MAUVE VIOTTO

I'm currently in the beautifully-decorated Ravenclaw common room, studying for an upcoming Herbology test. It was an easy subject, but I wanted to make sure I would do good on this one considering that I didn't do very well on the previous one. Hopefully it would balance my mark.

"Hello, Mauve. Studying?" Padma walks into the room and takes a seat on a nearby couch, pulling out a book of her own.

I nod, showing her the front cover of the nifty textbook. "For that Herbology test tomorrow, did you study yet?" I ask, despite having the feeling I knew the answer already.

She proves me right, giving me a small smile as she responds. "Yeah, I was up all night yesterday studying for it."

Silence falls upon us as we read our books independently. There's a sense of calmness floating in the air of the common room. I continue to study the required content until it hits 5 in the evening. Yawning, I get up and stretch my arms. "I'm gonna go take a walk," I tell Padma, feeling tired from all the studying I've been doing today. She nods, waving as I make my way to the exit of the tower.

I walk down the flight of stairs with ease, bumping into Draco and Theo when I reach the moving staircase. "Hey!" I smile as they begin approaching me. Theo has a wide grin while Draco is nonchalant, but a hint of a smirk is present on his lips.

"Heya!" Theo reaches out, ruffling the tops of my hair. Rolling my eyes, I shove him away. "Where are you headed?" He questions, tilting his head down to reach my line of sight. I hate being the shorter of the two, but to be fair, 5'7 isn't short unless i'm next to them.

I shrug, "I just wanted to take a walk to be honest, been sitting and studying all day." I confess, stretching my arms in front of me.

"Tired?" Draco questions with a raised brow.

I nod, chuckling. "Very."

Theo hums, tapping the bottom of his chin as he thinks. "Well, it's almost dinner at least. Have you taken a nap or something?" He suggests.

I shake my head, giving him a deadpanned look. "And then when I miss dinner and stay hungry for the entire night?" It's happened more than once in the past, and sneaking into the kitchen after hours isn't something I'm very fond of.

"Set up an alarm, duh." He rolls his eyes, pulling out his phone from the pockets of his pants to gesture the action. When he turns the screen towards himself, his eyes widen. "Fuck, I was supposed to meet Fin like ten minutes ago! We're supposed to binge a new show together!" Our earlier conversation is forgotten when he notices the time.

He begins scurrying off in the direction of the library, waving goodbye as he does.

"Why don't you nap in your dorm or something?" Draco asks, reviving the previous conversation as we watch Theo running in a panic—as if the matter were life or death.

"Cho has her friends over," I grimace. "We're not uh— we're not the closest." I'm not sure if I could ever be close friends with Cho, and trust me, I've tried. I can't help but have the itching feeling that she's watching my movements or worse, judging them. I feel like she has a clear image in her head of who she wants to surround herself with, and I don't fit in it.

And now that I'm closer with Draco, I doubt she wants to be associated with me.

Draco tilts his head, his eyes trained down on me. "You could.. I have my own room." He coughs into his fist awkwardly. "You could take a nap there if you want. I'll wake you up for dinner."

I raise an eyebrow, smirking. I lean over and poke his chest, "sheesh, take me out on a date first." I joke, pushing down the flustered thoughts in my head.

He shakes his head, biting his lip to suppress the smile that threatened to spread on his face. "Shut up," he muses. "So?" He gives me an expectant look.

I roll my eyes, pondering on the offer. Shrugging, I agree. "Sure. Thanks, Draco." I smile.

His eyes crinkle, shining brightly when I use his first name. "What was that?" He jokes, leaning down to match my height with his hand curved with his ear. "Sorry, it sounded like— like a 'thank you'? From the Mauve Viotto?" He teases, mocking our previous conversation through the phone.

I shake my head in amusement— I didn't have to see my reflection to know I was smiling like an idiot. "Shut up, Malfoy." I tease, purposely using his last name.

He rolls his eyes, knowing I had done so on purpose. A hint of a smile is traced along his lips. He steps back, his arm outstretched to gesture down the hall, "shall we?"

Draco leads me down to the dungeons to the Slytherin common room, which I had never been in before. He mutters the password and a passage is opened, leading to a elegantly decorated room. My eyes travel around in awe — calling the room beautiful would be a terrible understatement. It looked ancient, but almost in a way that depicted royalty. There were long, emerald green curtains wrapped from the ceiling, the Slytherin colours proudly displayed throughout the room.

The Ravenclaw common room might just be have some competition, but of course, I'm biased.

A smirk is formed on Draco's face as he carefully watches me inspect the room with astonishment. "Beautiful, isn't it?" He hums, lightly bumping my arm with his elbow.

I'm snapped out of my daze, my eyes quickly travelling back to his as I spin to face him. I roll my eyes, "you're so cocky. You and your house pride." I scoff, shaking my head.

He raises an eyebrow, "it's no crime — and might I point out, you never answered my question." He tilts his head, an expectant look resting on his face. He and I both know the room is absolutely stunning. Slytherins do live on the more luxurious side anyway.

I place my hands on his shoulders, spinning him around to face what looks the area of the dormitories. "Just show me to your room," I huff.

He laughs and begins to lead me up the stairs. "Eager are we?" He glances back before turning to the boy's dormitories, a knowing grin on his face. "At least take me on a date first," he mocks my earlier words.

He turns around slightly to get a glimpse of my reaction, my deadpanned look meeting his amused one. "Ha ha," sarcasm drips down my tone. "You're so funny."

"So I've been told." He unlocks the door at the end of the hallway, revealing a fairly-sized single bedroom. His bed is in the middle, a small desk in the corner, and two side lamps beside his bed. He even has a bathroom connected to his room, which I envy.

I hum, seeing how clean the room is. I didn't expect it to be this tidy. "Nice room."

"Thanks," Draco takes a seat at the desk, pulling out a book. "I'll do some reading while you're asleep, go ahead." He gestures towards the bed. He cracks open the book, becoming immediately sucked into a fantasy.

I feel a bit awkward as I slip under his green covers. I had never fallen asleep in another dorm other than my own, and now I'm in my crushes' bed. I blush at the thought of that, shaking my head and curling my body for some extra warmth. I fall asleep peacefully, the strong scent of mint and green apples overtaking my mind as I lose consciousness.