Whenever she got sad, there was 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲.
And on the other hand, whenever he got sad, there was 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫.
Until they discovered something that only required both of them in the same room -- nothing else.
𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧, 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲 �...
"You did not just ask Draco Malfoy—a.k.a trouble in human form—to help you with the Potions partner work!" The raven-haired's voice echoed through the girls' lavatory, and as sure as Clementia was that they were alone, she prayed for the umpteenth time that they truly were.
"Except I just did." She rolled her eyes, pulling a make-up brush and a pressed powder palette from her pouch. "It's not as if I forced him. I spent the whole walk back to the common room trying to change his mind."
"That's the thing about Draco," Pansy sighed, her gaze finally switching from Clementia to the mirror in front of her. She touched up her perfectly-made hair, curling the ends inward with her fingers as if to negate any fly-aways. "He's never indecisive. He makes a decision and that's it. God forbid anything comes in the way of him pursuing the said decision."
Clementia glanced at her through the mirror, willing her to continue.
"The day I found out about our parents' decision to set us up for marriage the exact year we leave Hogwarts, I was practically stunned." She turned around from the mirror and rested her back against the counter below it. "I remember it clearly: a day so sunny and bright it was almost annoying, the even more annoying draft in the Malfoy Manor's stone cold living room, and how bloody suffocated I felt between my parents in the couch we sat on across from Narcissa and Draco—while, of course, Lucius sat on a high-back armchair observing us like some sort of Hawk."
"I had no idea. None. I've been told to keep close to Draco in school, so I did, as I thought that would be fitting as both our families are quite powerful in terms of bloodline and social status," She had uttered the word powerful with a tone of hidden resentment. "I was fine with that. But marrying him?" She scoffed, inclining her head as if to blame all her worries on the innocent restroom ceiling.
"No one spoke nor reacted after the announcement, but my expression was enough to cover for everyone else in the room. Still, I believe I was the only one who reacted the way a human would react."
A deep sigh. "But it's the pureblood way—and Draco knew that." Pansy turned her head towards Clementia and watched her as she spoke further. "I knew it was bound to happen to me one way or another. But I didn't expect it to happen that soon. I was only fourteen. We both were."
