Hogsmeade

-Your POV-

Y/N had spent a lot of time looking into the mirror that morning. She was nervous about hanging out with Draco and his friends. She didn't feel like she fit in and if she didn't get along with the others, maybe Draco would change his mind.

Helena had been pretty upset yesterday. "I mean it's cool and all that you have a crush on him or whatever but now you're leaving me alone to spend time with them? Did you even ask if I could come along? Will Blaise be there?"

Y/N struggled with talking herself out of the situation. "I don't know about Blaise. Please don't be mad, I should have asked if you could come."

That was of course another lie. She hadn't asked on purpose and even if, the answer would have been a clear 'no'.

"Well, Y/N, you should know who your real friends are! When they drop you like a hot potato, don't come running to me."

"Sure."

She knew that Helena didn't really mean it but she let her be angry for the time being. After all, emotions are there to be expressed.

Y/N had rushed with breakfast and then waited outside the castle for the others. She sat down on one of the benches. 

It was a warm summer day, the sun was shining with all its might and Y/N was glad that she didn't need to wear her multi-layered uniform outside of school. Instead she had put on a simple blue summer dress and some comfortable shoes. Nothing too fancy but she felt kind of pretty after all.

"Boo!"

Y/N jumped at the voice next to her ear and turned around to look at Draco, grinning. She playfully hit his arm. "Asshole."

"What? Did I scare you?" He helped her up.

Draco was wearing the white shirt and tie from the school uniform as well as plain pants and black, polished shoes.

This was the kind of person who wouldn't be caught dead in jeans and tshirts.

His hair looked especially enticing today, like it was just begging to be ruffled.

That's when Y/N noticed something.

"Wait, where are the others?"

"They already left, we'll be meeting them there. Let's go."

Y/N would have lied if she said that she wasn't happy to be alone with Draco. In fact, this was exactly what she'd been hoping for.

Whenever it was just the two of them, he seemed much more relaxed and open. This was the perfect opportunity to get to know him better. 

It was quite a walk from the school to Hogsmeade but Y/N was enjoying it. They didn't talk much, the silence was comfortable. Occasionally, she felt Draco's eyes on her and once he looked away again, she returned the favor.

"How is your essay coming along?" he asked as they were passing over a small creek.

Y/N hadn't expected school to be a topic he'd favor but accepted the conversation starter. 

"It's going alright, I'm just a bit slow. I'll need to invest some time tomorrow. What about you?"

"It's the same for me. Maybe we can help each other."

The offer made her smile. It felt really good to know that Draco wanted to spend time with her.

"Sounds good."

They were getting closer to the town. The first houses weren't too far away.

"So what amazing things does this place offer? You should know that after last time my expectations are pretty high."

She remembered their flight over the lake with the sun setting in the back. How could you top that?

"There won't be any Whomping Willows or leftover pudding. But they do have Honeyduke's and Zonko's."

"I have no idea what you're talking about but I'm ready to find out." They exchanged another smile. 

The main street of Hogsmeade was full of other students wandering from one shop to the next. Some threw Draco wary glances but he didn't seem to mind.

Apparently these businesses were mostly built on Hogwarts students' pocket money. 

The facade of Honeyduke's was painted blue and through the windows, Y/N saw what kind of products it was carrying.

"Draco Malfoy and his sweet tooth," she joked and followed him into the shop.

Honeyduke's was packed with people, there was hardly any room to walk. Draco grabbed Y/N's hand so that she wouldn't get lost in the stream of faces. He was really good at taking initiative.

Y/N's eyes wandered of the many glass jars, boxes and shelves but the warm hand in hers made it hard to concentrate.

"What do you prefer? Chocolate, toffee, jellybeans?"

Y/N pointed at a package. "Oh, what are those? Pepper imps?"

She picked one up and looked at the ingredients. 

"Let's just say, eat one of those and you won't need Inciendo anymore. You will be able to light candles with your breath." 

Y/N quickly put the package down again. 

"What do you recommend?" 

"Personally-" 

Draco flinched. 

A small brown frog had jumped onto his cheek. Y/N couldn't hold back a laugh but his face immediately turned angry. He looked around the shop for whoever let the frog free and threw the kid a death-glare. 

The little boy seemed terrified. 

To diffuse the situation, Y/N picked the frog off Draco's face and put it in her mouth. 

"Mmh, chocolate. I think that's my favorite."

Draco looked at her like he couldn't believe what he just heard. Then he started laughing. 

"What?" Y/N swallowed down the candy. "What did I say?" 

"Nothing," he chuckled. "You're just...I don't even know. Let's buy some chocolate." 

He kept leading her through the store, still holding her hand and picked up some bars. 

Once they were standing in line to pay, Y/N looked for the kid with the frogs but it seemed like he had left, probably scared that Draco might hex him. 

That was when she saw two familiar faces outside the shop. And they were looking back at her. 

"Dammit." 

"What?" 

Draco turned around, his expression changed. "Oh."

Y/N hesitated. 

"You can go talk to them, you know?" 

"No, I'm here with you." 

He rolled his eyes. "Just go and meet me at Zonko's when you're done."

It was clear that he wasn't happy about it but refusing to go would probably only make it worse.

When Y/N made her way to leave Honeyduke's, she noticed that they were still holding hands and she was forced to let go. She prayed that none of her friends had seen that.

She stumbled out of the shop and put on a smile. "Hey guys!"

Hermione was smiling as well, Ron seemed wary.

"Sorry to interrupt your date," he muttered.

"What? Date? No, no! It's not a date."

"Right."

Ron looked behind her, probably where Draco could be seen through the window.

"Anyway," Hermione tried to break the tension. "Have you heard of restituo potion?"

"No?"

"Okay, let's go somewhere quiet."

They started walking back out of the town to where the forest was growing. In the distance Y'N could see the sparkling lake. It started getting so hot outside, she would have loved to go swimming.

The three stopped at a boulder and Hermione leaned against it.

"Okay, so I had some free time yesterday so I was looking around the library and found the recipe in a book called 'Forgotten Potions'. If your memory really got deleted by an Obliviate charm, it might be able to restore it."

"Might?"

"Yes, it is a very complicated recipe and its efficiency has rarely been proven, probably because most who try to brew it don't get it right."

"But you will help me, right?"

Hermione and Ron exchanged a glance.

The girl sighed. "I'd love to but we are quite busy with other things. Given everything that is going on and now with Umbridge as a professor…" She looked at Ron again. "We need to do something about that."

Y/N didn't know what to say. "So I'll have to make this super complicated potion that hardly ever anyone gets right on my own? Even though I have no recollection of potion making whatsoever?"

'Might as well throw myself off a cliff.' Frustration took over.

"You're close with Draco, right? Maybe if you ask him to-"

"After what you told me about his father? You really think that's a good idea? If it really was a Death Eater that did this and I tell him what happened, he'll be able to connect the dots. And you think he'd help me?"

"Or ask a teacher?"

"Who? Snape? Right, because that guy is so empathetic and caring, he'd drop everything in his free time to help a student make some unknown potion that isn't even part of the curriculum!"

Her voice had gotten louder with every word to a point where she was almost screaming. Hermione looked hurt.

"I'm sorry but don't blame this on us. I really tried to-"

"Whatever. Have a nice day."

Y/N turned around and started walking back to Hogsmeade. That's when she heard Ron say to his friend: "Maybe she's a Slytherin after all."

She knew that this was intended as an insult so she looked back.

She took a deep breath.

"Fuck. You." And she meant it.