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"VICTORIA! DON'T WALK AWAY FROM ME!", DRACO DEMANDED. a few students turned to glance at the two but didn't dare to look longer than a second in fear of the slytherin prefect.

     "malfoy, I have no business with you. class is about to star—"

"I DON'T CARE ABOUT CLASS! what the hell was that letter that you had sent me over the summer?", draco lowly growled, gripping tightly onto the girl's arm.

"as a prefect, it's your responsibility to be on time and ensure others do the same. so if you'll excuse me, I'd like to make a good impression on our new potions professor", victoria replied as she opened the door and wore her usual fake smile.

"ah! ms. noir and mr. malfoy, how nice of you two to join us!", horace slughorn clapped, making victoria just bow.

"indeed professor. my apologies, as malfoy and I had accidentally bumped into each other in the hallways, and it took a moment to collect all our materials", victoria smoothly lied.

"oh well that's alright! we've barely started. come over here, as I've got quite the fascinating potion to show here", slughorn ushered.

     "now, can anyone—"

     suddenly, the door once again bursted open, revealing ron and harry, who clearly did not want to be there.

     "ah! I see you've brought a friend, mr. potter! well come on now. grab a textbook from the cupboard and let's get started", slughorn smiled.

     the two boys nodded as victoria tried moving away from draco, only to be held in place as the boy tightly gripped onto the back of the girl's robes.

     "now, who can tell me what this potion is?", slughorn questioned, glancing around the room as victoria and hermione immediately raised their hands.

"umm...how about ms. granger first? and perhaps you can add on later ms. noir?"

victoria simply nodded as hermione cleared her throat.

"amortentia is the most powerful love potion in the world. it is distinctive for its mother-of-pearl sheen, and the steam rises in spirals. and—"

     "amazing! and ms. noir?"

     slughorn didn't exactly mean to interrupt hermione, but he had felt bad if victoria didn't get a chance to say something too.

     "amortentia smells different to each person, according to what attracts them. though it is a love potion, infatuation is as far as it can produce. no one has yet to create everlasting love with the potion, and some heavily believe that a child conceived under the potion is unable to love", victoria explained all in one breath.

"very well!! splendid explanations, ms. granger and ms. noir!! now, another special little potion that I have here, is the felix felicis. also known as liquid luck, the person who drinks it will be successful in all their endeavors without fail. only for a period of time though", slughorn lectured as he held up a small glass bottle.

     "now, anyone who can brew the draught of living death will receive this as a prize. off you all go now!"

     victoria immediately rushed to a table, hoping to finally get away from draco, in which she had succeeded.

"h-hey victoria", neville squeaked out.

"good morning neville", the girl greeted back.

"are you...umm...are you okay? I-I don't mean to pry...but you and m-m-malfoy seem a bit distant...", neville concerned.

"ah, we just broke up. nothing too dramatic", victoria weakly smiled, already adding the 5 ounces of african sea salt to the beaker.

"oh okay...well if you ever need any help, I'll try my best to assist you. after all, we're friends right?", neville smiled, making victoria momentarily stop.

     "of course...neville..."

     though neville noticed the girl's slight hesitation, he didn't bother about it, as he had just assumed that the girl was still a little out of it from her breakup.

     after nearly 30 minutes, victoria had to take a lot of initiative to follow the instructions from her little notes, rather than what the textbook had said.

     after all, victoria wasn't a fool. she didn't believe for a second that with the time frame that slughorn had given that she's supposed to brew a successful draught of death.

     "professor, would you mind critiquing my potion?", victoria smiled as she raised her hand, gaining the attention of many.

"oh...of course! you're already finished? let's test it with a leaf shall we?"

slughorn then dropped the leaf in the clear concoction, watching as the leaf disappeared into nothingness.

"simply marvelous!! you're perhaps the second student that I've had brew such a rigorous potion in such a short amount of time", slughorn praised, making victoria's smile slightly falter.

'second? who was first?'

though harry was not that far behind, as he was at the half-way mark with his cauldron bubbling with a pale lilac potion, to which it had earned him a praise too.

     "alright class! now let's congratulate ms. noir on her gain of the felix felicis! use it wisely now ms. noir".

     "of course professor. thank you for your teachings", the girl smoothly replied as she quickly snatched the tiny bottle and stuffed it safely in her inner robes.

     "great! I will see you all next class then. enjoy the rest of your day", slughorn chuckled as he dismissed all the students.

     victoria hastily strutted out the classroom, not wanting draco to catch up to her and question her about the breakup.

     the girl could not look into the boy's eyes and admit that she didn't like him, a lot.

"victoria!", a voice called out, making the girl immediately spin around on instinct.

"luna?"

"professor dumbledore has requested your presence at his office", the girl informed.

"oh...thank you for telling me", victoria smiled. as the girl was about to leave, luna stopped her.

"by the way, would you still like me to help you with quidditch tryouts this year?", luna asked.

     victoria had totally forgotten her captain position in the sports. with slytherins winning the quidditch cup last year, victoria had desperately wanted to win again.

     though the girl knew her priorities, and quidditch was not at the top of the list.

     "yes please. you have a good eye for things and people. there's going to be a special tryout this year", victoria said, to which luna just nodded.

     "would you like me to get the posters ready then?", luna questioned.

     "if you could", victoria smiled.

     the girl loved how helpful and understanding the ravenclaw girl was. luna always knew what to ask and what not to pry, something victoria truly appreciated.

     "also, if you're free, could you accompany me to hogsmeade this weekend? I have a few things I want to buy", victoria said.

"of course! I suppose saturday at 3 p.m. then?"

"perfect. I'll see you later then luna".

victoria then walked towards her next class, knowing that dumbledore was expecting her presence at the end of the day.

draco watched as he swiftly disappeared into crow of students.

"what business does she have with dumbledore?"

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     a/n: hello my darlings! I hope you're still enjoying the story so far. it's honestly very different for me to write this type of character so please be a little lenient with me!!

     if you enjoyed, please comment and VOTE!! every bit counts and I love you all so much!

     stay safe!! xoxo