TRAINING WHEELS—
SWORN ENEMIES.

003

Amora was worried about Cedric, but she tried not to dwell on it too much. Leon thought it was pretty cool that a Hufflepuff was brave enough to go forward and put their name in the Goblet of Fire, and everybody else seemed to think so too, so Amora zipped her mouth. Besides, Cedric was the older cousin-- not her. She shouldn't be trying to act like a parent and hold him back.

School had only been back in session for a couple of days, but already the brunette was exhausted. Her brown eyes held small bags underneath them, but it was nothing that a dash of concealer and a bright smile couldn't hide. During her free period, Amora found herself wandering around the halls of Hogwarts, trying to make her way back to the common room whilst reading her book.

She was so captivated by the words on the page that she nearly walked straight into somebody coming her way. If they didn't have the most white-blond hair that Amora had ever seen, then perhaps she would have missed them completely. She glanced up, sending a small nod and half a smile to Draco.

Almost immediately after she did so did Amora want to smack herself around the face. She needed to remind herself not to smile at every person she walked by-- especially when their last name was with Malfoy and they made fun of her and her friends.

"Did you just smile at me, Buckley?" Draco snickered, narrowing his eyes at her. "Careful, Leon might think you're in love with me or something."

Amora scoffed, pausing in her tracks. "One, Leon is not my boyfriend, no matter how much you want him to be, Malfoy. And two, you are the last person in this entire castle that I would ever fall for. Even Snape comes above you."

"Ouch," Draco mocked, holding a hand on his heart. "That truly hurts, Amora. I thought you had been genuinely happy to see me."

"The day I'm happy to see you is the day that I've lost my mind." Amora rolled her eyes.

Amora would have felt bad saying that if it was to anybody but Draco Malfoy. As far as she was concerned, their mutual hatred consisted of teasing, teasing, and more teasing. Genuinely hateful remarks only came from their lips when they'd embarrassed the other in front of other students and they needed a better comeback, but other than that, it sometimes felt like Draco and Amora had some mutual respect for each other, although that feeling hadn't sprouted since last year, when Draco had helped her.

LAST YEAR.

Amora's eyes flickered open, a small hum coming from the back of her throat as consciousness took its grip on her body. She realised she must have fallen asleep whilst reading one of the many Muggle books she kept stashed beneath her bed, the book now sprawled out across her lap and the bookmark to the side. She sighed, picking it up and groaning when she realised that she had lost her place. The number of times that this had happened because Amora would constantly read until she passed out was becoming a problem.

She rubbed at her eyes with the backs of her hands and stood up from her spot against the stone wall. Her legs were slightly numb from the way that they had been awkwardly crossed-- in fact, Amora wondered how she could have even fallen asleep comfortably in such a position.

Muffled talk was coming from around the corner, causing Amora to curiously glance over. She was heading for the Wooden Bridge to head back to her dormitory anyway, so there was no hurt in pausing for a moment or two. Standing in the Stone Circle were Draco and his two minions, Crabbe and Goyle, and heading right for them were Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

Amora shifted in her spot with a soft frown, holding her book tight to her chest as she heard Hermione start to yell. "You. You foul, loathsome, evil little cockroach!"

The brunette's hand rested over her mouth in shock as she watched the young witch grab her wand and point it directly to Draco's throat. Draco cowered back against one of the large stones standing in the ground, a panicked expression written across his pale face whilst his two friends simply watched.

"Hermione, no!" Ron warned. "He's not worth it."

Draco was a whimpering mess right until Hermione decided to pity him, lowering her wand. She turned to back away when the Slytherin boy started to snicker to his friends, causing Hermione to suddenly whirl around and punch him right in the face.

Amora winced from where she could hear the smack of Hemione's knuckles against Draco's face from all the way over by the Wooden Bridge. Her feet instinctively stepped forward as if to go and help Draco, until she remembered who he was. Instead, she moved back cautiously, watching as Draco groaned in pain and started to slide down the rock.

Before he could, his two friends grabbed his arms and they started to run in Amora's direction, away from the three best friends who were watching smugly. Draco caught sight of Amora before he could enter the Wooden Bridge, a scowl crossing his face as he held his nose with his hand as his friends kept running.

"You. You better not tell a soul what you just saw, Buckley," Draco sneered.

Amora clutched her books tighter. "Do you mean the way Hermione totally just put you in your place? Or the way you were crying like a baby before she'd even landed a punch?" Her smile seemed harmless, and it honestly was, she loved to tease Draco-- though, his comebacks were always a lot more personal.

Draco looked like he didn't know what to say for a few moments. He glared down at her, moving forward until the brunette was backed against the wall. It pressed coldly against her back from where the Hufflepuff jumper she wore had rode up a little. Half of it was tucked into her black skirt, the other half out by accident.

"Any of it," Draco admitted, his voice intending to come out rough and intimidating, but Amora saw right through it. He sounded completely embarrassed.

"Would you like me to take a look at it?" Amora offered, despite their differences.

The boy with the icy hair took a step back as if she had offered to give him a second punch. Amora lightly rolled her eyes, wondering when Draco was going to get over himself and stop acting as if everybody was below him.

"No," he snapped. "No, I don't want you coming anywhere near me, Buckley."

Amora sighed in defeat, shrugging her shoulders. "Right. Well, you best be on your way to Madam Pomfrey then, huh?"

"I was just about to do that." Draco glared and started to march away, all the way down the Wooden Bridge and back towards the main building.

The brown-eyed girl let her vision follow him for a moment or two before she looked away and realised that the Golden Trio were gone. Amora grew curious, wondering where they might have gone. She headed over to the Stone Circle right where Draco and his two friends had been, looking out where he had been looking.

She had the perfect view of Hagrid's Hut from in the garden, and Buckbeak tied to a post amongst large pumpkins placed outside it. Just as Amora started to move to head back to her dormitory like she originally planned, the back door to Hagrid's home snapped open and three familiar figures came running out of it to hide behind the pumpkins at the back. Heading into the front door was Dumbledoor, Fudge, and an executioner.

Amora grimaced, realising what was about to happen. Her heart sank in her chest and she forced herself to turn away from the scene. Memories of her last Care of Magical Creatures lesson with Hagrid came flooding back, remembering how he had introduced them to the hippogriff so eagerly. Everything had been going so fine until Draco had scared the poor thing-- resulting in him getting his arm hurt. 

Poor Buckbeak.

The brunette realised that she had been thinking about it for a couple of minutes, standing in the middle of the Stone Circle completely zoned out. She blinked just as she heard the sounds of footsteps and short pants heading towards her. The Golden Trio were coming up the hill as fast as they could, Hermione's brown eyes enlarging at the sight of Amora.

"Oh, Amora!" The young witch greeted breathlessly, throwing her arms around the slightly shorter girl's neck for a brief hug. "You shouldn't look. They're about to execute Buckbeak."

Amora returned the hug only for a second before she pulled away. "I know, I know," she breathed. "You shouldn't watch, either."

Just as their words were exchanged, the sound of a blade ripping through skin and bones filled the air. Ron and Harry, who had been watching, both immediately recoiled from the sight, quick enough to catch Hermione burying her face into Amora's neck. Amora hugged Hermione harder, sharing a saddened look with the two Gryffindor boys.

"Hermione..." Ron muttered before he was wrapping his arms around her from behind.

Hermione shifted to face the ginger boy and Harry joined. Amora watched the trio as she brushed some tears away from under her eyes, not daring to look over at what was probably left of Buckbeak. Her grip tightened on her book and she was about to bid them all a farewell when she heard a sudden gasp emit from Ron's lips. The rat that he had been holding in his hand fell onto the grass and darted away.

"He bit me," Ron breathed in disbelief, holding his bleeding finger. "Scabbers."

"Ron..." Hermione warned as he took off after it, back down the hill. "Ron!"

Harry called his name also, the two trying to follow behind as quick as they could. Whilst Amora had made it clear to Ron on a couple of occasions how she didn't really like his rat, despite loving all animals, she sighed and followed, knowing she'd feel guilty if something happened to Ron's beloved pet and she didn't at least try and help.

"Oh gosh..." The book slipped from her hand when she saw Harry and Hermione being thrown around by the Whomping Willow tree, and with no Ron in sight. "I- I'll get help!"

Hermione's terrified scream pierced through the air and caused the Hufflepuff girl to wince. She started to scramble away just as she watched Harry get thrown into the hole in the tree, Hermione quickly following. The eerie silence made her pause in her tracks, brown eyes wide as she straightened up, panting.

"Hermione?" She called wearily, daring to take a step closer. "Harry? Ron?"

Her over caring nature pushed her a few steps too far, and Amora found herself paralysed by fear when the branches started to move again. She thought she had been far enough away to try and call out to her fellow Hogwarts students, but the branches appeared to extend and stretch out, wrapping around Amora and tugging her closer.

"Help!" Amora screamed, clawing at the dirt on the ground beneath her.

It seeped into her nails and dirtied the black and yellow jumper that she wore, but was no help in keeping her safe from the large tree. The Whomping Willow threw her into the air, her scream echoing loudly as another branch caught her. It seemed to play with her for a second or two before she was suddenly being thrown to the ground.

A sickening crack filled the silence and Amora's eyes quickly drifted shut as she felt a sharp pain and then nothing.

Amora woke to her body swaying in large arms, her brown eyes groggily recognising the halls of Hogwarts. For a split second she forgot all about the incident with the Whomping Willow, but everything came flooding back to her when an excruciating pain split straight through her right arm. She whimpered and threw her head back, alerting the person carrying her of her consciousness.

"Amora Buckley!" It was Hagrid hurrying her through the halls, ignoring the strange looks of other curious students wondering what had happened. "Welcome back. Doin' a lot better than Malfoy was when Buckbeak scratched 'im. 'N that looks like a nasty break you 'ave there!"

The brunette girl simply groaned, closing her eyes and wishing she could just pass out again-- anything to avoid the excruciating pain shooting through her wrist and up her arm. It was even making her shoulder hurt, and with that, her entire back. Hagrid tightened his grip on her as he used his body to push open the door to the Hospital Wing.

Heels pitter pattered towards them and Amora blinked her eyes open, seeing Madam Pomfrey there. The old woman was glancing between Hagrid and Amora, a worried expression written across her face.

"Oh my!" She followed Hagrid as he placed her down on one of the many hospital beds. "What happened to her, Hagrid?"

"'M afriad it was the Whomping Willow, Madam Pomfrey. Must've got too close," Hagrid insisted. "Found poor Amora lyin' there."

"Right," Madam Pomfrey breathed. "Thank you for taking her here, Hagrid. You can leave now."

"Course," the large man grunted, sending a nod towards Amora. "Get well soon, kiddo."

Amora couldn't even thank Hagrid herself. She felt as though if she were to open her mouth then she would throw up. Her head pressed to the pillows behind her and she squeezed her eyes shut, blocking out the cry of pain that she so desperately wanted to release.

"What happened?" Draco's voice seemed to drill through Amora's head from where she could feel Madam Pomfrey touching her arm.

"Mr Malfoy, I told you that you could leave over an hour ago!" Madam Pomfrey scolded. "Miss Buckley's arm is none of your concern. Your nose is healed, you may leave the Hospital Wing now."

"Ow, ow, ow!" Amora cried before Draco could cut in some sort of witty remark.

The blond's silver eyes trailed to her arm and they widened. Her arm certainly was broken-- it looked slightly disfigured and there was already so much bruising, especially around her wrist. Sweat clung to Amora's skin which had paled significantly-- enough to make a Malfoy jealous. He found himself actually feeling bad for the girl who he had a distaste for.

"Miss Buckley, I need you to keep still so I can do the spell correctly," the woman warned lightly.

"It bloody hurts!" Amora cried back, tears brimming her eyes and she suddenly began to sob as if saying the words out loud had made it more real. "Draco, just go away if you're going to stand and laugh."

Draco's face screwed up. "I wasn't laughing!" He protested, offended by the accusation thrown his way. "It looks like it hurts."

"Mr Malfoy, if you insist on not leaving then would you make yourself useful and keep Miss Buckley still? Perhaps give her your hand to squeeze," Madam Pomfrey huffed, still trying to get the young girl to calm down.

Draco was about to turn on his heels and leave until he saw the way Amora's reddened cheeks were glistening with tears. The empathetic side he held deep inside him knew he would hope somebody would be there to hold his hand in a situation like this.

Amora, who had been blinded by her own pain, was slightly confused when she felt a cold hand slip over the one gripping the sheets beneath her. She gasped through her heaving breaths, staring widely as Draco's slender fingers intertwined with hers and pulled her dainty hand away from the bed. He grabbed her hand and gave it a small squeeze, sending the brunette girl a tiny nod when she looked up at him.

Madam Pomfrey took Amora's moment of distraction to cast the correct spell, watching as Amora squeezed Draco's hand tight. The blond boy swallowed as the pain washed from Amora's face and she was panting yet relaxed against the pillow beneath her. Her hand slowly slid from his, and she took her warmth with it. Draco awkwardly cleared his throat and took a step back, silver eyes flickering to her arm which had mended wonderfully.

The woman cast another spell and Amora's arm was being bandaged up, a splint and a sling wrapping around the exhausted girl. Draco's heart stopped pounding, and only then did he realise how hard it had been.

"Rest now, Miss Buckley," Madam Pomfrey instructed as she started to walk away.

"What happened to you?" Draco was already back to his usual judgemental tone, folding his arms across his chest. "You were fine half an hour ago."

"Whomping Willow."

"What idiot is stupid enough to get close to a Whomping Willow?" The Malfoy boy scoffed, shaking his head slowly. "Oh, right. A Hufflepuff."

Amora glared slightly. "Hey... my stupidity has nothing to do with me being a Huffelpuff." Her comeback was extremely backhanded,  making Draco actually snort. "If you must know, I was trying to help someone. Oh gosh! I left my book there."

Draco squinted his eyes, putting one and two together. "Potter?"

Amora nodded casually. "Yes. Do you think Madam Pomfey will let me leave before curfew? I need that book. I'm on the last few chapters."

"Where is Potter?" Draco huffed. "He certainly didn't bother bringing you back himself, did he? Of course the egotistical bastard would just leave you there."

Suddenly, Amora was frowning at the idea. An unwelcome sense of sadness seeped into her skin, poisoned her blood and wrapped around her heart, making her entire body feel heavy. She sagged against the bed even further, blinking at the realisation.

"I'm sure he had his reasonings," Amora excused her friends quietly.

"Oh, of course," Draco continued with a scoff, not recognising the hurt on her face. "Higher priorities than a dying classmate, I'm sure."

"Why do you care?" The Hufflepuff finally had enough, wanting the blond to stop talking. "You hate Harry and you hate me. Just leave it alone, Draco."

"I was just saying," Draco muttered sourly as he started to walk away. "This is why you will always be the one getting hurt, Amora. If you let people like Potter take advantage of the... kindness that you seem to have."

Amora swallowed thickly. Before Draco could open the door and leave, she called out, "And that's why you'll always be hanging around the wing even after you've been let out, Draco. Because your bitterness will leave you lonely."

It seemed they both had some things that they could teach each other, but Draco had no intentions of learning. Instead, he swung the heavy door open and slammed it right behind him, ironically leaving Amora all by herself.

However, despite their last few words exchanged to each other not being too pleasant at all, when Amora woke the next morning in her hospital bed, she found the book she'd mentioned to Draco sat on her bedside table, slightly dirtied. It looked like the person had tried to wipe it off considering the finger prints on the cover, and Amora had reason to believe that it wasn't Hagrid who had returned it, nor any member from the Golden Trio.

It had been Draco.

D.M + A.B

"Hermione," Amora called, chasing the brunette girl down the stairs where she stood with Ron. "Hi, you two."

"Hi, Amora," they both chorused back. "How are you?" Hermione asked. "We haven't spoken since the train ride over. Everything's just been a little... hectic."

"I know," Amora sighed as they started to walk to their next class. "I'm absolutely knackered and we haven't even gotten through a full week yet. Merlin knows how I'll make it through this term."

Ron nodded in agreement. "Everyone keeps banging on about the Goblet of Fire. Fred and George are pissed about it... I think they've been planning on using some sort of ageing potion to put their names in."

Hermione scoffed. "Of course they are! Do they realise how absolutely ridiculous that sounds?"

Amora shrugged. "I don't know... If it works then I'll consider them pretty smart."

"It won't work," the Granger girl insisted. "Professor Dumbledore isn't stupid, Amora. He would have definitely thought that through already. What are you reading?"

"Oh." Amora flipped the book in her hand. "That Muggle book you lent me over summer. I'm on the last chapter."

Ron's face screwed up when he saw the title. "A romance novel?" He scoffed. "You two are strange, you are."

Hermione rolled her eyes and lightly whacked him. "Believe it or not, Ron, but some people like to read genres other than Quidditch and The Tales of Beedle the Bard."

"Well, I don't want to read about people snogging either!"

Amora giggled. "Rather do the snogging in real life, huh, Ron?" She teased.

Ron glared slightly. "Let's just get to class," he grumbled.

...

me writing this chapter cause i thought i had free time but realising 3.4K words later that i have an analysis essay for english language due tomorrow 😗✌🏼

but my EL teacher this year is such a huge harry potter fan,, like she has all those posters around the room about being forced to teach muggles n stuff ++ she said she's a proud slytherin after ranting on about how the symbolism of snakes is corrupt lmaoo i love her

thanks for reading! <33

dyiansobrien.