MILESTONE: FIRST KISS

You walk back from the Room of the Requirement, stifling a yawn, after another failed attempt to fix the vanishing cabinet. It has been three days since you last had a good nights rest, and the dark bags beneath your eyes are now more prominent than ever. Gripping the wall with your weary arm for support, you make your way into the Slytherin common room, rubbing your exhausted eyes vigorously with your free hand. You lift your gaze up from the floor as your legs almost mechanically carry you towards the closest chair in sight. Sighing in defeat, you give way to your tired body and reluctantly allow yourself to sink into the seat below you.

Both of your attempts to kill Albus Dumbledore have mysteriously gone astray and with every passing second, fhe time to complete your given task is running shorter and shorter. The Dark Lord himself has informed you, that in the likely attempt of your failure, both you and your family will have to bear the many unpleasant consequences that will suffice your punishment. You sigh in contemplation and rest your head against the top of the chair. Soon, you sense your eyelids feeling heavy and the room in front of you starts to blur. Just when you are about to fall into a deep sleep, you suddenly feel someone place their hand on your shoulder and you jerk back into reality.

"Oh, I'm so sorry I woke you up," you hear a soft voice saying. You inwardly groan, expecting to find Pansy behind you. But, coming to your senses, you realise that the tone of this voice is much gentler. Your heart gives a slight flutter as you realise who it is.

"Astoria Greengrass," you curtly say, looking behind to face her.

She nods hesitantly before saying, "I should go now."

"No!" you blurt out, before you can help it. "I-I mean, you- you're welcome to stay."

She offers you a kind smile and on retracing her path, comes up and sits beside you.

For a moment, neither of you say anything, but she soon asks in a concerned manner, breaking the awkward silence, "Is it true what they say? About you being a Death Eater?"

You look at her seriously. If it had been anybody else, you would have most probably left the room that instant. Grimacing, you nod your head slightly, although you are quite confident that she does not need the confirmation of the gesture to know the truth.

She sighs. "What made you take the choice of becoming one of them?" Her tone isn't harsh, but disappointed.

You bite your lip in uncertainty. "I had no choice, " you mumble. "that's what most people fail to understand. I had to do it. I had to become one of them."

She nods, accepting your answer. "I understand," she tells you softly.

Taking a deep breath, you let your eyelids shut for a minute and savour the time to try and forget all your problems and difficulties. When you reopen your eyes, you find Astoria's soft, round face staring up at you, only inches away from your own. You are so close to her that you can almost count the freckles on her nose and see your own reflection in her piercing green eyes. Unconsciously, you lean forward, closing in the gap between the two of you, allowing your mouth to meet hers. The heat from her warm, rosy lips, passes into your cold, clammy body as a sense of exhilaration travels through you. It is a feeling so desirable; like the elation on recieving top marks in an exam, getting to have breakfast in bed and winning a Quidditch match all together. Suddenly, she breaks apart from you.

"I-I shouldn't be doing this," she tentatively says, shifting her eyes away from you.

"Why?" you question.

"I-I- er..." she stammers, before summoning all her courage and saying, "you're still with Pansy." With that, she abruptly rises from her seat and makes her way towards the girls' dormitory.

You feel rage and anger bubbling up inside yourself. "One day," you tell yourself, "one day, she'll be mine."