Toxic

Jealousy

Baby, give me it...

Draco paced around in his office, occasionally glancing towards his open door and then back to the mess that was on his worktable. It had been days since the fight with Olivia - no, De Loughrey - in his office and things had been tense, though she seemed to be going out of her way to avoid him.

For once. Though there were certainly a large amount of heated glances between them. Or sometimes she would watch him with a look that he couldn't decipher and that left him unnerved.

He didn't want to admit it, but he had been stuck on how to fix the potion and where to go from there ever since. For some reason he found without her there badgering him, he struggled to come up with a solution.

Dare he say it, but he was starting to miss having her there looking over his shoulder. Draco stopped, his eyes widening slightly at the realization. He then shook his head and walked over to his notes, going over them for the millionth time trying to find out just how De Loughrey had found where he went wrong before he had. Granted, now that it had been pointed out to him, it was glaringly obvious. But still, why hadn't he noticed it before? And why did she have to find it before he did?

Fate was a cruel bitch, he decided. As if De Loughrey needed any more reason to believe that she was more brilliant than he was. But still, he couldn't quite figure out how she had noticed it. He was going to have to work late at this rate if he wanted to get anything done. Sighing heavily, Draco rubbed his face and walked out, thinking perhaps some tea might help.

He couldn't help as he glanced over towards De Loughrey's office, seeing her standing in front of a mirror, preening a bit. She looked nervous as she took in her outfit from different angles. He wasn't sure what all that was about - so far De Loughrey had never seemed to care about her appearance to this extent, though she was always dressed smartly.

What had her in a tizzy today just before the end of the work day?

"Word is she's got a hot date tonight," Blaise said, stepping up to his side. "At least that's what Richards from down the hall said. Overheard her talking about it with some blonde witch she met with for lunch - didn't say who. Supposedly is excited about it, though didn't mention who it was with."

Draco glanced at him and then back at De Loughrey, seeing her lean towards the mirror as she applied lipstick. He wasn't sure why he suddenly felt uncomfortable about the idea of her going on a date. No, not uncomfortable.

Jealous.

And that bothered him. The desire to know who she was going out with seized him immediately, though he remained calm and appeared unaffected by the news.

"Good for her," he said dryly, turning his back to De Loughrey to face Blaise.

Who was the bloke she was going out with? Someone else in the Ministry? Someone she had met? When had she met him? Draco then thought back to the night he saw her with the Gryffindors.

Fucking hell, she was likely going out with one of them. He quickly pushed the idea from his mind. De Loughrey could go out with whoever she wanted. Wasn't his business. Not like he cared. He didn't care.

He recited that like a mantra a few times in his head, hoping if he said it enough, it would be true. That he didn't care if De Loughrey was going on a date with someone else. She was his boss. No, she was the enemy. He didn't get jealous over that.

"By the way, Flint scored us some tickets to the match tomorrow. Box seats. You in?" Blaise asked.

"Of course," Draco said, thinking a Quidditch match might just be the thing he needed to clear his head. About the potion and De Loughrey. "Falcons and Harpies?"