TRAINING WHEELS—
THE SLYTHERIN DORM

037

"My bed's that one."

Draco's finger pointed over to one of the four-posters towards the back of the room, more obviously the one that had his school shoes neatly placed at the end of it. Amora wandered over to it, taking his remark as an invitation to sit on top of it, but feeling somewhat awkward doing so. Despite there being no windows since it was underground, it smelt surprisingly fresh in the fourth year boys' dormitory.

Draco's area in particular smelt slightly of the cologne that he used every morning, filling Amora's stomach with butterflies. She watched as Draco grabbed some parchment and a quill, scribbling onto it as quickly as possible. She quirked a brow, looking around the room. Just like their common room, which Draco had practically dragged Amora through at lightning speed, it was dark and adorned with green accents.

Amora perched on the end of Draco's bed, smoothing her hands across his clean bedsheets. She noticed a couple of books perched neatly on his bedside table, alongside his cologne, and a half-filled goblet of water. It was quite bare, most of his possessions tucked away in his trunk or in the safety of his home back in Wiltshire.

"What are you doing?" Amora asked him as he finally stopped with his scribbling and enveloped his work.

"Writing to Blaise," Draco muttered as he concentrated on writing the boy's name on the front. "Telling him not to let Crabbe and Goyle near the dorm for the next six hours."

Amora blushed slightly. "You might want to tell him why. That sounds quite... suggestive."

"My business is not theirs," Draco muttered, not glancing at her as he yanked open the door and stuck his head out of it. "Oi! Baddock! Come here now."

Amora craned her neck to peek but couldn't see anything past Draco's back. A first-year came rushing to the door, looking exceptionally nervous to be in the presence of Draco, especially when summoned himself. His cheeks were red and his hands played with each other behind his back as he peered up at him anxiously.

"Yes, Malfoy?" He squeaked.

"Hand this to Zabini for me," Draco ordered firmly, "He's in the Great Hall. And don't you dare even think about looking at it. If you do, I will know."

Malcolm Baddock nodded quickly before rushing off, eager not to upset Draco. Draco shut the door and turned back around, this time looking at Amora. His eyes softened at her nervous form perched on top of his bed, and with a few strides of his long legs, he was sitting down beside her. Amora glanced at the floor until she felt his hand under her chin, forcing her to look up at him.

"Now, tell me what happened," Draco demanded, "Relax first, though. You look as though I'm holding my wand to your throat or something."

Amora managed to crack a small smile at his attempt to lighten the mood.

"Leon put Veritaserum in my honey," she told him, her tongue moving with a mind of its own. "He's been trying to figure out where I've been going for months now. He's been acting more like a father than a friend. Demanding me to tell him where I've been, if I'm meeting up with people."

"How did all of this start, though?" Draco frowned, nose scrunched as he thought about Amora's supposed best friend. "Does he not realise what the Ministry would do if they ever found out he'd been messing around with truth serum?"

"I think I saw him knicking it from Snape a couple of weeks ago," Amora admitted, "And then, yesterday, I think he tried to get me drunk to confess. But it didn't work, so--"

"Drunk?" Draco cut her off, his gaze hardening completely. "He tried to get you drunk?" His voice rose in a way that it hadn't with Amora in months.

"W-Well, I mean, we were all doing it," Amora attempted to excuse her friend. "But, come to think of it, Leon had been giving me some of his Firewhisky too, and then afterwards he tried asking me where I had been after lessons, who I had been with. I think he thought I would spill if I was tipsy!"

Draco brushed off the disbelief inside him that the Hufflepuffs had been drinking, focusing more around the fact that Amora had said Leon had taken advantage of her being drunk and tried getting answers out of her.

His grey eyes grew dark like storms and he swallowed harshly, trying not to say something he might regret. He wanted to call Leon every curse word under the sun, but he wasn't sure Amora would appreciate it too much.

"Right." He attempted to collect all of his thoughts. "So he got no answers out of you and became desperate enough to... to spike you with Veritaserum?"

"Yes," Amora nodded, "But Cedric grabbed me before I could even have my second spoonful and took me away from Leon. He's looking for me though. No doubt to finally get some answers out of me."

"That bastard," Draco spat, not holding back anymore as he stood from the bed and ran a hand through his platinum hair. "Amora, I'm sorry, but that... friend of yours is nothing but a meddling piece of shit! He could have just put both our arses on the line!"

"I know," Amora murmured quietly, frowning. "I didn't think he'd ever do anything like this... Kathy told me he's just been worried about me. He's always hated Slytherins, though. As soon as he found I was sort of friends with Pansy, he's been adamant that I stop speaking with her. Or- Or when--" Amora covered her hands with her mouth, managing to muffle her next words with her hands.

Draco turned, looking at her curiously. "Or when what, Amora?" He questioned, tone a little harsher than usual, peeling her hand away.

"When I used to have a crush on Blaise," Amora blurted, wincing immediately after and cursing the Veritaserum coursing through her system. "B-Back in first year!" She prayed for her tongue to stop. "And second. And the start of third year. Oh my gosh, shut up, Amora!"

Draco's face flashed all sorts of emotions. Confusion, and then anger, and then hurt. He masked it all in a few seconds, turning his back to her to look out of the large windows that showed the inside of the Black Lake. Amora felt her breathing pick up.

"I'm sorry!" Amora cried, "I don't like him like that anymore, Draco. Honest. I only like you."

Part of him thought he wouldn't have believed her under circumstances where she wasn't under the Veritaserum. However, she was, and so he did believe her.

Even if she didn't have the truth serum filtering around her veins, her tone was desperate and pleading with him. It made him uncomfortable to know she'd liked Blaise before she liked him, but there was nothing he could do about that anymore.

Draco turned around to face her, seeing that her cheeks were coated with tears. His icy eyes widened. It was possibly the most gut-wrenching sight that Draco had ever seen. And every time he saw it, it hurt even more.

He'd only seen Amora cry three times before. The first had been in the Hospital Wing after the Whomping Willow incident, the second on top of the Astronomy Tower after the Yule Ball where they'd shared their first kiss, and the last time had been when they'd fought and he'd called her a 'cry baby' and said he was glad they weren't together.

"I don't like this!" Amora whimpered, "I don't like hurting people. First my own mother, and now you! A-And I didn't mean to, Draco. Please, please make me stop saying all of this--"

Before she could finish, Draco was sat back down beside her. He cupped her face in his hands and peered into her eyes. As a tear fell, he moved his fingers to wipe it away, his brows furrowed and his heart aching.

"Shh," he murmured, "Amora, you can't help this. I know you don't like Blaise like that anymore, and I'm sure that your mother will forgive you for whatever you said. But this will all stop in a few hours, okay?"

"Okay," Amora nodded in a small whisper, leaning her forehead against his as he wiped away the last of her hot tears. "Thank you, Draco."

"Of course, darling."

Both of their eyes widened and their foreheads moved away from one another. Draco's cheeks went red and his hands slowly fell away from Amora. Amora blushed a little as well, offering him a small smile.

"Darling?" She repeated quietly.

"It felt right at the time," Draco muttered, a certain bitterness to his tone as he became defensive.

Amora could nearly feel the way he was mentally about to withdraw himself, and so her hand reached for his and she grasped his cold palm, squeezing it in a reassuring manner as if to tell him she didn't mind the pet name he had accidentally given her. Draco didn't look at her but squeezed her hand gently back as if to confirm that he was working on it.

"I hope you understand that Holloway won't just get away with this, though," the Malfoy boy huffed lightly as he peeled his hand away and moved towards his bedside drawer, grabbing out a couple of Potions books. "It's either I go to my father about this, or I deal with it myself. I'll give you the courtesy of choosing for yourself."

Amora raised her brows. "What are you going to tell your father, hm? As if your father would care that I was given Veritaserum by another student. He hates me."

"He doesn't hate you, he hates your mother," Draco replied before his face shifted. "Well... I mean, he's not a fan of you, I suppose, but my father would happily interfere if it meant making Dumbledore look bad. However, maybe it would get the point across better if we were to get some revenge on him ourselves..."

Before he could flip open the book on his lap, Amora's hand outstretched and landed on top of the hardcover, stopping him from doing so. Draco glanced up with raised eyebrows, his lips curled.

"You don't have a choice in the matter, Amora," Draco nearly hissed, "Holloway will regret messing with you."

"Draco..."

"You had no issues coming up with hexes for Crabbe and Goyle when they messed with you," Draco reminded her darkly. "I'd say this is a lot worse and requires much more severe consequences."

"But Crabbe and Goyle aren't supposed to be my best friend," Amora reminded him painfully, "I'm sure Leon's intentions weren't malicious..."

"You cannot give me that bullshit." He rolled his stormy eyes. "He would have happily allowed you to blurt your darkest secrets to the entire Great Hall."

"I know, but..." Amora had no excuses for him either.

She was furious with Leon, of course she was, however, unlike Draco and Cedric, Amora actually pitied him slightly. It was out of character for him to act like this, so she couldn't imagine how desperate he must have been feeling. She felt like a bad friend for brushing him off for months on end, and it had all led to this.

"Amora." Draco cupped her chin and directed her eyes to his. "You said Holloway stole from Snape a couple of weeks ago? This wasn't some sort of last-minute resort type of thing. He'd been conspiring this. Probably longer than two weeks, if you think about it. He would have had to wait for the perfect time to steal from Snape's office."

Amora frowned deeply, looking down, only for Draco's hands to tug her face back up. She was surprised at how serious he appeared.

"You show Holloway no remorse," he warned her slowly, eyes dark. "You don't listen to his apologies, he's not worth your time anymore. You're above him."

She blinked at him, taking a deep breath as she processed all of his words. Amora attempted to make herself believe the words. She knew it was for the best. She shouldn't forgive him for this; he would just walk over her again. Draco was right, he just wasn't sugarcoating it like she was used to from everyone else. 

Draco shifted back, away from Amora so that his back was resting against his pillows. He grabbed her waist and tugged her closer, so she was cuddled up to him. Amora's eyes widened a little but she relaxed against him, shifting so she could rest her head on his chest instead of on his arm. They had never cuddled quite like this before and Amora had never felt so safe and reassured in her entire life.

His hand was hesitant to land on her bare arm as if he would break her simply by touching her. However, once his palm had touched her sunkissed skin, he melted into her. Draco's slender fingers smoothed relaxing circles across her arm and he felt her arm wrap around his torso. It was a strange feeling to be hugged by someone other than his mother, and whilst it was scary, he knew he could grow to really love this.

Her hair was close to his nose and smelt faintly of some sort of berry-scented shampoo, but also the perfume she wore all the time. It wasn't an overly-strong scent and reminded him of fresh linen, perhaps a little floral too. Amora was silent from on top of his chest, her eyes staring at his bedside table.

She thought about everything he had said to her when she was drunk. About how she was a bitch for not wanting to go to the Yule Ball with Harry, or that she should just get over the Whomping Willow incident.

"Leon's Boggart was being alone," Amora murmured after a couple of minutes, confusing Draco. "I don't think he needs to be hexed, Draco. Losing me should be enough."

Draco furrowed his brows, holding Amora a little tighter when he realised what she meant. Amora was finished with Leon.

D.M + A.B

Three hours went by. Amora had ended up sleeping off the remaining grogginess she felt from her hangover, napping in the comfort of Draco's arms as he used his free hand to read some huge novel with a dragon on the cover. She blinked awake, feeling well-rested and a lot calmer than before. Shifting on Draco's chest, the pale boy stopped with the soothing circles on her arm, peering down at her.

"You're awake," Draco murmured, setting his book down on the mattress beside them.

"How long was I asleep for?" Amora murmured, rubbing her eyes. "I didn't mean to fall asleep."

"Only a few hours," Draco said, shifting so they could both sit up properly.

Immediately, they both missed the warmth that the other provided, even if it was early June and it was the hottest it had been all year. Amora sat up and rubbed her eyes, thankful that Zena had plaited her hair that morning; otherwise it would most likely look like a bird's nest.

"Can I use your bathroom?" She asked.

"Mhm."

Amora moved to the only other door in the dormitory that she knew didn't lead out into the hallway. She pushed open the bathroom door and closed it behind her. Splashing some water into her face, Amora inspected herself in the mirror and was glad to find that she still looked decent.

She pushed open the door to the dormitory and found that Draco was neatly putting his book back into place on his bedside table. He looked over his shoulder when he heard Amora reenter, sending her a pursed-lipped smile.

"I'm sorry I'm taking up you're entire Saturday," Amora murmured as she moved after to him, wrapping her arms around his torso and burying her head against his chest. Draco held her.

"It's not your fault," he said, "Besides, I've quite enjoyed it so far."

"Mhm. Enjoyed being cooped up in your dorm whilst I sleep?" Amora spoke in disbelief.

"You're quite a beautiful sleeper," Draco whispered, leaning down and connecting their lips.

Just as his hand moved to cup the back of her head and bring her even closer to him, the door to the dormitory flung open and they ripped apart, eyes wide. Relief flooded their veins when they both realised that it was just Blaise, Theo, and even Pansy. Blaise and Pansy seemed to smirk at the position they had caught them in.

"So what's all this about you sneaking a Hufflepuff into the Slytherin dungeons, hmm?" Blaise grinned between them both. "Malfoys' breaking all the rules for--"

"Shut up, Blaise," Draco snapped, removing his arms from Amora. "Now shut the bloody door before someone walks past and sees Amora in here."

Theo rolled his eyes and shut the door, moving to sit on the bed next to Draco's with Blaise. Amora assumed it belonged to one of them. Pansy stood against one of the wooden four posters, her arms folded against her chest. Amora sent the Slytherin girl a small smile which Pansy nodded to in return.

"If you must know, I'm having to hide Amora in here," Draco seethed, spiking all of their interests. "Holloway slipped her Veritaserum."

"What?" Theo and Blaise both jumped at the same time, Pansy's frown deepening.

"Holloway? As in your best mate?" Pansy snapped at Amora.

Amora nodded timidly. "He was trying to get me to tell him where I've been going and who I've been meeting up with."

It took a couple of minutes to explain everything, and then a little longer for Amora to convince them that hexing Leon wasn't worth it and that she would deal with him herself.

Amora, truthfully, didn't mind Draco's friends, other than Crabbe and Goyle, of course. Although, since they'd hurt her after the Yule Ball, Draco didn't seem to hang around with them as much anymore.

"If I were you, I would have hexed him into next week, Buckley," Pansy huffed, "I do hope you don't plan on acting like besties with him after this?"

Amora hesitated. "Well, I suppose we'll have to remain civil, being housemates and all--"

"No way!" Pansy cried, outraged. "Who gives a shit if you're housemates? Buckley, if he's going to go to the extremes of slipping you Veritaserum, then you need to go to the extremes of cutting him out of your life."

For once, Draco didn't seem agitated by Pansy's presence. Instead, he nodded, giving a pointed look to Amora as if to tell her that Pansy knew what she was talking about.

As far as Amora was concerned, the friendship between Draco and Pansy was a strange one. Pansy buttered up to him for the sake of her parents, and Draco didn't like it. Whether or not Draco knew she was gay, Amora didn't know, but either way, she thought perhaps they were so similar that they often clashed.

"But..." Amora chewed her bottom lip. "I-- he's been my best friend since the first year--"

"Not anymore," Theo cut her off.

Amora felt like her heart was breaking. She knew all it would take was one person to tell her that maybe he deserved another chance and she would end up giving it to Leon, but none of the Slytherins seemed to deem him worthy enough of one. She swallowed harshly.

"He did it to himself, Amora," Blaise reminded her. "Stick up for yourself. You showed us full well that you could stick up for others when you tossed that water over Goyle's head at the Yule Ball--"

"Or when you attacked me in the second year for calling Granger a Mud--" Draco cut himself off when Amora glared at him. "A mean name."

Blaise rolled his eyes. "Point is, Buckley, now it's your turn to stick up for yourself."

More hours passed. Amora enjoyed sitting in the Slytherin boys' dormitory, glued to Draco's side as she watched him interact with his friends. She kept mostly silent, not wanting to open her mouth too much with the Veritaserum flooding her veins, but she managed to laugh and joke around in all of the appropriate places. It was different from hanging out with the Hufflepuffs, but not necessarily in a bad way. She really liked Pansy, Blaise, and Theo. And it was nice not to hide her relationship with Draco in front of people.

"What time is it?" She asked when a comfortable silence settled over the group.

Blaise checked the watch around his wrist. "It's three in the afternoon."

"What's it been?" Theo furrowed his brows. "Nearly six hours now?"

Amora nodded eagerly. "Somebody ask me something I can lie about."

Pansy shifted some of her black bob behind her ear. "Buckley, what school do you go to?"

"Beauxbatons," Amora lied, everybody's eyes widening in surprise when the words escaped her lips. "Oh my gosh!"

In her excitement, she jumped to her knees on Draco's bed and squeezed him into a tight hug. Draco had barely any time to react before she'd bounded up and flung her arms around Blaise and Theo, squeezing them too and then Pansy, who stood frozen with her arms pinned to her side, eyes wide.

Amora grinned, teeth and all, bouncing on her heels. "I owe you guys everything," she said sincerely, "Thank you all, honestly."

"It's fine, Amora," Theo shrugged.

"No, I'm being serious. If any of you need anything in the future then I'll be more than happy to help in any way that I can," she promised them all.

"Same goes for you, Amora," Draco said, "I meant it when I called you our honorary Slytherin. We've got your back now, like one of our own."

Amora's heart swelled in her chest, especially when the others seemed to nod in agreement. She knew that things between her and Leon would never be the same again, yet she couldn't help feeling like she'd come out of this mess with new friends too.

D.M + A.B

"Amora!"

The brunette glanced up from her space beside Cedric as she entered the Hufflepuff common room, glad to find it was Kathy running towards her and not Leon. The curly-haired girl flung her arms around Amora and tugged her into a squeezing hug. Amora held her back.

"I am so sorry," Kathy panicked as she pulled away. "I had no idea that Leon had been planning to do this! He came asking for you this morning, and he admitted what he had done. He was completely freaking out, he's so sorry--"

"You don't need to hear this, Amora," Cedric grumbled, pushing Amora gently away with Kathy. "I don't care if that boy gets down on his knees and sobs for your forgiveness, Amora, you're going to tell him to leave you alone unless he wants Professor Dumbledore involved."

Amora swallowed nervously, nodding weakly in agreement to the small plan her cousin had come up for her once he'd come to find her outside the Slytherin common room where he'd awkwardly thanked Draco and then tugged her away.

Her heart pounded when her eyes landed on a familiar mop of brown hair, her breath nearly caught in her throat. It was much easier said than done to just leave her friend of nearly five years, but as soon as Amora got a glimpse of his panicked face, all she felt was pure anger and resentment. He rushed towards her.

"Amora! Amora, I am so--"

Amora shoved Leon by the chest, watching as he stumbled back. She clenched her jaw. "Don't even bother with the apologies, Leon. You're not sorry for putting Veritaserum in my breakfast, you're only sorry that you got caught before asking me the question you've been dying to ask me."

Leon stared at her, his brown eyes filling with tears. "Amora--" His voice cracked.

"I told you not to bother," Amora spat, "Don't talk to me ever again, Leon. I hate you. And that's the truth."

...

i did not plan on the goblet of fire being over forty chapters but it looks like that's the way its gonna go whoops

i am so excited to develop amora's friendship with blaise, theo, and pansy!!

thanks for reading <333

dyiansobrien