"Week One" hit like an alarm clock.

To her great surprise Audette woke herself up, mumbling under her breath in her dreams.

She was no longer in an icy forested expanse in the arms of a pensive Theodore Nott, but instead in a warm bed swallowed up by a storm of signature alpine cologne and masculine musk.

Oh, dear.

She had been talking in her sleep - entirely starkers below the comforter save for Draco's torn Hogwarts dress shirt - and for a moment she eagerly assumed that a pillow she was crushing in a bear hug was a boy instead of a stuffed postural bedding element.

The memory whispered away into a jumbled fog as Audette realized she was alone behind his velvet curtains.

Stretching delightfully, she dug her head back into the phenomenal mattress that was lovely in comparison to her concrete institutional mattress in the neighboring female tower. If she wasn't required to be in Monday morning classes nothing would prevent her from sleeping several more hours greedily in his bed - the right in which now belonged to her and her alone.

Sighing heavily with the blissful butterflies of new love, she took inventory of the status of the normally riotous zoo that was the eighth level boys quarters.

No disgusting, gurgly snoring.

No slamming, nor shouting, or hooting, nor hollering.

It was pin drop silent save for the occasional classic bubbling noises from the Black Lake beyond the portholes, and she was undoubtedly alone.

Sitting up stiffly she rubbed at her eyes before noticing that her white pajamas had been gathered from the floor and folded crisply at the far corner of the pitch black comforter. On top of the ensemble was a silvery square of pricey parchment.

She drew it into her fingers, expecting something a lot more elaborate than the singular sentence of elegant cursive after the intimate night they had shared;

Late for a very important date Wonderland - see you in Droopy's

Audette was certain that a very important date was a dreadful bout of early morning Quidditch in which Draco was absolutely suffering from a hangover.

Wonderland... Good gracious, he really aught to find at least a secondary nickname for her.

This aside, he'd taken the time to fold her clothing and leave her an explanatory note for his absence, and even such a small gesture indicated the typically flighty boy truly cared for her.

Once dressed back in her itchy pjs she skipped hyperactively over to the female quarters to prepare for the day.

Her heart was bee stung and giddy with their long-overdue young love vibrating in every cell of her body, and the irrational joy coursing through her veins completely doused any recognition of their argument the evening prior.

He would see her in Magizoology alright, and she was going to be situated in their spot at the back dripping in her finest attire and appearing nothing short of a celestial being. Even the winter could not cool her excitement.

Seeing as December had settled in like an infection to a wound, a bone shaking chill in the ancient castle was paired with the crippling stress of final examinations.

Each class that week was the last of it's design before the commencement of testing, ergo it was unfortunately imperative that the normally rowdy and inattentive selection of attendees in Droopy's class actually pay attention.

The room was the temperature of a refrigerator, and so was the mood.

Audette was further dismayed when Draco did not show up for the class, and despite an open seat gaping next to her Guy did not possess the guts to move from his established place adjacent to Theodore in the event that the infamous, menacing blond should magically appear to kick him out by the scruff of his neck.

Not that Guy was even wasting his attention on Audette's independence at the back.

She spent the first twenty, lonely minutes of the two hour class watching with concern the pair speaking rather brutishly, whereas Theodore was actively prodding Guy with angry hisses under his breath, and in response Guy had plastered himself helplessly against the stone cladding of the interior wall. He was fiercely cornered by Nott, who was speaking a mile a minute and drawing irate glares from the concentrating students in front and behind them.

Poor Cosmos kept shaking his head with terror displaying in his colorful eyes, which were lawlessly spinning through different shades as they always did when he was severely scared and attempting to fearfully fib. Audette could easily guess what the interrogation topic was about; her relationship with Draco Malfoy.

The heavy leaden door blasting open stimulated dozens of dozing students to pop out of their slumbering states. Droopy's flappy, fleshy face swiveled in confusion from the chalk board, which was once again covering itself in vulgar drawings of crudely sketched penises.

Several caged magical animals overreacted to the noisy entrance, and soon the entire room was filled with a cacophony of screeching, growling, and flapping wings.

Droopy squinted uselessly at where Draco had ripped in at lightning speed, still in dripping Quidditch attire and making no effort whatsoever to explain his tardiness.

"Who or what has just gone out the door, children?" Drybutter scowled blindly through his gravitationally inclined mug. When not a soul bothered to provide a response - including Draco who was now ascending up the stairs - Droopy waved a liver-spotted hand, "So be it. If they do not possess the sense to take this class seriously then jolly well."

As Draco passed by him, Theodore leaned into the aisle resentfully to spit out in his adorable Spanish accent, "Scumbag clown."

Audette dropped her face into her hands in dread.

The usually avoidant, scholarly apt boy had procured a nasty habit out of snarling random insults at his newly formed nemesis almost every single time they slid by each other, and it had become commonplace anticipation.

Each student in the booths watched with dry, unamused stares when Malfoy stopped in his tracks as if he'd run into a freshly cleaned, nearly invisible glass pane.

A fitting, demure smile formed on Draco's expression, rolling his cerulean gaze to the ceiling in wake of the predictable jab, "Ah, so today it's clown? Say Nott, shall we see if I can produce a special balloon animal in the shape of a rabbity backstabber, just for you?"

Theodore narrowed his deep beryl eyes, which were absolutely prodigious under any lighting, "I would pay half my trust fund to watch you attempt to manipulate an inflated, polychloroprene structure into a pointed blade, Malfoy."

"Oooh, for that steep a price do I get to try with my clown clothes on?" Draco snorted antagonistically.

An aggravated Hufflepuff girl shook her head on the other side of Draco's wet green robes, stabbing her feathery quill down into her parchment impatiently, "This is getting exceptionally petty. No one cares to listen to this shite every single class."

A murmuring of agreement from neighboring students indicated that this was precisely the case.

On Theodore's other side, Cosmos was making a silent scene all of his own as he attempted to take advantage of the distraction and climb out of his prison cell in the booth, directly over the tall desktop.

Audette could see him holding his breath, his quite manicured face scrunching while carefully choosing spots to advance his hands and footing, appearing much like a house cat on the countertop hoping to escape with a pricey steak unnoticed.

Draco's amused expression gave away the futile escape in the background, and Theodore ended up twisting rapidly around and yanking Guy back into the seat by his large pink hood. Audette could barely perceive a growl of, "I'm not done with you yet."

The minute Draco plunked into their sheltered booth Audette was bombarded by the stench of wet gear and sweat...and a notable tingle in her tummy. He leaned into her shoulder with his, pointing a bony finger at her bestfriend being assaulted by her ex-boyfriend ahead.

"Off with his head, am I right? Do you think Nott's riled because he found out it's his unbirthday?" he swirled his dripping platinum strands to the side aggressively, flecking water and ice droplets all over her abstrusely penned work, causing the ink to run with black oozing wounds.

Audette pouted theatrically, shaking out the paper as he shirked off his flight cape, "Will you cease with the infernal Alice in Wonderland quotations? Now look what you've gone and done."

"Oh I'm sorry my prissy princess, was that important to you?" his masculine laughing filled her ears as she forlornly attempted to salvage her critical work.

To her inflated displeasure he proceeded to drag a corner of his drenched cape over the wooden lip of the desk to smudge her notes into an illegible, uniform black stain, then turned to look at her with teasing teal blue eyes, "There; no more droplets, all better. "

Audette scoffed and sat back with her hands up in the air, "More like no more of anything transferrable. One would almost surmise that you whole-heartedly root for my failing this course."

He leaned in to kiss her but Audette pushed him back with a palm to his throat, "No Draco, we cannot keep snogging in this class. We have four feet of parchment due on Friday for finals, and I had one section finished, which I'll now have to rewrite from scratch due to your tomfoolery."

His sly grin remained undisturbed as he leaned back and grabbed his satchel off the floor, which retrieving from his bunk had no doubt been the reason for his late appearance.

He flopped two thick, pearly scrolls onto the table and popped his sandy-blond eyebrows, "Well isn't it a good thing I've already written two for us, so there's no excuse not to entertain me. I assume you'll go with African Erumpents. They're a lot like yourself; manic depressive, ultra clingy, meteoric in mood...Should we ask Mr. Bubbles for an interview?"

"Oh ha-ha, he'd melt you down to a spinal cord popsicle stick in two seconds flat," Audette shook her head in utter shock of his generous proffer.

"Like I said, quite comparable traits," he snickered, chewing on his bottom lip interactively.

With a flip of her stylized blond waves she scoured through the parchments in wonder of why he was being so sweet after wailing on her the night before. The researched writing was intricate, expertly vernacular, and structured flawlessly, "Alright Draco, you have surprised and impressed me. My attention is yours. How in the foggiest did you find the time?"

She could just imagine some unlucky Ravenclaw being cornered and threatened to have their eyeballs removed by means of a splintered spoon if they refused to do it for him.

"Don't worry about that, doll face," he leaned far over the desk to block out her vision with his sharp jaw balanced in his hand, his dark green and silver Quidditch sweater exuding the aromatic scent of his damp clothing between them.

His very presence made her feel like she might hurl, in a deliciously addictive way.

Audette rolled her lips girlishly together as those same morning butterflies flapped back into her nervous heart, meeting his bright gaze as it fell down her minty green gown defined by flattering balloon sleeves and a long bouffant train, "I'm fond of this dress. The color brings out your eyes, and other...titillating...assets."

She tsked at his flirtations, dropping her batting eyelashes to the side, "And would your fondness prevent you ripping this garment off as well? Because my beloved wardrobe since courting with you continues to deplete at a dangerous rate, Mr. Malfoy."

Visions of the electric hours prior came flooding back; her delicate panties being torn clean off, sweaty skin and hormones in the air, whiskey on his tongue, his bare hardness between her thighs...

He was obviously not as shy in broad daylight as she was, burning his icy eyes into the side of her face while running his free hand up her leg under the table.

His voice was buttery and dark in the shadowy classroom, which was filled with visible, floating dust and Droopy's reedy dull whine at the front, "You know, I was in fact feeling rather enthusiastic this morning as you suggested, but you proved impossible to wake. I left for practice quite bothered and randy."

Oh.

Audette's little heart had begun to race under her rib cage like a monkey yanking on the bars at a zoo, her cheeks as hot as an iron left at four-hundred scalding degrees.

She mentally facepalmed herself for sleeping through his belated advances which had finally arrived in full-force, instead laying there butt-naked and blathering to herself in her sleep.

"I see," Audette hummed under her breath, nodding slowly whilst too mortified to meet his concentrated eyes.

Happiness had nonetheless been injected straight into her veins like a freezing serum which attacked the nervous system, and now she was squeezing her luxurious dress in both hands hopefully, "Seeing as we are both ready now...I suppose...If you are no longer irate with me, perhaps we may explore another chance this evening?"

His breath tickled her cheek as he sighed heavily, releasing his arm to grip her chin so that Audette was forced to send him her wavering green puppy-dog eyes that typically hypnotized any boy into giving her precisely what she longed for.

Forgive me, don't punish me for weeks.

Draco Malfoy however, was a skilled Occlumency student and not easy to swindle with simply charm alone.

He was also not usually forgiving.

Smirking crookedly he immediately dashed her hopes, casting his gaze away whilst running his fingers along her jaw and up behind her ear, "Don't even try that cute look on me Bellarose, of course I haven't forgiven your brazen dishonesty. However, showing respect for my sober intentions has not gone unrecorded; consider it four weeks of punishment instead of five. As for that tantalizing thought - it will have to wait. I'm busy, all night."

"All night?" Audette complained, slumping her forehead against his. She yanked on his hair to draw him in, which was now drying into a fluffy, messy version of his typically impeccably combed ivory locks. They stared straight into each other's elemental eyes as Audette nuzzled her nose into his anxiously.

Whatever he had planned could not possibly be as monumental.

Puppy-dog eyes commanded him helplessly; Make intimate love to me instead.

She would stay up until sunrise for the opportunity that was now on the table between them. The drop-dead gorgeous boy had been her formal lover for months already with minimal sexual gratification, leaving her body ravenous and teased beyond belief.

"Yeah. All night - something vital for Snape," he nodded, his mouth curling up on one side in a coy smile. He pecked at her lips wantonly, just enough to get stuck for a second before pulling back, "But I am contented by your restlessness over the matter."

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With that scurrilous imagery playing in their minds they slowly fell into uncontrollable, lusty kissing, even though it was against Audette's natural intuition to toy around directly behind an entire class.

Draco drove her farther and farther into the corner with his dirty Quidditch clothing pressed against her lovely dress, his tongue diving in her mouth assertively, until there was no where to go and Audette was effectively as trapped as Guy but for very different reasons.

He eventually sat back enough to yank her sideways into his lap, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, bending her knees to cuddle in the booth.

Something long and hard emerged instantly below her backside that most certainly was not a wand in his trouser pocket.

He spoke with his fluffy lips on hers, desperate and hushy, and deviously lascivious, his cold fingers brushing her hair back repeatedly, "You taste so good Audette. Perhaps I will enthusiastically find you at the early hours of the morning - so long as you promise not to scream."

"Hmm I happen to have a new rule against making promises to raffish boys seeking to ruin me," she gushed sarcastically between his heated embraces, leaning her head far back so he could kiss at her neck instead. The dampness of his clothing and hair only added a moist heat to their vigorous pawing.

With a light moan Audette begrudgingly angled even farther away from his enticing advances when he started to grope her inappropriately.

She sincerely could not fathom the possibility of him ripping her daytime dress in any horrifically public manner.

Her hands searched for his to still the madness, which were clutching at her all over like a feverish octopus, "Now seriously, we ought to slow down in classes; we wouldn't want to develop a rancid reputation in educational settings. My father shall lock me in the castle oubliette come summer if word returns to him of scandalous public behavior on my part."

She met his gaze with an exhorting look, but he only rolled his sterling orbs away, "Why are you suddenly acting fussy?"

Audette exhaled dramatically, weakly pushing away his hands from her backside with partial enthusiasm, "I will always act fussy about appearing disgraceful in civil designations."

The public intimacy had progressed to a point of discomfort - Draco's nails digging into her clothing, the spicy essence of his sweat blending in with his cologne, his tongue on her throat...

As her spine bent in his arms she was overcome by a sense of increasing self-consciousness pertaining to the hearty display that multiple students were no doubt watching with expectation and judgment.

Audette grew dizzy, tingly and flummoxed, her body begging to cave to his prompts, but her cultured mind argued elsewise.

With a disgruntled gasp she opened her eyes and yanked his head back harshly by the snowy hair on the crown of his head, meeting his crystalline eyes directly from her higher perch in his lap, "Now that's quite enough you handsy beast. Let us instead play twenty questions to pass the time. I'd personally like to get to know my formal intended on a deeper level as it is."

Fighting through the unbelievable exchange of hormones she puffed on air as though she'd just run several laps around the base of the tremendous castle, determined to hold together their reputations by the straggling strings which remained.

Draco groaned in equal distress - stuck at the angle she was remanding his skull at - as if he were attempting to sleep in and his alarm clock was going off like a woodpecker to a tree.

A smidge of empathy crossed her mind at the dopey desire in his penury, drilling gaze. He was evidently as bothered and strained by their months of teasing - probably more so being a boy of his age - and clearly it was reaching a peak of frustration.

She caressed his cheek with her free hand, "Come now handsome, meet me halfway. You may do to my body whatever your dangerous heart desires in the privacy of our curtains later."

He shot her a miserable frown before shutting away his arresting blue eyes, "Fine. Sounds like a game that couldn't possibly end poorly. Ask away Audette, seeing as you are too embarrassed to kiss me in front of Nott."

He slapped his hands flat against her body in childish displeasure, only fueling Audette's need to be stern.

It became apparent then that she would have to coach him on proper etiquette if they were ever going to possess any hope of navigating her parents that summer, who in sweltering intensity were lavish, toplofty, and dreadfully implanted dead center within the European socialite scene.

They were supremely distinguished by the annual balls and charity events they held, in which only the most pontifical and altisonant made the guest list.

Such seasonal evenings flooded the Bellarose castle with nasty, wealthy monsters in search of positive press for their attendance and donations, and in other cases a satisfactory match for their nightmare offspring.

She was certain now having been now formally introduced that the Malfoy's had been there several times...but of course, without their troublesome son in tow.

From the aghast expression on Narcissa's face in Befana, Audette had already arrived at the conclusion that Draco expended a great degree of energy into putting up a wall on his relationship status, which his parents had generously allowed to slide for a long time.

The circumstances were quite the opposite for Audette.

Even worse during those boiling summer months without any air conditioning in the castle, save for the stifling breeze blowing in through narrow apertures, were the Debutante Balls.

The sprightly symphony of a live orchestra going off and the scent of cigars in the air flashed across her brain, reminding her that if she returned back to the Bellarose castle without Draco that summer then the horror of courting would begin all over again as it had the previous season in the wake of Theodore's abrupt departure; a dance card on her gloved wrist filled with irritating prospective suitors breathing in her face, her hair weighed down by far too many sharp jewels, a need to hide behind curtains and on balconies, hoping that one of her father's snoopy birds would not notify him of her hidden location...

She would turn nineteen in July, and the pressure to find a match would be as compressing as the weight of the ocean at it's lowest depths in the Marina's Trench. Why, she was practically elderly in the courting scene already.

At that point it would come down to just about any man of good pureblood stature who offered her father a suitable dowry. The mental image of someone as abhorrent as Marcus Flint making a move was enough to make her physically ill.

Great heavens no, she was dragging Draco back at her side no matter what, so that all of those hairy, buck-toothed aristocratic men wouldn't dare linger on her for more than a few seconds.

She cleared her throat and scratched his scalp interchangeably, "My discomfiture is not derived from one particular individual's visual access to our interactions, it's more a matter of principle and comportment. It pains me to enforce these rules, but I only do so in the hopes that Montgomery will approve of you."

He blinked several times in defeat, and rather than say anything he softened below her and sat back with hooded eyes on her face, reenacting the exact same embittered deadpan look he'd displayed the night of their first date in Hogsmeade.

The silence for a few moments was off-putting before Audette straightened her spine and spoke tepidly, still swirling her nails possessively in his soft hair, "Why don't you try going first? Ask me anything at all."

She knew first hand from his journal that he possessed the depth to think in such an introspective manner, although the marinating scowl on his pointy face was suggesting quite the opposite motivation that morning.

His eyes snapped open wider with wicked resentment for no apparent reason, "No. You want to play with fire, you can light the match yourself. And heed my words now Audette - you won't get any information on Excetra, or Nott, or this bloody tournament."

The resentment had came into clear focus.

He suspected her of attempting to manipulate him into exposing secrets already designated as confidential.

"Nothing of the sort," she reassured him, slanting her face to the side to catch his deflecting glare, "Why it was you who said to me in this very booth once that you wished to know me, does that not still stand? Please play with me, I won't bite."

"Yes, well I will. Alright, alright, you're a demanding little menace," Draco snapped in a low, stressful pitch, adjusting underneath her so that he was fully upright and towering over her instead.

His rolled his eyes as a devilish smile crossed his face, wrapping her tightly in his arms, "Question number one; do you know...the muffin man?"

"Real questions only," Audette scoffed immediately, smacking her palm off his shoulder as he laughed straight in her face.

"Hmmm," he hummed with a brightening gleam in his eye, his gaze hooded all of a sudden, "Tell me then darling, have you ever thought of me in the past, or is your interest wholly contemporary?"

Shyly she dropped her face, sensing that he was keenly cataloguing every microscopic alteration in her expression.

It was a delicate thing to admit to, seeing as he might use it as canon fodder against Theodore Nott in another unfortunate battle.

She twisted her pretty pink nails in his wooly sweater and smiled sweetly, but her words were breathy and puffy, "I might have been plagued now and then with a naughty crush on you, even as early as our second year, but I always supposed you wouldn't see me in the same light."

"That's ridiculous I could not have made myself more clear," he turned his face with sour satisfaction to mysteriously sneer at the back of Theo's thick brown hair, as if a neon flashing sign was buried in his chocolate waves stating Audette has never liked you.

Audette wrung her neck to peek as well, seeing that Theo had finally relieved Guy from the blasting attack, his shoulders pointed in concentration under his navy suit as he wrote on parchment at lightning speed.

T-T had also appeared from his time in the care of Theodore, situated in front of Guy in his knitted sweater and plushy travel bed looking positively unimpressed, the bear's beady black eyes caught on his mummy several meters away and out of his stubby reach.

"I knew the chemistry between us was not all in my mind. I should have taken you back a long time ago," Draco was busy growling bitterly to himself inches from her face, twisting her scintillating dress in his finger nails; as if Audette would have had no say in the consequential matter that was so upsetting to him.

Yes, he certainly had thought of her regularly. His bedside drawer was a museum of anything and all things Audette Bellarose, always watching, always waiting...even some of her hair ribbons were floating around in there.

She turned in wonder to see that he was rapidly shaking his head, his eyes darkening into a thunderstorm of indigo hatred, "Four years stolen from me. Your innocence stolen from me."

It was clear that he was falling into a volcanic pit of mental scalding magma, and they were only one question deep. If action was not taken then she would lose him to a classic state of chaotic darkness that was nearly impossible to pull him out of.

Leaning her nose into his chin she tightened her hold around his neck, nuzzling into a mole that she'd begun to notice on the outskirts of his sculpted jawline, "Well you possess not only my better years but my eternity should you remain a gentleman. My turn; what is your favorite food?"

He huffed, but the way that his grip loosened and readjusted insinuated he was pleased with her candid response. His lanky fingers squeezed her shoulder momentarily so that her collarbone pressed inwards in his arms, "Candy. Anything sweet and astringent. Like you."

She hummed in thoughtful appreciation, her skin tone changing into every shade of vermilion on the planet, "My mother always says, candies are a belly full of empty."

Audette on the contrary had not touched a dessert in several years because of the constant reminder from her prim mother that if she failed to fit into a corset of a certain size then she would be unfairly disowned by the pureblood ton.

The ever so elegant Eloise shaking her strawberry waves in disgust came into mind, painting in detail the singular event in which Audette had dared steal a tiny sugar cube at a sleepy Saturday tea time in 1989,"Just have a good look at Blanche Bulstrode's monstrous girl - do you want to land yourself in that unsightly category? If you indulge in such rotting garbage you'll be dust in the wind before a real suitor would ever choose you."

It was now his turn to ask. He tilted his head to the side and asked precisely the sort of thing that would count as playing with fire, "How many times were you intimate with Nott?"

"Intimate as in...?" Audette lost her voice in a squeak. Of course he would ask that.

"You know what I mean," he stared straight into her eyes unblinkingly. His knee started to bounce rapidly underneath her, his concentration on her response making her skin crawl.

"Well I...I'm not very experienced I'm afraid. It only occurred once, he was very gentlemanly..." she chewed on her lip nervously.

She could still see the full moon in the night sky above the Balearic Sea as they'd tangled up on his sailboat deck after an impromptu skinny dip.

"Oh is that so? Just once?" a wicked spark glinted in Draco's eyes, shifting them between her face and Theodore's back, "What a pity for Nott that he wasted his chance with you so idiotically - he certainly made up for it in Monaco. If you knew what he'd done there all summer you wouldn't see him as gentlemanly."

For a second she was truly stunned, and had to forcibly swallow down the ache in her throat at the reveal. So he had moved on and quite abruptly, "And did you do the same?"

"No. He was under certain obligations to prove himself which I am not plagued by," he jeered cruelly.

"Obligations to do what? Just to prove himself to Excetra?" Audette barked heatedly, barely managing to maintain control over her jealousy and now feeling the spiteful urge to march down the aisle and punch Theodore in the face.

Draco popped his eyebrows, "Is this going to turn into you throwing a hissy fit? Because I won't entertain it."

Left with no other choice but to drop the topic she tried her best to move on, but Draco had heartlessly told her this information for a very good reason, knowing that it would blow a hole straight through her impression of Theodore.

It was regrettably painful and disappointing, and he seemed to be satisfied when she visibly pouted for a good ten minutes after that.

A few questions later she had relatively bounced back to normal.

Overcome with a silly, nonsensical madness she started to giggle quite stupidly in Draco's arms, matting his hair with rough tussles of her nails, "Would you still love me if I had no skin?"

He raised an eyebrow high, "Is this a trick?"

Audette shrugged judgmentally, and made to pretend checking off an invisible checklist located on the center of his chest. Draco swallowed and searched her eyes in confusion as Audette trilled on, "Noted - there is a very clear limit to Mr. Malfoy's commitment."

She was obviously kidding but he bristled instantly, each of his limbs around her body hardening in defense, "There is no limit."

"Well there very clearly is, you've just outlined it have you not?" she pointed her chin upwards and away from him theatrically.

"Fucking girls...You realize that if I said yes then I would be technically considered a necromancer, seeing as you would be conceivably deceased," he argued far too seriously, tenting his eyebrows as if he was about to be expelled from her attention for something as trivial as answering incorrectly.

"Mmmhmm," Audette continued to tease him with a wide smile. She made a goofy face at him, shaking him by his neck with frivolous energy, until he hung his head back with a sharp exhale of air.

They went on to question each other for the remainder of the class, and in that hour he opened up to her like a cave flower in the sunlight.

She ascertained that he found fashion intriguing and that he desired children someday far into the future.

She told him of many things in return, including her preferred Animagus transformation when the time came, and of the day in which she had randomly stumbled across T-T at the edge of a lilly pond behind the Bellarose Castle.

Apparently his elected past-time was mapping the galaxy with his magical telescope at home, but he hadn't worked on this project for a long time due to responsibilities to his family and the guild. He'd painted a massive map of the milky way on his bedroom wall at the Malfoy Manor, and even named a few gaseous giants that he believed were yet to be classified by muggles.

"The last question is yours to ask," she sighed dreamily when Droopy had started to wind down his final instruction.

Audette was in fact so caught up in swooning over him that she initially failed to notice his smile vanish entirely.

His immaculate face had grown almost blank and pensive, flickering his eyes away from hers. With a heavy sigh and a swallow that visibly bobbed his Adam's apple he nodded, "Hmm."

He puffed air out as if dreading what he was about to do, leaning slightly with Audette in his lap to bury his hand in his satchel once again. By the time he located what he was searching for her eyes were wide and curious, trying desperately to snoop around his profile into his bag.

He straightened his spine against the back of the bench and pressed a rectangular, black velvet box into her hands, closing his cold fingers around hers to pry open the lid with her. It revealed soundlessly to display the most jaw-dropping article of jewelry she'd ever laid eyes on; a tiny princess crown, bedazzled top to bottom with flawless white stones and clear crystals.

Her eyes shot to his, which were locked onto her expression and filled with apprehension. As if he'd gone back in time four years to his helpless fourteen year-old self, Audette could see the rare innocent fear of rejection glittering there in small sparkles.

His body language alone gave away the adventurous inquiry that was coming.

He inhaled sharply and got straight to the point, attempting to correct his previous wording, "Because I find your peculiarity riveting...fuck..."

He paused, his mouth pulling up sideways as his eyes dropped, but Audette already knew what was coming. Her breathing picked up to a loud huff, gripping the velvet box eagerly.

Yes. Ask it, yes, ask it.

"I'm formally asking you to the ball, Audette," Draco finally spat out the sentence.

Audette had been in a coma for the week during which hype for the dance had built to it's climax, and the beauty of his token offer overwhelmed her in a matter of seconds. She covered her nose with both hands as tiny fairy gasps escaped her lips against her will.

"What could possibly be wrong?" Draco's expression instantly contorted with worry and regret at what would only appear to be an emotional break down, the colour draining from his face at a sonic rate.

He glared defensively around the room at all of the ogling students, probably fearing a repeat disaster of the last occasion he'd asked her.

"Have I offended you again?" his chest started to rise and fall in controlled rhythm as tears ran unimpeded from her eyes. Sensing that he was mere millimeters away from running off she had to wrap her arm around his neck to hold him in place while she cleared her throat and vision.

"Oh nothing, nothing is the matter. Draco it's...stunning...I'm just so fantastically elated. Of course I will, the answer is obviously yes," she pulled him into hot messy kisses, realizing that she was smearing her disgusting runny nose into his.

His skin had gone notably clammy, "Obviously yes...don't mock me. You have no idea how daunting reapproaching that godforsaken pursuit was."

Excited, Audette readjusted in his hold to face forward, plucking up the decorated diadem to admire it up close, "Great heavens, it must have cost more than the moon, you spoil me rotten."

Draco shrugged weakly, as if he were still weary and untrusting of the unprecedented outcome, "So long as you belong solely to me I will bestow upon you accordingly."

Swirling his fingers down her spine he watched as Audette tepidly ran her thumb over each luxurious, blinding diamond and stone, feeling nothing short of an immoderate, capricious little monster in his arms.

She was typically snooty and hoity-toity, but showing up in that crown with the first place Champion on her arm was going to enrage every single girl within the castle walls.

The satisfaction could not be tamed.

A wide, devilish grin spread across her face as she placed it back into the white gold talon clasps within the box and raised her wand to cast a gentle tickling spell at Cosmos' back.

The pinkish sparkles hit him smack in the center of his neck, causing him to titter and jiggle for ten seconds before shooting a knowing look over his shoulder at Audette.

She held up the crown and pointed to it impatiently, bouncing in Draco's lap, to which Guy held up his ringed middle finger in disbelief.

"What colour do you want us to wear?" she breathed into Draco's ear recklessly.

"Oh please. As if I would even have a say in that department," he scoffed and hung his head back with careless cool, shutting his eyes and jutting his jaw to the tall, musty rafters ahead.

It was quiet as Audette greedily considered what her choice would be for their colour scheme, before he spoke again in a darker and foreboding tone, "However, in confirmation of your agreement to our jointed attendance, my mother requests your company at Cava. She's not the type to cross - I'd suggest you accept with gratification."

"Cava?" Audette nearly choked on her own saliva.

Cava was the most elitist, expensive wizarding boutique in all of Europe. Cava was the location where most pureblood witches purchased their one of a kind wedding gowns. Cava was an exclusive, membership establishment that only the wealthiest frequented for acquisition of timeless and immortal items of unparalleled material selection.

Cava was a place that eighteen year old girls would never think of wandering into, even with the escort of Narcissa Black-Malfoy - who was without a doubt - a gold-status customer.