T W O

Eclaire Adams was awoken from her slumber by the constant beeping of her alarm clock. She wanted to slam the clock onto the wall but she couldn't afford a new one, so she reluctantly got up and shut it.

The clock read 5.30 AM.

A shower later, the dark haired witch stood in front of the mirror. Her shoulder length damp hair had been left as it was, making it look darker than it actually was, her brown eyes coated with mascara and her lips tinted with a lip balm as freckles were sprayed across her button nose.

Her short stature was clad in three-quarter jeans and a baby blue T-shirt. The same color as his eyes. She thought. Eclaire had come across a lot of beautiful men, but she had never seen eyes as beautiful as his. Nor had she seen anyone with white hair either. Draco Malfoy in all his sneering glory was a beautiful piece of human specimen, that even a blind person couldn't deny.

She shrugged and picked up her backpack, heading to work. She had a morning shift at Madam Puddifoot's instead of her usual evening one because Mira had asked her to switch for the day. Mirajane was her twenty-six year old co-worker with a mouth as vile as it could go but Eclaire liked her.

But then again, there weren't a lot of people Eclaire didn't like.

Eclaire made her way down the stairs, took out one of her to-go sandwiches from the freezer and put it in her backpack.

Taking a handful of floo powder in her hand, she made her way into her fire place.

"Madam Puddifoot's!" She shouted. She felt the familiar feeling of warping and green flames engulfing her as she landed unceremoniously in a squat position, coughing up dust.

"Claire? Is that you?" Madam Puddifoot's voice filled her ears.

"Yes Madam Puddifoot!" She cried out, coughing up the remainder of the dust. "It's me!" She said getting up and getting out of the fireplace and walking out.

"Good morning!" Eclaire chirped with a bright smile, once she had put her belongings in her locker and donned her apron.

"Good morning, honey!" Eclaire was met with the warm smile of Agatha Puddifoot. "Did you eat yet?" The older witch asked as usual.

"Not yet, Madam Puddifoot. But I've brought my breakfast!" Eclaire said.

"Oh! Don't tell me it's that godforsaken frozen sandwich again." Madam Puddifoot pretended to glare at the dark haired witch. Eclaire smiled sheepishly.

"For Merlin's sake, Claire! That frozen rubbish has got no nutrients! No wonder you're getting skinnier! Go grab a croissant to eat before you start your shift." Madam Puddifoot said as Eclaire nodded and entered the kitchen.

"Where's Mira?" Grace, another co-worker asked on seeing her.

"Oh! She had a late night yesterday, I'm switching shifts with her." Eclaire said getting a tray of freshly baked cakes and croissants and placing it out for display.

"Must've been a really late night." Joshua snickered.

Eclaire didn't like the tone of his voice.

"Are you judging my friend?" Eclaire said placing her hands on her hips to look intimidating, but really she just looked like a teacup.

Eclaire knew Mira could be a little wild but Mira was her friend and Eclaire wasn't going to stand snide remarks directed to her.

"Cut it out J." Grace said, her blue eyes glaring at him.

"What? I can't even joke now?" Joshua said more to himself than his girlfriend. Grace shook her head and smiled at Eclaire who nodded and picked up another tray.

Joshua was one of the people Eclaire didn't like talking to. He just rubbed her the wrong way. I don't know why Grace is dating him. She thought.

The bell chimed indicating the day's first customer.

"Good morning!" Eclaire said making her way to the register, smiling widely.

The silver haired wizard just sneered in acknowledgement. Eclaire's eyes widened. His eyes look even prettier in daylight. She thought.

Draco Malfoy felt sick to his stomach walking into a place that felt like Hufflepuffs just puked all over it. It was obnoxiously pink, frilly and looked like it produced enough sugar to feed all of Britain.

He would never have set foot into the place had it not been for Professor Sprout and her request for a drink. She had saved his life back during the Battle Of Hogwarts so he agreed to this one favour. But now he regretted it.

"It's you!" He heard a familiar voice. He looked up to meet the familiar brown eyes and that annoying smile that he remembered all too well.

Really? He thought to himself cursing his luck.

Eclaire saw recognition fill his eyes as he grunted in reply. She noticed his shoulder length silver hair had been tied back into a low messy bun, making his features stand out more.

"What can I get you, sir?" She asked politely, still smiling. Draco looked at her sceptically. He murmured a reply.

"Sorry? I didn't quite catch that." Eclaire said, her brows furrowing.

"A pink milk with a topping of whipped cream and a strawberry croissant." He finished a little louder, trying to look intimidating but the pink hue on his pale skin gave him away.

"Oh! Right away!" Eclaire said nodding, still oblivious to the obvious discomfort of the sneering man in front of her. Draco huffed and left to be seated in one of the booths.

The shop was readily met with an influx of customers and even though the shop was packed, everyone knew better than to go near the silver haired wizard. His mere presence filling the otherwise radiant cafe with its dark aura. Atleast in the eyes of others, to Eclaire nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

"One Pink Milk with whipped cream and a Strawberry Croissant for Mr Draco Malfoy!" Eclaire called out turning everyone's heads.

Draco swiftly got up from his seat sauntered over to the counter, the slightest pink tint everpresent.

"Looks like war really did change him." A snicker was heard. "Next thing we know he's going to go around dancing in a pink tutu." Joshua muttered under his breath packing Draco's order.

Draco felt his nerve tick but before he could say anything, he heard a voice.

"Like the one you wore for Valentine's week last year?" Crystal blue eyes widened in shock as Draco's gaze found Eclaire's, her brown eyes fixated on the cashier.

"That wasn't a tutu it was a Flamingo costume!" Joshua fired back, his cheeks now flaming.

"It was as good as." Eclaire said crossing her arms. "You get paid to serve the customers not judge them." Eclaire said putting her hands on her waist with a  determined look on her face.

Draco still stood dumbfounded. Nobody had stood up for him in years. Albeit, she didn't look all that intimidating being around a head shorter than Joshua but it seemed to have done the job as Joshua didn't reply back.

He grumbled slightly as he packed the food and mumbled out, "Four galleons and eleven knuts."

"What do you say to people when you've wronged them?" Eclaire said not moving from her place. Draco hadn't been this amused in years. He didn't need to hear an apology, he could've just taken care of the cashier his own way, but it was amusing. Draco's mouth lifted up with the tiniest hint of a smile.

"Sorry." Joshua mumbled out.

"Who's sorry?" She asked again.

"I'm sorry." Joshua mumbled out.

"Apology not accepted." Draco said as he handed him twenty galleons. Picking up his order, he called out, "Keep the change, tutu." He said making his way out in long strides.

The silver haired wizard walked out into the cool October air. He could feel the air around him get colder by the day as winter neared. It had been a little over a month since he'd started teaching at Hogwarts and apart from a few delinquents that he put in place, there hadn't been any disturbances.

One detention from him was all they needed to behave. He huffed out as he pulled his hair out of it's ponytail, shaking his head. It's bloody cold. He thought.

A sniff-like sound was heard. Draco stopped in his tracks to look around finding the streets almost deserted. The sound came again.

He looked to his right to see a figure in an alley next to the Pink Tea Shop he came out of. He recognized the figure — it was hard not to really, there weren't a lot of witches or wizards of that stature around.

Fuck no. I'm not going there. It's none of my business. He thought to himself as he huffed.

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

"The heck's wrong with you?" The silver haired wizard grumbled out.

Draco took in her tear stained brown eyes, widened at being caught, her small nose tinted red and her lips wobbly.

Draco couldn't care less about seeing her cry, it was just the simple fact that he didn't want to be responsible for her getting fired. Yes. That's it. He thought.

"Joshua got fired." She murmurmed.

"Then why in the bloody hell are you crying?" Draco asked, genuinely confused.

Eclaire gave Draco a look as if conveying the fact that it was obvious. It wasn't.

"I was the one who told Madam Puddifoot about it..." She whispered her lips wobbling again.

"And?" Draco said waiting for her to continue.

"What do you mean and? That's it! I got him fired!" She said it out loud and suddenly covered her face with both palms, her tiny shoulders shaking.

Draco had never been more confused.

"You didn't want him to get fired?" Draco drawled out after a while.

"I did!—" She said. "But I didn't—" She contorted her face as if in thought. "But I mean he was an extremely rude person a-and he would say mean things but is that enough to get someone fired? I mean I was mean to him in the tea shop just now but then he was insulting you and—"

"Hey midget?" Draco interrupted her ramble making her look up at him with her big brown eyes. "Shut up." He finished.

"It wasn't your fault." He worded out. The words sounded foreign even to Draco himself, coming from his mouth.

"But—" Eclaire started.

"Did you lie about anything that happened to the owner?" He asked.

"Well no—"

"Then it's not on you, it's on him for being a prat." Draco shrugged his shoulders, his face remaining stoic throughout the conversation.

Eclaire looked up at him through her lashes a small smile appearing on her face.

"Really?" She asked.

"Yeah." Draco grunted out.

And suddenly Draco was tackled into a bear hug.

"Bloody hell—Get away from me!" He grumbled out.

"Thank you." Eclaire whispered letting go of him with a bright smile and walking off inside the tea shop, her short hair bouncing with her steps.

Yeah. I'm staying the fuck away from her. She's mental for Merlin's sake! He thought and blamed his face warming up on the hot weather.