TRAINING WHEELS
annoying

045

It was only the first week of September and already the sun was threatening to vanish. Amora shivered from beside Draco, shoving her hands into her robe pockets and burying her face against his shoulder. Leaves rolled by on the grass beneath them as the transition from summer to autumn began. Amora wasn't ready for it to leave yet.

"I can't tell if you're trying to cuddle me or if you're huddling close for warmth," Draco said, wrapping arm arm around her body anyway and allowing her to scoot a little closer. "Are you doing that penguin thing again?"

Amora laughed, a distant memory of being trapped in the school's library overnight with her enemy coming to the surface of her thoughts. She was glad that he remembered little details. It had her reaching for the golden badger pinned to her tie, her dainty fingers playing with it a little bit.

It baffled her how that was nearly a year ago now. It felt like so much had happened since then, yet rarely any time had passed at the same time. She could have chuckled remembering how much dread had filled her when she realised she was locked in with Draco Malfoy of all people. The tables certainly had turned.

"So what if I'm doing the penguin thing?" Amora gave a teasing grin. "Are you complaining?"

"I suppose not."

She thought about bringing up Umbridge with him, but she didn't want to ruin the moment they were having. It was so nice to just sit with him and feel this relaxed and comfortable. It made Amora want lunch to never end.

"Fleet came up to me at the start of the week," Amora casually mentioned, her hair whipping in the wind a little. "He asked if I wanted to try out as Seeker for the Hufflepuff team to replace Cedric."

"Yeah?" Draco hummed, "I didn't think you played."

"Only for fun at home," Amora replied, "My broom's rubbish and I can't fly too high without panicking, so Cedric and I just used to play one-on-one low. I used to play with my father when I was younger too."

Draco was silent for a few moments. "So I'm assuming you wanted to try out?"

"I wanted to," Amora sighed, "Every morning this week, I've gone up to the Astronomy Tower and gone to the edge. I can't do it without holding the rails, though. And now tryouts are tomorrow and I've made no success whatsoever. So that's that, I suppose."

"Well, I'm pretty sure Cedric would have admired the gesture, anyway," Draco said sincerely, squeezing her a little bit closer. "And I would offer to help you out, only you're right-- they are tomorrow."

"Doesn't matter." Amora shifted her head off his shoulder to lean against the tree. "I reckon you'd be the world's worst teacher, anyway."

Draco appeared personally offended by her remark, his nose scrunching up. "No, I wouldn't!" He scolded, "Why are you saying that?"

The brunette giggled as he pulled his arm away from her. "Because you get so frustrated and angry so easily. I can't imagine you trying to teach anybody anything."

"I'll have you know, I could be an excellent teacher if I wanted to be."

"Draco," Amora couldn't stop laughing, "I have seen you yell at several first years before. And just yesterday you used one to get rid of Ernie."

"I thought we already established that Baddock is a second year now?" Draco frowned, eyebrows shooting up in surprise when the giggling girl landed a kiss to his cheek, shaking her head in amusement. "I wouldn't yell at you, anyway. Even if you annoyed the hell out of me."

"What? I've never annoyed you a day in my life," Amora gasped, earning a pointed look from the blond boy.

"The first thing you ever did was annoy me, Amora," Draco replied stubbornly.

"Oh, please." Amora smacked his arm lightly. "I think when I bumped into you and you pushed me off, you looked into my eyes and thought 'Merlin, she is the most beautiful girl I have ever laid eyes on'."

Draco raised his brows. "You want to know what I actually thought?"

The joking smile diminished from Amora's face and she sat up, nodding eagerly.

"I thought 'Her plaits look like they were done in ten seconds,'"Draco replied bluntly.

Amora shoved him. "Seriously?"

"Yep," Draco shot her a smirk. "Why? Was it different for you? I bet you fell in love with me straight away, didn't you?"

The brunette ignored his casual use of the 'L' word, knowing that he hadn't been serious about it, but her hands spiked with sweat as she laughed and shook her head.

"I remember thinking you were the rudest person I ever met," Amora admitted, watching Draco's face contort in amusement. "And I had no idea who you were, until Neville told me you were a Malfoy, so apparently that meant you thought you owned the place."

Draco scowled as if he had a few things he could say about Neville himself. He restrained himself, rolling his eyes at the thought of a first year Neville Longbottom mocking him to Amora, and moved his arm back around her. She snuggled closer to him, the smell of her shampoo invading his nostrils.

"But you asked about me, didn't you?" Amora teased him, grabbing his hand and holding it between them, playing with the rings on his fingers. "'Cause afterwards, when I came looking for Neville's toad, you knew my name."

"Yes, well I wanted to make sure I wasn't making enemies with the wrong sort," Draco drawled.

Deep down, Amora was glad that it had been 'hate' at first sight. If they had just moved on with their lives, Amora wasn't sure they would be together today. They'd never have had all those arguments and even if they had still ended up locked in the library with one another, it meant they probably wouldn't have spoken to each other much.

D.M + A.B

Thursday night crawled by and Amora left Umbridge's office clutching her hand, tears welling in her eyes as she attempted to blink them away. A couple fell and sailed down her cheeks, much to her dismay. The blood stained the fingertips of her right hand as she moved into the nearest girls' bathroom, switching on the tap and allowing the water to run for a couple of seconds before placing her injured hand beneath it.

Blood washed away down the drain and soon, beneath the clear water splashing her skin, Amora could read the cursive words of 'I must not talk back', which were growing clearer and clearer with every detention that passed. She ran her hand under the tap, ridding the stained blood from her fingertips too. When her hands were finally clean, she pulled them back and shook them, glancing at herself in the mirror.

Amora looked pale, just like she always did when she left one of Umbridge's detentions. Her eyes flickered down to Cedric's prefect badge on her robes and she wondered what he would think of Umbridge. He would most definitely hate her, Amora decided.

She inhaled shakily, filling her lungs with air that didn't smell like Umbridge's tacky perfume. Amora could practically hear her giggle echoing in her ears as she began to leave the bathroom, freezing when she heard a sniffle come from one of the cubicles. The person had obviously thought she'd already left, as more sobs followed straight after.

Amora frowned, her heart sinking in her chest. She didn't know who was behind the door at the very end of the bathroom, or if they'd even accept her help, but she knew she had to offer it.

"Hello?" Amora called gently, hearing the sobs halt immediately. "Erm, are you okay?"

"Buckley?" The voice was thick with tears and broke halfway through her surname, but Amora knew exactly who it was.

"Pansy?" She breathed, walking over towards her cubicle and rapping her knuckles on it. "Yeah, it's me, Amora. Why are you crying?"

"I'm not crying!" Pansy snapped back, Amora flinching slightly. "Just go away!"

The brunette didn't move. She didn't want to be yelled at again, but she certainly didn't want to leave Pansy either. When she and Draco had had that fight, Pansy had been there for her and they weren't even friends at the time. Amora's feet remained stuck to the ground and she shook her head, despite the fact that the Slytherin girl couldn't see her.

"Pans... I'm not going to leave you here alone," Amora said sternly, "So you can come out now and we can talk this over, or I can wait here all night until you eventually have to come out for food and water."

There was a silence on the other end of the door. Amora was half-worried that she was about to get another earful from her, but she heard a small sniffle and then metal groan against metal as the lock slid open, the door slowly creeping ajar. Pansy stood there, her icy eyes rimmed red from crying and her nose pink.

"Oh, Pansy."

She felt Pansy freeze against her as Amora pulled her into a tight hug. Her body was as stiff as a board, her arms straight by her sides. Amora moved to pull away, worried she'd made her uncomfortable, when Pansy began to relax, crying into Amora's shoulder and holding her back. The Hufflepuff girl sighed knowingly and rubbed Pansy's back soothingly.

"You're okay," Amora murmured, "You're okay."

"No, I'm not," Pansy sobbed as she tore herself away harshly. "And you'll never understand, Buckley! So stop trying and just leave me alone. I want to be alone."

"Please, Pansy," Amora called desperately before the ebony-haired girl could leave. "Let me try and understand. Just tell me what's going on and I--"

"Just leave it, you-- you--" Pansy began to stammer on her words, tears splattering on her cheeks. "You filthy blood traitor."

Amora froze in her spot, a pang of hurt spreading across her entire body. Her mouth opened to reply, but nothing came out. She was stunned just as much as she was hurt by Pansy's words, watching the girl falter for a second before she shook her head and abruptly left the bathroom, leaving Amora by herself.

Once the initial shock wore off, Amora found herself back at the mirror, staring at herself as if to reassure herself that what just happened was real. Pansy had actually just said that, after months of them being friends. Amora didn't know if Pansy had said it with just the intention to hurt Amora, or if she truly meant it-- maybe a mix of both.

Her cheeks blazed in embarrassment and she began to wonder if all of Draco's friends thought that way about her. Maybe they only put up with her for Draco's sake. He'd probably threatened them or something.

Maybe even Draco still thought of her as a blood traitor deep down.

The thought made her feel sick. She splashed some water in her face and turned on her heel to leave the bathroom and return to her dormitory for the night. Her body collided with another as soon as she entered the corridor. The person's hand snapped out to save her from falling backwards, and Amora breathed out a sigh of relief at the sight of Harry.

"Did you just finish your detention?" Amora asked.

"Yeah," Harry replied, "I'm assuming she's doing the same thing to you as she's doing to me?"

"Yeah," Amora repeated Harry, extending her hand for him to read the words.

Harry shrugged his hand out of his own robes, showing her his. I must not tell lies.

"You have terrible handwriting," Amora tried to lighten the mood, earning a small smile from the brunet. "She's a dragon, that lady is. I don't know how Dumbledore or the Ministry or whoever approved that form of punishment sleeps with themselves at night."

"Dumbledore wouldn't approve," Harry said defensively.

"You--" Amora's brows furrowed. "You think she's doing this without him knowing?"

"Of course!" Harry replied, "I mean, surely. Dumbledore wouldn't allow this kind of thing to happen at Hogwarts. Is- Is that why you haven't said anything?"

"Yeah!" Amora said, "I thought it was normal. Why didn't you say anything?"

"Because I don't need everybody worrying," Harry answered regretfully, "I think Dumbledore's ignoring me. He did all summer. And I don't want Sirius involved. He'll only put himself in danger."

Amora wasn't really sure what was going on with Harry's godfather, just that while the media reported him as some sort of criminal, Harry said he wasn't. She assumed Harry knew where Sirius was hiding.

"Fair enough," she grumbled, "Do you think it will scar?"

"Probably," Harry answered.

The thought made Amora's stomach twist. She certainly didn't want the words in her own writing to carve into her skin for the rest of her life. Now that she knew it wasn't a normal punishment, that perhaps Umbridge was keeping this a secret from all of the other teachers, Amora thought about heading straight to her mother's classroom and telling her everything.

She left Harry with a soft goodbye and began to head back to the Hufflepuff dormitories, taking her sweet time as she did so. Her day had started off perfectly and she'd had the best lunch ever with Draco, but it had quickly turned sour as soon as Amora walked into Umbridge's classroom. Then, Pansy had insulted her whilst in a fit of rage and sadness.

Her mind was a jumble. She didn't know what to think about first.

D.M + A.B

Friday morning rolled around and it was quite a beautiful morning despite the twinge of chilliness in the air. Amora was halfway around the corner, heading towards the Great Hall for lunch, when a hand tugged her backwards. She beamed as she was brought into Draco's chest, his hands wrapping around her.

"Running off without me?" He murmured into her neck, making her squirm and giggle. He tightened his grip. "Are you eating with your Hufflepuff friends today?"

Amora shrugged. "Unless you'd prefer I sit with you."

Draco's eyes widened. "Well, I suppose you could pretend to be sat with Parkinson--"

"No," Amora cut him off abruptly. "I meant outside."

"It's cold out," Draco complained, tugging away from her when he saw a third year Ravenclaw come around the corner.

He shot them a deathly glare that caused them to cower past quicker. Amora rolled her eyes at his antics, feeling his hands back on her as soon as they were left alone again in the corridor.

"Pansy and I aren't really talking as of right now," Amora explained hesitantly, watching his brows shoot up in interest.

"Why not?"

Amora wasn't sure she wanted to drop Pansy in it with Draco. She was sure that it was just something the ebony-haired girl had just said in the heat of the moment, something that the girls could sort out between them without Draco rearing his head in and making things worse.

"We just had a disagreement, that's all," she said. "I'm sure we'll work it out soon. But, actually Draco, I had something else that I needed to tell you. Something I probably should have told you before."

Draco's brows furrowed as he seemed to completely forget about what Amora had said about Pansy, now focused on whatever it was that she had to tell him. Amora's stomach did a flip at the look and she grabbed his hand, pulling him towards one of the doors that led them outside.

Nobody was around, so Amora paused in her tracks and then hesitated before pulling up the left sleeve of her robe. Draco was frowning unsurely until she raised her hand and showed him the wound on it. His breath hitched, his jaw clenching and his silver eyes turning grey like storms. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her hand closer to his eyes.

"This is your handwriting," Draco said, his voice practically trembling with rage. "This is what Umbridge said to you on Monday."

Amora nodded and moved to pull her hand back, but Draco tightened his grip. His thumb moved to brush over the marking and she hissed in pain, this time managing to tug it back. Draco looked at her in a mixture of bewilderment and fury.

"It's what Umbridge has been making me do during detentions," Amora admitted to him, "It's some magic quill that carves into your hand when you write lines on the parchment. Doesn't need ink or anything."

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Draco spat, "Why have you waited five days to tell me--"

"Because we had that small argument before my first one, then I didn't see you all of Tuesday, on Wednesday we were interrupted but Ernie coming back—"

"So why not yesterday?" Draco boomed, "We spent the whole lunch period with each other yesterday!"

"Because you took my mind off it," Amora replied hastily, "I wasn't even thinking about it, and when I did, I didn't want this to happen. I hate arguing with you."

There was a pause.

"We're not— we're not arguing," Draco sighed in defeat, rubbing his forehead. "I'm just infuriated with that— that complete bitch of a woman, and I'm angry you didn't come to me sooner."

"I'm sorry," Amora blurted, "But it's not like she's targeting just me. Harry's been getting the same punishment and no doubt will anybody else who gets a DT with her."

"So? I don't give a fuck about Potter or anyone else," Draco seethed, "I give a fuck about you. And even when we're not talking, you should come to me for things like this. So I can hold you or whatever, since you don't like talking about anything with me apparently."

"It's not like that!" The brunette snapped.

"Well, does anyone else know?"

"O-Only Ernie 'cause he saw it. And Harry because we go into her office one after the other," Amora replied.

"Great. Another thing Potter knows that I don't." Draco looked away from her.

Amora swallowed. "Don't do that."

"Do what?"

"Constantly compare our relationship to my friendship with Harry! I- I—" she nearly paled at how close she became to confessing her love to him there and then. It nearly slipped out like it wasn't one of her biggest secrets ever.

"You what?" Draco hissed.

"I care about you," Amora glared, "A whole bloody lot, actually! And I do come to you about things. I've come to you now, haven't I?"

"On the day of your last detention, before I can do anything—"

"Draco, this is sounding a lot like an argument to me. A-And I'm sorry I didn't come to you sooner, but she's a teacher. She works for the Ministry. I just have to get on with it, don't I?" Amora huffed.

A sneer was present on Draco's face, his fists clenched by his sides as he chose his next words carefully.

"You annoy me." It was probably the lightest insult to every fall from his lips.

"You annoy me too," Amora glared back.

"Good."

"Good!"

The school bell rang and it was time for next period. Luckily, Amora didn't have it with Draco. They both glared at one another until Amora turned on her heel and began to walk away quickly.

He grabbed her wrist and yanked her around, his lips on hers as he forced her against the wall of the school. Amora gasped into his mouth, his tongue slowly slipping inside as his hands gripped at her waist. Her own hands were in his hair, one of her legs hitching up a little as they worked to bruise each other's lips.

He was so fucking annoying and intoxicating— his cologne infiltrating her senses and making her wish she could shove him off of her, but not being able to. When they finally pulled away, panting for breath, Draco sneered.

"You do not get the last word," he hissed.

"Yes I do," Amora replied bluntly before plugging her fingers against her ears and moving away from him, humming a loud tune so she didn't get to hear his next words.

She moved into the school and joined the crowds of students, removing her hands from her head just in time to see Draco enter the corridor. He stood out from his tall figure and platinum hair, and Amora caught his amused smirk.

He was infuriating in the best way possible.

—

guys i posted a draco x reader x pansy smut on my tumblr (malfoysstilinski) if you wanna check it out!

thanks sm for reading

dyiansobrien <3