Secrets & Slytherins

Chapter 32: A Handful

Grace felt Noah take her hand as they walked down the corridor together back toward the Potions classroom. That was when reality hit her.

"What about Rachel?" she asked, stopping in her place to stare up at him.

"Rachel and I broke up weeks ago," Noah stated simply as he glanced down at her, not wanting to explain anything further. "She means nothing to me." He leaned down and pressed his lips against hers.

"I'll talk to Ryan tonight," Grace mumbled into the kiss. She felt Noah sigh and pull away.

"Let's not talk about Ryan while I'm kissing you," he said with a laugh, wrapping an arm around her.

Grace laughed in return, her smile reaching her eyes. "Sorry," she replied innocently, leaning closer to him as they continued walking.

Once they reached the door to the Potions classroom, Grace stepped away from Noah. "Maybe we shouldn't walk in together. It might look kind of suspicious, you know?"

Noah nodded. "Go ahead. I'll come in after you in a minute."

Grace opened the door, trying to shut it quietly behind her after entering the classroom. A few eyes flickered over to her, but most of the students were too occupied with their potions to notice anything. She headed back over to the table she was working at, Lavender stirring her potion with a sense of longing in her eyes.

Grace heard the sound of the door opening again, but she fought against looking up. She didn't glance at Noah again until he was across from her on his side of the table, taking a seat next to Draco.

Lavender finally pulled her gaze away from the potion to talk to Grace. "I think I'm doing this right. I put-"

Grace raised an eyebrow at Lavender as she stopped talking. Her partner's face held a strange expression. "What?"

"What's with your hair? You look like you've just walked through a gust of wind," Lavender admitted with a chuckle.

Grace's face flushed. She quickly brought her hands up to her hair to try to smooth it down to its normal position. "There must have been a draft in the corridor."

Grace heard Draco snicker across the table, but she tried to ignore it. She dived into a conversation with Lavender about the ingredients of the Amortentia potion, desperately trying to change the subject.

Draco turned to Noah, muttering with a smirk, "Your shirt is a bit wrinkled there, isn't it, Dolohov?"

Noah glanced down at his clothes. They were a little disheveled. He knew Draco had pieced the puzzle together. It wasn't that hard to figure out. Defeated, Noah shoved the boy roughly with his arm, a smile creeping on his lips. "Shut up."

The Slytherin boys turned their attention back to their potion. Noah attempted to tighten his tie that was off-centered, but he gave up, looking over to Grace, who was still using her fingers to comb through her hair. They locked eyes and tried to stifle their laughter. They were caught and they both knew it. But it didn't matter to them.

"Excellent work today, everyone!" Slughorn finally shouted. "I will see you all next class!"

Students immediately started cleaning up, putting away ingredients, and returning books to their bags. Grace finished tidying up and walked to Noah's side. Draco looked down at her, teasing, "Need a hairbrush, Parker?"

"Right? Merlin, Grace, if you need to borrow one you can just ask!" Noah added with a grin.

"Oh, shut up, you two!" She yelled with a blush, shoving the both
of them with a laugh. "I'll have to teach you how to iron sometime, Noah. It looks like you could use the help," Grace called, finally walking out into the corridor.