I gasp, and slowly, the light starts coming back into my eyes. As the scene before me finally starts coming into focus, I can see that Harry and Draco are standing right in front of me, both of them looking very concerned. "Jayde", Draco says, his hand gripped around my left arm, "Are you alright?" I nod my head, and when my eyes have fully finished focusing I notice just how strange the scene in front of me is. Harry and Draco, and I are all drenched, as are the walls and floor in the hallway. Harry's nose is bleeding, as is Draco's bottom lip. Both their wands are lying on the floor at the bottom of the stairs; it looks like they abandoned them and resorted to fist fighting, instead.
"What happened?" I ask quietly.
"Your eyes turned white", Draco says, "And it was raining in the hallway".
"I'd gathered that much", I say, "What happened to you two?"
"We were arguing", Harry says, "But not anymore, it's over now".
"Just arguing?" I ask, raising my eyebrows. Harry nods his head, and Draco quickly does the same.
"Oh, so that explains why you're both bleeding", I say matter-of-factly. Both boys quickly press their hands to their faces and pull them away before staring down at their blood-covered fingers. Realizing they've been caught, they look at each other before looking back at me.
"I'm sorry", Draco says quickly, "I just didn't like what he said to you".
"But you promised you wouldn't fight him", I say sadly.
"Jayde, it's my fault", Harry says, "He was just defending you; I'm sorry, I shouldn't have called you a slag, I was just angry. If you were my girlfriend and someone else called you that, I'd have done the same thing". As Harry says this, Draco's eyes begin to bulge and his eyebrows furrow.
He turns his eyes away from me and the look he gives Harry tells me he's clearly amazed by what he's just said. "Harry, I may be dating Draco, but I still want to be your friend", I say quietly. I look into his eyes, and he looks into mine.
He nods his head, but then says, "Ok, but don't expect me to be friends with him".
"Ok", I say, "But can the two of you at least try not to fight?" At this I turn to look at Draco.
"Yes", Draco says firmly, "We can try, but I can't promise you that we'll never fight".
"Yeah", Harry says, "That's just not possible, it's like telling a dog not to chase a cat…or ferret". For some reason, this statement makes Draco angry, but he says nothing.
Then I say, "It would really make me happy if the two of you would apologize to each other". They both stare at me like I've lost my mind, but when they realize I'm not joking they look at each other and mumble a quick "Sorry", before clearing their throats and looking back at me. I giggle at their behavior and quickly cover my mouth. Harry and Draco both smile at me. "You two had better get this mess cleaned up", I say quietly, "I left my wand in my room". So both the boys turn and walk down the stairs, pick up their wands, and use the drying charm to get all the water off the floor and walls, as well as themselves.
When they're done, Harry says he's going up to Gryffindor tower to get cleaned up and walks off. Then Draco walks over to me and uses the drying charm to dry my clothes before asking if I'm sure I'm alright. I insist that I am and then tell him we should probably go get something to clean his bloody lip with. He tells me he's fine, but I insist that he let me clean his lip. I grab him by the hand and lead him up the stairs to the girl's bathroom on the second floor. Though he refuses to come in at first, I tell him there's no chance of him being seen because nobody ever comes in this bathroom because it's haunted. With an unsure expression on his face, he finally lets me pull him inside. Once in the bathroom, I lead him over to the sinks and leave him there; I go grab a piece of toilet paper from one of the stalls to clean his lip with. When I get back to the sinks I open one of the faucets and run a small amount of water on the toilet paper, and then proceed to wipe the blood away from his lip. He winces when I first touch his lip with the toilet paper, and I call him a big baby.
When I've finished cleaning the blood off him, I lower my hand and walk away to throw the toilet paper in the trash can. When I turn around to walk back to him, I find him directly behind me, which startles me. "Sorry", he says, before placing his hand on my face and pulling me into a kiss. The kiss starts out simple enough, but within moments we're snogging passionately. My heart starts beating faster as we continue to snog; I've got butterflies in my stomach.
Finally, we hear someone say, "Ooh, snogging in my bathroom, is we?", and turn to see the ghost of the bathroom, Moaning Myrtle, floating towards us. She has absolutely got to have the worst timing of all the Hogwarts Ghosts, I think to myself.
"Sorry, Myrtle", I say quietly, embarrassed, "We were just leaving", and I take Draco's hand and pull him out of the bathroom; he's still sopping from the indoor rain shower I created. Laughing, we walk down the second floor hallway and back to the grand staircase.
"What do you want to do now?" he asks me.
"I suppose I'd better get up to Gryffindor tower and get ready for bed", I say quietly.
"Ok", he says, "I'll walk you up there", and we start climbing the stairs towards the Gryffindor common room. Several students who are on their way back from dinner are walking behind us; I can hear them whispering about us, but I pay it no mind. As we walk, I ask Draco a few questions about himself and his life prior to meeting me. He tells me his favorite color is green and he likes playing Quidditch in his spare time. He starts talking about the upcoming game between Slytherin and Ravenclaw, and he says he thinks Slytherin's got a chance at winning the championship this year. He says that, as he's team captain and seeker, he'll have lots of practices coming up. Having Harry, the Gryffindor team captain and seeker, as one of my friends, I already knew all this information, but I don't say anything and let Draco keep talking.
When he's done, I ask him what his middle name is, to which he proudly responds, "Lucius". He tells me that's his Father's name, which is why his parents chose it. Then he asks my middle name, and I quietly tell him it's 'Alyssa'. He tells me that's a lovely name, and by this point we've reached the portrait of the Fat Lady.
"Wait here", I say, "And I'll go get your cloak".
"No", he says, "You keep it for now". I ask him if he's sure about that, to which he responds, "Yes, you hold on to it for me until I need it again, ok."
"Ok", I say. We stand there by the portrait silently for a moment before I say, "I should probably get to bed", to which he responds, "Ok". He pulls me close to him and gives me a kiss on the forehead. Several passing students stop and stare at us as he does so, but I ignore them. "Goodnight", he says quietly.
"Goodnight", I say smiling, and I give the Fat Lady the password and climb through the portrait hole. As I lay in bed trying to get to sleep, I keep going over all the day's events in my head; it all seems unreal to me. Just twenty-four hours ago, I was at the ball, single. I'd never shagged, or kissed, or held hands with a boy in my life; I'd never had a boyfriend. And now, here I am lying in my bed. I have a boyfriend, who I've already shagged (though I'm not proud of that), held hands with, and kissed dozens of times. I can't believe I'd actually had the nerve to hold his hand or kiss him; and I don't know what I'm doing when it comes to snogging. But for some reason, the fact that I've never kissed before doesn't matter with him; although I do get nervous about it, I'm not afraid to do it. Apparently the normal rules of dating don't apply when you've already shagged the person; it's hard to feel uncomfortable holding hands with or kissing someone who's already seen everything there is to see about you.
Trying not to let my imagination run away with me, I look over to my right and see Draco's cloak, which I've folded up and laid on my dresser. I reach out and pull it onto the bed with me and sniff the collar of it before putting it back on my dresser and swearing to myself that I won't do that again. I feel ridiculous for doing it, but he smells so good! Or, at least, his cologne does. His scent makes my heart flutter. After an hour or so, the fluttering in my heart subsides and I fall asleep.
When I wake up in the morning my heart starts fluttering again. I get dressed, grab my books, and go down to the Great Hall for breakfast. All my friends bid me Good Morning, and I sit down and start eating. When I feel Draco's eyes on me this time, I smile. When I've finished eating, I rest my head in my hands and wait for my friends to finish eating so we can walk to class together. After a few minutes, Harry says, "Jayde", and when I look up at him he points to the area to the right of my head. I turn around and look up to see Draco standing there, smiling down at me.
"Can I walk you to class?" he asks cheerfully.
"Ok", I say, and he extends his right hand to help me up from the table. I take his hand, turn, and stand up. Then I release his hand and turn. "Just let me grab my books", I say.
"No, don't", he responds, "I've got them".
"What?" I ask him, "Your arm's already full with your books. I can carry my own".
"No", he says, and he sets his books down on the table, grabs mine and stacks them on top of his, and scoops all the books up with his right arm. Then he turns away from the table, extends his left hand for me to take, and starts leading me out of the Great Hall. I can feel nearly every eye in the school upon us, and that would normally upset me, but for some reason it doesn't when I'm with him. When we get into the entrance hall, Draco leads me through the double doors and out into the courtyard. We walk over to the same bench we sat on yesterday, and he sits our books down in between us.
"How were your night and morning?" he asks me.
"Ok", I say, before asking how his were. He tells me his night and morning were fine also, and then he asks if he can have a kiss. I oblige, but don't allow the kiss to last for long so we won't be late for class. A few minutes later, we stand up and walk through the crowded entrance hall and towards the Defense against the Dark Arts classroom; Slytherin and Gryffindor take this class together. When we reach the classroom, Draco places my books at my usual seat before taking his own.
When the teacher releases us, he walks back over to my seat and takes my books without saying a word before extending his hand for me to take again. We walk out of the classroom together and Draco starts complaining about the huge pile of homework the teacher's just assigned us. I ask him which class he has next, and he tells me that he's got a free period before his next class. I, however, have Herbology with the Hufflepuffs next, so he walks me down to the greenhouses and gives me a kiss on the cheek before handing me my books and walking away.
When I get out of Herbology I halfway expect to see him standing outside the greenhouse, but he isn't, so I assume he's in class. I have a break before Charms, but I go ahead to the classroom early to study before class starts. After Charms, I walk up to the Great Hall for lunch with Hermione; Harry, and Ron aren't taking N.E.W.T. level Charms.
When we reach the Great Hall, Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Seamus are already sitting at the table. As we approach, Ginny calls out, "Well if it isn't one-half of Jayco. Or Drayde".
"What?" I ask.
"That's what I heard some fifth-year Ravenclaws call the two of you this morning. I think it has a nice ring to it". Blushing, I tell her to shut up and sit down beside her.
"I'm only joking", she says, "It's my job to give you grief every day until you dump the git".
"Well that's enough grief for one day", I say. I start eating as soon as the food appears on my plate, and less than five minutes after I've finished eating, Draco walks up behind me and gives me a quick peck on my left cheek. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Ginny roll her eyes as he does so.
"Hello, beautiful", he says smiling, "Having a good day?" I nod my head in response. Would you like to take a walk with me?" he asks.
"Yeah, ok", I say quietly, and he scoops my books up again and extends his free hand for me to take. I feel all the eyes of the school upon us again as we walk out of the Great Hall, and when we get into the entrance hall I ask if he's heard our nicknames yet.
"Which one?" he asks, "Drayde or Jayco?"
"Ok, so you have heard them", I say quietly.
"Yeah, they don't bother me, though", he says, "I want the whole world to know you're mine, and if it takes a couple of silly nicknames for that to happen, so be it". I smile at him bashfully; I can feel myself blushing. We walk out into the courtyard and sit on that same bench again, and a few minutes later an owl flies over and lands beside me with a letter in his beak. I take the letter from him and he flies away. When I open the letter, I realize it's from Mrs. McGreggor, and I begin reading it earnestly. She is absolutely thrilled to learn that I have a boyfriend. I laugh at the third line of her letter: 'I told you transferring to Hogwarts would be good for you', after which she put no less than 10 exclamation points.
"Who's your letter from, dear? Mrs. McGreggor or Ms. Fitzpatrick?" Draco asks when he sees me smiling.
Shocked that he remembers their names from our conversation last night, I glance over at him and say, "Mrs. McGreggor", before looking back at the letter.
"What did she say that was so funny?" he asks.
"Um…nothing", I say. Not wanting him to know that I've already written home about him, I quickly fold the letter up and tuck it in the pocket in my skirt.
"It's about me, isn't it?" he asks playfully.
"No", I say slowly, but I can't help but to laugh and blush when I look at him, which gives me away.
"It is!" he says, widening his eyes and smile. I laugh at his expression and bury my face in my hands. "What's it say about me?" he asks.
"Nothing", I say, still laughing. He reaches over and starts tickling my sides, making me squirm and giggle. "Stop!" I say between bursts of laughter.
"Not until you tell me what it says!" he answers. Trying to escape, I stand up, but Draco saw it coming. Before I can even take two steps, he's grabbed my left arm and pulled me back to him. Afraid he's going to start tickling me again, I try to pull away, but he places his right hand on my waist and pulls me close. He stares into my eyes for a moment before pressing his lips against mine firmly, and within seconds we're in the midst of another full-blown snogging session. He now places his left hand on the other side of my waist and pulls me closer to him; I wrap my arms around his neck in response.
Just as I start to think how wonderful this feels, he slowly pulls away from me. I feel his left hand moving on my hip, and the next thing I know he's pulled Mrs. McGreggor's letter out of my pocket and run away with it, laughing. "You cheated!" I say loudly.
"How?" he asks from across the courtyard.
"You distracted me!" I reply. He laughs.
"I'm not going to read it", he says, "I'm going to use it as blackmail".
"Blackmail?" I ask. "Yeah", he says, "If you don't snog me like your life depends on it every time I ask, I'm gonna read it". I cross my arms.
"Perhaps I need to remind you that I was snogging you until you stopped and took my letter, and I was rather enjoying it, too", I say with a mock tone of anger in my voice. His entire expression changes when I say this. His eyes widen and his smile fades, his face taking on a more serious expression. With his eyes focused exactly on mine, he walks back over to me in a straight line with a strange look on his face. He flings my letter over onto the bench unimportantly, walks up to me and places his hands on my waist before lifting me into the air. He carries me over to the tree that sits behind the bench and gently presses me up against it. He starts snogging me fiercely, more passionately than he ever has, other than when we were shagging the other night.
We come up for air a few moments later and stare into each other's eyes, both of us breathing heavily. He starts snogging me again and I wrap my arms around his neck before sliding my left hand into his hair and pulling him closer to me. Still enjoying this, he starts kissing me with even more force. After a few moments, I realize we're going to be late for class if this continues. "Draco", I say quietly between kisses, "We have… to get… to class". He stops kissing me and looks into my eyes.
"Ok, sorry", he says, and he gently sets me back on the ground and removes his hands from my waist. Dazed, we walk back over to the bench, Draco picks up our books and hands me my letter, and I take his hand as we walk back into the castle. "So what does the letter say?" he asks a few moments later.
"You're not going to give up, are you?" I ask.
"No", he says smiling.
I roll my eyes at him and then say, "She was just saying she's happy for me".
"What's so horrible about that?" he asks, "Why didn't you want to tell me?"
"It's embarrassing!" I exclaim.
"Ah, I see", he says, "You didn't want me to know you'd already written home about me. You thought I'd think you were obsessed or something". My eyebrows furrow as he says this. That's exactly what I'd been thinking, how does he know? Almost as if he'd heard my thoughts, he quickly says, "I felt the same way yesterday when I sent my parents a letter about you".
"You told your parents about me?" I ask quietly, amazed.
"Well, actually…" he begins, "I told them about you over Christmas break. But I sent them a letter yesterday and told them that we're dating".
"Wait", I say smiling, "You told your parents about me before you even asked me out?"
"Oh, don't act so surprised", he says, "I told you I've been crazy about you since I met you". I can't help but be flattered.
"So what did you tell your parents about me?" I ask.
"Just that you're beautiful and I wanted to ask you out, but I didn't have the nerve because I knew you'd say no…because at the time I thought you liked Potter", he says.
"And what did they say to that?" I ask.
"Well, my Father said, 'Son you're 17 years old. If you don't man up and ask her, how can you expect her to say yes? If she's as beautiful as you say she is, all your waiting is doing is giving Potter a chance to ask her.'", he says. I laugh at the impersonation he does of his Father's voice but quickly cover my mouth. "And my Mother said, 'Draco if you like her all that much you should stop moping about and ask her. You won't know until you try! Why don't you ask her to the ball? That'd be a great chance to get to know her. Who knows, maybe she likes you, too. Any girl would be crazy not to like my son. She is a pureblood though, isn't she?'", he continues.
Although it makes me a little uncomfortable that his Mother felt it necessary to ask if I'm a pureblood, I can't help but laugh as he impersonates her voice, too. By now, we've reached our classroom and Draco sets my books on my desk once we've walked inside. Then he flashes me a quick smile before walking to his seat. After class, he once again scoops up my books and takes my hand, leading me out into the hallway. "Well, my classes are done for the day", he says, "How about you?" I tell him I've still got one more class left, and he immediately starts leading me to it.
We hear several students whisper "Jayco", or "Drayde", as we walk, and look at each other laughing each time. When we reach the door to my classroom, he hands me my books and gives me a quick peck on the cheek. "I've got Quidditch practice this afternoon", he says, "So I'll be down at the pitch until dinner, but you can come watch the practice if you'd like". I tell him that I've got a lot of homework and studying to do, but that if I have some free time I'll go watch his practice. He flashes me a quick smile and gives me another peck on the cheek before walking away.
