Little Bird

Chapter Twenty-One

Draco

            "You said that to her?"

            "Yeah," I grinned, leaning back in the library's chair and looking over at Eve as she stared at me in shock. "What was I supposed to say? Pansy wouldn't leave me alone, so I told her to go—"

            "Don't say it again!" Eve exclaimed, shoving my shoulder. But she wasn't doing a very good job of holding back a smile as she said, "I can't believe you. Pansy isn't that bad..."

            "Yes she is," I said, "and you know it. Who was the one who snapped at her during the feast at the beginning of the year?"

            Eve flushed as she remembered, mumbling, "How do you even remember that?"

            I grinned and put my elbows up on the Potions textbook we were supposed to be studying out of, leaning closer to Eve. "I remember everything, what can I say?"

            "You're so arrogant," Eve complained, but she was still smiling.

            We'd gone to the library early this morning to prepare for the exam that was tomorrow, but somewhere along the line we forgot all about Potions and just started joking around. We'd picked a table near the back so we'd be able to talk without the librarian coming over to tell us off.

           It had been nearly a week since I'd first kissed her, and she was finally starting to look less unsure around me. We were slowly beginning to be less awkward around each other, and we usually stayed out late to talk in the common room together after the rest of our House was asleep. I was doing my best to be good to her—just like I'd promised.

            "We should be studying," Eve groaned. When she reached for her textbook, I leaned forward and grabbed it before she could get to it. She glared at me and tried to reach for it, saying, "What are you doing—?"

            "I don't want to study," I told her, holding the book just out of her reach as she tried to grab it. "We can study later, come on."

            "But we've already wasted so much time..." she trailed off at the look I gave her, rolling her eyes and giving up. She crossed her arms as I finally set her book down, sticking her tongue out at me and saying, "I think you're trying to sabotage my Potions' grade."

            "Damn, you got me," I grinned. "How'd you know?"

            Eve raised one eyebrow at me, clearly unable to keep the smile off of her face. Then a comfortable silence ensued, and we both looked around at the rest of the library for a little while. The librarian was suspiciously glancing over at us once in a while, but I didn't care enough to make an attempt at being quieter.

            Before the silence could turn awkward, I leaned forward and said to Eve, "Have you heard about how much Umbridge is cracking down? I heard she's trying to take over the school."

            "Yeah right," Eve scoffed. "She's a terrible person, but there's no way."

            "That's why Trelawney got sacked," I insisted. "Didn't you see it happen?"

            Eve thought for a second, then gave a grin as she said, "No, and neither did you. We were in the common room during our free period, remember?"

            My expression turned into an arrogant smirk. "Oh yeah."

            Eve rolled her eyes, but she was smiling as she glanced over at me. The Hufflepuff sitting at the table next to us got up then and left the library, leaving the two of us alone at the back. I caught her gaze before she could look away, and we both looked at each other from across the table for a long moment.