Draco could not for the life of him figure out why he was chosen as student ambassador. Sure his grades were impressive, but there were several people who ranked above him in that aspect; people who were far more personable. Draco figured it was yet another show of how much Dumbledore hated him. He, of all people, knew that this role would make him beyond miserable, as if he wasn't gloomy and irate enough already. Bloody Dumbledore. Bloody, sodding Hogwarts.
"Draco, as you know this a new program and how well it takes to this school will be entirely in your hands." The grey wizard spoke. Dumbledore watched Draco and his disinterest with hidden amusement. He hadn't even told the young man that exchange student he'd be escorting was a full-fledged muggle. Draco sighed in obvious annoyance. He glowered at Professor Snape, wondering why he wasn't saying anything in his defense. The professor and Draco were not close, but still, he was the head of Slytherin, and Draco was Slytherin through and through. Professor Snape was the closest thing Draco had to an advocate.
Snape barely glanced in Draco's direction. He was preoccupied with his concern of a purely non-magic muggle being on school property and discovering their world. He thought it was a ridiculous move on Dumbledore's part. What was the purpose? The risks of her uttering things to her other muggle friends outweighed the reward of bridging the obscenely large gap between the two worlds. Snape was always grateful of the muggles' ignorance of the magic world. Magic was dangerous enough as it was, and there were enough people dabbling the dark arts, himself secretly included. He did not want to involve new, curious minds in the coming dangers that their world was in the midst of facing.
The reasons for Snape not wanting an exchange program with the muggle world were of the best intentions. Dumbledore, though, was under the impression that Snape was simply prejudiced against non-magic folk… which he was. But that was a very, very small part of it. The re-emergance of his Lord Voldemort was his greatest concern.
Draco sighed again loudly.
~Half an hour ago they said she was at the gates.~ Draco glanced at the clock. ~How much longer is this going to take?~
"I appreciate the subtly with which you voice your disapproval Draco, but I must assure you that this specific exchange has been arranged for a greater reason than you can understand. So, I implore you, be kind to her."
~Her, huh?~ Draco turned and glanced at the cursed doors again. ~Better be worth looking at or this semester is going to be brutal.~ He was too preoccupied with his own boredom to soak in his headmaster's plea. Or warning. Whatever it was.
"She is ready." Dumbledoor stood up. Draco looked around the office, confused.
"What?"
Dumbledore and Snape walked out of the office with otherworldy grace. The headmaster had aged quickly during the time Draco had been here, troubled by the events that took place since Harry Potter came back, no doubt.
Snape… looked exactly the same, Draco noted. He had been here 6 years with Snape and he hadn't aged a day. Gift of being a Death Eater, he mused.
Despite not giving a damn about the program, Draco felt a tad nervous. In a way, he was meeting his new best friend. He would escort her to and from her classes, most of which he shared with her. He would also have to introduce her to a host of notables in the student body at this school and many other mind-numbing, time-consuming things that he was not looking forward to.
Again, he silently beraded Dumbledore in his mind.
Draco saw the girl and Professor McGonagall at the other end of the hall they were walking, or which Draco was practically stalking down. She was turned the other way, as McGonagall was pointing out the ancient architecture of the school.
From behind, he noticed she had jet black hair. It was long, past her shoulders and was slightly wavy and curly. She was wearing dark blue fitted jeans and a dark green t-shirt. He had expected her to be wearing the dreary Hogwarts uniform, but he had been told to dress-down, so of course she would, too.
He found himself smoothing out the front of his black jacket. Under it, he wore a black, cashmere turtleneck, and black jeans. His golden hair was parted down the side, and he wore a silver ring on his right hand. It was a snake wrapped around a capital 'M', with two of the tiniest emeralds as eyes.
"I see you're already preparing Ms. King for the history test next week, Professor McGonagall." Dumbledore called out as we made it to where they stood. The ladies turned around and it took a few seconds for Draco to notice how pretty she was. When he did, he slowed down, falling a step behind the men. He quickly took in her form. She was not like most of the girls whom he schooled with. They were stick thin, conforming to the media's latest definition of 'beauty', but this girl was curved in all the right places. Her breasts were full, which rounded into a her waist, which in turn rounded into the flare of her hips. The outift she wore would have looked mediocre on any other girl, but on her, it was simplistic in the most beautiful sense. Draco noticed her t-shirt. It had a picture of an angry brown mouse pointing to a computer mouse, with a word bubble saying, 'Imposter!'
So, she had a sense of humour.
Dumbledore shook her hand with both of his, looking more than a little pleased at her arrival. They made small conversation, which Draco didn't care to pay any attention to, and watched her every move with curious eyes. Her smile was pretty and she used it without reserve. A small joke passed between the group and her childishly enthusiastic grin made him want to smile, too. Snape then stepped forward to introduce himself, although he seemed a little less pleased. The girl sobered up a bit at his cold exterior, but was polite all the same. Then the four of them turned to him, but he didn't notice the shift in attention. He was too engrossed in her mannerisms. Dumbledore, slightly amused, cleared his throat to snap him out of his reverie. It worked of course, but Draco fought a blush as he cooly made his way over to her.
"Hello, my name is Malfoy. Draco Malfoy." He extended his hand and felt a tingle when skin met skin. The girl lost all traces of her pretty smile. Draco continued shaking her hand, waiting for her name, but all he recieved was a blank stare. Professor McGonagall had seen this reaction before when females were around Draco, so she quickly answered for the girl.
"Draco, this is Aurora King. She is the exchange student you will be escorting this year." Draco nodded, not looking away from the girl, and realized they were still shaking hands.
He noticed she had warm brown eyes. Her dark lashes fanned around them, but they seemed alert and laser focused right now. Draco could guess why. Her lips were full and pink, her skin was glowing beneath her gleaming dark hair, and she wore a very thin silver chain, almost invisible, that held onto an oval locket. The locket rested in the valley of her breasts and he wondered exactly how much trouble he could in if he tried to open it right this second. Suspension? Maybe a black eye? Meanwhile, in the fleeting seconds that he soaked her in, she did the same. His grey eyes were the prettiest she had ever seen. Well, they were they only grey eyes she had ever seen. She had heard of their eerie look, but Aurora couldn't help but wonder what those people could have meant, when his eyes looked like sparkling, clear water on a cloudy day. Enchanting. His lashes were almost invisible since they were white blonde and his shiny, golden hair was like spun gold. A few of his bangs were in his eyes and she had to conciously keep herself from reaching out to brush them back. His face was angular and harsh, yet at the same time, breathtakingly vulnerable. His nose was straight and narrow, leading down to thin, manly lips, which were set taught at the moment. She was told to dress casually, but regretted her t-shirt when she saw he was wearing a suit jacket over a fitted shirt. She almost wanted to fold her arms together to keep him from reading it. This morning she thought it was funny, but now she just felt like a dork standing infront of this model-worthy dude.
Awkwardly, they parted. Dumbledore motioned for them to begin walking and he began further explaining her position at Hogwarts.
"Ms. King, as you know, you have been placed in Slytherin. Professor Snape is the head of your House." Aurora looked at Professor McGonagall.
"Oh.. But I thought.. Professor.."
"No, dear, I am the head of Gryffindor." She put a gentle hand on the girl's shoulder. "But Professor Snape is a wildly talented wizard and I assure you he will be as warm and accomodating as I have." She glanced behind her and gave Snape a knowing look. Snape stared on, disinterested as ever.
Draco didn't understand what was going on. McGonagall was allergic to the full spectrum of human emotion. Why was she being so motherly to this girl? He had only ever seen this behaviour when she was around Harry and his insufferable friends. And even with them, it was extremely rare.
And even Snape looked more cross than usual. And he kept glancing towards Draco as if he wanted to tell him something, or maybe Snape was worried that he wouldn't treat her well as an escort. But again, that would require Snape to have an emotion besides anger, which Draco knew Snape was fully incapable of. Draco shook his head to himself, understanding everyone's mood less with every passing thought.
Eventually they reached Slytherin House, and moved to the side to let Draco utter the secret passcode to the portrait of the Slytherin Witch. But before he could, McGonagall and Dumbledore began reciting their farewell's and good-wishes to the girl.
"Well, my dear, I believe this is where I take my leave. Draco here is one of our most taleneted students. He comes from a notable family and is the sixth-generation Malfoy to attend Hogwarts. You are in very good hands." Said McGonagall. She smiled at her, as did Dumbledore, before he looked at Draco.
"Draco, we are placing a long-awaited guest in your ward. I trust you will tend to her with the utmost care." Draco opened his mouth to ask what the first sentence meant, but the two Professors just walked away with another word. Snape cued Draco to say the passcode but Draco, staring off in the headmaster's direction, failed to notice. With an irate sigh, he pushed Draco out of the way and harshly muttered the passcode,
"Pure-blood." Aurora frowned, wanting to ask why he was so rude. Snape stalked into the Common Room and spoke with his signiture monotone voice. "This is the Slytherin Common Room. Girl's dorms are to the left, boy's dorms are to the right. Curfew is 9 o'clock and there is to be no wandering in the halls after said time unless you are on fire or bleeding to death." He spun around to see her bewildered expression. "Draco here has been instructed to show you the location of your classes tonight and escort you to and from for this coming week, whether he shares the class with you or not. This way, you will have no excuse to be late or absent. After that week, it is optional." He stood there a moment after his speech and looked down his nose at them. Aurora's eyes were wide as she stared back, not sure what to do or say. She decided to thank him and say that she was looking forward to his Potions class tomorrow, but he spun around with a woosh and walked out the door dramatically.
Aurora and Draco exchanged glances and she blushed. Draco was shy too, but he hid it well. They just stood there, awkwardly, not looking at each other.
"You're American?" Asked Draco.
"Yes. You're British?" She cringed inwardly at her lameness. He looked at her oddly,
"Yeah."
Again, silence.
"Are you hungry?" He asked. "It's about time for supper."
"Really?" Her eyes widened. "I've been so excited the last few days, I've hardly eaten or slept."
"Supper will be in about an hour." He said glancing at his watch. "Would you like to rest until then?"
"Actually, I kinda wanted to explore." She shrugged. "I asked Professor McGonagall if I could explore by myself, without an escort, but she said not for a couple of weeks."
"Why don't you want an escort?" He asked, sounding like it didn't matter to him anyway, but he was a little insulted that she would ask to be relieved of him.
"Because then you'd have to give up your time to watch me discover walls I've never seen and books I've never read. As exciting as it sounds, I'd rather you not give up time with your friends for that." She said, smiling a little. Draco smirked. It was the best he could do. He wasn't used to smiling out-right like she was.
"I don't mind."
"No really, it can wait. It's late and you prolly have some homework to do."
Just then, two very obnoxious-sounding boys ran and stumbled their way from the boy's dorm upstairs to where Draco and the new girl were. They patted Draco's shoulder as if he had just found a catch.
"Well, well, well, who is this then?" Said the blonde one.
"Is this the tart you've been complaining about for the last week Malfoy?" Asked the other one.
"Can't understand why."
"If you wanna hand her off to someone else for a while, call me, I won't mind." He slicked his hair back dramatically as he said that.
Rora cringed.
"Shut up, both of you." Draco said venomously, and led the girl into a private part of the lounge; the small study room. Draco closed the intricately carved doors behind them. Rora leaned against the back of the sofa, next to the fireplace.
"Is tart a nice word or offensive?" Asked Aurora. Draco eyed her cautiously.
"It's sort of offensive, but they call every girl a tart, so don't take it personally." Silence overtook them again.
"Guess I was right to feel bad about wasting your time this year." She remarked.
"What?
"Those guys. They said you were complaining about having to be with me 24/7." Draco shook his head. He hated the idea of her thinking he didn't want to spend time with her. He did. Strangely. And not because she was pretty. Pretty girls hit on him everyday. It was something else about her.
"I was complaining about having to escort some boring person that I couldn't care less about. Not you." He spoke quickly and didn't realize what he said until it was too late.
"Not me?" She asked shyly. Draco didn't answer. What he said was too mushy.
"Come." He said, standing up. "There are few places I want to show you." Her spirit fell when ignored her question. She felt dumb for getting her hopes up. Guys like him didn't go out with girls like her. Draco noticed her tiny frown before she fake smiled again, and regretted not answering. It just… it wasn't like him. "Come." He repeated, and with that they made their way out of Slytherin House and into the halls. She followed him wordlessly, trying not to think about the gorgeous man leading her.
There were a couple of his favourite places in the castle that he had only shown a few people before her. He very rarely grew attached enough to anyone in this school to share something so private. He had only done so before with his girlfriend, Pansy Parkinson, and two of his closest mates. He stiffened. The thought of Pansy sobered him a little, in regards to the girl next to him, whom, by the way, smelled like Summer. Draco was growing tired of Pansy. She was pretty, reasonably intelligent, but her sadist nature and constant gossip was annoying. All Slytherin's were sadistic and rather evil by nature, but she was particularly annoying, considering he had to tolerate her personality for hours everyday before she'd even consider letting him touch her. But, she was his girlfriend nonetheless. He was a jerk in many respects, but when he committed to a woman, his fidelity never wavered. He was proud of the fact he had never betrayed a woman before.
But still, he sighed as he continued thinking, he didn't love her, and barely liked her. He could see the end of their failed relationship approaching. Draco forgot that Aurora was trailing close behind him, and turned to slow down for her. She was busy admiring the architecure and statues but cautiously looked up at him when he stopped.
"What's wrong?" She asked.
"Nothing." He looked into her eyes and wished to himself that she would smile again soon. Infact, he would make it happen. Right now.
He quickly changed course, deciding to take her right to the best part of the castle, wanting to see her charming grin as quickly as possible. He expected her to walk next to him now, instead of trailing a few steps behind, since he had stopped to let her catch up to him, but he realized that he had made a very poor first impression. That's why she wouldn't walk with him. When she had asked him why he was looking forward to spending time with her, he didn't reply. She prolly thought she was being a chore, even now. He sighed quietly to himself, wishing they were there already.
His eyes opened wide as they approached the tower. The spiral staircase wound up pretty high. He wondered if she'd be fit enough to make it to the top. Most girls hated exercise or exerting themselves in any way. Wouldn't want to get their hair messed up, Draco thought bitterly, remembering the latest date he went on with Pansy. But that was another story.
He looked back at her.
"This climb is pretty strenuous. I just realized now. Would you prefer going somewhere else?" His only answer was a blank stare followed by a mischievous grin. Draco's brows furrowed in confusion before she darted past him up the stairs.
"Race you!" She hollered back with a laugh. It took Draco a moment to realize that this silly girl had just challenged him to a race. He smirked while he whooshed up the stairs. He bounded up, skipping multiple steps at a time. His legs were longer than hers so he had that advantage, and her 3-second head-start made little difference. This climb was very long, and she would tire quickly. He heard her heels clank and clatter against the stone steps and he couldn't help but grin. He raced as fast as he could, surprised that he hadn't caught up to her yet. Then, without warning, he heard her yelp aloud. He stopped for a second… and then sprinted extra hard, wanting to see what happened. He was gasping for air, frowning to himself partly because his body was tiring and partly because he might lose the race. To a girl. He shook his head, willing his legs not to falter.
Finally, he smelled the clean, dewy air of the night. He made it. He was at the top. He saw a part of the starry night sky and her legs along with it, as he slicked his hair back during the last few steps. He was shocked that she had beaten him. Pansy and even the other two guys had to sit down half-way, forget running. She turned when she heard his dress shoes approach and Draco couldn't help but smile. She was grinning brighter than he was anticipating, though he wasn't sure if it was the view or because she won. He walked over to where she stood and leaned against the stone. His breathing was laboured and cast a questioning glance towards Aurora, who hadn't even broken a sweat. She was grinning widely as she took in the site of the star-spangled sky. The twinkling specs collided in waves and twirls, forming breath-taking swirls of glitter. Draco couldn't help but notice no one had truly appreciated this sight as much as he had except for her. Aurora felt his stare.
"What?" She asked with a smile, too happy to be shy at the moment.
"You're grinning awefully wide." He said honestly. She pictured her dishevelled hair and maniacal grin and laughed aloud. The sound rang against the stone walls. Draco held his breath.
"It's just.. I've never seen the sky filled with so many stars." She looked back at the sky and let the breeze play with her haphazard curls and waves. "I've never spent a night outside of the city, and the city lights prevent us from seeing the sky at it's darkest, so only a couple of stars are visible there." She sighed and rested her face in her hands. "It's dazzling, isn't it?" Draco, who hadn't taken her eyes off her felt like nodding, but he wasn't thinking about the stars. He sighed and gazed out at the moon, loving that someone loved this secret spot as much as he did.
"I come up here sometimes to think. It's quite peaceful." He smirked. "This is nothing compared to sunrise." He chanced at look at Aurora again and noticed something glinting on her hand. "What's that?"
"What's what?
"Your hand." He reached out to touch and realized it was liquid. He quickly moved past her to the back of the tower to light some candles and pulled her along with him.
"Blood?"
"Oh yeah, I tripped near the top." She chuckled. "Running in heels… I do not recommend it."
"Why didn't you say something?" He asked irritated. "When you yelled, I didn't know it was because you hurt yourself."
"And lose the race?" She laughed. "Fat chance!" She flicked her hair back so it wouldn't block the light when it blew around. She wasn't paying attention to what he was doing to her hand, she just wanted to rub in the fact that she won. "When I saw the way you looked at me down there, treating me like a helpless, out-of-shape ditz who prolly couldn't walk and chew gum at the same time… I had to beat you." Draco raised a brow.
"All I did was ask if you were okay with a climb. I didn't realize I had tapped into some inferiority complex." He said. Aurora was taken aback.
"Inferiority complex?" Draco glanced down at her eyes and she was staring up at him in utter shock. She tried to speak, but she was so confused. Did he not just see her win?
She clamped her mouth shut as she fumed internally. She didn't wanna fight with him. She was his guest. She just stared to the side, letting the wonderous sight of the universe calm her. Draco, though, was not calm. He refused to let go of the image of her eyes glaring up at him, brimming over with childish anger. He liked it.
He liked it a lot.
He finished healing her cuts, but he hesitated letting go of her hands. She was too absorbed by the glinting stars to notice. They both walked back to the stone wall and took in the sights, not only of the sky, but of the castle and countryside below them.
Draco couldn't help but think of her hand though. Why did he feel a twinge of anger at her even now, for not telling him she had hurt herself. Why did he care? He suppressed a sigh. He was getting soft, he mused bitterly. He used to be made of steel. And now look at him. Falling all over himself to help a random girl who just barely scraped her hands.
OMIGOD, why was he still thinking about her? He hadn't thought about school nor Pansy nor home nor had he fantasized even once about destroying that God-forsaken Potter since he had met Aurora. This tower used to give him peace. Why wasn't it providing that familiar sanctuary of zero thought right now? His head began to throb, so he rubbed his temples gently.
"Snape's a dick." She spoke to the sky, tensing right after she said it. She hadn't meant to say that out loud. Draco stared at her in shock.
"What?" She cleared her throat and twirled a strand of her hair around a finger, playing off her faux pas.
"Snape. When he pushed you tonight. That was sucky." Draco was confused. This wasn't helping his headache.
"Pushed who?"
"You." She said.
"When?"
"At the Slytherin entrance." She spoke word by word, not understanding his sudden slowness. Draco tried to think back. He faintly remembered. But he cast it off as an afterthought. He was so used to being bullied by Snape that he didn't take it personally anymore. That's why he didn't remember.
"So what?"
"So what?" She glared at him. "He's a teacher. He's supposed to mentor you, not shove you out of the way in impatience. I bet you 'teacher' is prolly Latin for 'patience'." She spoke without thinking again. A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. The word 'teacher' was not in fact 'patience' in Latin.
"You've got a quite a temper, haven't you?" He asked with a side-ways smile. Which was kind of like a smirk, but less coarse; softer. Aurora shrugged. She pretended like she didn't care, but in truth, she was very sensitive about her temper. She had inherited it from her Dad, and hated showing it to people who didn't know her. If she did have a complex, it would be about that. The fact that he had mentioned it aloud had stung her. She reprimanded herself internally and reminded herself to be more ladylike. Especially in the presence of Draco. "What's wrong?" He asked, unnaturally concerned.
"Nothing, why?"
"You stopped smiling." Aurora blinked and blushed at his attention, and then shivered. "Are you cold?" She shook her head, no. He rolled his eyes and immediately took off his jacket. He draped it around her shoulders and felt like telling her to start being honest with him.
Aurora immediately snuggled into it and took a deep breath. She almost felt light-headed; his cologne smelled that amazing. Draco noticed and fought a smile at her less than subtle wiff of him.
"You should smile more often Draco." Hearing her voice say his name made the hair on his arms and neck stand up. He wanted to hear it again, so he pretended that he didn't catch what she said.
"What?"
"I said, you should smile more often." Draco just stared, not sure what to do to make her say his name again. He thought quickly, trying to come up with ways. He briefly considered just asking her 'What's my name?'. But how would he play that off? Feigning memory loss? No. "Draco?"
Victory!
But he hadn't done anything. Ah, well. Victory all the same.
He relished the sound of it, memorizing her voice the way he had memorized her lovely angry glare.
"Why should I smile more often?"
"I don't know. You look hot when you smile. Even hotter when you out-right grin. But you're always fighting it." She threw her hair back and felt drowsy. Draco stared at her as if she had gone insane. What she just said was very blunt and he had pinned her for the shy, proper type.
Just then, he realized the spell he had cast on her was like morphine. It dulled the pain but it was like being intoxicated. Censorship of one's thoughts vanished altogether.
Aurora turned on her side to shamelessly take in the sight of Draco. Her eyes were glazed over but he she clearly saw the definition in his chest through his tight shirt. It was very thin material, chashmere, and could betray one's body if not worn on the right body type. But it looked amazing on him. She betrayed her hearts desire by reaching out to touch. Draco froze, letting her hands feel his chest and his arms. He took great pride in his body and Pansy hadn't taken notice of it lately. He missed the adoring touches of a woman. With a start he realized that Rora had moved up very close to him, and was gazing up at him longingly.
~She's under a spell, Malfoy, she's under a spell.~ Draco recited in this mind.
"I'm sleepy, Draco." She sighed and leaned against his well-defined abdomen. He let her lean there for a few moments and allowed himself to breathe in her beautiful waves and the perfume of her skin. He felt a tingle go down his spine and tensed while he reveled in these long-forgotten bodily reactions.
"Let's go, then." He said with a resigned sigh. As much as he wanted her attention, he knew she was baked out of her mind at the moment, so he shouldn't read too much into it. But he did know one thing for sure. He was going to get Pansy to extract the same emotions from him that Aurora was doing so effortlessly. Just like Pansy used to. Or else there was no point in calling her his girlfriend.
And with that resounding thought, he walked Aurora back to Slytherin, wishing that for this one night, he had not been attached to Pansy Parkinson. How he wished, indeed.
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I'm not a huge HP fan, so some of the facts may be incorrect. I just watched The Half-Blood Prince and realized I'm in love with Tom Felton and will one day be his wife. Or the guy who plays his Dad. They're both stupidly hot.
This story will play through him finding out she's a purely non-magic muggle, meeting Lucius *drools* and the events that turn Draco into a Death Eater in "The Half-Blood Prince". Rora will be there every step of the way.
Angelina