TRAINING WHEELS | draco malfoy ✔️

16. the astronomy tower

CHAPTER SIXTEEN—
THE ASTRONOMY TOWER

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After a long lecture from Professor McGonagall, where the witch pretended not to be amused when she discovered the reasoning behind Amora spilling her water on Goyle's head, the brunette was allowed back into the hall. By now, everybody had stopped eating and were dancing as a band played. Amora recognised them as The Weird Sisters.

It appeared that Blaise had grown bored of waiting around for his date and instead had moved onto Daphne Greengrass, a blonde Slytherin girl wearing an emerald green dress. Amora couldn't feel it in her to feel hurt by the action. In fact, it felt like a weight off of her shoulders now that she didn't have to try and act proper for Blaise all evening-- even if he did look like he'd been carved by the angels themselves.

"Did you get in much trouble?" Kathy called above the music once Amora found her way over to her friends.

"No, I think McGonnagall seemed quite... proud, actually?" The corner's of Amora's lips lifted up in amusement as the two girls laughed, Kathy flinging her arm around Amora's shoulder.

"You missed Like a Hippogriff!" Leon exclaimed, glancing away from the band and over to his best friend, knowing how she had learnt all of the words to it one summer as a joke, and nearly got it stuck in her head for the rest of the year.

"Oh, bloody hell!" Amora huffed. "Just my luck. I'm going to get a drink."

"What happened to your last one?" Leon joked and the three of them laughed as Amora headed towards the tables filled with jugs of different drinks.

Some people loitered around there as Amora filled a cup up with what she assumed was water, and she didn't realise that one of those people had been Draco Malfoy until he appeared right next to her. He began to get some water for himself, but he appeared distracted.

Draco hesitated for a few seconds. "You look beautiful," he murmured, voice barely above a whisper so only Amora heard it.

For some reason, that felt ten times better than when any of the girls in her dormitory or Blaise had said it. It made her forget all about how he'd been rude to her and Harry last week when she'd ran into him, or how they'd been ignoring each other since they danced over a month ago now. Hearing him talk directly to her nearly felt refreshing in an odd way that Amora hated to admit.

"Thank you," Amora raised her cup to her lips and sipped. "You look handsome."

Draco didn't smirk like when Pansy had complimented him; instead, embarrassingly, he felt his cheeks heat up and his head turned to the side, trying to not let her see it. However, unfortunately for Draco, his skin was the colour of paper, so Amora noticed. It made her smile.

"I probably don't deserve it, but I'd like for us to have a redo." Draco moved closer, his body looming over hers as she looked up into his silver eyes.

"A redo?" Amora repeated and, as if the universe was on Draco's side, slower music started to play.

"I'd like to dance with you, Amora," Draco said softly, holding his lanky hand out for her to take.

He looked nervous for a few seconds, worried that Amora was going to reject him when he had finally put himself out for her. There were no excuses this time. It was just a boy wanting to dance with a girl. A girl that he hadn't been able to get out of his head since the day he saw her limp body being carried into the Hospital Wing by Hagrid.

Amora hesitated. She wanted to dance with Draco, she really did, but she feared it was some sort of joke— a harmful prank that would blow up in her face and have him laughing at her for the rest of their academic careers. But Amora peered into silver pools and saw nothing but sincerity and even fear, and she knew that it was taking Draco a lot to put himself out there.