Fast Car
A Harry Potter Fanfiction by Eowyn Shadeslayer
Chapter 1
Eileen nudged her companion hard in the ribs with her elbows, trying not to laugh herself. "Tobias, stop it."
He laughed, his blond hair swinging into his deep blue eyes. Tobias was handsome in a tough, almost criminal way; he was tall and had a scar on his cheek form a fight he had had. A silver skull earring hung from his left ear. He leaned against the leather seat of the car, still laughing his head off.
Eileen elbowed him hard the second time. "Knock it off, will you?" she laughed. "What's so funny?"
He just shook his head and exploded in whoops of yet more laughter. Eileen turned away, trying to stifle her own smile so that she wouldn't encourage him.
The girl in the rearview mirror was not pretty. She had long dark hair that hung lank around her pale face, and her heavy brows gave her a sullen appearance. Right now, though, she was smiling widely—it made her face feel stretched—and her cheeks were flushed, though the rest of her face was as pale as usual.
That I would enjoy being with Tobias so much more than my own people, she thought bitterly. He doesn't even know what I can do, and he likes me anyways. Here she didn't have to be a prefect and a pureblood and a Prince; she didn't have to be friendly to the Malfoys or the Blacks or that creepy Tom Riddle. Here, she could be what she wanted.
Tobias leaned back against the dusty seat. "You know, one of these days I'm gonna fix this thing up, " he said.
Eileen smiled at him. "It's already fast, "she reminded him.
His mouth twisted cynically. "It needs class, this old beater."
"But its fast," Eileen reminded him.
He smiled. "Yeah, it is. One of these days we'll fix it up and race it."
Eileen's breath caught. "We?"
"Sure. You've graduated from Whatsits Place, haven't you?"
"Yes," Eileen said.
"So?" He smirked.
"So what?" Mind games. She hated them. Tobias would never ask anything flat out.
"So…" his smirk was bigger now. "So, maybe…"
"Maybe what?"
"Maybe… we could…ahhh…take the next step?" Tobias looked her straight in the eye. "I've only known you a year, but I like you, Eileen. We've been going out…"
"Practically since I met you?" Eileen smiled at him. "What are you asking?"
Tobias looked at his feet and said something fast and garbled.
Eileen laughed. "What? Speak clearer, Tobias."
"Do you want to…marry me?" he asked, slower this time.
Oh no. Please don't ask me this. Please. "I don't know, " she said carefully. "It's such a big step…"
"Please, think about it, Eileen. I don't care how long it takes you. Just…think about it."
"I will," she said. "But not tonight. Let's just have fun tonight, okay?"
He laughed. "Okay." He started up the car; it roared into life like a horse straining at the bit. "Ready?"
She nodded and fastened her seat belt. Tobias didn't bother. He simply set his foot to the gas and watched as the speedometer climbed up to forty miles per hour….then fifty… seventy…
The car zipped along the empty dead end road, past the cemetery and out to where no houses stood. The air whipped through Eileen's opened window, drawing an exhilarated yell form her throat.
They were driving into the sunset.