𝐸𝑉𝐸𝑅𝐺𝑅𝐸𝐸𝑁 𝑀𝐼𝑆𝑇 || 𝐷.𝑀.

six

    It was later in the evening, Draco Malfoy was walking back to the Slytherin common room before he started the rounds he'd be doing alone when it dawned on him that the girl he'd been so fixated on, hadn't shown up for dinner. Groaning slightly, he turned back toward the Great Hall to grab food, knowing that bringing it to her would result in her trying to talk to him about their earlier conversation. That was something he wanted to avoid, but part of him knew that Juniper was probably starving, but too stubborn to leave her room. He wondered why her own friend, what's her name? He could barely remember, it started with a B...Blair. It was Blair. Why wasn't Blair bringing Juniper anything?
    The Slytherin common room was bustling with students, which was slightly annoying from how loud it was, but better they were here than wondering the hallways. Draco could feel the eyes of Pansy Parkinson burning into his skin, but he didn't turn to look at her, he continued to walk through the common room to the side of the room where Juniper Hartley's dormitory was. He knocked a couple times on the door, waiting for a response but got none. Sighing, he opened the door and there she was, a small desk lamp on illuminating the room ever so slightly, asleep on her bed.
    He stood there for a moment, looking at her as she slept, he couldn't help but admire her. She looked peaceful, her entire body relaxed rather than upset with him. He sighed, setting the plate on her desk and taking a piece of parchment and the quill.
Eat when you wake, hope you're feeling better.
                                                                               Draco
    He set the note next to her on the bed and then left the room quietly. That same part of him that longed for another round on the astronomy tower was glad that it would be his handwriting she saw when she woke up, that she knew it was he who was looking out for her.
    As the door closed, Juniper woke from the sound, wondering who had been in her room until her eyes landed on the note in rather extremely good handwriting. She looked over to the food, then back at the note and sighed deeply. He brought her food. Why was Draco consistently making sure she was alright, being sweet as ever, and then suddenly changing his attitude? Juniper wanted him to just be stable, to stop switching between Draco, the kindhearted person, and Draco, the arrogant rude person. The burning question in her mind was how long this constant change of attitude would last between the two. She sat there eating slowly until she finished half the food, not being able to eat more without feeling slightly sick from the hangover that was nearly gone. She laid down again, allowing herself to fall asleep again.

    Monday morning was a gorgeous morning. The sun was warm, filling the castle with a delightful small breeze, all the students were outside during their free periods. The grounds were active with people, Juniper swore in her six years at Hogwarts she had never seen so many people outside at once. She was in the courtyard under a tree with Blair, both of them laying on blankets they brought out to enjoy the morning before transfiguration class.
    "I don't think there's ever been a finer day." Blair said as she soaked up the sun into her skin. Juniper didn't respond out loud, only nodding her head in response even though Blair couldn't see it. Their morning had been peaceful, nothing disturbing them, but that was soon to come to an end. "Malfoy is walking over here." Blair said as she propped herself up on her elbows.
    "I swear to Godric, if you leave me alone with him, Bee." Juniper began to say as she watched her friend get up.
    "Surely you don't expect me to stay and deal with him." Blair giggled as she grabbed her blanket. "Good luck." The little smirk on her face was slightly evil, making Juniper laugh. She saw Draco, but laid back down again before he made his way over.
    "Mind if I sit?"Juniper heard Draco's voice said above her. She opened an eye to look at him, the sun making that difficult, but she felt her head nod before she could speak. Draco leaned against the trunk of the thick tree, sitting on the blanket with her. He tilted his head up at the sun, the warmth felt nice on his pale skin.
    "Thanks for dinner." Juniper said without opening her eyes to look at him. Draco chuckled slightly and looked down at her. The sun hitting her skin was bright, her lips were so pink in the sun, and her hair seemed to be a shade lighter with the direct light. "You're very confusing, Draco Malfoy." Juniper spoke again.
    "Elaborate for me, darling." Draco told her. He slightly enjoyed making her chase the words to describe him, itching to know exactly what she thought of him. He looked back up at the sun again.
    "One minute you act as if you actually like me and the next minute you're cold and distant. Very confusing." Juniper said, now propping herself onto her elbows.
    "Hmm, but the thing is I actually do like you." Draco said, his head still tilted to the sun. He heard Juniper laugh a bit, now looking at her. "Don't believe me?" He asked her.
    "Forgive me if I say no." She told him, looking at him. Juniper watched the way his pale skin looked in the sunlight, how the extremely blonde hair looked even more white as the sun hit it.
"I bet you would've believed me the other night." He moved his head so he was now looking back at her, a smirk across his face.
"That's not fair, I was so drunk." Juniper laughed rather than getting upset, shocking him a bit, but he went along with it. "I probably would've believed you though." She agreed with him.
"So, am I still confusing?" Draco asked her.
"Very." Juniper took no hesitation with her response. "Isn't this where Mad-Eye Moody turned you into a ferret?" Juniper asked out of the blue, making Draco roll his eyes at her.
"We are not talking about that." He told her firmly.
"Whatever you say, ferret boy." Juniper teased him, there was the most devilish smirk across her face, a smirk that he quite enjoyed.
"I'm not teasing you for the things you said while drunk so let's not tease about that." Draco said to her.
"I didn't even say anything remotely embarrassing while I was plastered, so go ahead and try, but I'll just win this one." Juniper still smirked at him.
"Fair enough." Draco nodded, knowing she was right, she would win this round.
"I suppose it was a good thing that I was with you that night and not someone else." Juniper told him.
"Why's that?" Draco asked her.
"I don't know anyone else who'd promise to catch me when I fall." She laid down again, not looking at the growing smirk on his face. Draco smiled to himself, happy that she remembered that part of the conversation, a part that he thought was a rather good one. He moved from against the tree to lay down next to her, both of them silent. "You're still confusing." She blurted out with a little laugh.
"I'm just waiting for you to fall for me so I can catch you." Draco told her. She sat up and giggled, shaking her head.
"Hope you're alright with waiting for a while then." Juniper said as she stood up. "I've got transfiguration and you're on my blanket." Draco didn't move though.
"I'll see you in potions, you can have it then." Draco told her, refusing to get up. She sighed at how difficult he was being, but he enjoyed her frustration.
"Fine. I'll see you in potions." Juniper gave in unwillingly, but she knew she couldn't win if he wouldn't get up off the ground. She walked away to her class, Draco sat up slightly to watch her leave, the skirt she was wearing was the same one he had his hands under just a couple nights ago, making him shiver at the thought of being able to do it again.
Transfiguration class had bored Juniper today, the time passed slowly and part of her wondered if maybe she was just longing to go to potions class so she could see Draco Malfoy. Regardless, when potions came around she diverted to immediately sitting next to Draco even though there was a seat open next to Blair. She saw Blair look up at her, giving her a, "what the hell?" expression.
"Careful, darling, doesn't seem like your friend is too happy with you sitting over here." Draco whispered as he handed her back a now folded blanket.
"If you're not careful I'll get up and move." Juniper said quietly, teasing him. Draco chuckled as Snape began speaking slowly, telling them about the potions they'd be making today.
"If you need help cutting anymore beans, just tell me." Draco leaned over to whisper in her ear. She could feel the heat of his breath against her skin, brushing over the bruises that were still prominently displayed on her neck. Her hair hid them for the most part, but as Draco was extremely close to her, he was able to see them. "Glad to know those are still there." He said giving her a smirk as he went back to brewing his own potion.
"You need to stop that." Juniper said through her teeth.
"Stop what?" Draco asked her, seemingly unfazed.
"Stop filling the room with bloody sexual tension." She barked quietly at him.
"Glad to know you're frustrated." Draco's smirk was driving her insane, but she ignored him for the rest of class until Snape dismissed them. She walked quickly out of the room, avoiding speaking to anyone as she went to the Great Hall to eat and do homework. Draco knew what he was doing and she swore he was doing it on purpose. Part of her wondered if maybe he wasn't intentionally doing it though, and that it was all happening inside her head. She sat at the Great Hall for hours until Draco came in with his minions, sitting not too far from Juniper. She looked at him and closed her textbook, shoving her items in her back and walking out of the Great Hall. Juniper was attempting to make it a point that he wasn't phasing her, but her leaving proved otherwise.
Draco watched her leave, trying more to laugh at the fact that he was getting under her skin. He enjoyed that he was making her squirm, that he actually had an effect on her. For the rest of dinner he barely focused on the topic though, he listened to Crabbe and Goyle drone on about how much they hated potions, which annoyed Draco greatly because he actually enjoyed the class.
Juniper had gone from the Great Hall straight toward the dungeons. Her skin felt like it was on fire as she came through the corridors, causing her to snap at random students who she'd see in the hallways snogging.
"Good Godric, stop snogging, you look like you're trying to eat each other's faces." She snapped at the two fourth year students. She decided to go into the Prefects bathroom, knowing that there she'd be able to relax alone. Juniper hadn't undressed yet, simply just standing at the sink and the water filled the pool behind her. She should've known that it was too good to be true after only being there alone for ten minutes when a person came in through the door.
"I can never truly escape you, can I?" She asked as she saw the familiar white hair standing behind her, looking back at her through the mirror, both of them crossing their arms at each other.