Chapter 27
No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't go back to sleep. At least not without seeing the nightmare I just had when I closed my eyes. Draco fell asleep long before I was able to. At least I thought he did. At some points during the night he would move or do something that made me think that he was awake. It wasn't until three in the morning that I was actually able to fall asleep. Even then my sleep was restless. I would fall asleep for about twenty minutes then I would wake up again.
But, somehow, Draco woke up before me. When I woke up he explained where Parker and Pansy were and how he told Parker to tell the professors that Draco and I weren't feeling well today. Pansy apparently went to sleep with Theodore Nott and Parker went to George's dorm to give Draco and I privacy.
The whole day Draco and I cuddled and talked to each other. But we avoided any discussion of my nightmare. I don't have the guts to tell him what I dreamed of just yet.
Draco's hand rests on my hip, while I lean against him. Neither of us are talking but I don't mind the silence. It gives me a few moments to think over the words he said last night. He said I was his family, which is a good thing I suppose. Especially in the context of what I was rambling about last night. I hope it means that if it came down to it he would protect me too, not just his family. That sounds selfish. But I don't mind being selfish right now. It's one more thing I don't have to worry about.
Draco presses his lips to my forehead and a sigh escapes my mouth. I've been missing things like this. We haven't just cuddled like this in a while.
"I'm sorry about last night." I mumble. "I probably kept you up."
"You want to know something funny?"
"What?" I ask, confused.
"Tonight marks the first time we had ever cuddled together." I smile, but it quickly falls as I remember the events after it.
"Can we not have a repeat of last year?" I ask with a small laugh.
"Of course. I'm not going to put you through that again. I regret it every day." I nod my head but inside I smile. That's the first time he has ever admitted that he regretted the things that happened before we got together.
"Is that an apology I hear, Draco Malfoy?"
"I would never apologize to a half-blood."
"Sure." I laugh, then press my lips to his. His grip on my hip grows tighter the longer we kiss. His lips leave mine and travel down my jaw. He doesn't do anything more than kiss my neck, but in some way it feels like more. Like he wants to do more but he's holding back. And I want him to do more but I don't know what more is. I pull away from him, confused by what I'm feeling.
"Sorry." I say with a blush forming on my cheeks. Draco only smiles at me with a smile that meets his eyes.
"Did you like that?" He teases which makes me blush even more.
"I-" He kisses me, cutting me off. Before I can fully comprehend what he's doing, his tongue slips into my mouth. I nearly pulled away from surprise but I realize that this is something people do. I'm not sure why people do this but it feels alright. My starts going fuzzy, like all the thoughts or doubts were leaving my mind. It felt nice.
But it was over too soon. Draco pulled away smiling and leaving me blushing.
"Asshole." I breathe out. I feel like Draco is planning something but I don't know what. Now that I think about it, it's weird that Draco went from not touching me to kissing my neck. What is he up to? Or is it because he's away from his parents now that he feels more comfortable touching me. If that's the case, I don't know why he's bothering to do that.
I turn over onto my side, facing away from Draco. This boy is so confusing.
"So what was the dream about?" Parker asks, the next day, while we are walking to all my classes to pick up the homework I missed.
"I don't want to talk about it right now." I mumble. "The only thing that I will say is that it was about Draco. And that Draco doesn't know what the dream was either."
"Why are you keeping it a secret?"
I sigh, before giving a short explanation of the dream. Enough to show why I don't want to talk about it.
"I shouldn't have brought Draco to you that night." She comments after I finish.
"No, I'm glad that you did. It honestly helped relieve one of the worries I've had." She looks at me with an expression that says You better not have done what I think you did. "Shit that sounded wrong. I mean we talked about something that I was worried about and we resolved it."
"That still sounds pretty bad." She replies, laughing.
I roll my eyes. "You and your dirty mind." She smiles wide but doesn't say anything more than what she already has.
We head to the transfiguration classroom since that's the last class I need to get homework from.
Mcgonagall greets us as we walk into her classroom. She hands me my homework but stops me before I'm able to leave.
"I would like to do a quick evaluation on your ability to transform into your animagus form. When was the last time you transformed?"
I gulp from nervousness. "I think the last time was June 6th." She nods her head and instructs me to transform. With a sigh I set my stuff on a desk and transform into my animagus form. Mcgonagall gives a quick smile before writing something on a piece of paper. I transform back and rub my arm as I realize that I only attended one of her animagus study sessions last year.
"I'm sorry for not attending the sessions last year." I say quietly.
"I can imagine you had a lot on your plate." She looks down at my arms and frowns. "Though if you have any issues this year feel free to come talk to me." I nod my head ok.
"Thank you, Professor, but the issue has been resolved." She nods her head but doesn't look convinced.
"I have to inform you that you don't really need the extra sessions. Though you might if you keep missing classes. Make sure to eat something to keep your energy up. Occulemency does a number on people that are first learning it." She gives me a small concerned smile, which I return with a grateful smile.
"I will, Professor. Thank you again." I grab my stuff and walk with Parker out of the classroom.
"I guess the whole school knows now." I mumble as I try to pull my sleeves lower.
"Are you still hiding them?" Parker asks.
"Technically no. I don't care if people see them. I just get self-conscious when people bring up the fact that I did them." That and it makes me feel a bit angry at Draco every time someone brings it up. He was an asshole to me when it happened, but things are different now. Part of me hates myself for falling for the person who caused me to do this.
"It reminds me of the things Draco did. I hate thinking of him that way." I mumble.
"You fell for him pretty quickly." She comments. "Why didn't it work with you and Fred?"
I shake my head. "I'm not what he needs. He needs someone who isn't a depressed sadsack all the time." I joke, slightly. Parker snorts and shakes her head, her strands of blonde hair falling over her face.
We walk for a while, going around the castle and talking. Until Filch found us and told us to go back to our common rooms. We ignored him and went to go find Fred and George for a prank instead. Parker's idea. I'm not good at pranks. Or thinking of pranks.
Parker found George immediately but Fred wasn't with him. Though I have a feeling that I know where he is.
"Where's Fred?" Parker asks.
"Oh I'm offended looking for my twin and not me?" Parker laughs and shakes her head.
"I'm looking for both of you. I have a prank idea."
"Fred has been MIA all day today so I don't know where he is." George replies with a smirk on his face.
"I think I do. I'll go get him." I reply, before walking off towards the black lake. If he's been gone all day then he's probably at his secret spot. I walk there, hoping George and Parker don't follow. They didn't. At least I think they didn't. I couldn't hear their footsteps behind me.
I mutter the spell to pull back the bushes and watch as they slightly move apart. Which is weird because usually it opens all the way. I walk through the bushes quietly and stop in my tracks when I see that Fred isn't the only one there. Fred is sitting on his ledge with Angelina Johnson, kissing each other. I nearly gasp but I stop myself. Somehow I make a wrong step and trip over a rock, landing on my butt and catching the attention of both Fred and Angelina.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to intrude. Parker and George are looking for you Fred but it looks like you're busy so I'm just gonna go." I scramble to get up and run off towards a different part of the lake. Tears flood my eyes but I ignore them.
I stop by a tree, panting and trying to catch my breath. I shouldn't have ran. I sink down onto the ground and pull my knees to my chest. Why would he take her there? I thought that spot was just for us. I'm such an idiot. Why do I still care? I love Draco. This shouldn't hurt as much as it does. But it does hurt. It hurts a lot. He brought her there and kissed her. Did he bring her there last year or is this the first time?
"Parker's looking for you." Ethan's voice says from behind me. I feel him sit down next to me but I don't bother looking at him. I watch the sun shining over the lake instead.
"I know. I'd prefer to be alone right now." I whisper.
"What happened?"
"I'm just an idiot who falls in love with the wrong people."
"Did Malfoy...?"
"No." I cut him off. "We're fine. I just- I saw Fred with Angelina in the "secret" spot he showed me last year. It stung."
"What an asshole." I laughed at his remark, before shrugging my shoulders.
"Do you want to sit and talk for a bit?" He asks after a couple of minutes.
I nod my head. "Sure."
The rest of the day was spent joking around with Ethan, sitting by that tree. We talked about random things. Mainly about the reason we chose the Harry Potter universe to shift to. We talked about a few other things until it was time for dinner. Then we went separate ways. I went to the common room and he went to the great hall to go eat.
Something crosses my mind. I had promised Draco that I would hang out with him for a bit after I grabbed my homework. He is going to be mad that I didn't show up. Probably even more mad that I was with Ethan instead of him. I could just not tell him. But he'll still be mad that I didn't show up.
I walked into the common room, waiting for the outburst but it never came so I went up to my dorm, slightly relieved.
As soon as I walked into my room however, the yelling started. "Where were you? You said you would be here." I let out an exhausted sigh. I don't want to deal with this.
"I'm sorry." I say quietly. "I didn't mean to skip out on you."
"Yeah, sure. Is Ethan that much of a distraction to you that you forget about your actual boyfriend?" He throws the accusation at me like a punch to the face.
"No. It's not like that. Look I don't want to argue right now. I'm sorry." My voice cracks without it meaning to but at this moment I don't care.
He steps closer to me, face to face. I can look over the expression on his face easier now but I don't like him the eyes. Right now I feel like a puppy dog getting scolded by their owner. Though Draco doesn't own me. "Again sure. You guys seemed awfully close. Just like at the Quidditch cup."
"If you had a problem with it then you should have come up to me and said something. Not wait till I come back to start an argument." At that moment I felt like Hermione when she was yelling at Ron at the yule ball. I'm pretty sure I even accidentally slipped into an accent but I don't know because I don't really care. I push past Draco, telling him to get out while he tries to argue. I sit on my bed and put my head in my hands, forcing myself not to cry, while I hear the door slam shut.