Bab 17: Caught in the Act
-Your POV-
Despite Y/N trying to follow the recipe to a T, they were not successful in brewing the potion. Instead of turquoise, their Draught of Peace was of a sluggish blue, not emitting any form of vapor.
Snape had raised an eyebrow. "You would have needed more porcupine quills."
That's all he said. According to Draco, they hadn't messed up completely and compared to most of the class, they actually did pretty well.
But Y/N's mood turned sour nonetheless. In the end, they hadn't managed to brew it successfully. She wasn't ready for the Restituo Potion.
The afternoon passed very slowly and Y/N was lost in thoughts during dinner. Not even Pansy Parkinson's quips managed to get through to her.
As she was leaving the Great Hall, Draco caught up with her, grabbing her shoulder.
"Hey lemon face, why are you so peeved?"
"I don't want to talk about it."
Y/N really just wanted to be alone and brood in silence but Draco didn't leave her side.
"You've been like this since Potions, what's really going on here? I doubt it's because of how 'interesting' you think the subject is."
"I said that I don't want to talk about it!"
Y/N tried to get away but Draco made her stop. They were standing in the middle of the hallway.
His expression had changed.
"You're keeping something from me."
"And? Are you not?"
He didn't respond but his silence was answer enough.
"There are obviously things we are keeping from each other. It's not a big deal."
"It is to me," he said. His voice was low, almost vibrating. "You don't trust me."
He seemed hurt.
"It's true, Y/N. Right? You don't trust me?"
"Draco, I…it's complicated. I do trust you but I need some time to calm down first. Can we talk about this later? Give me an hour. Please."
He looked at her, thinking. His storm gray eyes were narrowed.
"Okay."
*****
The first thing Y/N did was go to the bathroom and splash water into her face. She was aggravated, nervous and scared. All those ugly emotions were trying to knock her unconscious.
It was ironic how this mental war had been caused by Draught of Peace.
Helena wasn't there, she hadn't seen much of her since lunch. She was probably somewhere getting cozy with Blaise.
If only Y/N had someone to talk to.
She threw her face into the pillow and closed her eyes for a bit. The thoughts kept circling, words manifested themselves, they pulled apart and reformed. They multiplied over and over until all she saw was a mess of bright, screeching colors. Endlessly long threats that were knotted and ripped and knotted.
Draco now knew that she was keeping a secret and if she didn't open up soon, he might walk away. That was scary because opening up could actually cause the same.
The water outside the windows slowly turned from bright blue to deep purple and gray as the sun was setting. She heard a few girls enter the room, they whispered and giggled and left again.
Were they laughing about her? Or was she just getting paranoid?
Y/N tried to shake the thought off by remembering the pocket watch. Not even professor Flitwick was able to repair it so it was likely a magical object.
It was extremely far fetched, so far that Y/N was almost embarrassed to think about it but what if there was a connection?
What if it wasn't a coincidence?
At this point she was so desperate to find answers that Y/N was willing to look for them wherever she could. Even in old pocket watches.
Motivated to find out what kind of magic they possessed and realizing that she couldn't hide forever, Y/N got up and went to brush her hair.
"Don't be so dramatic," she said to herself in the mirror. Her reflection nodded and took a deep breath. She looked determined.
Y/N pinched her cheeks to get a bit of color into them and then made her way to the common room.
She almost ran into Draco who stumbled back.
"Woah! Careful!"
Y/N couldn't hold back, she wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face in his chest.
Draco seemed very surprised by the hug and just stood there awkwardly for a second before he started patting her back.
"I'm sorry," Y/N muffled.
"For what?"
"I don't know."
They were hugging for a while until Y/N pulled back. She looked at the boy who almost seemed…worried?
"Maybe you need some rest."
"No, no. I'm fine."
"Right…"
She put on a little smile. "Let's continue our adventure."
*****
The Lost Wands room was located in the serpent hallway, opposite their Defense Against The Dark Arts classroom.
It was more of a small dusty chamber with shelves on all sides, filled with boxes and various objects.
Draco closed the door behind them and they started looking around.
There was tons of stuff. Apparently most students didn't even know this room existed. Two large boxes were filled with wands alone and Y/N started wondering how old they might be.
"What if Flitwick already came to get the other watch?" Draco picked up a single sock, his face filled with disgust.
"Then we are screwed."
There were books, chess games, necklaces, empty rat cages and everything was covered in a thick layer of dust.
"Hey, this is mine!" Draco held up a tie pin. It was a small silver snake with green eyes. "I was wondering where this one went." He put it into his tie, right above what Y/N assumed to be his family crest.
She chuckled. "One more and you'll look like a pimp."
She turned back to her box. This one was filled with mirrors and pocket watches and she knew that if it must have been in there.
She looked through the objects and then let out a cry of joy. "Got it!"
It was golden like its twin with blue numbers and hands.
She handed it over to Draco. He raised an eyebrow. "It's stuck too. 5:16 pm."
"Really? Weird. Can I see?"
He was about to give it back, when suddenly voices started coming closer behind the door.
She couldn't make out what they were saying but the voices sounded very familiar. They were definitely teachers and Draco and Y/N definitely didn't have an explanation for why they were in here.
Draco let the pocket watch glide into his coat.
Staring at the door, he whispered. "You said that you trust me, right?"
"Yes?"
The door knob was turning.
"Time for you to prove it then."
Without a warning, Draco grabbed Y/N's waist and pulled her into a very stormy kiss.
Y/N flinched in surprise but that was when the door got opened so she closed her eyes and quickly wrapped her arms around his neck.
This was definitely not as sweet and innocent as on the Astronomy tower. Y/N almost choked on his tongue and the butterflies in her stomach had turned into aerial bombs.
Way too soon, someone cleared their throat and Draco pulled back, acting shocked.
Y/N didn't have to act when she realized who had 'caught them in the act'. All blood rushed into her face when she saw Snape and McGonagall.
The witch looked just as surprised, Snape however was as always impossible to read. Nobody said anything which made it even worse.
Finally, Professor McGonagall opened her mouth. "I have to say, this is a first. Usually students use the bathrooms or staircases."
Y/N didn't know how to respond and looked to Draco for help.
The blonde stammered. "Uhm…we…sorry."
McGonagall smiled amused and with that Y/N knew that they wouldn't get in trouble.
"Young love can be quite ardent."
"Indeed," Snape added slowly. Then he looked at Y/N. His eyes narrowed.
"I had a chance to read your essay. I thought it was…inspired."
Y/N was so incredibly uncomfortable, she didn't manage to smile. She just pressed out a 'thank you'.
"We should go now," Draco mumbled and quickly grabbed the girl's hand to pull her out of the room.
Snape made way for them and they hurried down the hallway without looking back.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone