Wonder // Draco Malfoy

83. Valentine's Day

"You've got a date with Cho?" I ask Harry. He smiles sheepishly and nods. "Good for you! You haven't been able to take your eyes off her."

We've decided to plan another meeting in the courtyard away from everyone. We have our Transfiguration textbooks out as if studying to seem less suspicious. "Yeah," he replies. He closes his textbook and stuffs it into his overfilled bag. "I'll give Hermione the notes," he says.

We say our goodbyes and I watch him leave. He walks awkwardly. For a Triwizard Champion that's fought Voldemort before, he has such an awkward walk about him. I guess that no matter what, his teenage boy tendencies will overpower  everything else.

I tuck my own notes into the back of my textbook and turn a few pages to where our lesson left off in class. I've been annotating the book with my quill while I study and use my class notes to compare. It's easy to forget all the extra stress in life when O.W.Ls are approaching and you haven't got a clue how well you'll do.

Almost an hour goes by - I sit silently under the tree and mouth the words as I read them. Transfiguration is one of my better subjects - it's potions that I know I need help with. Speaking of - I'll be late if I don't go now.

I quickly pack my stuff into my bag, throw it over my shoulder, and briskly walk to the potions classroom. As I descend the last staircase, I'm sure I'm red in the face. I'm out of breath but hiding it as I smile at the other students also filing into the classroom last minute. I take one last deep breath and enter the classroom to find my usual seat next to Rue.

Professor Snape walks in almost immediately after me - his long cloak flapping as he glides through the break in desks to reach his own in front of us. "Open your books to page 783," he instructs in his usual dull tone. We do as he says with the only sound being the chalk flying against the board and our books being opened.

The drawing is unfamiliar; another new potion he's wanting us to memorize before our exams. I can almost cry at how complicated it looks. Who in the world can memorize these?

As the instructions continue to write themselves on the board, Professor Snape turns around and takes a look around at us. "I have no doubt some of you will do well. Others... not so well."

His eyes flicker to a few students, but I lower my head before he can even think of making eye contact with me. I'm by no means failing - but I definitely will not score the highest in our class.

We continue through class, some of the cauldrons making small explosions as we go. Professor Snape is getting more annoyed as time progresses, and I'm sure some of us will land detention with how poorly we're doing. I'm paired with a Ravenclaw boy that thankfully knows exactly what he's doing. Professor Snape probably paired us for that reason.

We've been paired many times before, beginning with the first time we were assigned pairs rather than choosing them. A week prior I had a cauldron explode and I had to go to Madam Pompfrey. He has since helped me to at least minimize the damage.

At the end of class, we have successfully created our potion. We fill a small vile with some and label it before placing it with the rest. "Great job, Valentine," my potions partner commends as we leave. "You said you weren't any good at potions. You must be good at lying, then."

We both laugh as we join the other students to our next classes. We have Divination together next so we decide to walk together. His name is Maxwell Knight. He has a noble last name, and his family is amongst the wealthiest in Britain. My family in America had even heard of his family for their role in the Ministry of Magic here.

"I actually have had a lot of help with potions," I honestly reply. Draco has helped me countless times when I had gotten too frustrated with my school work. He thinks me being frustrated is cute, which only would annoy me more. "You should've seen how bad I was last year."