"Umm, hello," She said, nervously looking him up and down.

He was wearing a bright, Slytherin green t-shirt, and black skinny jeans.

"Hi," was all he said, smiling at her warmly, lighting up his usually cold, grey eyes.

He sat down softly on the grass, patting the spot beside him as if motioning for her to follow suit. She did so, and stared out over the lake, watching the small ripples created by the light breeze.

"I'm glad you came, I was worried you wouldn't want to…" he said, skimming a pebble over the surface of the water.

"I-It's okay. I kind of had guesses, well I s-suppose more sort of h-hopes that it was you…"

"You did?" He said, looking at her with shining eyes.

"Y-yes." She averted her eyes away from him, her cheeks turning a light shade of red.

"Well, I guess it's time to face the music," Draco turned to look back to the water, "It's only fair that I say this to you through spoken words and not writing…"

Ebony giggled, "Especially as your hand writing is dreadful!"

He playfully hit her when she said this, "Hey! I tried didn't I?"

"Yes, it was cute," She laughed, turning to look at him now, still evading eye contact.

"Well," He sighed, "Here goes."

He turned his whole body round now to face her, so as to show her properly that he really and truly meant what he was about to say.

"Ebony, I love you…" He said, looking into her eyes, his own steely as if to hide his concern that she would not feel the same way.

"I-I love you too Draco…" She replied, now looking him in the eyes; watching as he relaxed from his tense state.

"I can't believe this is finally happening…" he said in happy disbelief; standing up and holding his hand out for her to take.

She took it and he pulled her up from the floor, keeping her hand in his own afterwards.

"So, I was wondering… would you like to come to Hogsmeade with me next Saturday?"

She took a moment to think about what she was doing.

"Yes, that sounds as though it'll be fun!" She exclaimed, smiling widely.

"Good," He smiled back, "I'll meet you at the entrance to the dungeons at ten o'clock, okay?"

"Sounds like a plan."

They walked back up to the castle hand in hand, until they reached their point for departure. Ebony went away that evening feeling elated. She couldn't wait for next Saturday now!