All the next day he'd been preoccupied with mulling over her question. 'What do you fear Draco Malfoy? What pedestrian things still your heart?' He knew what he feared, knew what chilled him to his core. Stole the breath from his lungs. But it was anything but pedestrian. Her question had him questioning himself. Was there anything that merely scared him? He didn't think so, no. He frowned at the thought.
Katrina had been watching him intently since he'd deigned it appropriate to leave his dormitory that morning. She didn't pretend to look away, didn't try to catch his eye. She did not glance coquettishly at him. She watched him. Watched as he seemed to puzzle over something, a small frown on his face. She wondered if her question had really been that difficult. Or was it not related to her at all.
"You know Katrina," her brother drawled from his place beside the pale boy, "if you don't stop staring at Malfoy someone may think you like him."
Draco was drawn out of his thoughts at the mention of his name, his eyes snapped immediately to her face where he found that she was still watching him. He cleared his throat at the realisation, looking to the smirking fool beside him.
"Zabini-"
"Yes." They answered in unison
Blaise's smirk widened into a broad grin when he saw the smallest twitch of discomfort from Draco.
"Is something the matter Draco?" she asked, all the while watching his face.
He cleared his throat again, refocusing his attention on her. If he didn't know better he'd have thought that there was a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips.
"No, nothing."
"You seem to just be a fountain of information." She quipped, looking back at him from under her long eyelashes.
He felt heat rise to his cheeks and prayed to Merlin that no one would notice the no doubt slightly pink tinge. But if the smug smile on her face was anything to go by, his prayers had not been answered.
He stiffened when Blaise clapped a hand on his back. "Don't let her pick on you Draco."
For his part Draco ignored him. For the first time that morning his focus was on the person who'd had him thinking as opposed to the things she's said to him the previous night. She seemed to have taken some small measure of joy from making him squirm as the smile never fully slid from her face as she engaged her brother in conversation. He thought she had fully lost interest in whatever it was that had drawn her attention to him that morning when he saw her eyes leave her brother completely and settle on him for what felt like hours.
Her stare was bold and unabashed and from his place, at the table, he could see that her eyes weren't the pitch black depths he'd thought them to be. No, under permanently hooded lids her eyes were a dark brown, much darker than her brother's, Draco noted.
He noticed her appraisal of him, her eyes taking their time to run over him. From head to chest and back again before once again settling on grey eyes.
Silently, without so much as a word to him or her brother she rose from the table, her two semi-permanent companions rising with her. He watched her until she disappeared from the hall, noting how, not for the first time, she appeared to tower over the other two, even though one of them was about the same height.
If Blaise had noticed Draco's attention on his sister he never showed any indication.
It was during their Defense Against the Dark Arts class that Draco had decided that she was toying with him.
The class had been divided into pairs. Each to work as a team to disarm another pair. It was never called into question that Katrina and Blaise would be paired together but Draco had been paired with Granger and the four of them lumped together. He'd sneered at the Gryffindor when she brought her things over to where he sat with a huff. She was not alone in her frustration.
Katrina sat whispering conspiratorially with her brother. Well, Blaise was the one whispering and gesturing towards the odd pair while Katrina idly nodded or smirked in response, all the while her eyes focused on the front. Draco had been stealing glances at her all day. First in their Transfiguration class and now in DADA as well. He'd never had to fight himself so hard to keep his eyes off of her. Over the years, despite his fascination, he'd had some level of distance between them and while he'd generally say that he had observed her over the years he'd never actually watched her. Not really. Not until now.
He shook his head as though the action would clear his thoughts, running pale fingers through his fine platinum hair. Beside him, Granger was yammering on about which spells she thought would be prudent to remember and questioning him on his wand movement. He'd looked at her then, the insufferable know-it-all, lips curled back in a sneer that threatened to become a snarl. He'd been in the middle of giving Granger a piece of his mind when Katrina's eyes, for the briefest of moments, had slid to him. He'd never noticed.
Professor Snape drew his attention away from the dressing down he was giving Granger to explain the rules of the exercise. They were to use spells that would be reasonably easy to deflect, nothing that would cause loss of life or limb and lastly the quartet was to work together until the end of the class, hopefully ensuring that each person had worked with every member of the group.
At that Draco had looked at the twins and smirked, at least he wouldn't be alone in dealing with the overbearing know-it-all.
The room separated into its groups, the tables and chairs being assembled along the walls of the room to ensure them space to move freely.
"You may begin as soon as you are ready. Remember that the rules of wizarding duels do apply."
Draco sized up Blaise, the two boys facing each other. The other boy and himself were of about the same height although Blaise was a bit more muscular where he was lean. Bowing lowly to each other they assumed their stances, his wand pointing at Blaise while Granger's pointed at Katrina. He and Granger had unleashed their spells with near perfect synchronicity, he realized grudgingly. What he had not been prepared for was the stinging hex that came hurtling into his chest from Blaise's right. His eyes snapped to her smirking face quickly.
"You'll have to do better than that Malfoy."
He hated the way his surname sounded coming from her lips. Hated how it seemed so impersonal. Something he'd never been bothered by previously. It wasn't like how she seemed to purr Draco.
The four exchanged spells for a bit and it quickly dawned on Draco just how brilliant and underhanded Katrina was. While he and Granger were not dimwits by any stretch, the two had struggled quite a bit to keep up with the twins as they launched non-verbal spells quicker than he thought possible. Something else they seemed to be employing was teamwork he'd never attempt to get from Granger. The two didn't strictly defend themselves as he and Granger did but instead defended each other and attacked both of their opponents.
A furious scream could be heard to his right. Caught off guard he'd looked to see what the muggle-born witch could possibly be bellowing about to find himself disarmed as well. It seemed like Katrina had disarmed Granger and the Gryffindor was none too pleased to have been bested by the Slytherins. Granger had scrambled to pick her wand up from the floor before retreating to one of the seats that now lined the walls. No doubt the weak girl would need rest. How pathetic.
Looking back to the dark pair before him he watched, not even slightly amused, as Katrina twisted his wand between her fingers. Her hair had seemed to grow larger from her efforts in the duel and now she stood before him, a thunderstorm once more, energy seeming to radiate from her body.
She'd tossed it back to him after catching his eye.
"So, Malfoy, ready to be my partner?"
He stiffened a bit at her use of his last name again. Walking over to her he watched as she watched him. She was clearly amused, a rear public grin transforming her features. He stood a mere foot from her now, actively trying to mimic their closeness from last night. Looking down his nose at her he tried to appear imposing, tried to swell himself up with a combination of ego and reputation.
"The real question is Zabini," his words were drawled and deliberate "are you ready to be mine?"
She tilted her head to the side then, regarding him, features growing serious once more although her eyes danced with mirth. She'd taken another step closer to him then, her body was tantalizingly close to his, he could practically feel the energy radiating from her, causing goosebumps to cover his arms and chest.
"That's not something you could ever be prepared for."
Before he could respond she had backed away and turned to face the unlikely pair of Blaise and Granger. Blaise's face was contorted with anger, wand clenched at his side, eyes boring holes through Draco's skull. Turning to face his longtime friend he realised that he was going to be in for the fight of his life.
The duel with Blaise had been quick but punishing. In his anger his friend had gotten sloppy, he yelled his attacks and resorted to more dangerous spells, though none that would leave him an amputee. Just very uncomfortable. He grimaced at the thought of the hex the boy had sent towards his crotch. Soon thereafter Draco had been able to take the upper hand and disarm him while Katrina once again embarrassed Granger.
Finally, it was Draco and Blaise against Katrina and Granger. He was positive that they could beat the two witches, neither appearing particularly fond of the other. Whatever funk Blaise had worked himself into he'd seemed to get out of by the time they were ready for their last brawl.
The twins stood directly across from each other, leaving Draco and Granger to be rivals. How fitting. But they'd made a dire miscalculation. The boys had decided that they would work much like the twins had and would focus on getting Granger out first so that they could make quick work of Katrina. What neither of them had been counting on was Katrina sacrificing Granger. She'd had ample time to throw up a protection charm against the two boys but had merely watched as their united shouts of 'Expelliarmus' had culminated in a strong scarlet light hitting the smaller girl in the chest, her wand clattering to the floor and throwing her back a few feet. So when she hadn't done what they thought she would do they were more than a little shocked when Blaise's wand went flying from his hand as his sister disarmed him wordlessly.
Now it was just the two of them. And he made the error of misjudging her again. He'd shot a somewhat harmless stinging hex towards her chest but she didn't put up a protection charm as he had thought. She had anticipated his movements, had waited patiently for him to be mid cast before she'd pivoted to the left, dodging the spell entirely to send him flying back with a disarming charm of her own.
"20 points to Slytherin," Snape said coolly, eyeing Katrina with approval, his head dipping in an almost imperceptible nod that was returned just as discreetly.
Draco looked around then to see that the rest of the class had been watching the duel. He'd noted that Potter and the Weasel had seemed particularly pleased at his defeat as they coddled Granger who was once again sat against the wall.
From his place on the floor, he watched as Katrina packed her things quickly and left with her brother by her side without so much as a glance back.
When Draco returned to the commons that night, he realised immediately that she wasn't in her usual spot in front of the fire. He wondered briefly if she had retired to her dorm but dismissed the thought. He hoped she'd gone to the Astronomy Tower again. Slowly, he crept his way through the shadows, not eager to attract any attention to himself after curfew.
She was there again, back to him once more as she sat a bit further back from the railing this time, feet folded beneath her. He'd just watched her for several minutes, replaying the events of the day.
"That's not something you could ever be prepared for."
The way her face had slipped into an apathetic mask would have bothered him if he had not seen the mirth still dancing in her eyes, had not felt the crackle of her energy on his skin. He shuddered at the thought, the goosebumps reclaiming his skin once more.
"Are you just gonna stare at the back of my head or are you going to join me?"
She'd managed to do it again, startled him from his thoughts as he watched her. He'd been positive that she hadn't known that he was there.
Looking back at her now he saw that she was standing, stretching her body in the most catlike way. He smirked, how fitting.
She was still backing him, 'probably intentionally so,' he thought to himself.
"Discovered any pedestrian fears within yourself yet Malfoy."
He was thankful that her back was to him as a grimace marred his face. He really, hated when she called him Malfoy.
"Draco," he intoned.
She turned to look at him now, her head once more cocked to the side. 'She really is a cat,' he thought, resisting the urge to smile at the quirk. Her eyes were intense, the tints of brown absent in the dark of the night. He felt as though he was being examined as she stared at him without speaking.
"Draco," she said simply.
He stepped closer to her now, wanting to be near to her, wanting to touch her.
"I like it when you say my name," he murmured, taking a few more steps in her direction before finally standing as close as he had earlier that day in class.
A smile tugged at her lips then, "It is a nice name, as far as names go."
He smiled back at her, his heartbeat speeding up.
"Well Draco, are you going to answer my question?"
It took everything in him not to lean down and kiss her. Her lips looked amazing. Soft, and plump and…
"Draco."
His eyes snapped back up to hers and he took a step back quickly. He could feel himself being drawn to her, could feel himself becoming completely wrapped up in all that is Katrina.
His face was a stony mask as he watched her, not trusting himself to not touch her.
"If I didn't know any better Draco, I'd think your pedestrian fear was me," she said, taking a step towards him, there was even less distance than there'd been before.
He closed his eyes and licked his lips, taking a deep breath to steady himself when his world skidded to an abrupt halt. She was kissing him, her lips even softer than he could have ever imagined. Her hands warm and pulling his face down to hers. He nipped at her bottom lip, quickly sucking it into his mouth. She tasted of caramel and cinnamon. It was a deep moan from her that threatened to destroy his self-control. Grabbing her by the waist he pulled her closer, deepening the kiss.
She pulled away abruptly, a look that resembled fear clouding her features before a cold one took its place. She turned to leave without another word but he grabbed her by the arm.
"Katrina wait! Did I do something wrong? Did I-"
She wrenched her arm from his grasp taking a step backwards to put more distance between them.
"Don't," her voice quavered and for the first time that he could remember, he saw the vulnerability that lay just below the surface of her cold apathy.
"You can't touch me there," she said, her voice stronger now, pointedly avoiding meeting his eyes.
And then she was gone, and he was more confused than ever.
