That night, after dinner (sausage and mashed potatoes), Draco and I headed to the room of requirement. I could walk almost everywhere by now (stairs were still a little tricky) so I was walking next to my boyfriend, holding his hand and swinging my arms. "You excited, Tori?" he asked.
"More nervous, to be honest," I said. Draco then spent the next minute making fun of me for being nervous, but I knew he was just messing with me and trying to get me to relax. He did admit a couple minutes later that he actually thought that the fact that I was nervous was sweet.
We walked past the wall where the door would appear three times. We both agreed to think the same thing 'I want to be somewhere where my dreams aren't nightmares.' When we went in, there was a large bed, a plate of chocolate chip cookies and two glasses of warm milk on a nightstand, two large wardrobes. There was bathroom with a magnificent bath that had lavender scented bubbles drifting on top.
"Well, this is certainly where a person would certainly hope to get a good night's sleep," Draco said and sat down on the huge bed with the blue and brown bedding. "The cookies were a nice touch," he said.
I wasn't paying attention to the platter of cookies-it was the bath that intrigued me the most. The smell of the lavender and the lure of hot water drew me in like a siren. But, I had to be considerate of Draco. "You can take the bath if you want, Tori," he said, his mouth already full with a cookie.
I resisted the urge to laugh. Draco never ceased to amuse me. "You sure? I mean, I don't want you to be bored or anything," I said.
"I've got homework I can do, and cookies I can eat," he said as he was swallowing one of the cookies whole. I still wasn't completely convinced. "Come on, when was the last time you took a long hot bath?" he asked.
"Um, never," I admitted.
"Go," he insisted.
"Don't eat all the cookies. I want one, too," I said and walked into the lavender scented bathroom.
Gosh, the bath felt good. The lavender calmed and relaxed both my mind and my muscles. The hot water seemed to cleanse all of my worries away. I'd never had such an amazing experience with water. I let myself be in the water until I thought it had started going cold, which was almost an hour I think.
When I got out of the bath, I wrapped a big fluffy towel around my wet body and braided my hair, which was still dry. Somehow, all of my clothes had disappeared. I knew exactly who was to blame, but I wasn't angry. Embarrassed, maybe. But I wasn't angry. As long as that person didn't use magic to make my towel drop, I wouldn't be angry.
So, I walked out into the room. Draco still had cookies shoved into his mouth and he was working on what looked like a potions essay. He stared at me, eyes wide open. "Draco, if you can't handle me in a towel, then you shouldn't have taken my clothes out of the bathroom," I said, gesturing towards the pile on the bed two feet away from him.
I went to the wardrobes and opened both of them. The one on the left was clearly meant for Draco, considering its contents. The one on the right had everything that I needed. I found a black long sleeve shirt and a pair of sweatpants and a pair of underwear that I decided to wear to bed.
I went back into the bathroom and got changed. When I came back out, Draco was changed into a pair of sweatpants and no shirt. Now it was my turn to stare. Oh, my god, he was just magnificent with his incredibly muscular chest. He was ripped, if you want use the American slang term. "Wow, you're hot," I said.
"Just realizing that, are you?" he asked teasingly. I rolled my eyes and grabbed a cookie off the plate and stuffed it in my mouth. I was surprised that Draco hadn't eaten all of them. "The cookies replenish themselves when the plate is empty," he said.
"How many platefuls of cookies have you eaten?" I asked him.
"That's the tenth plate of cookies," he said gesturing towards the plate. I rolled my eyes and went over to the bed. "You want to go to sleep?" Draco asked.
"Yeah, I'm tired. The potion helped keep my eyes open, but it only has a temporary effect, you know?" I said and got under the covers.
Draco slid in next to me. "Hopefully tonight will be better," he said. I nodded and laid my head down on the pillow. "Do you want to talk about the dreams? You really haven't talked to me that much about them," he said, turning over on his side so he was facing me.
"I guess I have to, right? I mean, you deserve to know. So, I told Professor Snape that last night you were the one who died. Most of the time, I'm in the graveyard and I'm just thinking to myself how I'm going to die and how I'm never going to see you again. Last night, though, it was terrible," I said, tearing up.
Draco's eyes locked onto mine. "What happened?" he asked, urging me to continue talking, but not in a forcing way.
"At first, the dream was magnificent. You and I were down by a lake and we almost, you know." I waited for him to understand what I meant before continuing. "And then, avada kedavra, you were dead. Hermione had to shake me awake and apparently I was sobbing and screaming your name," I explained.
"I'm so sorry. I hope that tonight's better," Draco said.
I moved closer to him. "It will be, now that I've got my Prince Charming next to me," I said.
"You remember Cinderella?" Draco asked me. I told him that Hermione was just explaining to me a couple hours ago about that metaphor. "Gosh, I wish we had turned the lights off," he said. As soon as he said it, it went dark. I laid my head on Draco's chest and went into a blissful sleep.
"Tori, no! Please, no!" was what I woke up to in the middle of the night. Draco was sobbing in his sleep.
"Draco, wake up, it's ok!" I said, gently shaking him.
He woke up, and his light blue eyes were filled with fear and sadness I had never seen before. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to wake you up," he said.
"Why are you apologizing? I should have known that you would have nightmares too," I said, trying to keep calm, but my voice was shaking.
"No, you shouldn't have. I didn't go through what you did. I should be strong for you, I shouldn't be the thing that wakes you up in the middle of the night," Draco said. The fear in his eyes made it clear that he was still recovering from the dream.
"You almost lost me. You have every right to have nightmares. If the roles were reversed, I would definitely be waking up sobbing once and a while," I said. I pushed some of his hair away from his sweaty face and kissed his lips gently.
"How do I deserve you?" Draco asked me.
"How do I deserve you? You've been with me through everything. You've been my best friend and my lover. The reason why we deserve each other is because the world is beautiful," I explained. To me, it was the only explanation.
"Tell that to the scars on your arms and legs," Draco grumbled.
"The world is cruel sometimes, that's true. But, in the end, it's a truly beautiful place," I said. Despite everything I had been through, I truly believed what I was saying.
"You honestly believe that? After everything?" Draco asked.
"Of course, I do. I mean, I have you, don't I? That, for me, is enough proof that the world is a beautiful place," I said.
"I really don't deserve you, Tori," he said.
"Well, you've got me, so don't complain," I said. I kissed him again and settle back into the position I was in earlier. "My hair's soaked with your sweat. Thanks a lot," I said just before I fell asleep. I could have sworn I felt Draco chuckle a little.