Deception

Amara sat by herself in the common room. Her dark hair was pulled back in a knot. A small furrow of the brow and the overall frustrated look on her face told everyone to stay away.

Not that many people would bother her anyways.

With a quill in one hand and a pile of parchment in the other, she set to work on what she just might write to Jonathan. She hated that she had to constantly keep him in the loop and she had no idea what to tell him. It was only the first day, and she more or less failed at getting Malfoy to fall for her.

Sighing loudly, she dropped her quill on the table and glared at the scattered parchment.

She knew that this letter was the first of many over the course of the school year.

She glanced over her shoulder, making sure nobody was paying attention to her or what she wrote. She would rather write somewhere a bit more private. Her dormitories, however, would be a bad idea with Parkinson always snooping around. And it was almost curfew, certainly not enough time to head to the library.

Not that curfew really mattered. She knew she could go about unnoticed. But she wasn’t going to risk it.

Frowning, Amara began her letter.



J,

I have hit a small snag with him. Don’t worry, I’ll get it under control. Our new Professor may pose a problem, however. She seems like trouble, but she’s teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts, so she’ll be taken care of soon enough. Look at that, I don’t even have to lift a finger.
I’ll update you soon.

She knew it was vague and went completely off topic. Jonathan would not care about the new professor unless she somehow began to be a threat to their plan. He’d be angry that she didn’t talk about Malfoy more. He would pick up on the fact that she was already failing.

The only thing he’d be happy about is that she was careful not to name any names. It was something they did encase the letter somehow fell in the wrong hands.

“What have we here?”

Amara jumped, throwing blank pieces of parchment over her letter. She turned to glare at Malfoy.

“You know, spying is not attractive.” She said through clenched teeth.

Malfoy smirked, enjoying that he had rattled her. “I wasn’t spying.”

“Sure,” Amara said as he plopped down in the chair next to her.

He reached for the pile of parchment, but decided not to when he noted her glare. He smirked and sat back in the seat lazily. “What are you still doing up?”

“Now that, Mr. Malfoy, is none of your business.” Amara said grinning as she grabbed her papers and quickly shoved them into her schoolbag. She glanced at Draco who had simply raised a brow and watched her with curiosity.

Amara sighed, tucking a strand that had fallen from it’s bun. “If you must know…I was writing a letter to my father.”

The smirk on Malfoy’s face made the wheels in Amara’s head turn as a sudden realization came to her. He was glad she told him because he had the power over her. Because he made her tell him. Because she did what he wanted.

The realization, though so obvious and simple, was that Draco liked to be in change. And perhaps this was why she seemed to not be getting anywhere with the blond haired boy. Because they were butting heads.

Because they were both trying to have power over the other.

Perhaps the answer to her problem was simply to let Draco think he was in charge.

Amara frowned as Draco reached for her quill that was still lying on the table. She slapped his hand, and he frowned.

She needed to be interesting, yet maybe she was being a bit too bold. She though it would make him notice her but maybe it doing the opposite.

The answer to this problem was that she needed to be like those other girls who seem to hang on to his every word, all the while standing out from the crowd of those girls.

It seemed to work for Parkinson, so it was sure to work for her.

“You know,” Amara said, placing her hand on his hand that she had just slapped away. She gave him a shy smile. “You’re quite intimidating.”

Malfoy smirked. “So I’ve been told.”

Amara bit her bottom lip and shifted in her seat. “I’m sorry if I was a bit too forward with you earlier. I just wanted you to notice me.”

Draco seemed to be stumped by that and not quite sure how to answer it. He shifted awkwardly in his seat before cracking a grin. “So does everyone else.”

“Ha, ha.” Amara said, rolling her eyes. “So funny.”

“I thought so.” He replied.

Amara snorted her face flushing as Draco laughed at her. She buried her face in her hands as wished the blush away.

She peeked between her fingers, a small smile spreading across her face. “Don’t laugh. I’m sure you’ve done plenty of embarrassing things in front of people.”

“No,” he said, seeming to ponder over this for a moment. “Can’t say I have.”

“Liar!” Amara chuckled giving a quick shove before hopping to her feet. She giggled as she yanked him up from the chair and shoved him away. “I’m sure you’ve done plenty of embarrassing things.”

Draco shook his head that grin still on his face.

Amara smirked, leaning in closer to him. “And I’m sure you have heaps of secrets, and I intend to find out all of them.”

She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

Draco looked a bit dumbfounded at this as Amara slowly backed away from him, that grin still on her face as she looked him over.

“Expect me to be around for quite a while.” She said. “Because I don’t plan on going anywhere.”

Scooping her bag off the ground, Amara left the room.