SALEM ᵈ ᵐᵃˡᶠᵒʸ

xii. A Change of Heart

ONE bad thing about living in a castle is having to run great distances from one place to another.

I was just on my way to the Charms classroom when I felt my wand was nowhere inside my robe pockets. Realizing that I must have left it in the common room during lunch, I reluctantly ran down to the basement then back upstairs in the third-floor corridor.

By the time I reached the threshold of the classroom, Professor Flitwick was already giving out instructions with his back turned to the class whilst I stood there panting for breath.

Knowing that he hasn't seen me yet, I took the advantage and made my way to an empty table by the wall. Looking around the class, it seemed that they too hadn't noticed that I arrived a bit late.

I plopped myself on the chair and leaned against the wall to steady my breathing, only half-listening to what Professor Flitwick was saying as I stared absentmindedly at the blackboard.

My attention was only brought back to earth when the the sound of a chair scraping against the wooden floorboards filled my ears. I winced and straightened up, seeing the chair being pulled was the one right beside me.

Flitwick must have allowed the class the freedom to partner up with anyone; towards the front, a handful of students were shifting seats and smiling brightly.

I looked up at the person beside me and had to do a double-take. A boy; tall, lean, and dark-skinned, with defined cheekbones and a sharp jawline. My eyes flitted to the green tie and the Slytherin crest on his uniform, already recognizing him from the Slug Club. I wasn't going to deny it — up close, he's extremely handsome.

I furrowed my eyebrows in puzzlement as soon as he sat down, wondering if he somehow made a mistake with the seating arrangement, for he was the type of person to never associate himself with Muggles and Muggle-borns — much less a blood-traitor like me.

"Lovett," he said curtly.

I blinked, a taken-back. So he didn't make a mistake.

"Zabini."

To my surprise he relaxed on his chair grinned at me. "On a first-name basis with Draco only, huh?"

I shot him a wary glance. "What's that got to do with you?"

"Just saying that it would be nice if you did it with me too."

I chuckled humorlessly and rolled my eyes, already knowing bloody well that the words coming out from his mouth were utter bollocks.

Zabini merely kept his mirthful stare on me. I raised both eyebrows at him and tilted my head slightly to ask what it really is that he wanted. When he didn't reply I huffed.

"What do you want?" I snapped.

"Alright, alright." He raised his hands in mock-surrender. "I'll cut to the chase: I'm doing a favor, you see, for a friend."

I pursed my lips and let my eyes roam around the room, looking for someone I had a feeling he was referring to. Beside me, Zabini scoffed in amusement.

"If you think it's got something to do with a certain blond," he said, "then you're right."

"Great," I sighed, crossing my arms to give him a disgruntled look. "Spit it out, then."