Chapter 37
I wake up to Draco getting out of bed. It's dark when I wake up. I honestly didn't think we had enough night left to wake up in the darkness. It must be early in the morning. I curl up against one of Draco's many fancy, green silk pillows, while he goes into the bathroom. His cotton shirt pulls up my leg, barely covering the bare skin underneath.
After a few minutes, he comes back, smiling at me. "Did I wake you up?"
I shake my head. He smiles softly and lays down beside me. He pulls me to his side holding me close. His hand rests on the bare skin of my thigh. Goosebumps run down my skin, stemming from where he touches me. I snuggle close to him. His body is surprisingly warm, despite it being freezing in his dorm. The Slytherin dorms are always cold and I absolutely hate it.
I fall back asleep faster than I mean to. But I don't mind. I slept better than I have in a long time. Being in his arms helped. Or maybe it was because my body and mind were physically exhausted from the Yule ball.... and the events afterwards. A blush creeps up to my cheeks, heating up my neck as I think about the events. Draco stirs beside me but doesn't show any signs of waking up yet.
His blonde hair is splayed out across his forehead. In a mess that is way different from the orderly fashion that it was in last night. His back moves up and down as he breathes. There's no scars on his chest yet. Just his pale skin and a few freckles that dot his skin here and there. There will be in about three years. Which is unfortunate. His skin will be marred forever thanks to Harry unless I somehow stop it from happening. I could....
I want to.
Draco stirs again. This time he opens his eyes slowly. Stormy grey eyes immediately find my green ones. A smile plays on his mouth.
"Good morning, princess." His voice is deep with morning grogginess, but damn does it make my stomach churn.
"Morning." I smile back at him. I can feel my cheeks already heating up. He kisses me hastily, pulling me as close to him as possible. My body presses against, like we're molded together. We're two colors of clay, mushed together like a toddler's creation. Green and Black, making the Slytherin color we love. Just love sick fools, heading for destruction.
His tongue slips into my mouth and I pull away before we can continue, earning a sad expression from him.
"I need to brush my teeth before we do that." I laugh.
He pouts. "Fine. But then, we are spending the rest of the day together." I nod in agreement. I pull away from him and stand up, pulling down his shirt that has been riding up my thighs since last night. He watches me, while I search around for my underwear, which ended up somewhere on the floor last night. "It's not over there." He laughs.
"Then where is it?" I huff in frustration. He points over to where my dress just was. I see it and groan. "I'm blind, I swear to god."
"A thank you would be nice."
I smile at him sweetly. It's fake though. "Thank you. I'll see you in a little bit."
He nods. "You better still be in my shirt when you get back." I smirk. Without promising anything, I leave the room. Better to keep him in suspense, so that I can still have some control. That boy knows how to make me feel out of control even when we aren't on speaking terms. I don't get how he does it and I don't think I ever will. So, if I have any ounce of control at all when it comes to him, then I'll take it. Although, after last night, that control is sewing thread thin. I'm screwed.
I walk into my dorm, which is empty. Not surprising since it's a free day. Parker probably spent the night with George and Pansy, probably spent the night with her date from last night. Thankful for the peace, and freedom of questions about what I did last night, I head into the bathroom to take a quick shower. When I walk past the mirror, I have to do a double take. I have dark purple marks, starting at the base of my throat going down to my chest. I'm going to kill him. After last year's incident, I've been kind of put off by hickies. I probably should have said that last night, but I was too out of my mind with desire to actually care about what he did to me.
As I look at them more, the more I don't seem to mind. They actually kind of grow on me. It's his way of making me his. I know that for sure. It's a mark, a claim made by him. While I am his girlfriend, I'm not sure how I feel about it. He really lives up to his namesake of being dragon-like. He's possessive. Likes to stake a claim on what he considers treasures- if he considers me that. I can't imagine he would, but I'm not good at reading people, so I'm not going to even try to guess. I know he likes me to the point that he wants to stay in a relationship with me, so that's all I care about.
I take my shirt off and step into the shower. I don't want to wash last night's events off but I feel sticky from not washing off the sweat last night. Everything else is fine. Although, I feel sore. My legs feel like jelly and the longer I stand, the more I want to just lay back down.
Once I finish my shower, I put the shirt back on, and put on some new underwear. Then, I walk out into the dorm, where Parker is standing by the doorway. Her eyes grow wide as she looks over me.
"Are those bruises?" Parker asks.
"No. They're not."
"They better not be what I think they are."
"They're not." I say with a cheeky smile on my face. She knows I'm lying. She picks up a pillow and throws it at me.
"You did not do what I think you did."
"Maybe." She takes another pillow and throws it at me. I pick it off the floor and throw it back at her.
"You better have used protection or else a pillow will be the last thing I throw at you both." She says while trying not to laugh.
"We did. We did. I promise we did. It was only once." I say, trying not to laugh as well. She sighs and starts laughing.
"I'm not looking to have a niece or nephew from you anytime soon." She says before walking out of the room.
"You won't!" I yell as she leaves.
Happiness keeps a smile on my face as I head back to Draco's dorm. Last night was amazing. Today will be great. I'm not going to worry about anything. Damn, does happiness always feel like dopamine? Not that I know how it feels to use that. I feel like I took some sort of potion that creates happiness, which I don't think exists, but that's what it feels like. I'm glad for the change.
Draco is in the shower when I walk into his dorm, so I decide to sit on his bed and wait for him. His silk sheets brush against my legs, soft and cool. Goosebumps run up my thighs for multiple reasons. The cold of the sheets, the cold of the room after getting out of the shower, and the excitement of thinking about Draco possibly touching me again. God damn, do I feel like a lovesick teenager. Oh wait... I guess I technically am one.
The water shuts off a few minutes later, and Draco steps out in just his grey sweatpants that he likes to wear to sleep. A smirk crosses his face as he realizes that I stayed in his shirt like he had asked me to.
"I can't say no to you." I blush.
"I noticed." He laughs. He sits next to me. His arm slides across my back, pulling me close to him. He presses his mouth to mine. A claim if there ever was one. My hands go to his wet hair. Our tongues meet somewhere in the middle. My eyes squeeze shut, so I can feel everything. His body pressed against mine. His skin soaks his shirt that I'm wearing. It clings to my skin, now.
I pull away first, so I can take a quick breath. I'm sure that my cheeks are beet red. Draco kissing my cheek makes it worse.
"I'm sorry," he whispers.
"For what?"
"For all the shit I've put you through. All of it." Sadness overwhelms me. I look at him with that same sadness that is clenching my chest.
I shake my head, trying to dismiss his words. "You made up for it."
He shakes his head in return. "Not for touching you when you didn't want it. Not for nearly making you kill yourself... I should have been better. I shouldn't have acted like such an ass. Hell, I still act like an ass..."
"Would you have stopped?" I cut him off. "If Snape hadn't came in would you have stopped before you went too far?"
He nods. "I was only going to mess with the hem of your pants. I was trying to scare you. Make you see who had more power... I regret it so much. I shouldn't have gone that far." His voice breaks, like he's trying to keep himself from crying.
"Is that why you slept with me last night? To make up for what you did."
"Yes and no." He sighs. "I wanted to be with you like that last night, but the thought did occur to me this morning that I was trying to make up for something." I cup his cheek and kiss his mouth softly.
"If you regret it then I forgive you. But next time we sleep together, because I know we will, do it because you want to, not because you think that you have something to make up for." He nods, looking at me with gratefulness. "I love you."
"I love you too." His mouth is back on mine and I end up laying on the bed, laughing.
"I didn't mean right now, dodo."
He smirks. "You wouldn't mind would you?" I shake my head smiling.
Sometime later, we are laying together. My head rests on his bare chest, while he runs his hands through my hair. I draw lines and circles on his chest and stomach. Everything is peaceful. My mind is quiet. It hasn't been like that in a long time.
"Remember when you said that you didn't think you would ever love me?" Draco whispers.
"I lied." I laugh softly. I didn't think I could love anyone at that point. Especially not someone who had done many cruel things to me. Maybe I'm a masochist. I fell in love with my bully. How strange that this love feels like the beginning of a Taylor Swift song. A very fucked up version of one. Maybe.... Maybe my mind is going in so many different directions that I can't think straight. God, what is wrong with me. But fuck it if I can't have him, I guess.
"I can see that." He laughs.
Class resumes a few days later. The younger years have returned from Christmas break, crowding the halls as if they had never left. My first class, unsurprisingly, is potions. Snape is in a worse mood than usual and all I want to do is throw my book at him, but I hold it back. I don't even know what potion we are supposed to be learning about. That's how bad of a mood that he is in.
Draco has his hand on my knees. His rings pinch my skin. They're going to leave indents, but I don't care. They'll go away a few minutes after he moves his hand anyway.
Since I don't have any outdoor classes today, I decided to actually wear the uniform skirt that girls have the option to wear. It's actually kind of cute and I don't understand why I hadn't worn it before. The suspenders that usually come with the skirt weren't as cute, so I left those back in my dorm.
"You should wear that skirt more often." Draco whispers in my ear. Snape snaps his attention to us before I can respond.
"Do I need to separate you two?" Snape drawls angrily. To my side, I hear someone, Pansy I think, snicker, but I ignore it so I don't get into any more trouble with Snape.
"No sir." I say. I look down at the desk to play the innocent act. Snape doesn't buy it, I know he doesn't, but he goes back to teaching without another word about Draco and I.
Draco squeezes my thigh... in reassurance? I think. Maybe with pride. Who knows. I take his hand in mine, squeezing it back. I run my thumb over his snake ring. The ridges of the scales slide nicely against the pad of my thumb.
The bell rings, signaling the end of this class. I have a free period, so I am meeting with Parker to help her out with a spell she found for the tri-wizard tournament. Before I head to the room of requirements, Draco gives me a quick kiss on the cheek.
"I'll be on the quidditch field, practicing, if you need me. Ok?" He whispers. His hand on my chin, making me look at him. I nod. I like this side of him. The sweet side. The one that if anyone else saw, they would look at him strangely.
We go our separate ways. Parker is already waiting for me on the seventh floor with a bag of extra clothes in hand, when I arrive a few minutes later.
"How do we do this?" Parker asks, as she sticks her hands in her pockets. I step in front of the wall. Making sure that no one else is around, I envision a pool filled with water that we can practice the spell in. The wall changes into a door and opens on its own with a loud creak.
"Come on in." Parker walks in first. I follow after her. Just like I had envisioned, there is a large pool in the center of the room. The tiled floor around it is a peach, almost coral color. Then the rest of the floor is a light cream color.
The door closes behind us, separating us from the outside world. The room is huge. Bigger than it needs to be but it will do. The spell is supposed to be simple. It creates a bubble of air around your mouth and nose to help you breathe. I think Fleur uses the same method in the books and movies. The only difference is that Parker is also adding a spell to see underwater to help her out. She and I know better than most that the water in the lake is murky as hell and very hard to see through. Seaweed and other types of aquatic vegetation float around it. Which makes the challenge ten times harder because small creatures could easily hide in those depths. Especially, those damn grindylows. She needs to keep an eye on those specifically.
"I am so glad I brought extra clothes." She turns to me with a mischievous smirk. "Let's do this." She jumps into the water, surfacing a few seconds later, then pulls out her wand and casts both spells on herself.
"How do you feel?" I ask as a bubble appears around her face.
"Good so far." Her voice is muffled but I can still make out the words. "I wish that you brought a timer."
"We don't have phones, remember?" She nods, then dives under water. She stays under for a long while, while I just sit by the edge of the pool, waiting for her to come back up and tell me if it worked. Which I'm assuming it did because she has been under water for a while.
I may have zoned out for two seconds, because the next thing I know, I feel a cold hand on my wrist and I am face to face with the water. I swim up to the top, finding Parker laughing. I splash her playfully. Cold water hits my face like pelts of rain as she splashes me back. Our laughs fill the air as we swim around. Neither of us are being serious, but for once that is completely fine with me. It feels nice for once. No worries today.