"Hey, you ok?" I slowly opened my eyes to see that I was collapsed on the floor of the great hall with everyone staring at me. I lift my head up and a sharp pain shoots through the side which I landed on when I fell. I turn my head, gently, from side to side, to see the goblet of fire blazing with blue flames behind me and I'm reminded of what just happened.
That's right! I was using my magic to chose the champions for the Tri Wizard Tournament from the goblet. I'd chosen the three champions but then, it went dark. I could hear a voice speaking parseltongue in my ear and I fell to my knees. I was unknowingly choosing a fourth champion. Shit! It was Harry! I entered Harry into the tournament! Fuck, he's not gonna be happy with me about that. The name was shot out of the flames and that's when the voice stopped and I collapsed.
I wonder how long I've been passed out? It can't have been that long. Everyone but the three...four champions are still here in the hall looking at me with what? Concern? Fear? Confusion? Actually, it looks like a mix of all of them. I'm especially surprised to see Draco in front of me. The blonde extends a hand for me to take and he helps me stand but I'm so weak that I collapse again. He catches me this time and picks me up. I'd forgotten how strong he was; he did this the first time I fell off my broom. That wasn't long after we met in our first year at Hogwarts. It wasn't hard to tell that he felt something for me when we first looked at each other but until this day, I still can't tell what he feels for me.
My eyes are closed in his comforting arms, I hear footsteps approach and a voice, that sounds like professor Snape, giving Draco some kind of instructions. It's too mixed up for me to determine what he says but before I can think about what's been said, I see Draco nod and he carries me out of the great hall toward the Slytherin common room. I'm not a Slytherin at all, I'm a Gryffindor. The other Slytherins won't be happy to see me in their common room. I hear Pansy Parkinson, a Slytherin and a admirer of Draco, protest in disgust that I'm here. Draco hisses something back in response and she says no more. He leads me up to one of the dorms, I think. But it's different. Most dorms have four or five beds but this room just has one. I realise now that this is probably a private bedroom that Draco has.
He gently places me down on the deep green covers and he squats down next to the bed. He mumbles something in a soft, smooth voice. I try desperately to make out what he said but, all too soon, I'm passed out again on the bed. ~ I wake with a jolt from a nightmare I was having about Harry getting hurt in the tournament and that parseltongue voice telling me that it's all my fault.
"Hey, hey, it's okay. You were just having a nightmare". I look to my side and see Draco kneeling next to the bed; he's removed his robes and shoes so he's only wearing a white shirt open at the collar, black jeans and a belt. His hair is slightly messier than usual but nonetheless blonde. He's carefully dabbing a wet towel on my forehead and speaking softly, as if to a child, telling me that it's okay and that he's here.
"Draco?" I mumble as I try to sit up on the deep green duvet. "Hey sleepyhead" he smiles at me as I open my eyes fully and look around.
"Here" he hands me an orange drink that I tentatively sip. Mmmmm pumpkin juice. I finish the rest of the drink quickly and smile in appreciation at the grinning blonde. He takes the empty glass from me and walks to the other side of the room to place it down.
"You'll need these" he says to me. He places two towels and what looks like a set of pyjamas at the end of the bed. I look up at him in confusion. "The bathroom is through there, call when you've finished" he says whilst gesturing towards a door on the left side of me. I continue to look even more confused. Why is he telling me to shower here? Why didn't he bring me back to my own common room? I don't understand.
"Professor Snape told me to look after you" he says gently, "so that's what I'm doing" he smiles and blushes slightly as he says this. I understand now. It seems reasonable I suppose. I decide not to argue and just look up at him and say "thank you". He blushes again and starts to move towards the room door. He looks back at me as I climb off the bed. "Remember, call when you're finished" I nod in agreement and with that, he leaves.
I finish my shower and quickly wrap one of the pale green towels that Draco gave me around myself. God, does everything have to be green here? I decide to plait my wet hair to keep it out of the way and I change into the pyjamas that were also given to me by Draco. They're way too big for me but baggy clothing is better than going out there naked I guess. I walk out the bathroom and head towards the bedroom door. I can hear Draco breathing on the opposite side. I knock quietly on my side and say "I'm finished".
He efficiently enters the room again, obvious concern etched on his face. I can tell it's from me fainting, so I try to reassure him. "Look, I'm fine ok? I just had a fall that's all" I say in a quiet but confident voice. He just sighs and says "is that why you're bleeding then?" What? Where am I bleeding from? I frantically pat myself down trying to find the source of the bleeding. I find the tender spot on the side of my head and I find that I've ripped the skin slightly. I'm only bleeding a little but Draco takes this opportunity to treat me like a patient who's dying.
"I'm fine. Really, I've had much worse injuries than this", my mind travels back to my third year in Hogwarts and the scars that professor Lupin gave me on my arms and legs when he transformed, I shudder at the memory and I can tell that Draco is remembering the exact same event. His words come back to me when I was in the hospital, "you've done it now Potter! She'll have those scars for life now because of you", he always fought with Harry, but that was the first time it was on my behalf. That's when I properly knew that he felt something for me.
"Hey! Earth to Katheryn?", I come back to the present and see Draco clicking his fingers whilst holding a small cotton bud in the other hand. "Antiseptic" he explains, he gently pats the cotton on my scrape and an involuntary giggle escapes me as I remember that I've come to think of him as my personal nurse because of how much he dotes on me. "What's so funny?", he asks, finally smiling, oh how I love that smile. "Nothing" I remark, "I just have to remember to be safe around Doctor Malfoy" I joke. "Doctor?", he says confused, "you mean my mother?", I burst out laughing at his remark, he always makes me laugh, if not always on purpose. "No I mean you Draco, you always look after me like my personal doctor". He gives me a very shy and embarrassed smile and continues to treat my graze, I love that smile on his.
Draco finishes his handiwork and discards the used cotton bud in the nearby bin. "Bed" he instructs and tilts his chin towards the king sized bed in the middle of the room. "I can sleep in my own dorm Draco" I tell him, because it's true. There's no need for me to stay here when I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself in my own dorm room. A fleeting look of disappointment crosses Darcos gentle face and realisation hits me like a dragon wing: he wants me to stay here so he can make sure I'm fine. I look up at him and my realisation is confirmed by his concerned eyes.
"Please", he whispers gently and it's not a request but a plea. Woah, he really is worried about me. "Okay I'll sleep here tonight" I say with a gentle smile and I'm rewarded with his look of "thank merlin for that". "But", I say and his eyes dart to mine, "I want you to stay with me". Tonight, I've decided that I'm going to find out the feelings he has for me. With barely any hesitation he says in a clear voice, "I won't leave you unless you ask me to" and those words nearly knock me off balance. What? Where did that come from?
Before he can say anything else I slip under the emerald green silk covers and leave one corner open as an invitation for him to lie down next to me. He does so quickly and switches off the main light so our only light source is the soft glow of a snake shaped lamp in the far corner of the room, great, that's gonna give me nightmares. I hear Darcos gentle breathing in front of me and I turn to face him. There is still so much worry etched on his sculptures face and in his deep green eyes. How do I make it leave? And inspiration hits me.
I decide to take a leap and I slowly bring my hand up to his face to move some stray blonde hairs away from his eyes and then I let my hand rest on his cheek. His skin is so much softer than I would've thought and his cheekbones and jaw are so prominent. Slowly, I start to move my thumb up and down his cheek. Without me noticing, he brings his hand up to meet mine and holds my wrist whilst leaning his head into my hand. He closes his eyes as if absorbing the feeling and I'm even more confused. I'm about to ask the question that's been burning inside me ever since I fainted when he suddenly whispers "I've wanted you to touch me like this for so long Katy".
I'm so thrown by his declaration that before I can process the words, I blurt out "what do you mean?". His eyes fly open but when he looks into mine, they soften again and he gives me his shy smile again. "You've been oblivious to my feelings for you for years haven't you?", he asks. I shake my head slowly, "I've always known that you had feelings for me, I just couldn't figure out what feelings they were" I inform him. He slowly pulls my hand away from his face and says in an oh-so gentle voice, "I love you Katy and I'm going to do this to prove it to you". Suddenly, he moves his face closer to mine and before I can anticipate what he's going to do, I feel his soft, warm lips on mine.
What? WHAT? He's kissing me? Draco Malfoy, the moody heartthrob of Hogwarts is kissing ME? I decide to close my eyes quickly, trying to process this. Secretly, I've wanted to kiss those lips for years but it never seemed appropriate but now, now I don't know. He moves back when he's finished and I open my eyes to see him blushing with expectant eyes, like he's waiting for me to say something. "You love me?". It's the only thing I can think to say. He nods slowly but with a decisive look in his face. "I've known that I liked you from the moment you came running up the stairs from arriving late to Hogwarts 7 years ago. I knew that I loved you when I yelled at Potter because of your scars from that werewolf 4 years ago, when I felt so much anger at him because he allowed you to get hurt. But I never knew how or when to tell you until now. When you finally touched me in a way I only dreamed you had". Well...that was a confession and a half. He did like me. He did love me! Did? He does now! He loves me!
"And I him" I say out loud, whoops, that was meant to be in my head. "What?" Draco asks, looking both confused and scared. "I love you too Draco" I tell him and his face lights up like fire jacks at a quiditch game. "You do?" He asks as if he doesn't quite believe what I've just said. "Yes Draco. I love you" I say, softer this time and I lean my face in to kiss his head but he moves his face up to meet mine so I end up kissing his lips again. This time I savour the moment. This man who confused me for the past 7 years has just told me that he loves me. I'm on cloud 9 right now. One of his hands travels up to the side of my face and into my hair holding me next to him. My hand grasps his upper arm and I can feel every muscle and sinew under the thin material of his white shirt.
We pull apart and he presses his forehead against mine. "Then, will you be mine?" He asks and without even thinking, I reply "yes". I sense his smile next to mine and he kisses me once more on the forehead. "Thank merlin" he exhales. "Bed now, you've still hurt yourself and you'll have to deal with Potter tomorrow" he tells me. Oh yeah, Harry. I'd almost forgotten about earlier's events. He'll have a good scream at me for "choosing him". That'll be fun. I'm brought back to the present by Draco slowly stroking my hair and brushing strands away from my face. "Sleep" he whispers to me and, as if under his spell, I drift off. He pulls me close to him and I can feel his heat, hear his heartbeat under his shirt, feel the rise and fall of his chest against mine. The rhythm he sets for me lulls me off into a calm, nightmare free sleep.
I wake up to an unfamiliar environment and I'm momentarily disorientated. The deep green of the room around me makes me believe I'm still in a nightmare. I bolt upright, but the stab of pain from the side of my body and head brings me back to reality and I'm reminded of where I am when I see the snake lamp from the corner of my eye. I'm in Draco's room. I'm filled with comfort at the thought, not only am I in the same bed as him, he also confessed his love for me tonight as well. I feel foolish for involuntarily giggling like a school girl, but, the fact that I am a school girl removes some of the feeling.
Something woke me up, but what? I turn to where Draco was sleeping and see that the imprint of where he was is still left in the silk sheets, but no Draco. He's gone. Where'd he go? I glance at my watch and see that it's 3:00 am. Everyone else in the castle should be asleep by now, and the fires in all the common rooms should all have been doused, yet, I can see the telltale green glow of the Slytherin flames coming from the crack in my doorway.
I slowly get to my feet, trying my best to stay up this time, and make my way to the door. As I had guessed, all the other Slytherin's are asleep but I can see one figure sitting down in a chair by the fire. It's Draco, the light green reflection in his blonde hair gives him away. Why is he still up? Did he relight the fire? More importantly, what is he doing? I slowly pad over to him, thankful that my bare feet make no noise on the stone floor, until I am standing behind the chair he sits in.
I'm surprised to find that he's writing something. May 5th 2005, I smile at the knowledge that it's my birthday tomorrow and continue to read. Holy shit, he's writing in his diary, he's writing about the cup...and about me. Well this is unexpected, who would've thought that the so called "cold hearted Malfoy" kept a diary? He continues to write, about me, about his confession, about our kiss and I'm lost in the passion of the words he writes. His depth of emotion is heartbreakingly beautiful.
He finishes writing and I expect him to put the book away and return to the room. He does complete half of the task, sliding the black book underneath his chair, but he then proceeds to pull out another one, a green one this time. I can't tell what it is initially, but I spy gilded pencils stuffed inside the spine of the book. Those are the sketching pencils I had given him as a thank you present for him nursing me after my first quiditch game. Secretly I knew Draco loved to draw, he was very good at it too. Some of his sketches are breathtaking.
He removes one of the pencils from the spine, the sharpest one, and opens the book. I'm shocked by what's in it, they're drawings of me! One of me chewing on my quill in potions class, one of me reading in the courtyard, there's even one of me sleeping in the hospital bed after the wolf attack. He's been drawing me and I never knew. He continues to flip through the multiple sketches of me until he stops at one. This one is different from the others, and I can tell this is from his imagination. It's one of me looking down whilst lifting up my school shirt. He would never have seen me like that, he must've drawn it from his mind.
He continues to stare at the drawing for a few seconds more before saying softly, "well, I finally kissed her, maybe there is hope of this happening". What? He wants me to look like that? The drawing makes it look like I've just come inside from it raining outside. My hair is wet as I can see small raindrops in it and my shirt is clinging to me in some areas, with a hint of an outline of my bra showing through from underneath. Maybe this actually has happened? No, he just said that there's hope of it actually happening. Maybe. Yeah, maybe.
He finally moves on from that page and goes to a fresh one, I wonder what he'll draw next. Suddenly, he moves to get up from his chair and I can tell that he's going back to the room! Shit, I can't get there fast enough now without him seeing me! Luckily, the pencils from the book fall to the floor, buying me just enough time to make it back into the room without Draco seeing me. I go back to my sleeping position and pretend to be asleep as I hear the door open quietly. I feel Draco lying back down on the bed next to me and I pray that he can't tell that I'm awake. Gently, he moves his hand to my cheek and strokes it so softly that I knew I wouldn't even feel it if I were really asleep. But I am awake so I savour the feeling as much as I can without him noticing. Slowly, his hand moves up to my hair and he runs his fingers down along my plait. When he reaches the end where I've fastened it with a bobble, he deftly pulls it out and begins to slowly untie my plait.
What's he doing? Why is he undoing my plait. I can do nothing but lie here and feel his hands in my hair. He reaches the top of the braid at the top of my neck and unties the last bit of plait. Once done, he gently pushes the majority of my hair of my back so that it fans out behind me, leaving a few strands by my face. He then softly pulls the duvet down the bed so that my legs are only just wrapped around it, the top half of my body is covered only by the green pyjamas.
From there, nothing. I can't feel or see anything else, I can only hear what sound like chair legs being put down with great care. Why is he sitting next to the bed rather than in it? Then I realise; he's drawing me. He's positioned my hair and the duvet just right and now he's sketching me. I feel happy at the concept. It's like Jack and Rose from the Titanic, except I'm clothed and there is no possibility of the castle sinking. I try to remain as still as possible, slowly drifting off again into a dream filled sleep.
Morning sunlight pours through the small gap between the curtains, creating a bright slash across the room. I blink at the sudden transition from the dark to the light. I stretch out my legs and arms and prop myself up on my elbows. I scan the environment around me; I'm in the same Slytherin dorm room that I was last night, the green curtains have been opened slightly to allow some light in, the silk duvet is tangled up in my feet and ankles, next to the bed is a wooden chair decorated with the familiar green upholstery and on top of it rests an almost-fully-closed book. There's just one thing missing from this equation...where's Draco?
His book, shoes, robes and tie are all still folded in a pile over in the corner of the room, so he couldn't have left for lessons already. I quickly look to my watch to see that it's 6:30 am, it's too early for lessons, it's too early for breakfast in the great hall. So where is he? I swing my legs out of bed, stand and begin to walk to the door. Just before I reach the snake engraved door handle, I check myself; I'm a Gryffindor, wearing a very baggy, green, silk pyjama top, walking out of Draco's private room into a common room where they all hate me... Maybe I'd better stay here, after all, Draco did ask me to stay in here.
I walk back to the bed, sit down on the mattress and cross my legs under the duvet. I fix my eyes on the door waiting for Draco to return. I wait, and wait, and wait. All the time, I can see Draco's sketch book out the corner of my eye. Without thinking, I grab the book from where it rests and turn to the page that's kept open by a pencil. I sit, dazed by what I see. It's me, just as he positioned me last night, but my eyes are open, rather than closed and the buttons on my shirt, none of them are closed. I look down at myself to see only the top two buttons on my shirt are undone, so why has he drawn me like this? My eyes move down the page to the bottom right hand corner to see a caption- "my brave lioness". His words make me blush, the word "my" echoing in my ears. Yes I am his.
I'm so lost in the caption that I don't notice the door to the room opening. I'm only brought back to reality by the sound of a shocked gasp. I look up to see Draco standing at the foot of the bed, tousled hair, lose shirt with the top buttons open and he's holding what looks to be medicine in one hand and robes in the other. I follow his body up to his face to see it pale and gaunt and, if I'm not mistaken, mortified. He's embarrassed! Oh no, I shouldn't have looked. "I'm sorry" I blurt out, whilst closing the book and placing it back on the chair beside me. I put my arms down and lower my head in apology. Then suddenly, I hear a confused "what?" From Draco. I move my eyes up to his face but keep my head down. His head is bent to the right slightly and one eyebrow is raised in a questioning way. Why is he confused? I repeat my apology and lower my eyes again. "But why are you apologising, I should be doing that", the words make me bolt upright and stare him in the face. He's placed the medicine and robes on the bed and his head is lowered, mirroring mine a few seconds ago. He's apologising? But what for? He hasn't done anything wrong.
"Why are you apologising?" I ask. He looks up slightly and I can see the pale embarrassed blush on his cheeks, "because you found my drawings of you, you must be appalled", he bows his head again, "I'll get rid of them if you want, I'll burn them, shred them.."
"No!" I shout, surprising both Draco and myself, I don't want him to destroy his drawings, they are what he wants. He moves his head up again and stares at me, confused once more.
"You don't want me to get rid of them?"
"No. Why would I?"
"Because it's rude to draw someone in that kind of way without them knowing". That explains it, he's embarrassed because he thinks he shouldn't have drawn me in a racy way. I contemplate the thought; well, there's no great issue here, I know he has feelings for me, he confessed them to me last night and at the same time I agreed to be his, surely this is something normal for a guy to do when he likes a girl?
"Actually I think it's flattering" I say, he stares at me, amazed I think. "What?!", he nearly shouts. It makes me laugh, but I'm stopped by his sad expression. He looks down once more, "I'm really sorry Katy, I'll do what ever you want with them, just please don't hate me". Each word tugs at my heart, so much so that I jump out of bed, walk towards him and hold his head in my hands, "I don't mind the drawings, they came from your heart and head and that's what I love about them. I could never hate you Draco, I love you", I put emphasis on those last three words, simply because there's so much truth in them, I do love him, so much that it pains me to see him sad.
I look into his eyes to see them relived slightly, but there's still the ghost of guilt in them. I try desperately to think of a way to reassure him, his words come back to me from last night and inspiration hits me, "I love you so much Draco and I'm going to do this to prove it", reciting his words I bring his face down to mine and kiss him deeply, pouring as much emotion and truth into it as I can. I pull away from him to gauge his reaction. He looks into my eyes with disbelief, but I can't tell if it's from the kiss or from me using his words. I'm rewarded with an answer as he whispers "you remembered what I said", he gives me his shy smile and I find myself mirroring his smile as I say "I'll always remember". His hands move from his sides up to my face as he locks me in a passionate and heated kiss. He moves my arms so that they rest around his neck and he moves his arms down to my waist. He delicately picks me up, with such ease, that I have to stand on my tiptoes. One of his arms remain around my waist whilst the other moves up to the back of my head where he holds me in his embrace, prolonging and deepening our kiss.
I could stay in his strong arms forever, knowing that he would protect me with them. I slowly begin to melt into his body as he wraps his arms tighter around me, like a python constricting around its prey, because that's what I am, this fierce, loving and sexy pythons prey.