Beauty and the Beast [Draco Malfoy]

Chapter Twenty-Five

Draco's POV:

The first day back at Hogwarts started off like any other first day back, but ended differently than I had anticipated. Liz and I had gone through our classes as we usually did since she woke up, however, there was something different between us. It was barely noticeable, but we would catch each other watching the other and then pretend not to notice. A few times we would link hands in the halls when they were extra crowded to avoid losing each other, but there was something different. It seemed more intimate. Before it had been simply platonic when we held hands. Of course, neither of us said anything about the change, though I'm sure we both had noticed it.

"Hey, Draco, you're helping me with my Potions essay, right?" Liz asked me the first day back at dinner. She had drawn her hair up into a ponytail about halfway through the day and that's how it was at that moment. A few strands had fallen out behind her head and rested on her back.

"Of course, you couldn't pass it without me," I smirked at her over my plate.

"Nice of you to think in my best interest," she snorted.

"You're welcome," I replied.

"I didn't thank you." She leaned forward on the table and crossed her arms, squinting her eyes playfully.

"I decided to do it for you." She heaved a great sigh and rolled her eyes at my answer.

"I didn't realize you were an expert on my life and how I should live it! Continue while I take notes," she poked at me. I rolled my eyes so far they hurt. "If you're finished, I'd like to go get it over with." Seeing as I was, in fact, finished with my dinner, we decided to go start on our essays. We walked quietly to the library and chose a table towards the back, away from the group of first year Gryffindor's playing a game of Exploding Snap. It was a wonder that Madam Pince hadn't kicked them out yet.

I reached into my bag and pulled out two pieces of parchment, one for me and one for Lizzie. Unstoppering the pot of ink we were sharing, I handed her the extra parchment.

"Thank you," she smiled. "So the properties of moonstone and it's uses in potion-making." Her smile disappeared as she looked down at her parchment.

"Do you know the answer to that?" I raised my eyebrows at her.

"Nope," she laughed, "that's what you're here for."

"Merlin, this might take a while," I sighed. "Do you at least know what moonstone looks like?"

"A bit. Does it look like the moon? I only know what it looks like when it's crushed."

"Well, I guess it kind of looks like the moon. It's closer to a pearl in my opinion. You know, milky in color, a bit iridescent. It shines like the moon too. Substantially shiny, almost like it is it's own source of light." I stood up, walked around the corner of a bookshelf and pulled down a book of gemstones. Flipping through the pages, I wandered back to Liz, who was still sitting frowning at her parchment.

When I found a photo of a moonstone, I pointed to it. "There. That's a moonstone."

"Oh, yeah I guess it does look like a pearl."

"Now write about it," I commanded while picking up my own quill and dipping it in the ink. I began to write about the gem.

Lizzie and I spent an hour and a half writing the essay Snape had assigned. By the end of the time, Liz had a decent understanding of how moonstone affected potions and could give several examples of what potions use the stone.

I quickly read through what she had written.

"Not too bad," I nodded. "You'll at least pass."

"Since you know everything, I guess you know that you're an ass," she replied sarcastically with a roll of her eyes.