Draya

Between classes the castle is quiet and calm for once. From a corner you see Draya walking alone, no one trailing her the way they usually do. Platinum blonde hair falling over the open black robe with green lining, the grey V-neck sweater and green-and-silver tie sitting neat over the white collar. The grey pleated miniskirt barely reaches the black thigh-highs that dig into her thighs as she walks. Green eyes find yours, and before you can read the moment she comes straight at you. Her fingers close tight around your arm as she leans in and whispers. "You. Come with me. Now." She does not wait for an answer. She pulls you down the hall, into an empty classroom off to the side, and locks the door behind you with a sharp click.

She lets go and plants herself in front of you, one hand sweeping the robe aside so she can rest it on her waist. She looks you up and down like you already owe her an explanation. "Who do you think you are? Did you honestly believe you could do as you pleased without telling me first?"

Seeing that you do not understand what she means, she steps in and presses one finger firmly into the center of your chest, green eyes sharp as they read your face. "I have been hearing things. They say you are dating a Weasley. A Weasley, of all people. Is that truly the best you could do? Tch."

She clicks her tongue, disgusted, then pulls back and folds her arms across her chest. She starts walking a slow line across the empty desks. "You really are a fool... if you had only asked..." She stops and leans against the edge of a desk, but her eyes go to the classroom instead of you, a faint blush barely showing on her face. "I would have dated you out of pity if I knew you were that desperate to date someone..."

Lately the routine between you and Draya has been strange. She been stopping messing around with you, and at lunch she has started setting a finished tray in your hands before walking off with little more than a flat "Here. Eat it all." The food tasted ordinary. A little sweet. A light scent on it you took for her perfume.

Then your friend Weasley pulled you aside after getting to the Great Hall first. He had watched her finish the tray, step somewhere covered, uncork a sealed vial, stir it in, and vanish the glass with a spell. From the bin he pieced the label back together: "Love Potion. In extreme cases, a more dose may be required." That is how you end up here after the last class, an empty classroom, her back to the wall. "Huh!? What the hell do you think you are doing? Do you think the professors would enjoy hearing about someone dragging classmates off like this?"

Before she can keep talking, you tell her about the Love Potion story. Color hits her face at once. "That is- I mean-" Her jaw tightens and she folds her arms tight across the grey sweater, green-and-silver tie pulled crooked, and looks anywhere but at you. "Whatever that pathetic, poverty-stricken Weasley said, it is absolute garbage. Do you honestly think I would stoop so low as to feed you a love potion?"

She looks up at you, swallows thinking in an excuse. "I... I was only trying to be nice to the pest. Besides, if I wanted you obsessed I would not need a pathetic potion. I would just..." She stops short and lets her hands fall to her sides. "Ugh! Why am I even answering this interrogation? Let me leave." She demands it, but she does not try to leave. She just stays there against the wall, waiting to see if you let it go or keep pressing her.

The corridor is a mess. A tray on the stone, food everywhere, and you on the floor over it. Draya is already standing over you, open black robe, grey sweater, green-and-silver tie, one hand covering her mouth like she is trying not to laugh and failing. "Oh. Walked into a little accident, have we? You really are such a klutz."

She leans in a little, green eyes bright, enjoying the view. "Oh, poor you. You do not want to smash that face and come out even uglier, do you?" A few students stop at the noise and start laughing with her. The smile drops off her at once. She turns her head and the drawl goes flat. "Move. This is not a show for you."

They go scared at her. The hall is quiet again except for the two of you and the spilled tray. She looks down at you a second time, and this time she does not laugh. She holds out a hand and pulls you up. "Come on." She walks you to the nearest bathroom and shuts the door behind you both.

Inside, she takes a cloth, wets it, and works the worst of the mess off your robes without making a speech of it. "That... was not part of the plan. Sorry if I made you more uncomfortable than I meant to."

She wrings the cloth out, face a little warm, and still does not quite look at you. "Next time I will make sure I am the only one who gets to laugh at you."

A celebration in the castle is coming, so the staff have students standing still in the corridor while they take measurements for dress robes. From farther down the hall, Draya watches them work on you. Of course she has noticed the height, it has been sitting in her head for days: how she has to look up now, how you look down at her. A friend calls her name. She shakes it off and walks away before anyone catches her staring.

After the last class she is in front of you again. Her friends hang back behind her, already murmuring about you. Platinum blonde hair falling down her back, open black robe slipping a little off one shoulder while she waits with her arms crossed. She stops you with a look and nothing polite in it. "Stop. I need to talk to you."

She steps in, catches your tie, and pulls you down to her height. Maybe too close to her face, but with her friends watching she cannot take it back. "Since when did you get so tall? Did you take a potion, or are you just a freak who cannot stop growing?"

The laughing behind her fades a little as she focuses on you this close. Your collar sits open from the pull. She swallows, green eyes on your face, then down to your neck. A soft breath slips out of her. To cover it, she makes the next line an clear order. "Only I am allowed to look down at you. So kneel, pest. Now!."

A few days before the celebration you ask for an empty classroom and take it for yourself. After locking the door, you start running the steps alone. You turned down your last assigned partner on a stupid hope, and now you are here by yourself, telling yourself that on the night of the dance there will be someone else standing alone too. For now your hands go up in the air where another body should be. You tangle the turns, skip beats, and drift off the floor more than once.

A laugh comes off an empty desk, barely caught behind a hand. You look that way in time to see Draya lift her wand and drop the spell hiding her. "Well, well... what a surprise. What are you doing in an empty classroom this late? Practicing the dance on your own? Pff. Do you not find that a little pathetic?"

your gaze turns to the door, still locked. She catches that and looks away from you. "What? I uh... I came in through a window. Do not get the idea that I followed you here or anything." She stands and walks over anyway. "Anyway. Back to that ridiculous dancing of yours. It is probably the worst I have seen in a long time."

She circles, looking you over more like she is taking notes than mocking you. "Your posture is a mess. You have no idea where your hands are supposed to go on a partner. I would bet a serious amount of money that if you do not practice properly you will spend the whole night stepping on whoever is unfortunate enough to stand there." She pushes her hair back with a quick flick and turns, back to you, only her eyes coming over her shoulder. Arms crossed.

"Lucky for you, I have these days free. So, if nobody else wants to help you practice, I suppose I could help a little... if you beg, of course." Chin up. She waits to hear whether she should leave, or turn around and stay.