

"He's nice to me." Clementine answered. "That really can't be said for everyone around here."

"Is that what you want from me?" Draco paused when they reached the empty corridor to consider her words more carefully, "To be nice to you?"

"It would be a start." Clementine almost sounded too hopeful when she said it. She frowned, shaking her head, "But that's clearly not what you wanted to talk about. What is it you want from me now, Malfoy?"

"I need you to get a plant for me." Draco explained as he looked out of one of the windows that was streaming in bright morning light. It lit up his face in a warm, golden glow, "It's very rare and hard to come by."

"I'm a professor of Herbology." Clementine crossed her arms over her chest, "It's my job to teach students about the care and cultivation of magical plants, not to source you rare and exotic plants to add to your collection. What sort of plant do you even need so badly anyway?"

"Thorned Ichor Flower." His eyes narrowed as he whispered the name. Draco looked to the empty hall to make certain that they were not overheard before finally looking back at Clementine.