The Invitation
When the next day finally came, Draco was too stressed out to enjoy the long-awaited weekend. This time, his worries weren’t about not making himself look like a fool in front of Maeve. Instead, he had to deal with his father. Draco’s parents had sent him a short and rather crass letter once more at dinner that demanded his presence at home for the next weekend. They even got approval from Snape to let Draco go off the premises, which was attached to the letter. Draco’s mind was reeling from the implications of this letter. He couldn’t imagine he had gotten in that much trouble, but he figured that Snape blew the situation out of proportion to his parents and that Draco was going to have to have a long conversation with his father about the “changes in his behavior.” While complaining about it to his friends after dinner, he found out that Crabbe and Goyle were also summoned home by their parents, which was probably just a coincidence. They had also gotten in trouble earlier that week in Herbology that ended up in broken pots and scratches all over the two of them.
Pansy offered Draco a distraction when she dragged him aside as he was about to go to bed to berate him about his trip to Hogsmeade with Maeve. She told him that Maeve had been going on and on about their trip and worried that he was going to misconstrue the idea as a date because Maeve didn’t think that Draco liked her very much. The idea that she was gushing to Pansy made Draco’s heart flutter. He had asked Pansy rather stupidly if Maeve had a crush on him, making his friend burst out in laughter about how innocent he was. Draco was unsatisfied with her answer, but Pansy suggested that he take Maeve out for dinner. Draco waved her off, unable to comprehend how bad of an idea that would be. Draco thanked her for confusing him further and retired to bed without thinking about it again. He had enough to worry about and reread his father’s previous letters until he fell into a thankfully dreamless sleep.
At breakfast, Nott also received a letter from his father about coming home for next weekend and Dumbledore announced that Snape was going to be temporarily out of his office for Ministry matters starting next Monday, so Potions class was cancelled for the next week. Unfortunately, Snape stood up almost immediately after this announcement and silenced the cheering crowd by saying he still expected twelve inches to be written of the potions they were supposed to be going over next week. Draco started to assume that a meeting of some sort was being set up by his father, especially since so many of his housemates were being called home and now Snape would be out for the next week.
“I wonder what the whole Snape thing is about. He doesn’t strike me as someone who enjoys the inner workings of magical government,” Maeve spoke loudly over the sound of her bubbling cauldron, attempting to get Draco’s attention during Potions class. He was so distracted during class that while he was crushing a beetle, his hand slipped and sent the bug flying into Maeve’s hair, which was on its second day of being out of her signature twist.
“Hm? Oh, yeah. I think the Ministry is in some tizzy over the Tournament,” Draco shrugged, stirring mindlessly. Maeve grabbed Draco’s arm, making her look at him. She had a quizzical look on her face, with her head tilted.
“Tizzy?” Maeve asked with raised eyebrows. Draco shook her off of his arm, going back for the final ingredient of his potion. “Are you alright, Draco? You look tired. Did you forget to eat this morning?”
“Does it matter?” Draco snapped accidentally. He wasn’t used to someone so worried about his wellbeing and asking him about it constantly. Draco wasn’t sure if he liked the gesture yet and thought of it as a little claustrophobic.
“Hey, I’m just asking so I don’t have to carry you out of class again,” Maeve said lightly, earning a humored puff from Draco.
“It’s been a rough week for me,” Draco said offhandedly, sitting back in his seat to wait for his potion to come back up to a boil.
“Turning into a ferret will do that to you,” Maeve giggled, finishing her assignment as well.
“Don’t remind me,” Draco rolled his eyes, rubbing his temples as if he was trying to erase the memory.
“You’re lucky I like ferrets. I think they’re cute,” Maeve said without looking at Draco. He turned to face her to pin her expression, but Snape walked over to the two and dismissed them for successfully completing their potions.
“I have a test in History of Magic, so I’ll see you tonight after dinner in the clocktower courtyard?” Maeve threw her bookbag over her shoulder, waiting for Draco to pack up his belongings. From the table across from them, Nott looked up at the two with a clearly frustrated look. Draco turned his back on the boy to face Maeve, ignoring Nott.
“What about dinner in Hogsmeade?” Draco spoke quickly, immediately regretting his offer. Pansy couldn’t have been further from the truth. Nott’s frustrated look in class gave Draco a boost of confidence, but it evaporated with Maeve’s shocked look. The same look she gave him while she was holding him up in his ferret form. His words almost made Maeve trip going up the stairs since she whipped her head around in surprise and Draco felt his heart leap to his throat as he figured out how to go back on his words.
“Just us?” Maeve stuttered, turning Draco’s face hot. The scene from yesterday’s DADA class replayed in his head and he figured he had a way out from this failed attempt.
“No! You can invite Pansy or something. I, er, I wanted to apologize for yesterday. Breaking your hairpin and all. Don’t get it twisted,” Draco mumbled, fidgeting with his ring instead of making eye contact. He only looked up when Maeve laughed, which turned his face redder.
“Pansy has some sort of club meeting tonight. I’m fine with just the two of us,” Maeve said rather quickly, running her fingers on the straps of her bookbag nervously. Draco felt lame standing in the middle of the Central Hall alone with her, feeling much too exposed for his own liking. Draco was at a loss for words but wanted to sever the awkward tension that was starting to build between the two of them. He wanted to just confess that he had been pining after her since first year, have her reject him, and get the whole ordeal over with. Maeve just looked at him for an answer.
“Sure,” Draco managed to say, which obviously didn’t please Maeve. However, she didn’t let on any more about her emotions and shrugged happily.
“Alright then,” Maeve offered Draco a smile. “I’ve got to get to class. I’ll see you at the entrance tonight?”
Draco simply nodded before heading off into the opposite direction as her, which was unfortunate since his class was actually in the same direction. Too embarrassed to turn around, Draco continued walking and ended up late for his next class.