Chapter 3
The first week of university went by quickly. Draco had three classes a day, and none on Wednesdays, but he still went to campus and sat in the library. Sometimes reading but mostly trying to find Granger.
He hadn’t seen her since the first day in the welcome center. They unfortunately had no classes together, which was slightly odd because she was in the welcome center so she’s obviously a first-year student too. He was taking general courses and in all his classes he saw familiar faces he recognized from scanning the crowd during orientation. He thought they’d have at least one class together through the week, but that wasn’t his luck.
He began to frequent the library more and more because that’s where he first saw her, and judging by the number of books she was carrying she liked to read. He started to come to campus before classes and stayed after. He felt like he was going mad with each passing day he didn’t see her.
The first weekend he spent all day in his room. He felt homesick, at home. He had a constant sharp pain in his gums, and an ache in his shoulder blades. His skin was faintly burning and tingling just about everywhere, and he had constant goosebumps that wouldn’t go away no matter how much he turned up the heat.
Monday's sky finally started to gain purple hues signaling the rise of the sun. Draco jumped out of bed and quickly got ready for the day and apparated into a small cove of trees in the quad closest to the library. On Friday he put up a notice-me-not charm on the area so he could walk out unnoticed if anyone was ever nearby.
He briskly walked into the library and found it unstaffed at the front desk. The library was open all night for studying, but the section they kept the books in was locked behind a sliding metal gate that stretched from ceiling to floor. If they didn’t check out the books they needed before the librarian left for the night, it was a sure way to ruin an all-night study session.
The only open area on the ground floor was the front entrance with the welcome desk, bathrooms, and staircase leading up. The second floor was all desks and computers. The third and final floor had more books, but like the ground floor it was blocked off with another gate.
Draco took the steps two at a time and as soon as he stepped off the stairs and into the open room, all the odd and uncomfortable sensations he’d been feeling faded away. Her scent filled his nostrils and pulled him forward and right to her desk. He quickly summoned the books he forgot to bring and cleared his throat. She let out a gasp and looked up at him with wide eyes that made something primal inside him lurch, and he instantly put his hand in his pocket to adjust his trousers.
“Oh, it’s just you. You gave me a fright!” She said with a hand clutched over her heart, and she lowered her head closer towards the table breathing heavily.
He shouldn’t be able to hear her huffing breath from where he was standing, but it seemed something about her heightened all of his senses.
“Just me? I thought I made a good impression the other day, but I suppose not.” Draco joked and gestured to the empty seat across from her. She nodded and he took the seat a bit too quickly.
“I just meant- I thought you were- never mind. I just wasn’t expecting anyone else to be here this early.”
“I like the quiet.”
“It’s a library. It’s always quiet here.” Granger said through a laugh, then looked back down at the notebook and textbook she had in front of her.
Draco let the silence fall over them and he opened the first thing on his stack of books. Don’t ask what it was, because his eyes never once grazed the page. They stayed glued on Granger with the help of a little charm that Blaise made in third year that redirected the gaze of eyes to any onlookers.
She was wearing an oversized, deep purple sweater and black tights that clung to her body so perfectly he felt the urge to make a Cosmocracy and ban them, except for when they were alone. Her hair was a frizzy mess that sat lopsided on top of her head, and she had dark circles under her eyes.
Draco didn’t like that. Was she tired? Not feeling well? Studying too hard? An anger cloud began to loom over him, and he shot up to his feet.
“You’re leaving already?” She asked, meeting his eyes with an almost worried expression.
“Just to get breakfast. What would you like?”
“Me? Oh- that’s alright. Thank you for offering but I’ll just get coffee before class.”
“That’s two hours away, and not breakfast. Come on, it’s a gift for letting me take up precious table space away from all your books.” They both looked down at the table and saw the entire surface littered with open books, notepads and a small patch of visible desk across the table where Draco settled.
“I’ll take a blueberry muffin then. And a coffee please, two creamers.”
“As the lady wishes.” Draco turned and hurried out of the library, giddy with excitement to feed her. He practically jogged to his magically hidden patch of trees and apparated to his favorite coffee shop in France.
He returned to the library with a box of six different pastries, a drink carrier containing a cup of coffee with two creamers, and a cup of tea for himself.
Draco cleared his throat and extended his arm towards her, offering the coffee. She took a moment to finish writing a sentence, then took the warm cup with a grateful smile that grew after she took a long sip. Her eyes were full of joy when she looked up at him.
“This is really good, where’d you go?”
He realized at that moment he forgot to alter the logo on the cups and box. Currently they read Le Sesame, which was almost spilled past his lips. He took a sip of his tea, and also nonverbally changed the logos quickly before answering.
“Gatineau.”
“Seriously?” She checked the logo and made a surprised humming noise. “I guess they changed their recipe, I just got coffee there last night and it tasted almost like coffee, but this is really good!”
“I’m glad you like it; I had to threaten them to make a decent cup. Took three tries.”
She stared at him curiously for a moment, then burst out in laughter.
“I’ve never thought of that before! If you see me in there this evening with a baseball bat, you know I’ll be leaving with the goods.” A couple more giggles escaped her as she tried to refocus back on the books in front of her.
Draco was smiling like a fool, or maybe a psychopath to any onlookers because he was just gazing at her with a huge smile while she was blissfully unaware, scanning the textbook.
A few silent moments passed, then an alarm rang out and filled the room. Draco looked around for any signs of distress, but all he saw was Granger rifling through her bag that hung on the back of her chair. She pulled an illuminating block out and silenced the noise.
“I'm really sorry, but I have to go. I promised to give my roommate a ride to hockey practice.” She huffed as she gathered her books, putting them away.
Roommate? So, she’s staying in a dorm then. And hockey? Do women even play hockey? Draco considered the possibility this was just a quick excuse for her to escape his presence.
She stood and collected her bag, still holding the rectangle block that fit snugly in her hand.
Her other hand reached into the front pocket of her bag, and she retrieved a set of keys. He noted five of them and wondered what they were all for.
“Here, take my number.” She grabbed his arm before he could get a sound out and began scribbling a series of numbers on his inner wrist. Draco counted ten digits when she capped the pen.
“What's this?” He asked, pure confusion in his eyes. There was no street name and too many numbers for it to be an address.
“So, you can text me. I don't sleep as much as I should, so you can message me whenever, if you want. But I really have to go, thanks again for breakfast!” she called over her shoulder as she hurried down the stairs, out of sight.
The box of pastries sat unopened on the table. Draco could still hear her light footsteps bounding down the stairs.
He grabbed the box and darted down the stairs, somehow making it to the door before her. He stood in front of the door like a creep, one hand holding the box and the other brushing through his hair.
She didn’t leave yet, did she? No. He would’ve heard the door.
He was about to start pacing when she walked out of the hallway leading to the bathrooms. Her eyebrows pinched together ever so slightly when she saw him, then she smiled.
“Planning to follow me home and murder me or something?” She said seriously as she got closer to him, and the door he was blocking.
“What?! Of course not! Why would— That’s not—?” Draco sputtered for words, jostling the box of pastries as he expressed his shock with his hands. “I’d never do that!” His brain finally spit out.
“Okay, good. Just checking. I had a moment of clarity in the restroom and realized I could’ve just given my number to a lunatic or something. Not that you seem the type! You seem great—that’s why I had to check. And I’m rambling, and now late! That’s great.” She huffed and side stepped him, shaking her head and pushing on the glass door.
“Woah, slow down Dr. Suess. I wanted you to take these with you.” He said, following her out the door and thrusting the box towards her.
She reached for it, then hesitated, “The whole box? Don’t you want one?”
He shook his head, patting his stomach.
“I had a big breakfast before I left home.” He lied, wanting her to enjoy the sweet treats.
“Okay,” she took the box. “Thank you, that’s so sweet.” She started walking away but called something over her shoulder.
“Text me!” She shouted.
He looked back down at his arm. Text her? What the bloody hell did that mean, and how was he supposed to do that with these numbers? Maybe it was a strange muggle code or something, like that morsel code he learned in muggle studies, or something like that.
He needed to consult Blaise. He knew more about muggle things than Draco, his home being littered with it for its supposed ‘functionality’. Draco didn’t believe it and refused to give any of Blaise’s muggle toys a try or listen to him rant and rave about them.
He checked the library and made sure it was clear, then he apparated to Blaise’s house. Somehow, he missed a set of eyes between the stack of books watching him intently.
Blaise was in bed. Peacefully sleeping next to his wife.
Draco violently shook his friend until he was pushed away.
“Boundaries. We might need to set some up.” Blaise murmured sleepily as he cracked his eyes open. “What are you doing here? It's like, very early.”
“I'm aware. I need help, do you know what these numbers mean? Is it like that muggle morsel code we learned about?” Draco shoved his arm towards his friend, who couldn't see anything in the dark.
“Can I sit up and get a cup of tea before you start confusing me to death? Let's go to the kitchen before we wake Daphne. She hasn't been sleeping well.”
“I’m already up. Little bean is working out.” She groaned and rolled over, hugging her oversized pillow Blaise got for her. Blaise leaned over and kissed his wife, then got out of bed and slipped on his robe. He ignored Draco’s impatient tapping of his foot and asked his wife if she wanted tea. She nodded.
They went to the kitchen and Blaise ignored Draco’s questions until after his wife had a steaming cup of tea on her bedside table.
He joined Draco at the table, took a sip of tea, and looked at his friend.
“Alright. What have you been going on about? Some code or something?”
“Yes. Look at this, do you have any idea what it is? She said I could use this to message her, I have to decode it first so I can send her a message back.” He thrust his arm in his friend's face.
Blaise stared at Draco for a long moment. Took a sip of tea. Stared.
“It’s a fucking phone number, you dolt.”
“What?”
“The black box you see me talking through in my office, that's a phone. An older, more outdated version of one. I’ve only explained this a hundred times?” Draco’s blank face must’ve shown he wasn't following along. He never paid attention to Blaise’s muggle lessons; he just didn't really care before.
“Each phone is connected to a specific number. A ‘Phone number.’ That's what she gave you. I can't believe I'm explaining this again.”
“So, it’s not morsel code?”
“No. Why do you keep saying that? First of all, it’s called Morse code. Second, that code is made up entirely of dots and dashes.”
“She wants me to call her?” Draco asked, ignoring his friend's muggle lesson. He had butterflies of excitement and nerves fluttering around in his stomach.
“Well, you said a message, so she probably wants to text. Most muggles do that nowadays.”
“I don't understand. You can send letters through your phone?”
“What? No. Like I said, I have an outdated phone. Only calls. And not letters, well it kind of is— Fucking hell, let's just go. I don't know how to explain it.” Blaise finished his cup of tea and left Draco alone at the table to ponder phone numbers and letters through boxes.
***
Draco started punching the number on his arm in the safari app, and Blaise snatched it away from him.
“No. We need to practice first, hone your muggle skills. She’ll know something is off if you can't work this thing,” He waved the cellphone the nice muggle man at the store called it, “They live by these things. We need to call in the real experts.” Blaise typed two numbers into Draco's phone, then his own.
It was the blind leading the blind at the kitchen table, and Daphne could not stop laughing. Blaise knew very little about this cellphone but was able to navigate the applications at least. He found it was rather straightforward once he knew to touch the picture he’d like to use.
Draco might be a lost cause.
***
An hour later, Draco had a wicked grin of success smeared on his face. He looked too smug.
Blaise snatched the device from him. The notes app was open, one note made less than a minute ago. He clicked it.
Pansy’s name sat on the top line.
The line below was a simple message: ‘Hello from Draco’.
Blaise was simply shocked for a moment, then broke out in laughter. His friend hadn’t a damn clue in the world.
“Mate, this is the bloody notes app. You’d be waiting forever for a response. Come here, look.”
He tapped the green message picture, and it showed an empty list. He showed Draco how to start a new conversation by searching for Pansy’s name. Then he passed it back to Draco.
“Tap there to type something, then just touch the letters you want to use. It’s really not that hard. This one here is to send.” Blaise walked off to help Daphne.
“How do I get a question mark?” Draco asked.
“Why, what did she say?” Blaise walked back into the room and looked over Draco’s shoulder. While laughing, he showed him the ropes of the keyboard a bit more. Blaise figured this all out by touching random icons on the screen, and wasn’t sure why Draco couldn’t do the same.
