## Orli: "What did you just say?"
Orli finally lifted her head, puzzled by Malfoy's latest antics.
# Malfoy: "I asked if you're a pureblood! Merlin's beard, are you deaf?!"
Malfoy slammed the small desk in front of him, his cheeks flushing faintly pink.
## Orli: "I'm not sure. The Waters family is usually half-blood."
Orli couldn't fathom why he was acting so erratically today.
# Malfoy: "A half-blood..."
Malfoy scowled.
# Malfoy: "Your family's already in ruins, and last term you even managed to infuriate my father..."
He irritably scratched at a wormhole on the desk with his nails.
# Malfoy: "Even if your looks are barely passable, there's no way you could ever..."
## Orli: "Hey, Malfoy!"
Orli suddenly understood what ridiculous thoughts were swirling in his head. He actually believed those rumors?!
## Orli: "I don't like you. I saved you on instinct. If it had been Goyle, Crabbe, or Zabini standing there, I might've saved them too. Got it?"
# Malfoy: "Who said you liked me?!"
Malfoy shouted, his face reddening further. But Orli simply looked at him, smiling silently.
# Malfoy: "You insufferable Gryffindor!"
Malfoy shot up from his chair, the poor chair legs screeching against the floor.
# Malfoy: "Go peel your puff pods!"
He stormed toward the office door without a backward glance, but Orli called out to him.
## Orli: "Malfoy, I really don't get it. Doesn't your family offer any lessons on emotional intelligence?"
# Malfoy: "What are you trying to say?"
Malfoy turned back to glare at her.
## Orli: "Just because a girl saves you doesn't mean you have to make her your girlfriend. All you need to do is say thank you."
Orli folded her arms and stood there, watching him casually.
Malfoy froze, his gaze darting between the ceiling and the floor. Finally, he reluctantly muttered:
# Malfoy: "...Thank you."
Orli genuinely laughed this time, cheerfully replying:
## Orli: "You're welcome."
# Malfoy: "But don't think this makes us friends! Especially since you're always hanging around Potter and his lot..."
Mentioning Harry made Malfoy's face scrunch up again.
## Orli: "Yes, yes, yes, your esteemed Malfoy-ness. Please leave now. Have a good night."
Orli exaggeratedly gestured for him to leave. Malfoy stomped his foot in frustration and stormed out of the office.
The room fell silent once more. Orli quietly sat back down and resumed peeling puff pods.
Before long, she had finished peeling an entire bucket of pods. But she didn't leave; she simply sat there, waiting quietly.
At one o'clock in the morning, the office door opened again. This time, it was Snape who entered, holding several books marked with the Restricted Section insignia. He paused in surprise upon seeing Orli still there.
# Snape: "Waters?"
He glanced at her, then at the bucket of puff pods in front of her.
# Snape: "Don't tell me your injury is to your arm or your brain. Does it really take five hours to peel a bucket of puff pods?"
## Orli: "Too bad, my brain isn't injured."
Orli felt a sudden surge of uncontrollable anger bubbling in her chest:
## Orli: "Otherwise, I wouldn't have noticed certain professors acting as matchmakers for their male students!"
Snape's face instantly turned a terrifying shade of gray. His glare seemed to pierce through Orli, pinning her to the floor, but she stubbornly continued:
## Orli: "Why is it that during my detention, Draco Malfoy was conveniently waiting in your office while you were conveniently absent? Don't tell me you had no idea!"
# Snape: "Orli Waters!"
Snape slammed the books he was holding onto his desk. The hem of his robes billowed with his movements, like a beast teetering on the edge of fury.
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
"9 amazing fanfics available on my Patreon.
Support for 350 + advance chapters:
patreon.com/DarkGolds"