#8: Define Politeness
"Oh, come on!" whinged Blaise, crumpling the slip and tossing it at Pansy’s head. "I can be polite!"
"Hardly," replied Pansy with a snort. "And don’t throw things at me. That’s not polite."
"You deserved it."
"You shouldn’t be insulted, Blaise. That fortune suits you. Especially when you know what you want."
"Shut it! Tell me it’s worked for you…being nice and polite to get a decent shag."
"That’s where you’re wrong. I can be my manipulative and evil self, and still get something out of it."
"Bitch," muttered Blaise under his breath. "You would. Unless you’re using Amortentia or something."
"I’m sorry, what was that?" asked Pansy loudly, cupping her hand to her ear. "Care to repeat that?"
But Blaise shook his head, turning his attention to Draco, who had just walked into the classroom. He took a seat next to Blaise and dumped his bag onto his desk. Blaise waved in greeting, but Draco only grunted in return. He looked like hell, with pasty skin and dark circles under his eyes. Either Draco had been up late doing work or something terrible had happened with Potter-
"Settle down," McGongall addressed the chattering students in the room. "I hope you have all completed your reading about Animagi Registration. Knowledge from that chapter will be very vital in learning about the magical theory behind the transformation process."
The murmuring silenced at once, much to McGonagall's satisfaction. It wasn’t until she began writing on the chalkboard that Blaise took out parchment and a quill. He poked Pansy in the ribs.
Blaise eyed Pansy before they both turned to see the livid expression on Draco's face. Draco snatched the note and ripped it into pieces. They remained silent for the rest of class, taking notes vigorously. Once the block was over, they packed up their things, as if nothing had ever happened. That was until Blaise felt himself being pushed against the wall once they stepped into the corridor.
"Just because I'm tired, doesn't mean my perception is completely off," Draco spat out, glaring at him and Pansy.
"Draco-" started Blaise, but he shut up when the grasp on his shirt tightened. He swallowed hard. "It didn't mean anything. Really."
"I can't believe you would make bets about some utter rubbish!" continued Draco furiously. "How old are you? Five?"
"It wasn't serious," Pansy tried to plead, but Blaise knew it was a losing battle.
Draco just got angrier. He released Blaise and rounded on Pansy. "And you! I thought you would know better than to indulge this git here! Where did you get this stupid idea about Potter?"
"From you actually. You've always been obsessed with him."
"You're delusional."
"So I take that your project is going well then?" asked Blaise curiously, rubbing his neck.
"What do you think?" snapped Draco. "I don't even know where I stand when it comes to him. It's one thing to treat him like shit. It's another to accept that he...you know..."
Blaise nodded with understanding. Of course, he knew what Draco was going to say. It was another thing to accept that Potter was the one to save Draco's life. And after everything that had happened, it was almost impossible for things to be the way they were before.
"And?" persisted Pansy. Blaise knew she was not going to drop the subject.
"And what?" Draco bit out, sighing deeply. "Look, I don't know why you keep tossing this idea around, but that doesn't make me bent!"
Before they could say anything else, Blaise saw the colour drain from Draco's face, his eyes growing wide. He turned to see what Draco was looking at, only to find Potter staring back at them from a few feet away. Had Potter been there the whole time to hear their conversation?
"Draco-"
"For fucking Merlin's sake!" Draco swore before pushing past Blaise and Pansy. "I've got to go. Potions. Slughorn wanted to talk to me after Transfiguration."
He practically ran off before Potter could even move. Fortunately, it was then that Granger and Weasley decided to emerge from the classroom. Potter gave Blaise and Pansy an odd glance before walking away.
"Well, fuck me," murmured Blaise, leaning against the wall. "This is going to be fun to deal with."
"You're telling me," replied Pansy, shaking her head. She held her arm out. "Come on. Give him until after lunch, and we'll see how he's doing."
Blaise just sighed as he linked his arm with hers.
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