dark side • draco malfoy

10 | Problems

The morning after my disastrous tutorial with Malfoy, I had Herbology. To be honest, I wasn't even totally sure what we were supposed to be doing. While Professor Sprout was explaining the assignment, I had been busy shivering and chattering my teeth. Winter was definitely coming.

"Where were you last night, Ivy? You weren't in bed when I went to sleep." Hermione asked, slipping on her apron and goggles.

"Weren't you with Malfoy last night?" Ron cut in from across the table.

"Oh right! I forgot about that. How silly of me to-"

"Guys, she's sitting right here. Why don't you actually listen to what Ivy has to say, or do you not want to hear it?" Harry asked with a slight, teasing smirk on his face.

"Oh yeah. Sorry Ivy. How was your night with the blonde cockroach?" Ron questioned, with a look of disgust on his face.

"It was a disaster. He was being an absolute git from the moment I got there, and did you know he can do wandless, nonverbal magic? Then we started with Transfiguration and I don't know why McGonagall asked me to teach him because he's perfectly fine at it. And then he made me brew the Draught of Living Death, and kept throwing insults at me the whole time. I finally got pissed off and left. McGonagall is insane for making us work together like this, it'll never work." I huffed, squeezing the small green plant in my hands perhaps a little too hard.

"Wait, did you say Malfoy can do wandless, nonverbal magic?" Harry asked with a frown etched upon his face.

"Yeah. The moment the two of us entered the empty classroom, he waved his hand and every candle and lamp lit up. I was really surprised." I answered with a small nod in Harry's direction. He seemed lost in thought for a moment, until Hermione interjected.

"Harry, I know what you're thinking. Honestly, that's ridiculous." She sighed, forcefully yanking the bright green pod out of its pot.

"How else would he be able to do that? They probably trained him over the summer! I'm telling you Hermione, he's one of them." Harry whispered the last part of his sentence, glancing over his shoulder.

At that moment, Professor Sprout came over to survey our progress so far.

"No more chatting over here. You four need to get to work, or I'll make you sit with the Hufflepuffs. Potter, Weasley, you two haven't even begun the assignment yet. Longbottom is already done, and is now helping other students with all his spare time. Get going, all of you." She scolded, frowning at all of us before running over to a Hufflepuff table where one boy had stupidly taken a bite out of his plant pod.

"This conversation isn't over." Harry grumbled under his breath, and Ron and I exchanged worried looks.

It was clear that Harry was getting very obsessive over the idea that Malfoy may be a Death Eater. The thought alone made me shudder.

No, it couldn't be true. There was no way that one of my peers was working for the Dark Lord.

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As lame as it sounded, studying in the Gryffindor common room was one of my favourite things to do. I was curled up on a red armchair in front of the crackling fire, and finishing my essay for History of Magic, when the portrait hole opened.

"Good practice everyone. Make sure to get lots of rest for tomorrow, we've got to start off the season with a win." Harry told his Quidditch teammates.

While most of them made their way up to the dorm rooms, Harry, Ron, and Ginny stayed in the common room.

"How was practice?" I asked, smiling to myself as I finished the last sentence of my essay.

"I'm not sure you want to know." Ginny muttered under her breath as she sat down beside me.

"I'm quitting the team. After tomorrow's game, McLaggen can be Keeper. I can't do it." Ron gulped, staring into the fire.

"Ron mate, don't let the nerves get to you. You're a perfectly fine Quidditch player, you're just nervous. It happens to the best of us." Harry tried to reassure his friend with a pat on the back.

"It's not that. I'm just complete rubbish, I don't know why I even tried out for the team in the first place." Ron sighed, nervously running a hand through his red hair.

"Ron, if you keeping thinking like a pessimist, you're going to suck tomorrow. You need to change your attitude and believe in yourself. I know you'll do great, and you need to know it too." I smiled encouragingly at him.

"Thanks guys, but I still think I'll resign after this match. I'm just not cut out for this. I'm going to bed, see you in the morning." He mumbled, before trudging up the stairs.

"We're screwed tomorrow." Harry sighed, sitting down beside Ginny on the couch.

I raised my brows at him, but didn't say anything. If the team captain thought they were going to lose, then the odds of Gryffindor winning were very slim.

But miracles do happen, and that's what every Gryffindor student was hoping for as they lay in bed that night. We needed a miracle.