Chapter 24
"We really should get some sleep. The quidditch cup is tomorrow." Draco whispers into my hair.
I sigh, wishing he wasn't in a hurry. "I know. I just want to wait a little longer."
"I'm gonna be here when you fall asleep." I shrug and turn away, so that I am resting my head on the pillow and not his chest. "Are you punishing me now?" He pouts.
"No. I'm just trying to go to sleep like you said." I shrug. He sighs into my shoulder before slightly pulling up my shirt and tracing something onto my stomach. Letters, I realize.
"D-R-A-C-O" I say each letter out loud. Loud enough for me to hear.
"You're mine, princess. No matter what my parents say." I turn around and slightly lift up his shirt. Doing the same thing he did to me. F-E-L-I-C-I-T-Y. He says each of them out loud, like I did as I make them. I can feel his stare burning into my hand as I make each letter, again. More to reassure myself that I wrote them. After I finish writing my name with invisible lines, I kiss the spot where the last letter is supposed to be. I know it's not normal for the girl to kiss a guy's stomach, but I feel like reversing the rules for once.
The air between us seems to grow thin, as our breaths grow deeper. My hand stays on his skin but that's not what he is paying attention to. Our eyes meet and it feels like the air in the room has completely vanished. Originally, the space between us felt impossibly close but somehow we got closer. Our lips meet, a bit of relaxation for both of us. A way to relieve our stress with each other. The world around us disappears as we hold each other tight.
When we let go, the whole world slams back into place, but time never stops moving. I rest my head against his chest and close my eyes. His hand rests on my back, holding me close to him. If I look at this too closely, this feels a bit wrong and I probably won't see Tom Felton (the actor who plays Draco) the same, but I know I shouldn't look too closely at this. This is a different world. This isn't Tom Felton playing Draco, this is actually Draco Malfoy. That thought is weird but comforting. I'm actually living through the Harry Potter movies. That puts a small smile on my face, before I fall asleep.
The next morning, I woke up to an empty space beside me. At least Draco was kind enough to leave a pillow next to me that I could hold onto. I look at the time, one hour till I have to go with, Lucius, Ethan and Draco to the Quidditch World Cup. I get up and quickly grab some clothes from the drawer, then get changed and get ready for the day.
Because I don't really like quidditch, I'm not really rooting for anyone and I have really no clue who is playing. The only person I will know is Viktor Krum who will be competing in the Tri-wizard Tournament this year.
Something twists in my stomach, remembering the tournament. Not something good. The tournament marks when things start to go wrong. That's when Voldemort comes back. When Cedric gets killed. I completely forgot. Thankfully, neither Parker nor I will have to compete. Only Harry will.
My cousin.
That thought hasn't really crossed my mind. But he's technically my cousin. He doesn't know. The question is, will I have the guts to tell him? I know I need to but it doesn't seem like an important detail. Maybe it's better that he doesn't know. He needs to think that Sirius is his only family in fifth year anyway, but that seems cruel. Maybe I should wait and talk to Sirius. He probably knows.
"You really are the brightest witch of your age." Sirius says to Hermione. "And you two. Good luck." He says to Parker and I with a wink. He knows.
The memory of Sirius' words popped up into my head. Does he know that Parker and I are shifters? It doesn't seem possible that he would know. There's no way he could know it's impossible. But then again this world has seemed to pull up the impossible so far. Another thing I need to ask him then.
Narcissa stands by the door of the living room, waiting for someone.
"Felicity, may I speak with you before you enter?" Me, then. She's waiting for me.
I nod my head. "Is something wrong?"
"No. I just want to make sure you know what to do tonight."
I nod my head again. "I do. Get Draco and Ethan as far away from the camp as possible, then apparate back to the living room. May I ask, there aren't any wards put up, is there? If so I might not be able to apparate through."
"Lucius and I have made sure that you can get through." I nod my head and start to head through the door but Narcissa stops me. "One more thing, whatever relationship you have with my son, you need to terminate it soon."
"I'm not in any type of relationship with your son." I lie.
"Friendship counts as a relationship." She quips. "For his reputation, he doesn't need a half-blood to be around him. Or with him."
"Have you asked him what he wants?" I argue back. I'm not going to let her win this one.
"This is not about what he wants. It's about what he needs."
"Then maybe he needs someone who is a better influence on him than his father." The words spill out and I don't regret them at all. Narcissa's face grows cold but there's something behind her eyes that tells me she knows I might be right. "You know you say that you don't want Draco in this deatheater stuff but if his father has his way he will be. You know I'm right but you won't admit it. And last thing, it's selfish of you to not take his wants into consideration. If you really care for him, you would let him be happy. Not a shell of himself. Like his father." I pull away, satisfied with what I've said, and walk into the living room, where Lucius, Ethan and Draco are waiting.
"Finally." Lucius mutters. "We don't have time for you to eat, so let's go. The portkey leaves in five minutes." I nod my head and walk with the group of boys to the portkey which is situated outside. A large hand-held mirror lays on the ground. I'm guessing that is the portkey.
We all gather around it, each holding a bit of the mirror. Lucius quietly counts down. 5-4-3-2-1. The world around us spins and twists into a different sky and place. The ground disappears beneath us and suddenly we're falling. My gut twists, and I have to resist the urge to scream. I hate heights. I hate the feeling of falling. Feet should be on the ground, not in the air.
We all let go of the mirror at the same time, as we get closer to the ground. I stumble, landing not necessarily on my feet. I land on the ground a few feet away from the boys, the breath knocked out of my lungs. Ethan walks over and extends a hand for me to take.
"I hate portkeys. I hate any means of magical travel." I grumble as I take Ethan's hand to stand up. Draco glares at us, mainly Ethan, as he helps me. Ethan holds on for a second too long, I realize, so I pull away before anyone gets hurt.
We head off to the campground. From where I'm standing I can tell which tent is the Malfoy's. Huge, white and secluded from every one else. It's sitting up on a hill, looming over everyone like the owners are supposed to be some self-righteous god. Oh wait that's what the Malfoy's act like. Lucius does anyway.
Inside the tent is just as big as the outside. There is an individual room for each of us, though I doubt we will use them. We each pick a room, away from each other, before Lucius has an elf make something for us to eat.
"Did I tell you we're going to be with the Minister in the Minister's box, Felicity?" Draco asks, hours later as we walk up to the Minister's box. I try to avoid everyone's stares and comments. I hear people saying, "That's Lafoi's daughter," or "Lafoi must be so embarrassed of that girl."
"Yes Draco you've told me." I mumble.
He moves a bit closer to me, but not enough to where it's noticeable. "What's wrong?" He whispers to me.
"Too many people making comments about me." I reply. "It feels like I'm being paraded around for witches and wizards to look at."
"You'll get used to it. I hope." I nod my head.
"How far up are we going, dad?" Ron's voice calls from above us. I bite my lip, knowing what's coming.
Lucius responds drawing everyone's attention towards us. "Well put it this way. If it rains, you'll be the first to know." Draco and I walk up behind him, with Ethan on the other side of him, like a little army, before continuing our walk, but still keeping up with the Weasley's. Parker is watching us from above, while holding hands with George. I throw her a weak smile to tell her that I'm uncomfortable, which she returns with a half-smile.
"Father, Felicity and I are in the Minister's box. By personal invitation of Cornelius Fudge himself." Ethan clears his throat but Draco doesn't add on to his sentence.
"Don't boast Draco. There's no need with these people." Lucius says as he hits Draco, on the stomach, with the end of his cane. Part of me wanted to move and grab it from him before he could but I stayed still. I can't interfere more than I already have. Though I do say a little spell to trip Lucius after he is done bothering my friends. I have to hold back a laugh while he readjusts himself.
The Minister of Magic greets us as we get to his box, showing us the view we get to have. Not that I really care. I would prefer to not be here. But Draco seems happy to be here so I fake a smile for him and act like I'm enjoying myself.
Cornelius Fudge announces each of the teams. Ireland whose mascot is a Leprechaun and Bulgaria whose mascot is a Veela. After the teams are announced and they show off, Cornelius says a few more words and then they are off.
Ireland won. 170-160. Draco won't stop talking about the match with Ethan, but I'm having trouble listening. Lucius left ten minutes ago and it's making me anxious waiting to hear the shouts and screams that are about to erupt. If I'm not pacing, I'm sitting down shaking my legs. I feel useless knowing in some way I could stop this but I won't be able to. This needs to happen so people know that Deatheaters are becoming a threat again.
"Love, what's wrong?" Draco asks, snapping my attention to him.
"Nothing. I'm ok."
"You haven't said a word since the match." He looks at me concerned but I don't look at him. The screams have started and I go on high alert.
I run to the opening of the tent and look out, seeing bright red and orange flames erupting in the distance.
I duck my head back in, shouting, "We need to get out of here now. Come on."
"Why? What's going on?" Draco replies.
"Deatheaters are attacking the grounds. If you don't believe me you can come and look while I'm running to safety." I say quickly, before heading out of the tent. Draco and Ethan quickly follow behind. Horror crosses their faces as the see the raise ensuing below.
"Let's go now!" I grab Draco and Ethan's hand, before taking off running towards the forest.
"What about my father?!" Draco yells.
"He'll be fine. You know damn well that he is with them." I shout back. A scream catches my attention, making me snap my head towards the scene. A muggle family getting tortured by a deatheater makes me freeze in my spot and draw my wand.
Draco stop me. "Leave them." He pulls me forward and I let him, though I know his reasons for not caring. Tears run down my face but I don't bother with them. I can't.
We get to the forest, narrowly missing a few spells being shot our way. We run deeper and deeper, until we hear voices. I'm the only one with my wand drawn. I'm the only who can use magic if this is a death eater. That's just great.
"Hello!" Hermione's voice calls out from somewhere in front of us. I sigh and start running to her voice.
"Hermione!" I call out.
"Felicity!" I hear her respond. I finally find her, running with Parker and Ron.
"Over here!" She turns around and runs towards me. She pulls me into a hug, then so does Parker.
"Are you guys alright?" I ask as I pull away from them.
"Yeah, we're fine. We kinda lost Harry though." Parker replies, scratching at the back of her neck.
"Yeah, I noticed." I reply jokingly. Though probably not the best time to joke.
"Best to keep an eye out for Granger. They are after ones like her." Draco laughed from behind me, making my blood boil.
"Ignore him." I mouth, but Ron doesn't listen.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ron asked, fuming.
I can feel Draco's breath on my neck. The coward is using me as a protection.
"They're after muggles." He shrugs. "D'you want to be showing off your knickers in mid-air? Because if you do, they're moving this way and it would give us all a laugh."
"Hermione is a witch." Ron replies. Blush creeping up his cheeks.
"Have it your way then. If you think they can't spot a mudblood stay where you are."
I turn around and slap his across the face. "Get out of here now. I will come you both when I'm done. Ethan keep an eye on him." I say angrily. They both scurry off into the woods while I turn back to the group.
"Unfortunately, he is right in a way. You need to get out of here Hermione. They are only looking for Muggles and muggleborns." She nods and takes off running with Ron. Parker stays behind.
"I have a lot to tell you." I breathe out.
"I'll wait till we aren't in danger." She jokes. "Are you going to be ok, going back with him?"
"Yeah, I'll he fine. He won't hurt me. He'll probably just be pissed at me for a while.
"Be careful."
"You too. Now get out of here before you get hurt." She nods her head and takes off running where Ron and Hermione had just taken off. I take off running towards Draco and Ethan's direction. I find them relatively quickly.
"Ok. Stop here. I need energy to get us back so give me a second." I yell.
"Are you sure you can even get us back?" Ethan asks. I nod my head before grabbing both of their arms and dissaperating. I focus on the Malfoy Manor living room. I stumble onto the floor losing my footing as we hit the marble tile of the Manor. I end up on my knees panting and holding back tears. That was too much.
After a couple of seconds, I collect my breath, then get up and collect myself as if nothing happened. Narcissa is hugging her son tightly, though he seems to be pulling away from her.
"I don't know how long Lucius will be." I say in a clipped tone. "I'm going to my room now. Goodnight to all of you." I run off to my room before anyone can respond.
Shortly after I get to my room, three knocks sound from the door. I open it, annoyed that I won't be getting any privacy. I wince as I open the door and see the bruise already forming on Draco's face.
"You're lucky hitting was all I did." I say through clenched teeth. "I should've left you there." He rolled his eyes before letting himself in and closing the door.
"Why do you care? I was technically warning her." He grumbled.
"That was a very shitty way of warning her." I shout. "And you know how I feel about you calling muggleborns, mudbloods."
"She isn't like us."
"No. She isn't like you." I respond. "What if I was in her position, what would you have done? If I was a muggleborn or god-forbid a muggle? You would've done the same thing, right?" He nods his head slowly. I knew the answer but it still stung.
"And what if I technically am a muggle? What would you say?" I say slowly. I don't know why I am bringing shifting up right now but I think that it is about time that I tell him.
"You aren't."
"Technically I'm not but I also am in a way. If that makes sense."
"I don't understand." I shake my head, then slowly explain to him what shifting is. He listens to me all the way through but there is something in his eyes that says he doesn't believe me. I bite my lip trying to think of something that would tell him that I'm telling the truth. Then I remember the dreams. The dreams that Voldemort keeps appearing in.
"That's why He-who-must-not-be-named keeps coming into my dreams." I say quietly and that gets to him. He nods his head and his expression goes blank, so I can't tell what he's thinking.
"Do I exist in this other reality?" He asks and I let out a breath of tiny relief.
"Technically no. In my reality you are just a character in a book and on a screen." I explain.
"On a screen?"
I shrug. "Yeah, like a muggle TV. But you're real here. That's why I came here so I could experience it."
"We aren't supposed to be something. Are we?" I shake my head and look at the ground.
"No. We aren't. My plan was just to blend into the background but that didn't end up happening. I don't regret it though." He nods his head before walking out the door, heading back to his room. Tears flood my eyes. I hope this doesn't change anything.
I shake my head, trying to get the conversation out of my head, then grab some clothes and go run a bath so I can relax.
The next few days come and go. Narcissa was the first to notice that Draco has been avoiding me. If we ended up in the same room together he would either just stay quiet or grab something and go. It hurt every single time he did that, so today I had asked Narcissa if I could go to Diagon alley today. She agreed as long as I take one of the boys with me. In reality I'm not going to Diagon alley. I might, to get my books and robes but I'm going into Muggle London to get another piercing. I told myself I would get a nose piercing so I'm going to.
I walk up to Draco's door, scared to knock. He usually is in his room when he's trying to avoid me, so I am hoping he is in there.
"Draco?" I ask as I knock on his door. He opens it, looking annoyed, which makes me visibly flinch.
"What Wilhite?" He grumbles.
"I was wondering if you'd want to go to Diagon alley with me. Also let me fix this, I hate seeing that I did this." I quickly brush my hand against his cheek, healing the bruise I left. For a second, he flinches, moving away from my touch, but I still end up healing the bruise. His eyes grow soft as he watches me flinch in return.
"If you don't want to, I'll take Ethan. Narcissa won't let me go without one of you coming with me." He nods his head and closes the door behind him, leading the way to a fireplace.
"I was just thinking we could apparate there, we don't have to use the floo network."
"Fine, but I don't trust your apparating skills." He smirks, the first one in a while. Butterflies form in my stomach for some stupid reason. "I don't want to get splinched."
I roll my eyes. "I got us back safely the last time, so you should be fine." I extend my hand out to him, hoping he takes it. He does, thankfully. I notice how his hand is unusually warm, but I try not to think anything of it. I focus on the outside of The Leaky Cauldron, before apparating there.
With a pop, we land in the alley way behind it. I stumble forward nearly knocking over Draco but he catches us before we fall. If that makes sense.
"Sorry." I say, embarrassed. "I need to work on landing." I pull away from him and start walking through the alley and into the city of London.
"You said we were going to Diagon Alley." Draco says as we walk past The Leaky Cauldron.
"Did I? I don't recall." I say sarcastically and keep walking. The parlor I want to go to isn't far from The Leaky Cauldron last time I checked.
"I told you about this months ago so don't start grumbling." I comment. Draco doesn't reply and part of me feels like he's not following me. The only reason why I know that he is, is because I can feel him keeping close to me like he's some kind of shield or bodyguard.
"I don't trust this." He whispers, then places a protective hand on my back.
"I'll be fine. You'll be fine. No one is going to get hurt." I reply.
Draco and I get to the place a few seconds later. We walk in to a dim room that has purplish hues to it. The walls are a dark pink with some designs in black paint.
"Excuse me?" I ask as I walk up to the desk. The girl at the desk looks up at me. She can't be older than sixteen maybe even seventeen.
"Yes?" The girl asks.
"Is Lia in today?" I ask. Lia is someone I made up to do piercings. In my script she used to work in LA but moved to London for work. She did my ear piercings and said she would one day do a nose piercing for me. Mainly since I have always wanted one.
"She is. Give me a second." She turns and looks into a curtain behind her. "Lia!" A girl comes out from behind the curtain. Several piercings in her lip and ears and a single nose piercing. She has short hair like mine but hers is completely green. She looks at me and grins.
"I wondered when you'd come by."
"Finally time to get that nose piercing. I have the form in my pocket."
"No need." She rolls her eyes, knowing that it's not actually my mom's signature but one I faked. "Come on. I'm free right now. You're little boyfriend can come back here to." I nod my head and follow her into the back room. Draco follows me closely, not letting me out of his sight.
"Draco, I'm fine. You don't have to follow me so closely."
"Wait, did you say Draco? Like Draco Malfoy?" Lia asks as she starts setting up her supplies. "Also you both can sit in those chairs over there."
I shrug, before sitting down. Draco pulls up a chair just on the left side of me.
"Yes, why?" I ask.
"I was wondering why he looked so familiar. He looks a lot like Narcissa." She shrugs before sanitizing her equipment. Draco looks at her warily.
"How do you know my mother?" Draco asks.
"Draco, honestly, do you think my mother would allow me to hang around muggles when I was little. She's a pure-blood witch." I reply. Lia snorts at my tone, while Draco just rolls his eyes at me.
I see Lia start cleaning the needle and tense up. I hate needles. Always have. Always will. Draco places his hand over mine, making me think he noticed. Either that or he is still nervous about what we are doing here. I don't move my hand to hod his. I want to but I'm scared he's going to pull away.
The memory of our argument floods my mind, making me frown and turn my head away from Draco.
"We'll discuss what happened later." He mumbles.
"You know, sometimes I wonder if you are a legilimen." I mutter. He smirks, before squeezing my hand.
"Ok. Ready?" Lia asks as she turns to me with the supplies floating around her. I nod my head and close my eyes letting her prep the area. It doesn't take long for her to finish. With a slight sting the nose ring is in and she is giving me instructions on how to take care of it.
"Thanks Lia. And here you go." I hand her 30 galleons and the permission form, which she accepts, then leave heading to a market. I want to get more green hair dye to fix up my hair.
"I'm sorry for slapping you by the way." I say quietly.
"I deserved it." He shrugs. I stop and sigh. While he does the same, he watches my movements.
"Whatever you want to do, it's up to you. If you want to be done with me, that's fine. I won't bug or ask you to stay." I say weakly. He laughs and moves closer to me.
"And give Weaslebee a chance to have you. No way. I still love you. I'm just trying to process what you told me." He doesn't do anything more than that, just lets me lead the way to the market. I don't know how much I believe him. That night, he seemed like he wanted nothing to do with me. Same for the past couple of days.
"What's wrong? I can see your mind wandering." Draco asks as we enter the market. I don't answer. I just head to the isle I need and quickly grab the hair dyes I need. A bleach dye and green for the streaks. Luckily my hair hasn't grown much so all I will have to do is trim a bit off it.
"Nothing's wrong. I'm just trying to remember if I need anything else. I don't." I shrug and stand in line waiting to pay for the stuff.
After paying we head back to an alley way, making sure no one is looking and apparate back to the manor. We appear in my room with a pop and I actually land correctly this time. I set the stuff on my bed and sort through it. Draco sits on my bed watching me grab the bleach.
I deal with my hair quickly while Draco watches my process. It takes about two hours to finish my hair which ends with me trimming it so it can stay short. Then I fix it with a little bit of magic and I'm done.
"Why do you like your hair short?" Draco asks as I start cleaning up my mess.
I shrug. "It's short so it's out of the way and I don't have to deal with it much." I lay on my bed next to him and look at the ceiling. The view of the ceiling doesn't last long because a few seconds later Draco crawls over me, hovering just inches away from me.
"I wonder what your hair looks like long." He says as he rakes a hand through my hair.
"You're gonna have to wait a while." I giggle. "Though if you ever grow your hair out like your father I will not hesitate to cut it."
"I don't plan to, don't worry." His lips meet mine as I roll my eyes at him. My cheeks burn red as I kiss back. He hasn't kissed me in a while. I throw my arms over his shoulders and let him lay on top of me.
"I love you." He whispers.
"I love you too." He nuzzles his nose into my neck. My hand runs through his platinum blonde hair. His hair is soft under my fingertips but a little greasy. I feel his hot breath on my neck, helping me to remember that this is all real. Everything here is real. And I can hold onto it for as long as I need to.