Practice Round (Beater 1)
Task: Write about two canon characters that love/hate each other
Prompt: (Dialogue) "Just kiss me."
(1,121 words)
She walked in with her head held high. Porcelain skin that oozed class clashed with the dark interior of the potions classroom. Her hair- now loose and soon to be tied up, shone a rich glossy brown in the dim candlelight. He was in a trance, so strong it might have been magical. He watched as she slid into her seat, her green eyes glinting as she searched the classroom. Who was she looking for? Obviously not you. He shook his head slightly to rid himself of the self-deprecating thoughts, blonde hair falling into his eyes. He could only imagine how unkempt he looked. The complete opposite to her grace. Despite being Draco Malfoy, a pure-blood from a refined family, Pansy Parkinson made him lose his composure in an instant. But he still loved her for it.
She surveyed the classroom, looking for him. Possibly the one person that was out of her reach- Draco Malfoy. Pansy had been taught how to act like a lady, and she was glad of it now. It gave her an advantage- a meagre advantage but an advantage all the same- against a lot of the others in the school. She sat up straight and was careful not to twist her neck too much- that looked 'undignified' according to the matron at the private school she had attended before age eleven. Then she saw him. From the corner of her eye, but she knew it was him all the same. The fair skin and trademark white blonde Malfoy hair was all it took for Pansy to recognise him. He was fixing his hair- strands had fallen into his face giving him a more delicate look. Mesmerised, she watched as he lifted his hand to put the rogue hairs back into place- transforming him into the picture of pure-blood elegance once again. She had no idea as to how he managed to look so handsome when he was the picture of control and when he was messy. He was perfection- and completely out of her league.
Pansy left the classroom, desperately hoping her back wasn't too stiff or that Draco hadn't noticed the occasional glances of him she had stolen throughout the lesson. She had almost made it across the threshold of the classroom when she tripped- she almost screamed out when she felt a strong grip around her waist. When she looked up to see who had caught her, she caught a glimpse of blonde and a striking grey iris before everything went black.
He carried her to the infirmary- he could have used mobilicorpus but decided against it. She needed holding, she was too fragile to let go of.
He woke up, having fallen asleep at Pansy's bedside. He jumped up quickly when he felt someone stroking his hair and his eyes widened when he realised who it was. Pansy. She looked down, her cheeks blushing a light pink- every aspect of her was delicate. He cleared his throat. "I'm sorry." He said. The words came out easily- as did the sentiment, upon seeing her embarrassment. He didn't mind at all.
Pansy looked up in shock. Had she actually just heard what she'd heard? Draco Malfoy apologizing? To her?! "W-wh-" She had been about to ask why he had apologised but that would be pushing it. Malfoys were famously proud. Instead she said, "No, I'm sorry." He looked at her for a long moment and then sat back in his seat at her bedside. Her stomach fluttered when he smiled at her. It looked tentative, but it couldn't be. Draco Malfoy didn't care what she thought. He couldn't possibly be nervous around her.
But despite her mental surety of Draco's stance, her heart beat when he picked up her hand and analysed the back and the front. "Just checking if your grazes have healed." He said, mistaking her silence for query. He was concerned for her? She took a deep breath and smiled, not too wide, just like she'd been taught.
"Thank you," She said in a quiet voice. Wow, confident. Her thoughts mocked her. She closed her eyes tight, opened them and then tried again. "That's very considerate." Better.
Just as it looked as if Draco was going to speak Madame Pomfrey entered the infirmary with a rustling of her white skirts. She stopped when she saw the two of them together- probably sensing she had interrupted something. That didn't seem to matter after two seconds because she made her way over to Pansy's bedside, (making Draco stand up). "I'm going to cast some diagnostics," The mediwitch flicked her wand and a sea of different colours appeared around Pansy's head. They looked so pretty from where she was sat but probably looked ridiculous from Draco's perspective and she fought not to blush. "It looks like the reason you fainted was purely shock." She blushed then. How silly she must seem! Fainting over a small fall- ugh, she must seem pathetic. "We'll give you some calming draught and then you can leave." Then she turned to Draco. "If you'd leave Mr Malfoy, Miss Parkinson will need to get changed out of her hospital gown." She could have died of embarrassment!
After he left she buried her face into the bed covers and groaned. "Miss Parkinson." Came Madame Pomfrey's voice, and she knew she had to sit up to take the calming draught. After she'd drank it Madame Pomfrey helped her to stand and pointed to the robes at the end of the bed. "You can get changed and leave now." She said with a smile. Pansy nodded and picked up the robes as the older witch left.
She left the infirmary and stopped short when she looked at who was waiting just outside. Draco. "I thought I'd wait for you." He said. And Pansy could swear that he was tense despite knowing that it was practically impossible for Draco to be anxious around her.
"Thank you." She said with a smile- she needed to think of something else to say. She sounded annoyingly repetitive, even to herself.
Draco reached the stairs to the girls dormitory and stopped. He wasn't allowed to go up from here- he'd have to say bye. Quelling the 'um' he could feel forming on his tongue he said, "You'll have to go up here on your own. Bye." He turned to her and took a deep breath. A thought had popped into his head, it was risky. But what was the worst that could happen? And so, he ducked down and brushed his lips across Pansy's cheek and walked away to the boys dormitories without seeing the astonished look on Pansy's face- or the smile that stretched across it moments later. Just before he crossed threshold into the dorms he heard someone clear their throat.
"Just kiss me." Said a whisper. And he turned around and saw the smile- and hastened to obey of course.