Chapter 2
Time passed by, and eventually it was late in the evening. The full moon was glowing majestically in the sky, and Draco was still leading Camille gracefully around the balcony. The air had grown somewhat chilly now, but the teens felt none of it. After being spun elegantly back into Draco's arms, Camille noticed the four parents walking, which was more like stumbling, toward them.
"Ham it up, Drake," she whispered. "The song is ending and the parental units are coming this way." Camille batted her eyelashes in an overly suggestive way.
Draco pushed a rebellious curl out of her pleasantly flushed face, tucking it behind her ear. He felt her body fully meld against his as she closed every available bit of space between them other than their faces. He took the liberty of changing that by pressing his left cheek to her right. He felt warmth against his face as her blood pooled in her cheeks. After a few seconds, he swung her once again into a low dip and she giggled nervously as she let her head fall backward, giving her an inverted view of the adults. She flung herself to an upright position, a little too quickly, and swayed on her heels. Draco tightened his grip on her waist to keep her steady.
"Camille, darling," Matilda began, "I hate to break up this little fun fest reunion, but it is time we were leaving."
"Really, Mum? Do we have to?" Camille pulled herself away from Draco in an exaggerate manner. "Well, if you insist…" She began walking away from Draco a little to quickly, as if anxious to get away.
"Oh no. Not you sweetheart," Frederick said.
Cam stopped dead in her tracks. "What?" 'Oh no. No, no, no! I don't wanna be left here. I can't…I can't be here. It'll be too easy. He'll easily "woo" me, and I'll be a Death Eater in no time. Shit, shit, SHIT!' Cam looked at her father, a begging look in her eyes, communicating with him her thoughts within a split second. He only smiled back, somewhat encouragingly.
"You will be staying here the remainder of the summer, my sweet," Matilda continued. "Your father and I have urgent business to attend to in France, so the Malfoys have opened up their home to you."
"Oh!" Cam said, recovering. "Well, thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy."
"It's my-our pleasure to have you, dear," Lucius said coolly. Camille bowed her head in reply.
"Well, we're off, Cami, dear!" Matilda nearly shouted, no doubt the product of the goblin-made wine. "Come give your father and I kisses. Oh, by the way, all of your belongings have been moved here." At that, a few trunks appeared beside Frederick with a loud thud.
Camille took her jolly time hugging her father. She knew he knew how she felt and could empathize with her. He himself was not a big fan of Voldemort though he'd never think it. Her father inconspicuously slipped a note into the pocket of Cam's dress. She smiled, and kissed her father on the cheek. She moved to her mother, hugging her and giving her a quick peck. And then quickly stepped away, inwardly furious with her mother and Lucius, knowing it had been their plan.
"See you in December, honey bear," Frederick said with a genuine loving smile.
"Bye," Cam whispered, pressing her hand against the note in her pocket. With that, her parents were gone with the loud crack of Apparition back to France.
"Wicked! I've never had a girl stay over before!" Draco said, trying to brighten Cam's mood. She barely smiled the hint of a smile.
"Sweetie, why don't you show Camille her room? It's next to yours."
"Figures," Cam muttered carefully under her breath.
"Oh right. Of course, Mother." Draco grabbed two of her trunks and began walking into the house. "Follow me, Cam." Cam levitated the last trunk, picked up the cage that held her tawny owl, Beethoven, and followed him.
After a few minutes of walking across the house, Draco headed up a flight of stairs and into a long corridor and he opened the second door on the left. "That first door goes into a place you don't want to see. My room is down there." He pointed to a door decorated with the Slytherin seal. The two walked in and Draco set her stuff at the foot of the bed.
"Thanks, but you didn't have to actually carry those, you know," Camille smiled.
Draco shrugged. "I need to build these muscles somehow."
"What muscles?" Cam asked. She meant it to be sarcastic, but for some reason it came out as a flirty, air-headed question. She mentally smacked herself in the forehead.
"My arms, stupid," Draco answered jokingly. "What other muscles was I using?"
Camille, flustered by her dumb remark, snapped back. "Draco! I'm not dumb!"
Draco smiled at her ad rolled his eyes. "I'm kidding, Cami. Don't get you knickers in a wad."
"You could get it out," Camille muttered. Luckily, Draco hadn't heard her.
"Well, are you going to unpack or stand there gawking all night?"
"I'll need help."
"Okay. Fine by me. Keeps me away from my parents longer." Draco tossed two of the trunks onto the bed, which jumped from the sudden weight forced upon it.
"Please, don't break the bed. I'll be needing that."
"Sorry," he smiled, sheepishly.
"Don't worry about it." Camille opened the trunk closest to her, and began moving the shirts and dresses into her closet, which was absolutely monstrous.
Draco took the other trunk that was filled with items from her room. He ran across a diary, and nearly opened it until his gentlemanly side kicked in. He saw pictures of her with friends at Beaubatons who were all laughing at something, a picture of her at the top of the Eiffel Tower. Much to his delight, he found a picture of he and Cami at age 5 or 6, with their arms slung around each other in a tight hug, and their faces pressed cheek to cheek with big, childish grins. The next picture however brought forth a surge of jealousy within him. It was Camille, probably only a little over a year ago (and very pretty, despite the "ugly phase"), and some handsome Frenchman. The man had his arms wrapped around her waist, and as she smiled for the camera, he placed a kiss on the juncture of her neck and shoulder, then her cheek.
Draco quickly put the pictures down and continued to unpack the trunk. He finished and moved onto the last trunk. He lifted out the pants, dress and casual, and put them in the dresser. He then ran across all of her bras and knickers. After seriously considering stealing a pair, he figured he'd put on a charade. He scrunched his face into a look of disgust and threw the pair he was holding onto the bed. "I think I've unpacked all I can."
Camille turned toward him, growing a deep scarlet. She chuckled nervously. "Here. Finish with these. I'll get those." She rushed over to the other side of the bed and hastily put her unmentionables into an empty drawer in her dresser. Draco meanwhile hung the remaining dresses in the closet, including beautiful, flowing blue dress robes. He held them up and asked, "What are these for?"
"You don't know?" Cam asked in reply, setting a trunk on the floor at the foot of her bed. She plopped onto the bed lying on her back. "Hogwarts is holding another Yule Ball, and is inviting Beaubatons and Durmstrang again as well."
"Oh, should be interesting." 'I'm gonna make sure she is my date, not that fluff ball's,' he thought, scowling at the thought of that Frenchman.
"By the way, I had a great time tonight. You're a fabulous dancer, Drake."
"Thanks." Draco joined her on the bed, and stared up at the ceiling. "I can say the same for myself, Cami. Most fun I've had in a while."
"I guess we're going to have to put on a good charade for your parents, huh?" Cam rolled over onto her side, propping up on an elbow, and looked at him.
"Guess so," Draco replied, continuing to stare at the ceiling, afraid to look at her because of how her cleavage was amplified given her current position.
"How do we do it?"
"Do what…?"
"Our fake relationship, silly."
"Oh." Draco's eyes saddened at the mention of fake, but quickly concealed it. "Make it look as real as possible I suppose."
"I know that. It's just we have three weeks until term begins. How far do we have to go?" She was anxious, and Draco knew it. He wondered what could possibly have this beautiful witch so nervous. He would never hurt her, nor go anywhere she didn't want to go.
"As far as it takes us, I guess," Draco replied, leaving the answer open to make her feel more comfortable.
"Sounds like a plan. Well, it's late and I suppose I should get ready for bed."
"Alright. I'll see you in the morning then."
" 'Kay," Cam replied, standing up. She pulled Draco into a tight hug. "It was great to see you again."
"Yeah. You too." Draco then left the room.
Camille sat back down on her bed. She stared at the ceiling thinking about things. 'Why does mother always have to interfere with my personal life?' She took the pictures, her and Draco and her and Maurice(the Frenchman), and set them side by side on her bedside table. Camille grabbed her PJs, robe, and toiletries and headed to the door that led to the bathroom. She entered the room, the mirror fogged up. Lost in her own train of thought, she began to remove her dress, letting it fall into a pool at her feet. She stepped out, ready to take a nice relaxing shower. She then loosened the corset her mother put her in, sighing in relief as it fell from her body. Then the shower door opened. Camille gasped, spun around only to be greeted by Draco, clad in nothing but a towel. She immediately blushed a furious crimson, and hastily covered her bare chest. Draco stood there, a shocked look on his face.
"Uhh…erm…" he stammered.
"Oh! I'm sorry! I had no idea you were in here!" said speedily, grabbing her belongings, and rushing back into her room.
Draco stood like an idiot, blinking as the door slammed in his face. He looked around, and noticed the corset on the floor. 'Her mother made her wear one of those things? I thought those went out of style 2oo years ago! And my God, Camille doesn't even need one!' He went back to his room and dressed in his PJ bottoms and a T-shirt.
Meanwhile, Cam was walking about her room, her robe tied securely about her middle. She was still the color of a tomato, and continued to grow redder at the thought of what could be behind that towel. She chastised herself for even thinking it. Well, it's not like she hasn't seen Draco naked before, but it was when they were six, and things haven't changed then there was no way he could be the Slytherin Sex God. Suddenly there was a knock at her door. Cam opened the door and saw Draco, toweling his platinum blonde hair.
"Yes?"
"Cami, I just wanted to say sorry. I'm not used to sharing a bathroom. I thought for sure you could hear the water running."
"Well, someone, aka my mother, must have put a spell on it. But you could've told me we would be sharing a bathroom," Cam replied, perturbed. She wouldn't look him in the eye; afraid she might get too mad. She hated her time of the month.
Draco took advantage of her lack of engagement, to let his eyes roam over her body. "I know. I'm sorry, Cami. Like I said, I'm not used to it," he answered as he took in the expanse of her legs, barely covered in her mid-thigh length robe. His eyes continued upward over the flat plain of her stomach, to the swell of her chest, which was rising and falling at a fast tempo. He finally took in her face, her full lips , the way she was chewing on the bottom one in annoyance, her nose and the light smattering of freckles across her cheeks, those piercing blue eyes which were now looking at him dead on. And then her hair that fell in soft ringlets around her face. 'Her mother is such a bitch for making her feel so inferior.'
Cam had just done the same thing. "Don't worry about it," she mumbled, losing herself in the sight before her. His long legs, though hidden by baggy PJs, were no doubt muscular. His stomach, flat and chiseled with a six pack, his shoulders broad and masculine. His arms were sculpted and strong. His face would make Adonis jealous; his jaw was angular and sharp but had a softness to it. As she looked closely, she saw the faint hint of blonde stubble. His cheekbones were strong, and his eyes were a shining grey, almost like silver. Lastly his hair was a soft blonde that hung shaggily around his eyes. "Well, I'm getting in the shower for your reference. I'll see you in the morning."
"Sure thing, Cami. Goodnight."
Nearly a week had passed, and it was a dreary Saturday. In that time, the two spent a majority of their time putting on a charade for Lucius and Narcissa. They flirted shamelessly with one another, and even had held hands casually at a benefit the Malfoys had thrown for the Dark cause. Cam had always dismissed any advance from Draco when not in front of his parents, brushing it off and heading into her room. Cam woke to the sound of rain pelting her window. She laid in her bed, and thought of the events of the benefit the previous evening.
The beautifully sunny evening was filled with the sounds of Caribbean music. Cam found it amusing that this happy music was playing at a benefit for the most evil person to walk the earth. Whatever. She was going to have fun anyway. It was the most social even she got to go to since she arrived, and Cam was excited at the prospect of meeting other Hogwarts students.
She and Draco milled among the guests, Draco playing the responsible host. A majority of her parents' colleagues bombarded Cam, each and every one of them checking to see if she had the Dark Mark yet. Sneering slightly when they realized she did not, carried on conversations with her that made Camille want to scream.
The party dragged on, Camille's feet groaning in protest as she was asked to dance again and again with the various wizards, young and old. All of the Death Eaters were excited to see Cam there, in hopes she would join their cause. She had danced with Draco several times; he always seemed to save her from the drunken older gentlemen. She had danced with Blaise Zabini, a handsome friend of Draco's with dark curly hair and olive skin. She even mustered fake enthusiasm when she was asked to dance by Lucius. Camille ended up enjoying herself, laughing with Blaise, Draco, Millicent, and even her gem of a cousin Pansy. Draco kept her hand firmly in his but never entwining his fingers with hers, deterring Pansy from her ongoing quest to bed him.
Finally, the guests left, and Draco and Camille set off to retire for the evening. Having flirted all night long, the two were on a bit of a lust high. Draco stopped outside Cam's door and told her goodnight. She leaned against the door frame, as Draco leaned on the wall, one hand beside her head. As they chattered their goodnights, the space between their faces got progressively smaller. They looked intently at one another, lust smoldering in their eyes. Eventually, their foreheads were touching, his free hand resting on near the middle of her ribcage. Their noses touched, their breath mixed together in the little space between them and smelled of a mixture of fruity alcoholic daiquiris. Draco went to close the gap between their faces, but Cam snapped out of it turning quickly, and ducked under Draco's arm and went into he room snapping the door closed in his shocked face.
Meanwhile, as Cam was in bed, Draco walked into the dining room, greeting both of his parents and kissing his mother on the cheek.
"How's the plan working out, my sweet?" Narcissa asked Draco.
"Well, I think it's going rather well. She's being a little resistant, but that's expected I guess. Almost got her to kiss me last night, but she 'came to her senses' and ducked out on me. She'll submit eventually."
"Well, I believe that first date is in order," Narcissa replied, a smirk crossing her features.