WHEN LAURA finished eating, she excused herself from the Slytherin table, meandering her way over to the Gryffindor table.

"Hi, Katie."

"Oh, hi, Laura," Katie smiled, turning to Laura. "Did you need anything?"

"No, I just wanted to talk to you," Laura shrugged, sitting next to Katie, which caused some Gryffindors to send her a look. "Blondie is getting a bit boring."

"I doubt that's true," Katie said with a laugh. "There's been word that you and Viktor ran into Crouch. I bet he wasn't too happy about that."

"No, you're right," Laura laughed. "Though, he got to find out before the rest of the school found out. I'm really just over here because he keeps finally realizing things, and I just missed you."

"I missed our dumb conversations as well," Katie grinned, "so, did you really run into the minister last night? Was he as cool as President Collins?"

"They wish they could have a president as cool as Lisa," Laura said, thinking back to the MACUSA President, Lisa Collins. The two had a rocky history, but Laura felt they were in a good place by that point. "He was definitely not himself. He kept talking to a tree, seized me, and begged me to get Dumbledore while I couldn't escape his grasp."

"Oh?" Katie said, her eyes a bit wide at that. "Yeah, Laurs, that's not normal at all... Well! I'm glad you're here right now."

"I am as well, but besides that..." Laura trailed off, a knowing look in her eyes. "I've been meaning to ask you about you and Nick."

Katie's face went pink, causing Laura to smirk.

"That look is why they put you into Slytherin," Katie quipped, trying to change the subject.

"Oh, I know," Laura said, "and my inner Horned Serpent is telling me that you and Nick have something going on... If you don't want to tell me, I'm sure Nick would love to send me a letter about it-"

"You saw us at the second task, I know," Katie groaned. They both knew if Laura asked Nick, he would over-exaggerate everything. "It's a relatively new thing between us that didn't start until I came here.

"We didn't confess to each other until we were just super bored at the second task,

"Your parents, Parkinson, Young, and Zambini, were off who knows where during the task," Katie's face was pink as she explained. Laura knew she was a little embarrassed to be explaining it. But she also knew Katie wouldn't tell her if she didn't want to, "the task was so long and mundane from the stands that people left and came back until the end."

"It definitely didn't feel very long while I was under the lake," Laura mumbled under her breath, causing Katie to laugh.

"Well, you were in active danger the entire time," Katie remarked, returning to her story. "So, while they all happened to be gone, Nick confessed to me, and I reciprocated the feelings. I'm guessing he said something about it during one of his letters to you, but it wasn't that much."

"Cute," Laura said with a smile. "I always had a gut feeling that you two would get together at one point or another. After our first year, Nick was pretty infatuated with you."

"I guess I just never noticed," Katie sighed. "But this new development will definitely mark my Hogwarts run to just this year. I like it here, but I miss Ilvermorny."

"I miss it too," Laura said with a sad smile. "I love it at Hogwarts, but I think about Ilvermorny and my other family back home. I'll miss everyone here, but I think Ilvermorny always has and always will be my second home."

"Are you planning on going back to Ilvermorny next year?"

"I think so. I don't know how it'll affect Draco and me, but you know..."

Katie and Laura looked each other in the eye, a knowing smile overcoming their faces.

"Where we roam, our one true home, our one and own is, Ilvermorny dear!" The two sang, laughing when they finished.

"Oh my Merlin, I miss it," Laura sighed. "I wonder who they got to sing at the song this year."

"My bets are on Nick... No, he would've complained at us if he had to do it,"

"He probably did, though. Someone definitely got him to do it. I'm sure," Laura said. "We both know if someone told him, he would do it."

Laura then felt someone's eyes on her, causing her to turn to Katie.

"Can you look and see if Blondie is staring at me?" she asked. While she was very confident it was him, she knew Draco would be a little bugged if Katie looked.

Laura then watched Katie sign at someone, causing her to know that it was Draco.

'Laura doesn't want to talk... I don't know, cry about it.'

Laura raised an eyebrow at what Katie was signing. She could tell Katie was holding back a laugh as she signed.

"Did you piss him off?" Laura asked with a laugh as Katie turned back.

"For sure, he looks royally mad- oh my Merlin, I've been here way too long-" Katie said the last part under her breath. "I forgot he knew sign, but you saw what I told him."

"Oh, Banks," Laura said with a sigh, "I'm going to have to deal with him being cranky for the rest of the day because of this."

"Aw, Laurs, you can just hang out with me," Katie grinned. "We have our first class together, so if he decides to be difficult, you can just sit with me."

"Thanks, Katie," Laura smiled, then got up. "Speaking of our first class... I need to steal some homework answers from Draco, so I'm going to go find him. Love you so much, Katie."

"Love you, Laura."

Laura looked around the hall to see if she could find Draco, which was always easier than she thought. Her eyes landed on the blond, who was already looking at her. He waved her over, though Laura was a little afraid of what would happen. His expression wasn't angry, but it wasn't happy, sad, or anything... It was the expression she hated the most because she couldn't read it.

"Hi, Blondie," Laura said as she made it to Draco, sending him a warm smile. He took her hand, and the two walked outside the Great Hall.

"You were ignoring me earlier?" Draco said, softly putting a hand on her cheek.

Laura froze. He was never that affectionate, and she still could not figure out what his expression meant. She tilted her head slightly, playing innocent to what he was saying.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Laura, don't pretend," Draco said, a twinge of hurt on his face. Even though it was small, with his vague expression, the hurt was loud. "I know you, Laura. I know we've only known each other for less than a year and only dated for about six months, but please. I know you know I was trying to talk to you. I also saw you laughing after Banks turned back."

"I know," Laura said, her expression falling, putting her hand on his. "I know Katie signed that I didn't want to talk, but that's just Katie. I love talking to you. I was just catching up with her."

Draco nodded, rubbing his thumb against her cheek softly.

"I guess I should've figured that," he said, seemingly a little embarrassed now. "Both of us tend to be stubborn, and I guess I was overthinking and thought I might have done something..."

"Oh, you would know if you did something," Laura said. She laughed a little bit. "So, are we okay?"

"I think we are."

Draco wrapped Laura into a hug, kissing the top of her head. Laura laughed softly, hugging him back.

"Are you alright, Blondie?" Laura asked, looking up at him. "You're usually not this affectionate with me- especially out here."

"I'm fine," Draco said. Laura watched as he seemed a bit out of it. She wiggled her hand out of the hug, putting a hand up to Draco's forehead.

"Draco, are you sick?" she asked, furrowing her eyebrows. She looked at him closely, sighing when she realized he was more pale and distant. "Is that why you were late to breakfast?"

"I don't get sick, Pip," Draco hummed. Laura was sure he was sick now.

"You're not going to class, you need to sleep," Laura said, squeezing Draco's cheek before he could argue back. "No, I don't care; you need sleep to get better."

"But Laura," Draco complained, frowning at her.

"Oh my Merlin, you're like a toddler when you're sick. Can you do this one thing for me? I'll come find you after classes to keep you company."

"I need to go to class, though," Draco protested.

Laura sighed, then remembered something.

"I know you want to, but I need you to rest," Laura said. "Just so you know how serious I am about this, I was supposed to train tonight, but to keep you company, I'm going to cancel it. Please listen to me and go back to your dorm and rest."

"You're not training with Diggory, are you?" Draco asked, completely ignoring everything else.

"I'm training with Harry, Blondie," Laura sighed. "But did you listen to anything else I said?"

"I'll go back to my dorm and rest," Draco said, seemingly a bit deterred. "But please, just don't skip class to be with me."

"I won't, don't worry," Laura said with a small laugh. "I like to keep my grades up, remember."

"I know, I know, but you're just such a caring person," Draco squeezed Laura softly before letting her go. "I know you at least thought about skipping class for me."

"Maybe I did," Laura said with a teasing grin. "But go get some rest, I'll come find you later. Love you."

"Love you," Draco said, leaving for the Slytherin dungeons.

The rest of the day was pretty mundane. Laura arrived at Care of Magical Creatures. Harry sent her a questioning look when Draco never showed up.

"An' where is Malfoy?" Hagrid asked Laura after having the class split off.

"He's sick, so I made him rest," Laura said with a shrug. "Also, thank you for walking me back last night, I appreciate it."

"O' course, 's the least I could do," Hagrid nodded.

"Do you happen to know what happened to the minister?" Laura asked, trying to see if she could pry some information from Hagrid.

"I'm 'fraid not,'' Hagrid said, shaking his head. "Sorry, Laura."

"It's all right," Laura said. "Dumbledore probably wants it to be on the down low."

Hagrid nodded, then walked off to help others. After he left, Harry walked over to Laura.

"Where's your boyfriend?" he asked skeptically. "I saw him talking to you and then to Katie at breakfast. Is he up to something?"

"No, I know exactly where he is," Laura said, shooting Harry a look. "He's sick and in bed. You only saw him at breakfast because he claims to 'never get sick,' but he was definitely sick. Because of that, I made him go back to bed to rest.

"That also reminds me I need to talk to you about tonight," Laura said. A nervous smile formed on her face. "Because Draco is sick... I don't think I can train tonight."

"Malfoy is old enough to take care of himself. Do you really need to be there to make sure he's okay?" Harry asked, folding his arms.

"I care about him, so I want to be there for him," Laura shrugged. "At least tonight I do. I can do tomorrow night instead, and I promise I'll cancel anything else that pops up."

"Fine," Harry said with a sigh. "Tomorrow night at the same time."

"Got it," Laura exclaimed, patting Harry on the back before returning to class.

🪐➶.✧༄

Classes were finally over. Draco and Laura were now sitting in the Room of Requirement. Draco seemed slightly better than how he was that morning. He had apparently gone to see Madam Pomfrey, who gave him a simple remedy. However, it still took time to get him back to feeling one hundred percent.

The two were sitting on the couch in the room, just talking. Laura had her head in his lap, looking up at him.

"I'm just saying that the New York Yankees are the superior Quidditch team, and you can't convince me otherwise," Laura said blatantly.

"They just aren't the best," Draco shrugged, playing with her hair. "I know they're your favorite, but come on, Laura, there are better teams."

"Boo," Laura said, sticking her tongue out at Draco. "I'm sorry that I didn't have a fascination for a certain Quidditch player, but now I'm scared that he'll steal my girlfriend."

"I'm not scared that Krum would 'steal' you. I might just be a little overprotective and jealous..." Draco admitted.

"You're a lot more vulnerable and needy when you're sick," Laura said with a soft laugh. "Maybe I like this side of you more. You're a lot more affectionate with me when you're like this."

"Well, I don't get sick ever, so this is a rare sight," Draco said, leaning his head back and shutting his eyes. "I blame my mother. She would always dote on me whenever I got sick when I was younger. There would always be a lot of cuddling, so I think I've just connected being sick to being touchy."

"Well, I like this," Laura smiled, kissing his hand, then squeezing it softly. "I also never get sick, so we'll just have to see what happens. Though, I don't think I'll get sick."

"Sure you don't, Darling," Draco chuckled, looking back down at her, "when you inevitably get sick, I'll take just as much care of you as you've given me."

"I've done almost nothing," Laura pointed out. "Also, when did I become your 'darling?'"

"When you confessed to me," Draco hummed. "I know I haven't called you, Darling up until now, but you're just being so darling."

Laura sat up, kissing Draco on the cheek, then snuggling into him as he put an arm around her. She was thankful that his mom was the type to dote on him so that she could dote on him during moments like this.

"So, what happened with you and Potter's training?" Draco asked, rubbing his thumb against her shoulder. "How did he react to needing to reschedule?"

"He was confused about it since you should be able to take care of yourself, but I was like no... and told him we could tomorrow," Laura shrugged. "You're all that matters to me right now."

"You're too kind and sweet to me," Draco smiled softly, squeezing her softly.