Author's Note: I do not own Harry Potter. Only the great J.K. Rowling can claim that! I do, however, own Felicity Mercer. Hope you all enjoy this one shot! Now read on!

Safe and Sound

By: Background Music

One Shot

Felicity Mercer is dating her best friend, but why isn't that enough?

Felicity Mercer had everything she could ever want. The fifth year Hogwarts student sat on the window seat of her dorm room. Ginny Weasley, fellow Gryffindor fifth year, was trying to get her knitting needles to knit a scarf on their own a little ways away. A girl named Beth hummed tunelessly at her wizarding wireless, head phones clapped over her round ears. Other then that, the room was empty. The other two girls who shared the room were gone, maybe in the common room. Felicity didn't care. Her focus was on the white, wet flakes of snow that dropped from bloated grey clouds above. The lack of sunlight made the Quidditch pitch look strong and powerful. Forever living and all knowing while it survived the test of time. It made her want to go out there, despite wind and wet snow and coldness, and fly around with Harry. When was the last time they flew together? October? It was the one time that they could get away from the Slytherins and Snape and the harsh glares from those who didn't believe Harry was as amazing and strong as he really was. They would sneak kisses high in the air and laugh as they zoomed around the pitch, racing each other. Harry had the better broom so he normally won, but the loser never had to carry the equipment to the Quidditch shed.

Harry was the best boyfriend she had ever had. She had dated a muggle boy or two, a few wizarding boys that were friends of the family, and a few boys at Hogwarts. Only Harry made her feel safe. Not just because he was the boy who lived, but because he really could keep her safe. He had started up a Defense club the previous year teaching herself and many other students how to defend themselves when Umbridge obviously could not. He cared for her. He loved her and she loved him. Felicity sometimes wondered if she really deserved him at all, or he was just confunded into thinking she was as beautiful and special as he always said she was.

Sighing, Felicity ran her fingers through her thick, wavy chestnut-brown hair. It felt clean, but that was about all it had going for it. She had been outside earlier in the day to visit Hagrid and her locks had gotten soaked from the wet slush outside. Dry now, it looked messy and unbrushed, but since she wasn't planning on going anywhere, she just let it be. Felicity pressed her pink toned hand to the cool, thick glass of the window. She had everything she'd ever wanted. Great friends, a caring boyfriend, good grades. Yes, Felicity Mercer had everything she could ever want, whether she deserved it or not.

11:58am. 11:59am. 12:00pm. 12:01pm. The circular wall clock hanging in the bathroom of the girls dorm ticked slowly as Felicity pulled her dark hair into a messy bun. Some of her hair didn't make it to the safety of the clip and tendrils of hair hung around her face. She had changed out of the flannel Minnie Mouse pajama pants and baggy sweatshirt she had been wearing into a silk, wide necked, balloon sleeved, abstract peach printed dress. Unlike Hermione, one of Felicity's closest friends who faithfully wore jeans when not in school uniform, Felicity didn't mind the odd dress in her wardrobe. From past experiences, apparently Harry had no objections either.

Heading towards the common room in hopes of lunch she almost tripped on Hermione, as if simply thinking of the bookish girl had plopped her off in front of her. The older girl was hunched over a large textbook muttering to herself. She really did sound quite mad indeed.

"'Mione?" She asked softly, stepping around the obstacle. Where were Harry and Ron? They normally stopped their friend from blocking pathways.

"Hmm-Hmm?" Hermione answered, not bothering to look up.

"Are you alright? You want me to bring you back something from lunch?" Felicity knew better then to offer Hermione to come along. She seemed to be studying for potions. Apparently Slughorn was still favoring Harry and that was something Hermione was not used to.

"Oh!" The bookworm huffed and shut her book with a loud smack and looked up, big brown eyes squinting at her like she was some bright light. "I'm not hungry. Would you mind though if you could ask Ron for my Herbology book back? The boy got his eaten by paper eating plants."

"The kind that he didn't read about not being near with paper?" Felicity joked and Hermione laughed.

"Exactly. I'm pretty sure he's still at lunch, but beware, all the food might be gone." Hermione giggled, but the younger girl could see how much she loved the fact that Ron ate far to much to possibly be healthy.

"Gotcha." Felicity said before heading off towards the Great Hall.

Down the first flight of smooth, marble stairs. Past the portrait of a bone thin woman with a pipe. Another portrait of arguing, overweight men with beard trimmers hung on the stone wall, waving the trimmers dangerously close to each other's faces. She made her way around so she only had to pass through one more corridor to get to lunch when a first year came running by screaming and crying. Worriedly Felicity grabbed the girl's shoulder and asked her what was wrong.

"Slytherins stole my cat and said they fed it to the snake in the walls!" She wailed before yanking free of Felicity's hold and tumbled away. The Gryffindor sighed. What mean little, bratty little third year Slytherin would she have to threaten today? The Slytherins were always doing something they shouldn't, but taking some little girl's cat seemed petty, even for the green skinned bastards.

Balling her hands into fists, Felicity walked down the hall away from lunch. She hadn't even taken ten steps when she heard cruel laughing from up ahead. Moving faster, she rounded the corner and her mouth fell open. There stood Draco Malfoy with his little goons Crabbe and Goyle along with Pansy Parkinson who had her toothpick arms circled around Draco's shoulders. They were all laughing. It was surprisingly Goyle who noticed her first, she had been planning on going over and chewing them out, but it seemed this goon beat her to it. He drummed his meaty hands on Malfoy's shoulder. Peering her pug face over first, Pansy's lips pursed with something Felicity assumed was delight. Malfoy's pointed face turned to her also, stone grey eyes narrowing. He didn't look nearly as pleased as his leach seemed to be. Crabbe stepped forward like the well-trained bodyguard he was, with Goyal quickly following suit. Comically they both crossed their arms at almost the exact same time and Felicity didn't bother to hold back a small chuckle of contempt.

"Why hello, Mercer." Parkinson sneered, not removing herself from Malfoy.

"Parkinson." She answered the hard faced girl. "Crabbe, Goyal, Malfoy." She said their names slowly, one by one, but Felicity made sure to add extra venom in her voice for the last name. Malfoy had caused never-ending problems for Harry since day one of Hogwarts and now by association, Felicity was now included. Just the other week Malfoy paid a Slytherin fifth year to walk passed her desk in potions and knock over her ink well, causing all the notes she had been taking to get ruined. Slughorn had made the Slytherin apologize, but Felicity had had to ask Ginny for her notes later. Last year he cast a spell to tie every strand of her hair in a knot. Draco Malfoy was no friend of hers.

"Y'know," Felicity continued once it was clear none of them would speak. "I don't know why I was so surprised to see you four here. When I heard that a group of Slytherins stole a girl's cat, I'm not sure why I didn't immediately think of you. It's just about the most pathetic idea of a joke I've ever heard of, after all. Just your style." She brushed a tendril of hair from her face, though it just fell back. Truth be told, she was terrified. If it had been just her and one of the Slytherins she wouldn't be this scared, but if this came to a duel, she would most defiantly lose. She knew that the two goons weren't very skilled with a wand, but Ron always said that Malfoy knew how to handle himself. Though Ron said a lot of things to raise everyone else up, while diminishing himself. Felicity had always tried to get Harry to notice Ron's insecurities, but her boyfriend could be very unobservant. Even after the Tri-Wizard Tournament when Ron's low self esteem shone brightest, Harry seemed to think it was a passing jealousy. During that time Felicity stuck more to Ron then to Harry. Though she had had a huge crush on Harry at the time, she felt like she could be a better friend to Ron at that moment, especially since Hermione tried to play neutral. Of course, it didn't mean she had avoided Harry, but her days were mostly spent trying to get Ron to apologize and to see himself as the loyal, brave friend that he was. Needless to say Felicity had gained some valuable chess skills, though she was nowhere near as gifted as the red head was.

"Meh, meh, meh, meh, meh." Pansy muttered in a high-pitched tone, moving the fingers on her right hand into her palm, looking like a deranged clam. Felicity raised one dark eyebrow at the girl. With her eyes flicking from each person, she noticed that Malfoy's normally cool, white face was slightly pink in the cheeks.

"You can go to lunch." He said in an airy tone towards his groupies. The wonder boys sauntered off, making sure to bump her shoulders as they passed. Pansy stayed where she was, hands now on Malfoy's shoulder. "You can go to lunch." He repeated pointedly and finally pug face got the hint. With her mouth turned into an upside-down U, she slumped away from the pale blonde boy and down the hall, avoiding the place she stood like it was rotting meat.

"So Malfoy, are you still as tough with just you? Or do you want me to wait for lunch to be over so they can come back?" Felicity smirk faded when Draco hurried at her like he might hit her, and she wished she had brought her wand down to lunch. "Stay away from me!" She told him with a shaky voice.

"What's wrong Mercer? Afraid that since Potty isn't here that you can't save the day?" Felicity's arm moved without thinking and swung up to slap him. It must have been what he was aiming for as he took a step forward. Felicity could suddenly see how much taller he was than Harry, though both boys were taller than her. When she made contact with him, her hand met empty air, but her wrist clapped weakly into the side of his head, and her old beaten up watch got caught in his slicked back bleach hair. She pulled to try and free it.

"Ouch!" He said and shoved her away, only to have her be at an awkward angle with her arm still attached to his head. "Let go!"

"I'm trying Malfoy!" She hissed back, trying to use her free hand to untangle it but he swatted her away like she was a bothersome fly.

"Stay away!" Malfoy demanded with the air of superiority before awkwardly raising his hands in an attempt to free her watch.

"If I could jus-AH!" She let out a little yell as she raised her hand again, only for Malfoy to use both his hands to shove her shoulders. Stumbling backwards she hit the stone wall with Malfoy close behind. "I can't believe you pushed me!" She demanded, pushing him away from her. Malfoy's cheeks flushed pink with anger and his mouth twisted into a mean line, his brought his face very close her hers before shoving her again. This time she didn't hit the wall, but went stumbling down to the ground, her tailbone hitting hard. Malfoy, of course, fell on top of her, and with a clash their teeth bonked together.

Breathing heavily, the two feuding students stared at each other furiously. Their breaths mingled together with the close proximity of their faces and while Felicity's teeth ached, she couldn't help but notice that their lips had met. It was an odd sensation, knowing that technically you had just kissed your worst enemy. What would Ron, Hermione and Harry think? Would Malfoy risk the school knowing that he had kissed someone of supposed impure blood just to hurt Harry? Felicity's watch had let go of its hold on the Slytherin's hair but neither of them moved, frozen with a cocktail of shock and bafflement.

Felicity's heart pounded, blood rushing in her ears and her breathing heavy. Malfoy's face was so close to hers that their noses were practically touching. Felicity wasn't sure why she did it… she wasn't sure why her lips tingled and her mind couldn't shut up about how strong her arch foe felt on top of her… Felicity wasn't sure why she kissed him again. For real this time, both her hands held Malfoy's face in a passionate and desperate embrace. By the time se realized what she was doing was completely wrong she couldn't move, the Slytherin having pinned her where she lay and kissing her back. The Gryffindor wasn't sure how long they remained like this, in full view for anyone who happened down this hall. Finally, after probably years of snogging, Felicity pushed him away. Reflected in Draco's eyes she could see her own wide in shock. Her mouth was still parted and felt indescribable. She also had this wretched feeling of being covered in dirt. Forcefully rolling out from under Draco she hastily stood and smoothed out the bottom of her dress and yanked the clip from her hair. "I… I…" she began, her tongue failing her to produce words. Whipping around a few times until she was quite certain no one was watching she started walking determinedly away from Draco Malfoy. "I have to go!" No sly voice called out for her to stop, for which she was grateful.

Felicity continued to run back to the Gryffindor tower, all thoughts of going to lunch were gone. It was most likely over by that point anyway. Her breathing began to get panicked and fast, and by the time she reached the portrait of the Fat Lady she was pretty sure she was hyperventilating for the first time in her entire life. Grabbing bunches of peach coloured fabric from her dress in her fists she wanted to burn her outfit. Merlin she felt disgusting! But, even as she coughed out the password and her mind cursed Draco Malfoy, she also felt dazed. Sad, angry, worried and dazed. Kissing Draco Malfoy had been completely the opposite of kissing Harry. Draco had not felt safe at all. Every moment felt dangerous. It was exhilarating.

Stepping through the portrait a startling scene caught her eye. Harry and Ginny Weasley sat side by side on the red couch by the fire, laughing and talking. Ron was playing a game of solitary exploding snap and Hermione was reprimanding him for not starting his homework. Felicity didn't feel like she belonged in that scene. She couldn't see a seat for her anywhere, no space for one more. She felt like she couldn't even look at Harry, let alone pretend like the last few minutes had never occurred. How was she supposed to explain her disappearance? Glancing back over her shoulder to the corridor outside, she felt like she didn't belong out there either. She certainly didn't belong with the Slytherins. In one afternoon she had lost everything she had believed in. One question rattled around in Felicity Mercer's mind. Why wasn't Harry enough?

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