The One Where He Is Suave (he is, shut up Pansy)
 People would probably never believe him if Draco were to tell them that he preferred children to adults. It is unbelievable, heâll admit, but itâs the solid truth. Children are loud, clumsy, messy little creatures. They also donât judge people for who they are or where they happen to come from. They always speak their thoughts; even if those thoughts are better left unsaid. They donât understand things like war or politics or prejudice, no. They stick to the more important things like; why are clouds so fluffy? Or, why are brussels sprouts so disgusting? Draco loves them.
 This is why he is secretly delighted when their Care of Magical Creatures professor tells the class that their year will be in charge of supervising the first years on a field trip located in the denser parts of the Forbidden Forest. There are audible groans all around and Draco had to quickly hide his excitement behind a mask of bored indifference.
 âOh câmon, donâ be like thaâ.â Says Hagrid as there is another round of groans. âItâs jusâ fer one day, anâ the firsâ years are all well behaved, so thereâll definitely be no problem.â
 âYouâre sending us into a dangerous forest with a bunch of infants, you oaf.â Pansy complained under her breath. âI see a lot of problems.â
 Draco refrains from rolling his eyes. âHush, Pansy.â He shushes her.
 âItâs fairly simple.â Hagrid claps his hands together. âYehâll be split interâ groups oâ three, and yehâll be helpinâ each other supervise groups oâ ten.â
 An excited murmur arises around the students as they begin searching out and clutching onto their friends.Â
 âAhem, Iâll be pickinâ yeh groups for yeh if yeh donâ minâ. Ya know, innâer âouse unity anâ all.â Hagrid continues causing more groans. âIâll start now, yeah? Righâ now, we âave:
 Lovegood, Thomas anâ Zabini
 Parkinson, Weasley anâ  Macmillan-â
 Pansy let out a wail of despair. âA Weasley and a Hufflepuff? Is he trying to kill me? You know, I wouldnât put it past him.â
 When Draco doesnât answer, she hits him with her book. âShow some sympathy, will you! Iâm being led to my death here!â
 âOw!â Draco rubs at the sore spot gingerly and glares at her. âPoor you.â He says, his voice flat.Â
 â-anâ the lasâ group; Smith, Malfoy anâ [L/N]!â Hagrid beams at the whole class who- unsurprisingly- does not beam back.
 Draco chokes on his own saliva and turns to face Pansy, horrified. âWho did he just say Iâm grouped with?â
 â Zacharias Smith and [Y/N]  [L/N], why?â Says Pansy, not paying attention to him but to her nails, examining them with a detached sort of satisfaction, unaware of Dracoâs crisis.Â
 Thereâs a moment of silence as Draco tries to regain his composure when the realization hits her. âOh, oh. Is that the girl youâve been going on about for- I donât know- a century?âÂ
 âNoâ Draco denies quickly, but he knows itâs useless when Pansy smirks evilly.
 âOh ho ho. This is gold, you literally have her to yourself for a whole ninety minutes. Draco Malfoy, whatever are you going to do?â She drawls.
 Draco gives Pansy a look which he knows conveys just how much he would like to throttle his best friend. Pansy is undeterred and she sticks her tongue out at him before scanning the crowd.
 âJust where is the unlucky girl, I wonder?â She muses loudly.
 âSheâs right-â Draco stops himself. âI donât know who youâre talking about.â He fibs. In truth, heâs actually been staring at her on and off throughout the whole class but Pansy doesnât need to know that. Judging from the sly look Pansy is now giving him, Pansy already knows that.Â
 âOh Draco, you have it so, so bad, honey.â
 The Field Trip
 The first thing Draco notices about her is that she gives great lectures. All the first years are enraptured as she describes different magical creatures and plants with creative little details, not to mention adding her own fun facts to keep the children's attention from wandering. The next thing Draco notices is that although she is great at teaching children, sheâs not that great with, well, children. He watches in amusement as she squirms uncomfortably when a little Ravenclaw girl praises her in awe, and then has to stifle a chuckle as she flinches away from a young Hufflepuff boy when he grabs and holds onto the end of her school robes. Â
 âCharles, what exactly are you doing?â She asks, her voice strained.
 Charles looks forlornly up at her. âMy aunt told me that if Iâm ever in an unfamiliar place, I should stick close to the most responsible person.â
 âOh, boo hooâ Smith mutters nastily. Draco shoots him a glare but Smith doesnât see it, occupied as he is scowling at [Y/N].Â
 Thatâs the next thing Draco notices. As far as observation serves him, [Y/N] and Smith seem to have a strong mutual disliking for each other. Every once in a while, one of them would take a subtle- or not so subtle- swipe at the other and after a particularly cutting comment from Smith, Draco was about ready to hex off his private parts. How dare he.
 The three of you and your little group had reached a small clearing in the forest and [Y/N] had decided to give the first years a little break by giving them free rein.
 âThis is exactly how I wanted to spend my day,â Smith says sarcastically, leaning back against a tree. âBabysitting a bunch of brats while listening to Ms. I-know-everything over here prattling off about fungus. What joy.â He sneers.
 Thatâs it. Dracoâs had enough. He raises his wand and a hex is already on the tip of his tongue when heâs blocked by someone stepping in front of him. At first, heâs confused because he thinks [Y/N]âs trying to stop him from cursing the bastard but then he sees that she has her own wand out and itâs jabbed directly in between Smithâs eyes.
 âCareful now, Smith. I have tolerated your pathetic, immature whining up until now but you still insist on mouthing out your lame, dumb, downright imbecilic thoughts. You have two choices; shut the fuck up or get hexed. Itâs completely up to you.â She threatens menacingly, eyes narrowed into dangerous slits.
 Draco stares at her open-mouthed. Heâs never seen her like this before. Like sure, heâs seen [Y/N] when sheâs mildly irritated but even then the most sheâd ever done is glare murderous daggers at the offending person.
 And she has been glaring daggers at Smith, he supposes. Sheâs probably just reached her breaking point.
 Itâs a shame that Smith hasnât come to the same conclusion.
 âWhat, are you seriously gonna hex me in front of all your precious little first years?â Smith goaded.Â
 [Y/N] freezes as if just now registering her surroundings, shoulders slumping in defeat as she lowers her wand. âYouâre rightâ She says regretfully. Then a beat.
 âKIDS, VOTING GAME TIME! Who do you guys like better; me or Mr. Smith here?â
 Thereâs a short moment of surprised silence then the small group erupts chaotically into cries of â[Y/N!]â and âI like [Y/N] the best!â. Draco is pleasantly startled when he hears a few voices exclaim âMy favorite is Draco!â
 It warms his heart and he sends an uncharacteristic smile the childrenâs way.
 âThere you have it, Smith. I have a feeling that they wonât be telling on me, whatever I do to you.â [Y/N] gloats, wand gleefully trained back onto him.
 Draco has to admire this side of her . Even though he knows just what sheâs capable of, having already witnessed her in action. Sheâs never really been the type to use her skills in such a way. Itâs what drew him to her in the first place.
 Smith bares his teeth in an ugly snarl. âYou wouldnât fucking dare [L/N], Iâll -â
  â Densaugeo!â
 The Hufflepuff doesnât stand a chance. The rest of his sentence is cut off as his front teeth start growing at an alarming speed, eliciting surprised yelps from the first years and a very unladylike snort from the caster. Draco can do nothing but stare as Smith tries to conjure the counter-curse through his botched dentures, fails, turns tail to flee... and barrels head first into a tree, effectively knocking himself unconscious.
 Salazar, weâre going to be in so much trouble.
  â And that, darlings, is how you deal with morons.â [Y/N] bows with an overexaggerated flourish to enthusiastic applause, cheeks glowing with poorly concealed pride, the first years clamoring all into her space, praises of amazement filling the air.Â
 Draco is done for, he hopes his family will attend his funeral. Cause of death: [Y/N] [L/N]. The love of his life, a menace to the general society. May his soul rest in peace.
  âUmm, you wonât tell on me, will you?â
 It takes him a solid minute to realize that the question is directed at him, along with bright, questioning eyes.
 As if I ever could. âWhy would I? Prick got what he deserved.â An idea occurs to him then. âOn one condition, though.â
 [Y/N]âs posture straightens minutely, interest piqued. âWhat?â
 Itâs now or never, he decides. âNext Hogsmeade weekend, have lunch with me.â Wait, that was too abrupt. âUh, please?â Ugh, nice going you simpleton.Â
 Quietness descends as [Y/N] and the first years both gawk at him wearing identical looks of bewilderment. Oh crap, he completely forgot about the first years. Merlin, smite him now.Â
  â... lunch as in a date?â [Y/N] questions, suddenly standing right in front of him, gaze piercing. When did that happen?
  âY-yes, a date.â He barely manages not to stutter, desperate to exude the notorious Malfoy confidence he absolutely does not feel. â I would like to court you, if youâre amenable to the idea.â Great, now he just sounds snobbish. Where the hell is Pansy when he needs her?
  âIf Iâm amenable,â [Y/N] repeats, smile spreading slowly across her face, âhow gentlemanly of you.â
 Is he being teased right now?Â
 Before he can work himself into a full blown panic, she takes pity on him as well as both his hands. Itâs a considerably light hold, the barest of pressure applied and yet he finds that he canât. Bloody. Breathe.
  âBreathe, Malfoy.â She grips his hands harder, grounding.
  âIâm trying.â He wheezes. He really is, he swears on his mother. Itâs just a tad bit difficult when the person heâs been obsessing over is casually touching him like itâs nothing when heâs trying not to flipping die.
  âDo you really mean it? You really want to date me?â The query is uttered softly, meant only for him, the uncertainty so clearly laced in her tone catching him completely off guard.
  âYes I bloody well mean it!â He splutters, âwhat the hell do you think Iâm freaking out for, woman?! This is way out of my comfort zone, mind you and if it wasnât obvi-â His tangent is interrupted by peals of sudden laughter. [Y/N] collapsing into him in a fit of uncontrollable giggles nose pressed against the side of his neck.
 Without thinking his arms wind themselves around her automatically, holding her in place as she tries to calm herself down. Heâs not even mad, it was a stupid tangent anyway. He takes a chance and nuzzles the top of her head gently, immediately emboldened when she doesnât pull away.
  âYou dolt,â She says into his collar, voice muffled by the fabric, âIâve been trying to get your attention since forever. Iâm the one freaking out right now.â
 No way. No fucking way.
 He hugs her tighter. âSo youâre saying tha-â
 âIâm saying yes.â
 Salazar, Merlin. If youâre listening, thank you you sadistic bastards.











