Hey so this chapter is a long one :), but it's totally worth it. I've been trying to keep my chapter length pretty low because I feel like people get bored with long chapters but i just couldn't help myself this time. Let me know what you think! Don't forget to vote and comment :) :). Also, if you'd rather have longer chapters rather than shorter ones let me know. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Clementine's p.o.v

"Clementine, why are you staring at the wall?"

"There's a piece of paint that's gotten pulled off."

"Well, that is interesting indeed-" Draco halted his faked interest, then using a much more annoyed tone, "It was rhetorica-"

"I can never tell with you."

"Get off your ass and start helping, we still need to clean the golden eggs."

"Aye aye, captain. Right away sir."

There was sarcasm dripping from my tone. A small, teasing smile on my face.

"I sometimes hate myself for goading you into having a personality," He huffed, more to himself than me, "If I'd known it would be this annoying, I'd rather you just not speak again."

      I rolled my eyes, standing up from my five minute break to go grab the cushioned box with the golden eggs. I grabbed it, my arm dropping with the weight. It had been heavier than expected. Draco's eyes flickered to me- myself readjusting to the added heft quickly- and he looked away.

      He took the case from me just as I reached him, setting it gently on the table in front of me. We were in an old hut, sheltering from the cold as we continued in our preperations.

      His long fingers traced over the dull brown case while his eyes appraised the beat up leather entwining. The case looked quite old and worn. Not something that would hold something so important. Insconspicuous.

"Well?" He growled, meeting my eyes, "What are you waiting for?"

      My fingers flicked at the latches, softly pulling the top of the case up to reveal three shining eggs. It was almost bright enough to warrant me covering my eyes. Draco grabbed an egg, scowling at it, "Looks clean enough to me." He shut the case and put it back while I stared at him with an incredulous look.

"Draco."

"Clementine," He mocked me, sighing as I continued to look at him with frustration, "No one's going to know if it's a little scuffed. It's going to be in a stadium with a dragon. It's going to get beat up anyways. Might as well use this time for something fun."

      We held eyes for a few more moments before I huffed in defeat. He had a point.

      I was still of the thought that if you had a job to do, then you did it right. As Draco sat down on a cushioned couch meant for the coaches to have a moment of respite, I reopened the case and began to take out an egg and clean it, taking it to the couch as I sat next to him.

      It had been a week and a half since we had that talk in the clock tower. Everything was seemingly, going as smoothly as it could. Draco and I had a comfortable time together when alone, although he still refused to make it known to the school that we even knew each other. It didn't bother me though.

      We were almost done with the preparations for the first test, and it was beginning to feel colder. We'd moved into a small hut near the stadium. As if on cue, the door blew open, a cold gust of wind making me shiver.

      Draco quickly got up and shut the door, turning around and scanning the room. My eyes followed him as he quickly started the fireplace with a soft, "Incendio."

"You don't like the cold?" I asked, another shiver running from my body.

"I do," He responded dismissively, eyeing me as he threw a blanket in my direction.

      Half an hour and our free period was done. Draco packed up his things quickly, walking out before I could even get off the couch. I grabbed my bag and ran after him, slowing down as I saw that he wasn't that far ahead. He was walking slower than normal.

"Bloody hell," He whispered to himself, causing me to tilt my head in his direction, "I forgot we had a transfiguration test today."

      I sighed along with him, glaring at the castle as if it had caused this test. As I had stated previously, Draco and I had a majority of our classes together. Out of the seven we were taking, we had five together. And out of those five, we were sat next to each other in four. I think this was mostly due to the fact that both of us were standoffish and the others didn't feel comfortable pairing with us.

We were both outsiders.

      As we got to the entrance of the school, I took my spot waiting in the hall before going into the great hall. Draco didn't like to be seen entering at the same time as me. He gave me a barely noticeable nod before continuing on.

      I saw Elnora at our table, making my way over. She had apologized to both me and Draco the day after our disagreement. Minnie, on the other hand, had only apologized to me- after being scolded by Elnora.

      Minnie sat with us, though it wasn't her table. She got some odd looks, but didn't seem to mind. Neither me nor Elnora cared much either. Most days Elnora and her would eat in the court yard and I would eat in the common room- I'd been invited to sit with them, but I'd rather not be a third wheel. But today, the formations of storm clouds began to seep into the horizon- so here we all sat.

"Still hanging out with that Malfoy?" Minnie asked, shoving a chicken wing into her mouth.

"Yes."

"Minnie," Elnora reminded.

"I wasn't gonna say anything bad," She assured, glancing at me, "Clem's smart enough to choose who to hang out with all on her own. But if he-"

"Minnie," Elnora repeated, causing Minnie to sigh in defeat- silencing for a moment.

"If he does anything to hurt her, I'll chop his head off," Minnie rushed before Elnora could stop her again.

      Elnora literally face-palmed, her head in her hands, her shoulders shaking with the tension of trying not to laugh. She looked to me apologetically, but I was smiling. Even I had to admit that it was funny.

      Lunch passed by smoothly after that, each of us returning to our previous schedule. I did have some classes with them, but rarely sat near them.

      As I left the great hall, I accidentally fell into pace with Draco. I began to slow down- to create some distance- but he stopped me.

"Wait, I have something to talk with you about," He whispered, causing me to continue next to him and nod, "We need to get some work done with the stadium, and we don't have that much time left before we need to move on to the next thing. Do you want to meet after school in the hut?"

"Sounds good to me," I responded quietly, keeping an eye out for any unwelcome listeners.

      We approached transfigurations and I fell behind his pace, acting as if nothing had happened. A girl around our age with short black hair joined him as he got farther away, sending me a death glare.

      I furrowed my eyebrows, looking around as if to see if anyone else had just seen that. That look was a problem for two reasons. Firstly, the only people that even knew me and Draco spoke to each other out of class was supposed to be Elnora, Minnie, and Draco's friend Blaise. He wouldn't be happy to know that someone had even noticed my presence around him enough to dislike me. Secondly, though it didn't really bother me, it was annoying to have someone specifically target you. And I could tell that she would.

"Draco," Her voice slithered through the hallway- she was speaking louder than needed- so that I would hear it, "You're nearly late to lunch every day."

"I've already told you Pansy," He growled, nearly looking back to me but stopping himself, "It's none of your business."

"As your-" She started and I raised my eyebrows but was cut off by Mcgonagall.

"Ms. Parkinson," She cleared her throat, "Correct me if I'm wrong, but your class is in the opposite direction, is it not?"

"Yes, Professor," Pansy responded reluctantly after a moment of seething.

"Well then," Mcgonagall pushed on, "What are you waiting for? You're going to be late!"

      Pansy muttered something under her breath, but did as she was told. Draco passed by Mcgonagall- into the classroom- and shut the door. Before I could even take a step forward, she looked at me as well, but with much less distaste, "The same goes for you, Ms. Quillheart."

      After I nodded understandingly, I trotted quickly to her side and walking in as she gestured to the room, shutting the door behind me. The class immediately quieted as Mcgonagall made her way to her desk, then continuing to whisper quietly as she waved them off- busy with something for the moment.

      My body was tense as I sat next to Draco, carefully placing my bag to my left. I peered over to him, watching as he struggled to speed-study for the test. I didn't know how to tell him about the look I had gotten from Pansy. Surely, he'd be angry with me. Or at least, the situation.

      I figured I'd just tell him after the test. He was already stressed. Draco shook his head to himself, as if in deep thought- causing me to huff in amusement. He looked at me out of the side of his eyes, then lifting his head and smiling at me softly, putting his head back down and continuing to study like nothing had happened.

      I blinked in surprise, taking a sharp intake of breath. Sure, Draco had smiled at me before in the past weeks- but it was rare, and it was always deliberate. Something about the fact that he hadn't even thought about it made my heart stutter in confusion. Something about the way he did it. Like it was a casual thing to do.

"Well, shouldn't you be studying as well?"

      His whisper brought me back to my senses. I shook my head dismissively at the thoughts, pulling out my notebook and looking over it worriedly.

      I should be worried about this test. Everyone else was. It was a large grade- and I had completely forgotten about it. I knew basically none of the information I needed to.

      But as my eyes trailed over the neatly written words in my notebook, none of them were being taken in. I was worried, to be sure. But not about the test.

      I was worried about the way my heart was thumping haphazardly within the confinements of my chest.

      As the class began to take their test, I began to worry even more. The class was silent- and I was terrified that my heartbeat was at the forefront of everyone's thoughts. I was also, admittedly, a little scared that something was wrong with me. This had never happened before and I didn't really understand what was going on.

      At first, I thought, maybe a panic attack. I'd had those before. And they didn't really need a reason to happen. But that wasn't it. I could tell. This wasn't like anything I'd felt before.

      As the clock ticked on, I decided that my problems were procrastinatable. My biggest fret right now should be that of the test sitting in front of me that I hadn't even touched.

      The test, as expected, was a total failure. As each minute passed, I could feel my worry turn into self-hatred. The fact that I already had no clue what I was doing paired with my newfound crisis didn't bode well for my grade. A grade that I needed to keep up. As the class packed up, I sat staring at the test.

      The forefront of my mind was now stuck on my ever-dwindling grades. Anger washed over me. Anger at myself. Ms. Hadley had worked really hard to get me here, and I had promised to do well- socially and grade-wise- so as to repay the kindness of the headmaster. My quill nearly broke under the pressure my hand was holding it with.

      I hadn't noticed that the class had cleared out as I glared at my paper. I could hear Mcgonagall clear her throat, as if to signal she needed my parchment, but I barely registered it. There was too much going on in my head. Pansy, and my grades, and most worriedly- my heart beat- which had still not slowed.

      To my surprise, a pale hand reached under my lowered head, easily grabbing the paper and gently taking the quill from my iron grasp. To my surprise, Draco Malfoy had stayed while the rest of the class left. He quickly walked up to the professor, handing her my test and walking back.

"What's got your panties in a wad?" He jeered, but I could feel his genuine worry as he put my things in my bag for me.

      He was not helping my situation currently. I wasn't stupid. I had already begun to understand what was happening. It was something that I didn't want to happen. Something that I swore to myself wouldn't happen.

      But when I looked up to his standing figure, watching as his scowl turned into one of patience as soon as Mcgonagall looked away, I couldn't help but feel something. It was that thing that I tried not to think about. That feeling that had caused me to distance myself from everyone for the past few years.

Hope.

      What a nasty word. Broken expectations. That's all it stood for. Because as soon as I began to feel this certain way when I looked at Draco, pain came alongside it. I didn't know why, of course, but it was as if my body had been submerged in a type of badness that made you think it was good. Like my body was already preparing to get hurt.

       I stood up, trailing after him as he slung my bag over his shoulder alongside his own. We entered the nearly empty hallway, which gave us more leeway to speak freely.

"Seriously, Clementine," He sighed, annoyed, "What's your problem?" He flicked my forehead lightly, "Something weird is always going on up there."

      Even though I wasn't completely sure how to handle my emotions, something in me was screaming that this wasn't something I should be telling Draco. My body was begging me to keep it a secret from him.

"I can't tell you."

"Well, that's helpful, isn't it?" He scoffed, then turned to me seriously, "I'm your partner. I'm supposed to help you, aren't I?"

      His words sent shock through my body. I understood what he meant. We were paired together for preparations. That was it. But for a split second, my brain came up with a completely different reasoning for the use of the word 'partner'.

      I decided that I should at least appease him a little bit. Surely, there was something that I could tell him that was the truth. I knew I couldn't tell him about my heart. I could tell him about Pansy, but he'd know that wasn't the reason for my strange behavior. He knew me better than that.

      My mind wandered to my grades. I could tell him about that. But then he'd want to know the reason that I cared so much. I couldn't exactly say that I needed to stay on the good side of the headmaster because he did me a favor by letting me in his school even though my father was a horrendous wizard hunter.

      I registered just then why I felt so much pain when I thought about the feelings beginning to erupt in my chest. It was because it would never be more than that. It would never be more than quick heart beats and hidden, soft smiles.

      Draco and I would never be able to have more than that- because I couldn't give him more than that. I couldn't give him any semblance of truth. None that mattered anyways. I would always evade his questions, because I didn't want to lie. And I might not be an expert in relationships, but I know that you can't build them on evasion.

I could do nothing with the thumping in my heart. Nothing but ignore it.

"I'm just worrying about things that shouldn't matter."

      I had said too much apparently. Realization dawned on his face at the words. Like he recognized them. Panic drew into my lungs for a moment. I didn't know how he understood what I was feeling with those words, but he seemed to connect to them. His shoulders squared, almost as in defiance to the words.

      He didn't do anything more though. As quickly as I had thought I saw a reaction, he grew complacent again. As if it were all in my head. The panic subsided after a moment more. I needed to calm down- before my nerves got the best of me.

"Ronald, you can't just simply expect to get good grades when you spend your time messing around with your mates rather than studying," I heard a girl's voice nag as three sets of footsteps made their way through the hall.

Draco's whole demeanor changed as the three rounded the corner.

      I recognized two of them, the red head and the one with glasses. Harry and Ron. I had met them my first day here. The third was a pretty girl with wavy brown hair.

      They seemed to stop with their banter as well when they saw Draco. My eyes shifted between Harry and Draco, who were sending daggers at each other with their eyes.

"Alright then," He sighed to me quietly, as if giving up, "I'll see you after school."

      I nodded, holding my hand out for my bag. He looked at my hand and then the bag in deliberation- then looking to the three students staring at us in confusion- shrugging it off his shoulder and placing it in my grasp.

"Thankyou," I remarked, getting a small nod from him as he walked in the opposite direction of the trio.

"What the bloody hell was that all about?" Ron's voice echoed through the halls.

"Did he steal your bag? Was Malfoy bothering you?" Harry asked, causing me to look at him.

      I weighed my options carefully. The three seemed to have personal issues with Draco, more than others anyways, and I didn't know if they would do something stupid like try to avenge me for this perceived slight. But then I thought about telling them that Draco was just being nice to me- a Hufflepuff- and nearly scoffed at the idea. That would make him angrier than anything.

"Only a little," I responded, beginning to walk past them, "Nothing I can't handle."

I nodded at them politely, hearing the girl ask who I was, and then them explaining how we met.

      The rest of the day went rather quickly. Too quickly, for my liking actually. I was nervous to meet Draco. But not for the same reason as I had been when we went to the clocktower. There was something different in my nervousness.

      As I made my way out of the castle, my eyes widened at the down-pour of rain pounding into the ground. I looked around for any sign of Draco, but didn't see any. For a moment, I thought of going back to my common room at the sight of the rolling storm clouds above my head, but thought better of it. I had said I was going to do something, so I was going to do it.

      A big part of me wanted to go due to curiosity alone. Maybe this time with Draco would help me figure out how to feel- or what my heart beating loudly meant. I knew what it could mean, but I wasn't sure. It could've been a fluke.

      My body was tense with every blow of wind as I sprinted down to the stadium, flinching when I thought that thunder was on it's way. I hated thunder. Rather, I was terrified of it.

      I made my way into the hut, dripping from head to toe. Thankfully, it hadn't started thundering on my way down. To my surprise, Draco stood near the fireplace, wearing only his pants and a soaked through black tee-shirt. His robes were drying by the fire. His hair was wet but beginning to dry. He was breathing heavily- much like I was. I assumed he ran here too. He turned to me with almost as much surprise in his eyes.

"What are you looking at?" He teased, causing my eyes to look elsewhere.

"I thought you wouldn't come," I answered, hoping the dim firelight would hide my blush, "Because of the rain."

"As if I'd let something as trifle as rain to keep me from doing what I want," He responded, his eyes flashing to me as water dripped from my body to the floor, my body shivering, "We'd better get you warmed up before you catch a cold."

"I'm okay."

      He stepped closer, causing my body to go rigid. Slowly, he took off my robes- as if not to scare me. My mind went blank. I stared at his back as he walked away, placing my robes next to his- in line with the heat of the fire.

"Why," My voice caught in my throat, "Why are we here again?"

      He stayed silent as he fiddled with the robes, making sure they wouldn't fall off the make-shift rack he had put them on. I could hear the rain pittering on the stone roof. Still no thunder, thankfully. He sat slowly onto the couch, eyeing me.

"Come sit," He ordered, patting the seat next to him.

      I did as he said. Though in any other circumstance, I would feel threatened by this secretive meeting- I felt nothing but comfortable. I felt nervous. But not because I felt unsafe.

      I tried to think of the reasons he could've called me out here.

"If this is about transfigurations," I started, but he shook his head.

"I know when to stop pushing you," He assured, shrugging his shoulders.

"Then, is it about that trio that was walking the halls?"

      His eyes flashed with distaste at the mere mention of them.

"Well, that was rather unfortunate timing," He admitted, curiosity crossing his face, "What did you tell them?"

"I told them that you were picking on me," I answered automatically, furrowing my eyebrows as I thought that would be evident, "But that I could handle it myself."

"Good girl," He praised through a sigh, running his hands through his hair- causing droplets from his hair to hit the couch, "At least I don't have to worry about that then."

      I began to get worried at his words. Was there something else on his mind? Something of import? I leaned forward subconsciously, noticing that he did the same.

"What else is there to worry about?" I asked quietly, "Is something wrong?"

      We were very close now. I could feel my breath hit his face. His usually silver eyes seemed to become darker at the action.

      There was a second of indecision on his face, before it was soothed as I breathed out again. He seemed to be distracted from the conversation, though I had no room to talk.

"Nothing," He muttered, his eyes twitching to my lips.

      We were getting caught up in the mood. I knew that much. We were both soaked, and it was raining, and we were sat next to a fire. Through all the books I had read, I knew that these feelings- these needs we were dancing around- were just a product of the atmosphere.

      But still, neither of us seemed to care.

"Nothing's wrong," He continued and leaned in and I did too. 

      Our lips almost met when- suddenly, a flash- and then a thunderous boom. I flinched back, my body beginning to shake. His eyes flashed anger, then hurt, but finally concern as he watched me tremble.

      Another boom and I could hear my teeth chattering from fear rather than the cold.

"What's wrong?" He questioned worriedly.

"Thunder," Was the only word I could choke out.

"You're scared of thunder?" I could tell that if it were under different circumstances, his tone would be much more teasing than it was now.

      I nodded, covering my ears when another lightning bolt hit the ground. I knew what would come after it. And it did, but much less loud.

      I uncovered my ears, flinching slightly at the next boom. My attention was turned to Draco, who was putting his wand away.

"What did you do?"

"Silencio," Draco answered, "It's supposed to be for just living things, but I altered it to surround us. It's not perfect, but it's better, right?"

"You're," I flinched again as another boom sounded quietly in the distance. It was bearable now, "You're amazing."

      Draco's face lit up at the compliment- if only for a millisecond. His cocky grin returned as he sat back down, "I know."

      For the next few hours, we sat on the couch- closely but not touching- and talked about different nothings. Things that didn't matter. Draco didn't ask why I was afraid of thunder, but he made sure that I wasn't terrified as the night went on.

      He stayed with me without complaints, knowing that there was no way that I could make my way through the storm back to the castle. This little hut was a safe getaway from the turbulent happenings of the outside world.

      We shared an awkward but gentle goodbye as the storm subsided. After walking me to my common room- no one was out to see us- he made his way to his side of the dungeon- to the slytherin common room.

      I had gone to the hut to help myself figure out my feelings- but if anything, I felt more confused than before. That was almost a kiss. I could tell that much. But was it because he had feelings, or because of the setting? And if it was because of his feelings, would that make any difference in the grand scheme of things?

      I took a shower and then headed to my dorm room. As I tucked myself into bed, Elnora sat up and looked at me incredulously.

"Where were you?" She asked kindly, "I was getting worried."

"Sorry," I apologized, "I was just trying to figure something out."

"And did you?"

"Not at all."

      I smiled softly, hiding my face in my covers.