Chapter Twenty Eight
Malfoy lifted his head slowly, blinking wearily. At first he didn't know where he was, but as he regained his senses he remembered.
'Lark?' he croaked, his voice sleepy. Looking around, he found her gone. Her books, bag and self had disappeared, leaving him all alone. He noticed a note next to him. His fingers reached for it clumsily, creasing the corner.
Malfoy, I've gone to complete my part of our plan.
See you later.
Lark.
P.S. You deserve it.
He blinked blearily. Deserved what? And why had she gone off without waking him?
'MR. MALFOY!'
He jumped a mile in the air, knocking over his chair and turning to find Madame Pince. She leered at him, surveying the piles of books Lark had left him with.
'ARE YOU AWARE OF THE TIME?' she squawked, glowering at him. Malfoy scowled at her and began to pack his books into a pile.
'Of course I am,' he drawled. He was going to kill Lark the next time he saw her.
'Then you-'
'I am just leaving,' he spat through gritted teeth. 'And if you want to keep your miserable job, you would do well to keep out of my affairs. Do not tell me what to do,' he commanded icily. Madame Pince looked unsure for a second, before setting her mouth in a hard line.
'Mr Malfoy. I will not have you threatening me. You-'
'My father will have your job if you do not,' Malfoy hissed, finishing putting away the reference books. 'You will not trouble myself or Fissure any more.'
Madame Pince sniffed and pointed at the door. 'You have no authority here, Mr Malfoy. Now leave, before I tell Professor Snape about your behaviour.'
'Gladly,' Malfoy snapped. No doubt he had some authority, else she would have dobbed him in right then.
Tomorrow, he was going to kill Lark.
I was sitting in the great hall the next morning, smugly eating my breakfast, when Malfoy marched over. I looked up at him as he towered over me, and only just managed not to laugh.
'What the hell did you do that for?' he snarled. I hid my smile behind my hand and pretended to cough.
'What do you mean?' I asked innocently. I glanced at Ron, Hermione and Harry behind me, and found them staring at Malfoy aghast too. Hermione's mouth twitched with a laugh, and Ron looked like he had just won the Quidditch.
'Why did you leave without waking me?'
It dawned on me that he didn't realize what I'd done. He was drawing glances and giggles from people all throughout the hall. I swallowed guiltily... I was going to get in a lot of trouble for this.
'Erm, Malfoy, um,' I searched for a way to tell him. Maybe I could gently pull him outside and do it there? Unfortunately, I couldn't erase this memory from everyone in the hall.
'Malfoy, maybe you should look in a mirror,' Harry snorted suddenly and I groaned. Malfoy's eyes snapped away from mine and to Harry's.
'What do you mean, Potter?' he growled. Ron was laughing so hard by now that he fell off his chair and rolled under the table. Hermione had ducked her head, but I could see her shoulders shaking with silent laughter.
'What do you mean?' Malfoy repeated. I stood up and grabbed his elbow.
'Malfoy, maybe we should erm, go outside,' I suggested weakly. By now, almost the entire hall was filled with laughter. My face burnt red with shame; how was I supposed to know he wouldn't look in a mirror?
'Nice moustache Malfoy!' Fred Weasley called suddenly. 'Oh how envious I am!'
The Gryffindor table roared with laughter. Malfoy's face suddenly flushed with colour and he turned slowly to me.
'What did you do..?' he said thinly. I grabbed his elbow and pulled him out of the hall.
'This isn't completely my fault,' I hissed as I pushed him in front of a suit of armour. 'Maybe you should look in mirrors more often.'
Malfoy's face was reflected in the newly polished metal. Though his face was distorted because of the metal's shape, he could still clearly see the inky moustache I had painted across his top lip.
'I'm really sorry, I assumed you would wash your face or something. It was just a joke, I didn't mean for-'
He spun on his heel and all of a sudden had his wand to my throat. I stopped speaking immediately and began to back away slowly. He followed, keeping the wand pressed into my chin and neck.
'M-Malfoy-'
'Draco,' he said softly.
'Draco,' I corrected myself. 'Surely you don't, you wouldn't, I mean; I'm sorry. I'll do your homework, I'll be your slave for a day, anything. Just don't-'
'How would you like to grow a real moustache of your own, Lark?' he said, a malicious grin spreading across his face. I hit the wall with a thud and my heart raced faster. I had backed myself into a corner, and was stuck staring up into his eyes. The blue seemed greyer today, and colder. Had I really wounded his pride that much?
'Draco,' I murmured weakly. 'Please...'
'Put the wand down.'
The voice came from behind Malfoy. Malfoy's eyes widened, and all at once he stepped away from me and turned around.
A boy stood there, wand raised, a serious and determined look on his face. His messy black hair hung over his face, and as we watched he flicked his head to get it out of his cool grey eyes. Malfoy grinned for a second before settling for his usual superior smirk.
Our plan had worked. Bouilloire was back.
--
'Bouilloire.'
I whispered it, and Malfoy glanced at me, gritting his teeth. I couldn't believe that Bouilloire had come back so quickly, and turned up at such a brilliant time.
I found myself smiling uncontrollably. I'd missed him, even if he had lied about everything. He was... a friend still. I'd get the truth out of him eventually.
'Put away your wand, Malfoy,' Bouilloire ordered. I saw Malfoy bristle and I cringed. He wouldn't like being ordered around like that.
To my surprise though, he slipped his wand into his robe obligingly. Bouilloire smirked and his eyes met mine for a moment.
Suddenly, Malfoy spun and slapped his arm around my shoulders, pinning my arms to my sides and pressing me against him. I could feel the hard shaft of his wand in the side of my neck.
'Mafoy!' I cried, struggling.
'Draco,' he corrected curtly. 'And if you don't stop moving I'll curse you right here.'
I stopped wriggling and let myself go still. Bouilloire was looking unsure, his wand was still pointed at us but I could see it was shaking. There was no way he could spell Malfoy safely as I was standing in front of him.
'Let her go, Malfoy,' Bouilloire spat vehemently, raising his wand again. 'I'll spell straight through her if I have to.'
Malfoy snorted. 'You? Spell your precious girlfriend?'
'He's not my-'
'If that's what it takes to get to you,' Bouilloire said quietly. Malfoy stopped laughing.
An electric silence descended. No one spoke, no one moved, and the only sound I could hear was Malfoy's breath in my ear. I shifted slightly, looking up at his face.
It was creased with a heavy scowl, his eyes sparkled with anger. A determined look was set on his delicate features.
At my movement, he looked down at me. Our eyes met for a second – his still defiant and mine fearful and curious – and he blushed.
Then, in that same moment, he let me go. His hand lingered on my shoulder for just a second, but then it dropped away.
'The rest is up to you,' he muttered. Then he walked away. I found that my own cheeks were flushed, this wasn't the first time I'd accidentally found myself in Malfoy's arms, but it was the first time I'd felt so... confused.
Bouilloire made as if to go after him, and I had to snap back to reality.
'Wait!' I cried. 'Bouilloire...'
He stopped immediately, as I knew he would. Glancing at Draco's retreating back, I bit my lip. I would have to figure this out later. For the moment, there was the plan to act out.
'You're... back,' I said quietly. He regarded me, before slowly approaching. His hand cupped my chin gently.
'Yes,' he whispered. I stared into his grey-blue eyes as he looked into my brown ones. It was the second time I'd found myself staring into those eyes in a matter of seconds, and yet they belonged to two different people. Bouilloire's eyes had a different feel, too. Much softer, and kinder.
'Where, where have you been?' I breathed. He looked away.
'Look, I know, we parted on unhappy terms,' he started. 'But I've been away to think, and now... I want to level with you Lark. I want to tell you everything.' He looked at me again, and I tried to mask my feelings. Glee and scepticism. Was this the real truth? If so... the plan was working insanely well.
'Really?' I asked, widening my eyes innocently. 'You mean it?'
He nodded seriously. 'But... just not yet. I need a bit of time first.'
I nodded understandingly, my scepticism growing. More like he needed to get his story straight. Either way, I'd get the truth eventually.
--
Eventually I escaped from Bouilloire and returned to the common room. Hermione, Ron and Harry were sitting around the fire talking, and they looked up when I came in.
'What'd Malfoy do?' Ron demanded, jumping up. 'Where have you been?'
'He didn't do anything,' I said grinning. 'Bouilloire stopped him.'
'Bouilloire?!' Hermione gasped. 'You mean he's..?'
I nodded and flopped down into a chair. 'Which means it worked,' I murmured. They exchanged a glance but didn't bother asking. I had become too secretive as of late, and they had learnt not to pry.
'So what happened?' asked Harry.
I explained it in detail, and regretted it when I saw their expressions.
'Malfoy,' Ron growled. 'He would spell you.'
'I don't think so,' I said quickly. 'I think he was just-'
'Lark, the Malfoy's are a proud bunch,' Hermione explained gently. 'You did embarrass him a lot – people won't forget this quickly – and he just may have hurt you if Bouilloire hadn't turned up.'
'You haven't known him as long as us,' Harry agreed. I could feel my temper rising slowly. Were they patronizing me?
'And now that that good-for-nothing Bouilloire is back,' Harry mused. 'It just complicates things again.'
Hermione agreed. 'He's just going to continue being weird and possessive of Lark.'
'I wish he hadn't come back,' Ron muttered. 'And I wish Malfoy would go away with him.'
I stood up quickly, knocking my knee against the table. They jumped at my sudden movement.
'Well, maybe I haven't known him for as long, but I've certainly got to know him better than any of you have. You've never spent a night studying with him in the library, you've never had an actual conversation with him. And as for Bouilloire, yes, okay, he's a bit weird. But Malfoy and I have a plan, and we're going to find out the truth. And,' I added angrily, 'I don't see why you have to hate all my friends that aren't you three!'
And with that, I turned and marched out of the room up towards the dorm. Angrily, I slammed things around for a while, before collapsing onto my bed.
'Rough day?' Kettle asked dryly. I growled at him.
'Bouilloire's back,' I muttered.
'Isn't that good?' he asked.
'Of course it is! But, it brought more problems.'
A slight pause. 'Such as?'
'Me and Malfoy had a fight. Well, that wasn't really Bouilloire's fault. It was mine, really.'
'You and Malfoy fought?' Kettle's voice was angry, suddenly. 'Did he hurt you?'
'No!' I said exasperatedly. 'Nor was he going to. There was no way he'd actually spell me, even if everyone else thinks he would.'
'Lark,' Kettle started slowly. 'Maybe you should stop seeing Malfoy. I mean, from the sounds of it, there's no reason why you should like hanging around with him. He's selfish and nasty, he threatens you, he blames you for everything. What's there to like?'
That was it. I had had enough. Was everyone going to inform me that I shouldn't be hanging out with Malfoy? I rounded on Kettle.
'So maybe no one else can see the reason I would still like him, well, I DONT KNOW IT EITHER,' I cried. 'Except, I just, I just DO enjoy it, okay? I LIKE him. He CAN be nice. Sometimes,' I faltered. 'Still, it's not YOUR choice, you can't dictate who I talk to!'
'Lark,' Kettle started frantically.
'JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!'
I stormed out of the dorm, back thought the common room (causing Harry, Hermione and Ron to jump to their feet) and I stomped my way though the Fat Lady and into the hallway, away from the voices calling out for me to wait.
Author's Note:
Ah, I'm really sorry for taking so long. I've been stressed out with lots of things, and I've been ill on top of it. I also apologize for my writing, I seem to be getting worse and worse as time progresses
Anyway, here's your latest chapter. I'm almost up to 100 pages! And I'm on about 59, 500 words too. This is by far the longest story I've ever written, and the longest I've ever spent on the one project too.
I will be continuing this to the end, so don't worry. Hope you enjoy it, sorry it's so short, and again, sorry for it being so late ;
Ecm.
