Hope Starts Broken Hearts

Draco Malfoy was standing alone.

It was an odd sight, of course. The malicious Slytherin was hardly ever recognized without another snake on his tail. His gray eyes were perplexed, bouncing between the three rows of cauldrons before him that magically brewed a different substance in each. Quite amusing, seeing how vulnerable he looked by himself. With no one around to pass a snide remark to, he was just another Hogwarts student, not the arrogant bad boy many girls fawned over, or the insensitive git the rest of the school disliked.

“Belle,” a deep voice called me from the side, immediately pulling my attention away from the boy. I looked over at Aspen and Heidi as they made their way towards the door—the stone cups in their hands already full—but they glanced at me for a second before exiting. “We’ll meet you and Clyde outside, alright?” Aspen assured.

Before I could even open my mouth to reply, I heard a swift, "I'm done!" as Clyde zoomed passed me. However, he stopped in his tracks as the other two exited and turned around to me, smiling sincerely. “We’ll save a spot for you, okay?”

“Yeah, thanks,” I smiled back at him, quickly reaching over the to grab a cup on top of the foot-high stack. “Same table as usual, right?”

“Yep, same table,” Clyde grinned enthusiastically, but I noticed it quickly drop when he gazed passed my shoulder.

“What?” I wondered, turning on my heel to see what—or better yet, who he was frowning so uncomfortably at.

Clyde stopped me from making a full turn around. “Heads up,” he stated, tightening his grip on my arm as he pulled me closer towards him. “Knock over his custard for me, will ya?” Clyde winked a mischievous hazel eye, and then with a single wave of his arm, he let me go and scurried towards the exit to catch up with Aspen and Heidi.

Once he was out of sight, I turned my head to sneak a glance behind me and get a good look at whom Clyde had been referencing. When I did, I found myself staring at the same familiar gray eyes, a cunning, pale face topped with platinum blonde hair, and a tall, lean body cloaked in a green and black Slytherin robe.

Of course, it was none other than the infamous Draco Malfoy, who's presence I had already noticed the second I entered the store. However, now, he was in a casual conversation with Blaise Zabini who happened to be walking by. I forced my gaze away from the pair before they realized I was staring and moved my feet in their direction.

Keeping my eyes low, I scanned over the cauldrons. I minded my own business as best I could, despite the fact that the two were only a couple feet away. Grazing idly over the fifteen flavors for a few seconds, I decided to fill my cup with Peppermint Tart, and as if it were an everyday process, I slipped my cup under the thin nozzle at the bottom of the cauldron. A creamy substance began to flow out and fill my cup without physical intervention at all; like magic.

During this time, as the surface of the custard grew closer to the fill line, my eyes were glued to the boy beside me. He gave a stout laugh at something Blaise had spoken and carried on the conversation. I never had a problem with Draco, and surprising as it was, he didn’t have a problem with me. The two of us had been in the same house since first year, but we’ve ignored each other up until now.

Clyde, on the other hand, didn’t get along with the Malfoy too well. One reason is that he’s a Gryffindor who happens to surround himself with a bunch of Slytherins. Aspen and I, for example, who happen to be his closest friends.

Another reason is that he’s dating Heidi, a Ravenclaw, who is one of the few girls that Draco’s dumped in the past. Back in the middle of third year, (fourth year for Heidi and Clyde, because they were both a year older than us) Draco ended their relationship, and Heidi was completely heartbroken. That was when she met Chris, who happened to be there for her, and after three months of reassurance and company, the two of them eventually got together. We're in the middle of our fourth year now (their fifth year, of course) and I guess you could say they're still going strong.

Although, it wasn't a big secret to anyone that Heidi still had a thing for the younger Malfoy.

But besides that little soap opera, I'm in a new store called Tricks and Treats that just opened in Diagon Alley a few months ago. It was quite popular, especially with the wizards and witches at Hogwarts who fell in love with the place like Clyde, Aspen and I did. We'd be here every chance that we could, and because there were no classes today, we rushed over as soon as we all woke up that morning. The staff at Hogwarts even allowed the students to pay a visit to Diagon Alley on the weekends, most likely for this purpose. It wasn’t a rare thing for my friends and I to catch Professor McGonagall, Sprout or Flitwick here sometimes; they enjoyed the place as much as the students. And don't even get me started on Hagrid. The big oaf was never not here.

When Blaise made his way to the exit, I snuck yet another glance over at the boy a few feet away from me who just stopped filling his cup with Muddy Vanilla. Malfoy has always been a bit good looking to me, I'll admit. He was the first boy to catch my eye on that dreadful first day of Hogwarts, but I never felt the need to bring up a conversation with him.

Although, it could be because he was good looking that he caught my eye, or because he began to cheer triumphantly the second the sorting hat on my head placed me in his house. Draco had this endearing smirk on his face as he watched me strut down the Great Hall and take a seat at the end of the Slytherin Table, and to this day, I’ve never questioned him why as to why he looked so smug about it that day when I've never spoken a word to the boy beforehand.

But with that said, I still have no reason at all to decide whether I liked or disliked him.

Right when that thought raced through my mind, Draco’s cold orbs shifted to the corner of his eye, catching my thoughtful gaze. A slight blush flooded my face as I quickly looked away. So much keeping it low-key, he must have knew I was watching him. But he didn’t say anything after that and proceeded on to the fillings counter, and I let him go on ahead before grudgingly following behind him.

In Tricks and Treats, you begin by grabbing a cup and filling it with one of the fifteen flavors of custard. Secondly, you go over to the table where there was a variety of different treats (although, some are rather disturbing, hence the name 'TRICKS and Treats’) and fill your custard with however much to your heart's content. Then you simply weigh your creation, pay and enjoy.

As usual, I immediately skipped a few tables and went over to the one titled, "Treats from Magical Creatures" (which had the best tasting fillings, in my opinion. Who needs Muggle stuff when you've got Magical stuff?) I started off by pouring some Cockatrice Yolk (which added a slightly sour flavor to the custard) and then dropped in a few Fried Flobberworms (which were actually quite healthy, Hagrid once taught us.) I poured some Mooncalf Milk to make it a little less creamy, and added in a few drops of Pixie Spit just to spice up the flavor a bit. To finish it off, I added what I usually put whenever I'd come here, which consisted of Steamed Kneazle Claws, Imp Essence and Diricawl Dust.

Nasty as it sounds, it smelled absolutely delicious. I smiled to myself, quite proud of my preferences, and began to make my way over to the register.

“What the bloody hell is that?” Draco suddenly asked, and I froze for a second. But then I realized that the question was directed to no one in particular—probably to himself. No one else was in line except a small group of girls who had just began filling their cups back at the cauldrons.

It was at the end of the toppings table (toppings were choices that sat at the surface, of course, while fillings were stuff that sunk to the bottom) and I watched as Draco started poking one of them with a spoon, his handsome face screwed up in absolute repugnance. As I craned my head over to look, the mossy green substance was clearly repulsive. Slimy, sticky and speckled with black spots all over, the concoction was thick enough to jiggle slightly with each poke. It had no name tag, so naturally a lot ran through my mind as I attempted to figure out what it was.

“Ew, stop that,” I told him as he continued to move it around it’s tray. The sight made me cringe. “What d'you suppose it is?” I actually mumbled, not directing the question to the Slytherin boy, who seemed to think otherwise.

“Disgusting looking,” he commented straightforwardly, dropping the serving spoon, which clanked loudly against the metal trays.

Whatever it was, it was new, I thought. I’ve been here plenty of times in the past few months to distinguish the different fillings and toppings, and I’ve never seen that stuff before.

“No one in their right mind would top their custard with this crud,” I said and walked passed Draco to pay.

“Try it,” he suggested behind me.

As I set my cup down on the counter, I looked at him as if he were insane.

“Really?” I asked, but he was smirking; no doubt it wasn’t a joke. I then scoffed to myself and said, “You’re crazy.”

He had a devious smile on as he muttered, “but I’m rather curious now.”

“Then you try it,” I shot back instantly.

He rolled his eyes and started walking away. My stomach lurched painfully, signaling that I didn’t want him to leave like that. This was probably the longest conversation I’ve had with Draco Malfoy, and I definitely didn't want his first impression of me to end negatively. “I’ll get some if you get some,” I spoke up, and then instantly regretted it. The boy turned around and look quite pleased.

“Fine,” he said under his breath, then almost excitedly, he picked up a spoonful of the green topping and placed some of it inside my cup.

I stared with a disgusted expression as he piled a bit into his cup as well, and then set his cup down beside mine at the counter. The green substance didn’t drown into the custard, but instead, rested on top of it. It only added to our curiosity, and to our disgust. I don’t even know what I was thinking when I agreed to sample it, because all I felt was a surge of regret and a sick feeling in my stomach.

The witch at the register’s eyes brightened when she looked at what we topped our custard with. “Ah,” she chimed happily, clapping her hands together. “Finally someone's puckered up enough courage to give our newest ingredient a shot!”

I pursed my lips at her excitement and asked, "What is it, exactly? It hasn't got a name tag out yet."

"Oh, I'd almost forgotten to put that out, thank you," she said, reaching under the desk. "Freshly brewed for the first time this morning. I find it quite delectable, that one." I looked up to the boy beside me for a quick second—he looked oddly intrigued, rather than impatient—before the woman pulled her head out from behind the counter. "Here you are, could you put that tag under it?"

Draco immediately took the small card and held it in plain sight for the both of us.

'Jobberknoll Regurgitation,' it read.

Draco and I immediately shot a look at each other, and the entire world seemed to stop at our command.

Disposal bin. The thought seemed to click in our minds at the exact same time, and merely half a second later, we were instantaneously scraping the crud out of our cups into the trashcan on the side, pushing and shoving as we fought each other out of the way to clean it out first.

“Ew, ew, ewwwww!” I slurred frantically, trying to get every bit into the trash.

“Marvelous suggestion, genius!” Draco shot back.

I glared daggers at him and shoved him to the side. "It was your suggestion to try it!"

"Bloody disgusting," he murmured and gave up on fighting back. Instead he pressed, rather than shoved, his side against mine and we finally cooperated in sharing the small disposal bin. "Besides—it was your suggestion that we both try it." A snicker escaped. He almost sounded amused.

I didn't try for a comeback. I scraped the remaining bits from the corner of my cup and tried not to think about how close he was to me.

The woman behind the counter was frowning at the two of us. “It’s actually pleasant tasting, if you'd only give it a try.”

"Regurgitation?" Malfoy spat in her direction. "You'd be mental to try that!"

She rolled her eyes at him and then, rather rudely, snatched the cup out of my hands when I was done. “D'you want it blended?” she asked me, and any hint of friendliness was gone from her tone in an instant.

“No,” I said, still slightly dazed.

Her glance shifted over to Draco, who was almost invisible of any sign of trauma now, and he shook his head. She then placed my cup on the scale, and I waited until the price lit up under it.

I reached into my bag to pull out my wallet and began picking at a few silver sickles.

“Ring ours up together,” Draco told her, and when I dug my head out of my bag, I watched in astonishment as Draco handed the lady two gold galleons. "And keep the change." When she took the money, she looked just as shocked as I did. When I placed my wallet back into my bag, I looked up to see Draco handing me my cup.

I took it, but I was completely, utterly speechless. I wasn’t even able to mutter a small ‘thanks’ under my breath for all that ran through my mind was absolute madness.

Draco Malfoy just paid for me.

Draco Malfoy bought something for someone else.

Draco Malfoy actually bothered to pull out some money and exchange it for something that's not even for him.

No matter how you say it, it's always going to sound wrong... Has the world come to an end?

"Bird vomit, eh?" he chuckled lightly.

It felt as if my stomach dropped to my toes, right then and there. He probably had the cutest laugh in history.

That's when I realized that Draco was still talking to me, so I quickly asked, "No one should even be touching that,” just to make him think I wasn’t ignoring him, "let alone eating it."

He laughed again, and I felt like fainting. I looked the other direction to hide my reddened cheeks.

That's when I noticed a few Gryffindor and Hufflepuff girls in line behind us, staring at me with widened eyes. The little group was even passing whispered comments to one another, and I didn't even have to think twice about what it was about. Even the lady at the register looked like she had just seen a ghost.

I don't blame them at all, though. Not only did Draco Malfoy just pay for me, but he's talking to me. He’s talking to me, unlike the crowd of girls who attempt to hold a conversation with him but are strongly shot down.

And then there's the fact that Draco’s probably one of the meanest boys at Hogwarts, but he did something that would be considered impossible for someone with his complex. Even someone like me who hardly talks to him knows that he wouldn’t EVER do something even slightly nice, but who knows. All I’m doing is being judgmental, because I’ve never really gotten to know Draco Malfoy.

My second theory was that he was in a hurry or something (despite the fact that he was taking his time choosing his fillings) and I was taking too long to get my money out.

I figured it had to be my second guess, that he was somewhat in a hurry. That theory failed miserably when Draco didn't run off somewhere, and instead, stood there in front of me.

“Mirabelle Crowe, right?” his voice snapped me back into reality.

He knows my name. How in bloody hell does he know my name?

I pulled myself out of my shocked expression and looked up at his tall figure. He had to be at least a foot taller than me, immediately striking me intimidated.

“Belle,” I muttered. "Or Mira." No one I knew called me by my whole name these days, except for a few teachers and people who hardly know me.

“Well Belle—or Mira,” he shot me a devilish smile. If he was trying to be cute, he was certainly succeeding. "Come sit with me."

I was officially at the conclusion that the world really was, in fact, ending.