TRAINING WHEELS

overnight with malfoy II

058

The end of January was approaching. Amora didn't think February was much better if she was being honest, but at least it was a step closer to warmer weather. She wondered what this summer would look like and imagined herself with Pansy whenever they weren't sitting O.W.L exams, probably on the field, Pansy preserving her icy skin beneath a tree whilst Amora sprawled her body out on the grass, trying to feel warm and golden.

In an ideal world, Amora's other friends would be there too. She shook her head at the idea of Harry and the others getting along with Pansy. It was a comedic vision — Hermione and Pansy would definitely despise each other.

"What you thinking of?" Pansy asked, shutting her book from where they sat at the back of the library.

Their table was surrounded by stacks of books among other things. They had a Herbology mock exam in two days, so the pair were trying to cram as much in as they could.

Professor Sprout had warned that those who failed the mock would have to attend hour-long revision sessions every Saturday morning to catch up before their O.W.L.s. Her threat certainly had people revising.

"Not much," Amora hummed, "Have you almost finished with your revision yet? The library will be closing soon and I'm knackered."

"Almost," Pansy huffed, picking up her quill and writing something on her parchment. "You should be revising too, you know."

"I know, but I'm too tired right now," Amora admitted, resting her cheek on her palm and yawning. "I shouldn't have had those cuppas with my dinner. They make me sleepy every time."

That was partly why she had drank so much though. The stress of O.W.L.s was ever so slightly creeping up on her and keeping her awake longer than she should be. Careers meetings would be coming up soon and Amora wasn't sure what career path she even wanted to take. She was only fifteen — how was she supposed to pick?

"Well you banging on about how tired you are is making me tired, so pack it in, will you?" Pansy scolded half-heartedly. "Or take a nap. I'll wake you up when I'm done."

"Doesn't..." Amora's eyes fluttered shut, feeling like her body was shutting down already. "Sound like a bad idea..."

Her dreams were plagued with Cedric. Not an odd occurrence since she stopped taking Dreamless Sleep at the start of the year, but they were much less horrific than you would think considering she had cradled his dead body in front of the entire school for two minutes last year.

They were in the sea. Waves were coming towards them. They were both younger; Cedric about twelve or thirteen whilst Amora was ten. Their laughs echoed above the screeching seagulls swarming around them, Cedric's hand reaching out to grab hers. Amora laughed as she felt the wave sway through them, their jump causing them to bob high up. For a moment it almost felt like they were flying. The waves were only getting bigger and bigger; taking them higher and higher.

Amora never wanted to leave. Or rather, she didn't want Cedric to leave her again.

But banging woke her up.

The first thing Amora noticed was that she was cold and it was dark, a huge contrast to the dream she'd just had. In fact, her body was trembling in her seat as she raised her head from her arms, blinking herself into a much bleeker reality. Immediately she began to hug her arms, her last memories of consciousness coming back to her.

Pansy!

Pansy had said that she would wake her up before she left.

"Hello?" A familiar voice yelled, followed by more bangs against a rattling door. "Somebody's bloody in here! Let me out!"

Draco fucking Malfoy.

Suddenly everything made sense. Pansy's out of character admancy to go to the library and revise, how she'd begged to sit as far away from Madam Pince as possible, and the way she had encouraged Amora to take a nap... This had been a plan, an advanced plan to lock her in the library overnight with Draco for a second time.

All of a sudden, Amora wanted to wrap her hands around Pansy's neck and squeeze the life out of her. Then she'd move onto Theo and Blaise. No doubt were the two of them involved in this too.

Amora rose from the desk. Everything had been packed away and her bag was gone too-- including everything inside it. Her wand, her robe, her school jumper...

Pansy really had planned this out to the T. Amora wasn't sure whether to be enraged or slightly impressed. Perhaps a little bit of both.

"Hello?" Amora called, her heart thumping out of her chest as she felt around in the darkness, trying to get to the end of the aisle she'd been in.

The banging on the door ceased and everything was silent for a moment. "Amora?" Draco called incredulously.

Amora sighed loudly. "Yes. Where are you? I can't - I can't see anything."

"By the door. Obviously."

Yeah, Amora really hated Pansy Parkinson.

She rolled her eyes despite the fact that he couldn't see her. "Yeah, I know that, but I'm literally in complete darkness over here! Pansy has my wand, I can't see anything."

There was a moment of silence. "I'll come to you, okay?" Draco called, "Keep talking so I can follow your voice."

"You know what? Maybe you should just stay over there and I'll stay here. It will save us having to talk to each other for the rest of the night, which I'm sure will be just as frustrating for you as it will be for me," Amora huffed, "And then, when morning comes, we can both leave separately, continue with our separate lives, and then I can personally find Pansy Parkinson, get my wand back, and hex her over and over again until —"

A small ball of light could be seen heading towards her through spaces in the bookshelves. "Keep talking," Draco ordered.

Amora ignored him but began to head over, moving closer and closer until she could see his pale face being illuminated by the light coming from his wand. Draco jumped when he saw her come around the corner of one of the aisles, his silver eyes enlarging on her. She shot him a pursed-lipped smile, one that was far from sincere.

"Did you have any idea about this?" Draco seethed.

"Do I look like I had any idea about it?" Amora raised an eyebrow at him. "And don't talk to me like that or when I'm done with Pansy, I'll find you and hex you after."

Draco looked amused at best. He knew her threats were empty and that Pansy probably wouldn't even face the consequences, but he had to admit that he couldn't be bothered to keep up the furious act with her. Especially when she was shivering as badly as she was, her hands rubbing up and down her arms in an attempt to keep her warm.

Both of them were too stubborn though. They knew why Pansy had taken all of Amora's belongings, including her jumper. This was an attempt to get them to reenact the first time they had been locked in the library overnight, but neither wanted to really play into it.

Amora clicked her fingers in front of Draco's face. "Earth to Malfoy? How did you even end up in here?"

"Fell asleep, didn't I?" Draco huffed, "And I'm guessing you did too, judging by the way half of your face is red."

Amora's hand smoothed out her cheek which had been planted on her arms. She sighed and glanced around them as Draco used his wand to light up some of the lights around them. The library glowed dimly, enough so that Draco didn't have to use his wand anymore.

"Nox," he muttered, shoving it away into his robe pocket.

"So we're really locked in here?" Amora scowled slightly. "Together?"

Draco rolled his eyes. "What's with the pessimism, Buckley? Not like you to be so grouchy."

Amora gave him the fakest, most exaggerated smile she could muster. "Oh, right! Of course. Silly me. I forgot that I'm a Hufflepuff so I should be making the most of the situation right now, right? I should be smiling and dancing and trying to make you feel better. Merlin, how could I be so stupid to forget?"

"I meant because you're Amora," Draco growled, "Not because you're a Hufflepuff. And I'm not appreciating your sudden sarcasm."

"Well suck it up, Malfoy. In case you forgot, the last time we spoke, you called me a blood traitor, said Daphne Greengrass was a better kisser than me, But and implied that I was a whore for kissing Harry," Amora seethed, "So forgive me for not wanting to be around you right now."

Draco swallowed harshly. Amora could see contemplation swimming around in his silver eyes, like he was wondering whether or not he should say whatever was on his mind. Perhaps he was brewing up yet another insult that would make her insecure or the next week or two, or maybe he was just trying to remember a good enough spell to hex her with.

"Leave me alone, Malfoy," Amora said, "I mean it. I don't care if we're stuck in here because our friends want us back together. You don't want me, I don't want you. So I'm going to spend the rest of my night reading and you're going to... I don't know, think about how much you love yourself or something."

She didn't give him a chance to speak but moved away, doing exactly as she said she would. She moved across the library to the fiction section, her eyes scanning all of the colourful spines of the books. Amora was shivering in the cold but refused to ask for any help from Draco. She'd rather be found in the morning frozen and blue.

She didn't know what he was doing, but she didn't hear a thing from Draco for the next hour. Amora was curled up on the ground, trying to pay attention to the book she had chosen and ignore the rattling of her teeth and the way she could barely feel her fingers as she turned each page. Amora was so cold she nearly considered tearing down one of the curtains and wrapping it around herself.

After a while of reading, she gave up, placing the book next to her and cupping her mouth with her hands. She blew her breath into them, hoping to warm them up. It worked ever so slightly, but it wasn't enough. She thanked Merlin she was wearing tights this time around since it was late January, but at the same time cursed herself for putting her jumper and robe on the back of her chair whilst she half-studied with Pansy.

"You should just ask."

Amora jumped, her head whipping upwards to see Draco standing at the end of the aisle she was down. His robe was curled up in his arm, as if to mock her. Biting down on her lip, Amora stared back at him for a few moments before grabbing her book again and making a point of ignoring him.

He sighed loudly. "It's January. Much colder than the last time we were in here."

"Yeah, I've noticed," Amora said, her voice trembling a little bit from the lack of warmth.

"Why are you on the floor? Heat travels up. You'd be warmer sitting at the desk," Draco said, jerking his head towards the one down the aisle she was in.

Amora glared at the words in her book, ignoring him. Part of her wanted him to force her to just wear the robe he had in his arms, but she knew it wouldn't work like that. Amora wasn't going to beg, though. Draco himself had taught her not to beg for forgiveness or things from people. To not be a pushover or weak.

Draco must have got the memo that she wasn't going to reply. She heard him release another heavy sigh before his footsteps retreated, leaving her all alone. Amora waited a few moments before she glanced up to the spot where he had been. Her eyes narrowed on the desk he'd been referring to, or more specifically the robe that was flung over the back of the chair beside it.

Her stubbornness scolded her. Told her to leave it there and not give in like Draco obviously wanted her to. But she was so cold to the point where her hands were beginning to hurt. Amora glanced left and right, making sure Draco definitely wasn't watching before she stood and headed over to his robe.

She slid it on, the material cold against her for a few moments before she began to feel warmer. The sleeves fell past her hands and it was longer than her own, the material touching the ground. Amora hugged it around herself as she moved back to her space, bunching it up as if it was a blanket.

The brunette swallowed harshly at the scent it carried. Draco's cologne and his apple shampoo. It brought back so many intense memories of being in his arms or having his lips on hers. It made her stomach do flips, her eyes threatening to sting with unwanted tears. They didn't though. She couldn't cry — not when Draco was somewhere in the same room.

After a while, Amora wasn't shaking anymore. Her head rested against one of the bookshelves, her eyes flickering shut as she began to warm up. Amora prepared for the humiliation she would feel when Draco eventually came back around and saw her wearing his robes, but tried to dismiss the thought as much as she could.

Her hand absentmindedly skimmed the badge that was pinned to it. A green crest with 'PREFECT' written on it. It was shiny, most likely having been polished recently, and in perfect condition. She moved her hands to the pockets of the robe for extra warmth, her fingers coming into contact with something small and cold.

Amora pulled out a small golden badger.

Her heart did a leap and she jammed it back into the pocket without thinking, her head in a frenzy as she wondered why on earth he was still carrying it around with him. It was the only thing in his pockets aside from a piece of thread and a Galleon coin.

"Warm now?" Draco's voice came from the end of the aisle like before.

Amora nodded but didn't bother thanking him. After all, it was the least he could do after insulting her so badly before the Christmas break.

She expected him to leave her alone again, to go back to wherever he had been for the last hour and a half, but instead, Draco moved to sit across from her. He pulled his long legs up, holding his knees slightly and staring directly at her. Amora glared after a few moments.

"What?" She snapped.

He sighed. "You really hate me, don't you?"

"You really hate me, don't you?" Amora mimicked him, scrunching her nose up. "If that's your guilt trip tactic, you're going to have to amp it up a little bit."

"I'm not trying to guilt you," Draco scowled, rolling his eyes. "I just-"

"You just weren't expecting me to be so mean to you?" Amora raised her brows. "Yeah, I suppose you just make me angry."

There was a long silence. It was nearly agonising. Amora was pretty sure the first time they had been locked in here hadn't been as awkward as this. She wished that she was wrapped up in her bed, her duvet around her and her pillow beneath her head as she lulled into a warm, comfortable sleep.

Instead, she was stuck in the cold library with her ex-boyfriend. One she still had feelings for, much to her dismay.

"I make myself angry too."

Amora's head shot up to stare at him. "What?"

"I hate myself," Draco said, "In fact, I hate everybody at this fucking school. And everybody outside this school too. Everybody. Every -"

" - charming -"

"- one except you," Draco finished, glancing across at her with such sincerity in his silver eyes that Amora felt her stomach do flips.

"Don't," Amora swallowed, "Don't feed me this bullshit."

Draco ignored her. "I need to know something. You have to tell me the truth. I was sitting with my mother on Christmas Day and I told her about you. Told her what a complete fucking arsehole I had been and how I had fucked everything up so badly that I was pretty sure I had gone past the point of return. But she told me something. My mother told me that when love is authentic, it has no expiry date. And then she told me to have some courage. So I need to ask you- I have to ask you if you still love me?"

Amora could feel her heart pounding roughly against her ribcage. She felt like her bones were going to snap, like her eyes were going to stream with tears and like she was about to start kicking and punching at him and screaming. Her throat was tight, her jaw trembling a little, but not because she was cold this time.

She was so furious with him.

"Would you like me to confess for a second time so you can mock me once again?" Amora gritted her teeth, starting to stand up. "It's not going to happen, Malfoy."

Draco scrambled up after her, his hand reaching to clasp her wrist which she tugged away immediately. "Please. Please, Amora. This is me- This is me this time."

"I vividly recall you saying that that was the real you on that day," Amora glared at him, "That I didn't know you and that you were just a bully."

"No, no." Draco shook his head, pausing and closing his eyes as if to recollect himself quickly. "I- Fuck sake, I lied, okay? I lied. I- I was being a coward."

Amora's chest was heaving. She wasn't sure if this was going in the direction that she thought it was going, but if it was then she didn't think her heart could handle it. After all of these weeks of feeling unloved and rejected, she almost didn't want to hear it anymore. She's already started trying to move on.

"What are you talking about?" She spat, "If... If this is what I think it is, you need to stop, Malfoy. I have too much respect for myself this time. You- You have been so awful to me. So fucking awful. Nobody has ever said so many mean things to me, and coming from you it hurt even worse! You have kept me up for so many fucking nights, you have made me feel sick to my stomach every day, you have made me look in the mirror and wonder what I need to change for you to take back your stupid, insulting fucking words!"

"I didn't mean to do that to you." Draco looked wounded, his face nearly crumbling already.

"Oh, really? What did you mean to do to me when you kissed Daphne Greengrass in front of me -"

"You kissed Potter!" Draco yelled, suddenly red with rage. "You fucking kissed Potter - again! You knew he's the one - fucking hell - that he's the one person in this entire fucking school that has something over me. You knew it made me feel like shit when you went to him instead of me after your cousin died or when he knew Umbridge had you cutting your hand before me, but you always told me that he was just a friend - that I had nothing to worry about! And yet you kiss him again. You kissed Potter."

Amora blinked back tears. "I lied," she croaked.

The air went still. Draco's heavy breathing faded. "What?" He whispered.

"That day when I told you I had kissed him, I lied to you," Amora repeated, her throat tight. "You were accusing me of it, so I just played along. Because I wanted to hurt you as badly as you hurt me."

"You never kissed him?" Draco swallowed.

Amora couldn't tell if the expression written across his face was relief, disbelief, regret or all three.

"After I saw you snog Greengrass in the corridor I did," Amora admitted, voice wobbly. "I met up with him and... Well, I won't go into details, but yeah, I did end up kissing him for real after you kissed her."

Draco looked like he wasn't sure what to say, his fists clenched by his sides. "So you did kiss him?"

"Because you kissed Greengrass!"

"How was I supposed to know you were lying?" Draco yelled, running a hand through his blond hair. "Merlin's beard, Amora! Well? Did it make you feel better kissing Potter?"

Amora scoffed. "Oh, shove off, Malfoy. At least I didn't go bragging about it afterwards. You literally came up to me after to ask if I had been crying in the bathrooms. And then you told me she's a better fucking kisser than me -"

"To piss you off!" Draco threw his hands in the air. "Because it was the only thing I could say when you were trying to - to unpick at my emotions. I knew it would get you to shut up. Kissing Greengrass was like snogging a fucking fish. But I had to do it. I had to one-up you."

"It worked," Amora said numbly, "You hurt me."

"Well you know what makes you kissing Potter worse?" Draco growled, "Is that you didn't do any bragging afterwards! What was the point in kissing him if you weren't going to rub it in my face? Huh? Did you like kissing him? Did you just want to do it?"

"Harry wasn't bad," Amora shrugged.

Draco swallowed harshly. "So you did like it."

"Stopped me thinking about you and Greengrass for a bit," the brunette huffed back.

Draco turned away from her. His hair was a mess from running his hand through it. He felt sick at the idea of Amora and Harry together. She must have rushed off to meet him as soon as he'd cornered her after kissing Daphne in front of him. He couldn't really decide who's fault it actually was or if they were both idiots. He supposed it was the latter.

"She's not a better kisser than you," Draco said after a few moments. "I should never have said that."

"There's a lot of things you should have never said, Draco," Amora hissed, "And there are a lot of things that I should have never said too."

"I'm sorry."

Amora's brows furrowed. She wondered if she had even heard him right. Draco rarely apologised and even now he looked like he was having a mental conflict with himself, like he didn't really want to stoop low enough to say sorry. It made Amora scoff and roll her eyes yet again. Probably for the hundredth time that night and not the last.

"I mean it," Draco said angrily, moving a step closer to Amora. "Fucking hell, I mean it. I have never been more sorry for anything in my life than for treating you the way that I did after you told me that you loved me. There has not been a single night where you haven't been the last thing on my mind before I fell asleep, or a single morning where you weren't the first thing I thought about when I woke up. Being without you has been the most fucking ridiculous thing I have ever had to go through."

Amora's heart fluttered but she persisted. She made sure her face was stern, her eyes unforgiving. He would not use a few words and have her suddenly melting back into his arms. This wasn't how it worked.

"I know I hurt you that day. I know I hurt you and - and the thought makes me sick to my stomach -"

"You told your mother about me?" Amora cut him off, keeping her chin high. "You said you told your mother about me?"

Draco's face softened. "Yeah. Yeah, I did. First girl I've ever told my mother about. Christmas morning."

"Why?" Amora demanded.

"She could tell I was upset. Said I'd seemed like it since November," Draco went on. "And she worked out it was a girl, I let her figure out who you were. She said you were beautiful, and she's right, you know."

"Flattery won't get you anywhere right now," Amora said, folding her arms across her chest. Although she had to admit that being called 'beautiful' by someone like Narcissa Malfoy was one of the best compliments she'd ever received.

"And I told her things. Things that you don't even know," Draco hesitated, "And she told me about her sister -"

"Bellatrix Lestrange?" Amora thought of the woman who had been in the newspaper the other day with a grimace.

Draco's face scrunched up. "No. No, her other sister. Andromeda Black - or Tonks now, I suppose. Shunned from the Black family for choosing love over politics. Something my mother has never forgiven herself for is not defending her sister. Now, she doesn't even know where she is. Lost her forever. Because of some pureblood superiority complex."

Amora's breath hitched a little bit. Where was he even going with this at this point?

"My mother and father chose politics over love. My entire life, I thought relationships were supposed to look like that," Draco said, shaking his head. "Then I met you, Amora Buckley. You're not who I should be with, you're not who I thought I would end up with or who my parents wished for me to have. But you're everything I could have asked for and more and I wouldn't change you for the world."

Tears stung Amora's eyes. She felt like she was already crumbling beneath his gaze and words.

"When we first kissed, I was scared. Scared of the butterflies in my stomach and the way my heart skipped a beat. When I admitted to liking you, I was scared too. Asking you out was also pretty terrifying. You scare me with the way you make me rethink everything I've ever been taught. I don't think you realise how the generations and generations of blood purity ideology passed down the Malfoy family has never been so weak, and that's all because of you," Draco admitted, "Because you were right the other week when you said I have issues with love. Because my entire life, I've been taught politics over love.

"You telling me that you loved me nearly gave me a heart attack. If I had been terrified before, this was a new kind of fear. I thought with politics. I thought I was doing the both of us a favour by cutting it off there. By hurting you and driving you away. You're stubborn, so I knew I had to hurt you to get you to leave me alone. And it worked. You left me."

A couple of tears fell down her cheeks. "Draco -"

"Please. Let me finish," he said and Amora wasn't sure if it was the lighting or if she could see tears swimming in his silver eyes for the first time ever too. "But even then, that wasn't the most scared I have ever been. Ask me. Ask me when I was most scared."

Amora swallowed, wiping some tears with her fingers. "W- When were you most scared?" Her voice was hesitant, barely above a whisper as her heart pounded out of her chest.

Draco's hands were shaking. "Now. Right now is the most scared I have ever been." His voice shook too. "Because I'm about to tell you something I have known for a long time now. Something I've been sitting on because I thought it was safest to be like my father, to put politics over love. But I can't do that anymore. My mother told me to be brave for her, but I'm not doing this for her, not really. I'm doing this for myself, and for us."

Amora trembled as she waited for his next words. A tear slipped from one of his eyes, heading down his pale cheek. Draco took a deep breath.

"I'm in love with you, Amora," Draco confessed, nearly choking in relief once the words were out. "I am deeply, utterly, terrifyingly in love with you. And I am so scared. So scared to give you my heart because I'm scared you might break it, but, honestly, I think you've had it for a long time now anyway. I - I've fallen in love with the way you always try to see the best in people, with the way you laugh and how you feel against me. I love how you always smell like daisies and taste like honey, how you're my complete fucking opposite - how you complete me."

Amora sniffled, wiping her eyes. "Since when?" She wasn't sure whether to believe him or not, scared this was some big joke. Too good to be true.

"Since the night Cedric passed," Draco whispered, "When I saw you screaming on the field, when I held you in your arms and wiped your tears... I realised it then. That seeing you in pain hurt me just as bad. That the feeling in my chest couldn't be anything else but love. And I told you I loved you that night. When you were asleep, when I was sure you wouldn't hear and I knew I wouldn't have to deal with the consequences. Because I was a coward."

"You're not lying?" Amora whimpered, "B-Because this is a new level of sick and twisted if this is a lie -"

"Amora I have never been so fucking serious about anything in my life," Draco choked, shaking his head as a couple more tears dropped. "I mean it with every fucking fibre of my being. I - I have just been a coward. My whole life I have been a coward. But I don't want to be anymore. I want to love you freely. I want to scream it from the top of the fucking Astronomy Tower. I want everyone to know."

He watched her wipe her eyes.

"Please," Draco pleaded in a broken whisper. "Please tell me you still love me too?"

Amora's copper met his silver. "Deeply... Utterly... Terrifyingly."

Draco's mouth dropped in relief and he darted forwards. Amora flung her arms around his neck as his slender fingers scrambled for the back of his robes that she wore. Their lips met in the middle, desperate and honest and everything that they had missed. Amora's honey taste and Draco's minty breath were being mixed with the tears that leaked from both their eyes. If there was ever an image of relief, this was it.

Their lips folded together like puzzle pieces. His nose brushed her soft cheek, his hands on her face, her fingers in his platinum hair. Normally he was cold, but tonight he was so warm. Their bodies pressed together, their eyes long since flickered shut and wet lashes sitting upon cheeks.

As they pulled away, breathing heavily, Amora saw a stray lash on Draco's cheekbone. She leaned up, pinching it off his pale skin with her fingers and holding it between them from where their faces were still merely inches apart.

"I believe the Muggles make wishes on these things," Amora whispered.

Draco released a breath through his nose, a small smile of amusement tugging at his lips. "I wish for another chance with the girl I'm in love with," he whispered back.

Amora's cheeks felt warm as she smudged it to the end of her fingertip and then blew it away gently. "Wish granted, I reckon."

Draco laughed, wholly and purely and happily, wrapping his arms around her waist and tugging her from the floor, spinning her around in a circle as he buried his face into her shoulder. Amora giggled too, holding onto him, feeling his oversized robe swishing around her body. He put her back down after a moment, planting a kiss to the end of her nose.

"I won't fuck this up," he whispered, closing his eyes, his hands still on her arms. "I'm going to do everything I can to make sure you know how much this means to me. Even though it still scares me."

"Draco, you'll never know how much this means to me," Amora murmured, her hand moving to stroke his jaw, causing his eyes to flicker open on her. "I think you're so brave for telling me all of this. I know... I know this isn't what you're used to and it's far from your comfort zone, but believe me when I say it means everything to me. You mean everything to me."

Draco dipped his head back down into her shoulder, feeling her hands slide up his back. They sort of swayed there in the library, eyes closed. Relishing in each other's words. Playing them on a loop in their brains again and again. Wishing that this would never end. Praying it would never be taken from them.

"I've never seen you cry before," Amora whispered, cupping his cheek with her hand, her thumb sprawling to wipe away a stray drop clinging to the high rise of his cheekbone.

"Aren't you lucky, then?" Draco teased quietly, a faint smile ghosting his features as he brushed the hair out of her face, refusing to take his eyes off of her for a moment. "I can't remember the last time I cried."

"Feels good, doesn't it?" Amora chuckled, "Good stress reliever."

Draco shrugged. "I can think of better ways to relieve stress," he murmured, his lips connecting with hers for a second time that night.

Amora swore she would never grow tired of the way Draco's lips felt against hers. They were soft and fairly plump, like cushions against hers, warm and inviting, like the honey she had every morning. His hand on her cheek was cold, just like they always were, the rings especially chilling, and despite trying to warm up earlier, she wanted his cold hands everywhere.

One hand gripped her hip through the robes she wore as he backed her up against one of the sturdy bookshelves. Amora felt it collide with her back, digging in slightly as Draco devoured her, kissing her like he was a dying man and she was all the oxygen he had left. His leg slipped between hers, as if to pin her there. Both of them knew that Amora wasn't going anywhere though.

When she tugged at his platinum hair, Draco groaned, the vibrations on her own lips making her smile. Draco couldn't help but grin into the kiss too, their teeth clashing and breaths mingling as they laughed, pulling away from one another. His hand trailed off of her cheek to the back of her head, slender fingers tracing through her thick hair.

"Maybe we shouldn't get too carried away in the library," Amora chuckled breathlessly. "Can you imagine Madam Pince's face if she ever found out what we did against her precious books?"

"I think students have probably done far worse in here," Draco said.

Amora's eyes widened at his implication. "You... You think?"

"Oh, Amora," Draco laughed, shaking his head. "Oh my sweet, innocent Amora."

The brunette scowled, playfully wacking his hand away as he moved to teasingly grab her chin. "I am not innocent," Amora proclaimed, "I just... Wasn't aware of this particular location."

Draco raised his brows but decided to brush off the joke. "You are quite oblivious, aren't you?"

Amora pursed her lips. "Yes, yes. One of my few flaws."

"I don't know if you're starting to sound more like me or Pansy every single day," Draco remarked.

Amora beamed. "Both of you. Don't look at me like that - you and Pansy are far more alike than you would both care to admit."

Draco just hummed in response, fiddling with the robes she was wearing. His slender fingers skimmed up the green lining, smoothing it out slightly across her collarbones. She was swamped by his clothing, looking almost like a first year who had failed to show up to their fitting appointment before September first.

Amora noticed what he was doing and slid her hand down into the pocket. She watched Draco's eyes enlarge as she produced the small golden badger in the centre of her palm. His fingers moved to brush it, flipping it over so that it was the right way round rather than facing towards her hand.

"I have never stressed so much over a birthday present before," Draco admitted quietly, "No matter how collected your birthday letter accompanying it may have sounded."

The brunette blinked as he gently grasped her fingers and closed them around the badger, just like she had done to him when she gave it back a few weeks ago. Amora glanced back up at him, finding his silver eyes already watching her.

"Will you keep it again?" Draco asked.

"I'm sorry," Amora breathed guiltily, "I shouldn't have -"

"Don't apologise," Draco ordered her firmly, "I deserved it. In fact, I deserved the slap you tried to give me that day too. Just... Just promise that, unless I royally fuck up again, you will always keep it with you."

Something twinkled in Amora's eyes. "Always. I promise."

And so they settled down. Side by side on the floor of the library, coincidentally in the exact same spot they had been in over a year ago. Draco wrapped his arm around her shoulder, bringing her in close so she rested in the crook of his arm and chest. Her legs moved to drape over his lap, almost like he was cradling her, but they provided him warmth too. His large hand rubbed up and down her tights, his lips moving to kiss her forehead.

In the morning, Pansy, Theo, and Blaise would come and find them. But until then, they were going to do their penguin thing.

...

THIS WAS NOT MEANT TO BE 6.3K+ WORDS DJKDHH

but alas! the drama is not over yet! i cannot wait for the next few chapters mwahahah

ALSO I HAVE MORE PLANNED FOR THE DEATHLY HALLOWS RATHER THAN HALF-BLOOD PRINCE RN AND I AM WAY TOO EXCITED TO WRITE THAT SHIT TOO

anyways!! thanks for reading, my loves <33

dyiansobrien.