"You're both bloody mad," Seamus was the first to comment as he cast his eyes between the two of us. Harry and I exchanged an amused glance.
"Probably," he agreed with a chuckle. I only snickered down at my plate.
"I dunno," Hermione interjected with a shrug. We all turned toward her as she continued. "Seems pretty characteristic of Harry, honestly. I think he's rubbing off on you, Draco."
She turned a smile my direction, and I ducked my flaming face. A pleased smile barely curled the edges of my lips.
"Can't believe those Gryffindors. I should've taught them a lesson right then and there."
"Er, I'm fairly sure you did," I pointed out incredulously. Harry rolled his eyes.
"You know what I mean. How can I be sure it won't happen again behind my back? Do I just have to be at all places at once to ensure the safety of the student body?"
"Nearly everyone saw that, Harry. It's up to the individuals now whether they'll follow your example or not. Dating a Slytherin means something completely different than standing up against your own house to defend a Slytherin. Trust me, I know a thing or two about standing up against Gryffindors." Neville grinned at a memory they shared that I wasn't privy to.
"Neville's right. Whether you want to or not, everyone's looking to you to set the tone this year." Hermione agreed, and Harry gave a long-suffering sigh.
"I know, I know… It probably would send the wrong message if I tracked them down and hexed them. I'm just saying, they better not have lost Gryffindor any house points."
A surprised laugh nearly forced me to spit my water out, but I managed to choke it down.
"That's what you're worried about?"
"It's one of the things!" He insisted indignantly, and I snorted.
He amazes me. I really want to kiss him again. I also amaze myself, I can't believe I just kissed him right after he'd become the center of the room's attention. His standing up for that first-year wasn't the only thing everyone saw…
He glanced at me and his indignation was replaced with a smug grin.
"So you're back on the team, then?" Hermione asked.
"Hm? Oh, yeah."
"Of course," I muttered.
"Hm. So you'll be busy with practice three times a week?"
"That's the idea."
"Uh-huh… Can't imagine which between that, your studies, and your relationship you're deciding to sacrifice." Harry groaned as she continued. "I'm merely suggesting you might've bitten off more than you can chew this year."
"You just said how well I did on our Herbology project!"
"Yes, but you both spend more time in class passing notes than taking notes. Honestly, do you want to repeat this year again?"
Harry grumbled down at his plate as he picked at his food. Her words sunk into my heart, though. I can't afford to let my grades slip, so thin is the ice I'm on with the Ministry. They only chose to send me back to school because of my mother, but I'm eighteen now. They could very well try me as an adult if they chose to. I don't have the kind of leeway Harry has.
Toward the end of dinner, Draco's posture alerted me to his downward mood. To be sure, today had been a rough day for him, but once we got up from our table, I gripped his hand extra tight as we walked to the Room of Requirement. Once we'd arrived and split off to our respective rooms to change, my worry only increased.
I don't know why I feel so protective of him. I saw with my own eyes how capable he is of taking care of himself when I spied on him in the library that one time I left. I suppose that'd be a 'teenage shenanigan' he'd qualify my use of the Invisibility Cloak. Still, leaving his side for even a moment gives me anxiety.
Is it… Not just him that dreads separating from me? Could I possibly crave his presence at every waking moment? We've barely dated any time at all, and yet we've spent so much time together in these past days… My Quidditch practice will certainly affect our dynamic. But maybe it's for the best? Maybe we shouldn't be so codependent?
Hastily, I changed into my pajamas, and just before I left my room, I snatched my cloak off my desk and gathered it into my arms. Draco and I ran into each other again in the hallway, and he blushed.
"Deathly Hallow?" He asked, gesturing at the cloak I held.
"Yep. Wanna try?" I offered it to him, and a childlike wonder lit behind his eyes before he seemed to quash it.
"You're alright."
This didn't satisfy me, though, as he headed down the last staircase to the common room. Decidedly, I threw the cloak over him, and faked an overexaggerated shock.
"Where did you go?"
His snort still reached my ears, but as I searched the empty stairwell, what I felt was a hand on my waist, reaching up my shirt.
"You don't want to give me this kind of power," breezed against my right ear as my face heated. I instantly reached out and snatched the cloak back to reveal a snickering Slytherin.
"You say I'm incorrigible!"
Draco rolled his eyes before withdrawing his hand from me and turning back to descend into the common room. Gathering the cloak back into my arms, I followed suit. Hermione was waiting for us.
"Oh, good. I was beginning to worry…" I tossed her the cloak, still eyeing Draco's retreating form. I was surprised to find him pause beside her as she caught my cloak, and whisper something into her ear before leaving the Room altogether. Hermione only smiled as she wrapped the cloak around herself and huffed. "Well… Here goes nothing!"
I watched her head disappear beneath the cloak, and curiously followed after Draco.
"What did you say to her?" Was my obvious question as the door closed behind us.
"Don't worry about it. This time, the Room is all mine."
He grinned at me as he began his three-turn pass before the door. His mood's improved. I have a bad feeling about this.
The double doors of the dorms rearranged themselves into a single, ornate door, which Draco threw open before turning his grin back to me.
"After you," he invited.
Casting a dubious glance at his expression, I hesitantly stepped through the doorway into the Room he'd designed. What I found was a sparring room, with a bed against the far wall, and several pillars scattered throughout. It reminded me somehow of the Room I'd created for the DA lessons, but with a bed. My cheeks warmed.
"I… What exactly do you have in mind?"
I turned back to see him closing the door behind us, the same smug grin on his face.
"We're going to harness your latent magical powers," he briefly explained. I frowned.
"Right… How?"
He walked toward the left wall, stopping between two pillars and brandishing his wand.
"Just trust me. Draw your wand."
Curiously, I did so. Draco's Expelliarmus caught me off guard, and my wand flew through the air into his hand. Surprise froze me momentarily as he cast my wand to the floor and approached me.
"Summon your wand back."
I felt a confused frown crumpled my forehead.
"I… Can't summon without my wand."
"Yes you can."
A frustrated sigh leaked through my lips.
"And just how do you figure that?"
"Your unintentional magic is triggered by strong emotions, I reckon. So, summon up a strong emotion and take your wand back." He stepped up alarmingly close as he finished this sentence. "Fear, anger, worry, it doesn't matter. What matters is that you figure out how to do it on purpose."
He kept stepping closer to me, and once his breath crossed my lips, I stepped back. Draco kept following me, though, until my back met the wall.
"I d-don't know how to do that. My strong em-emotions come on their own."
I gasped as he nearly closed his lips to mine. When he spoke again, his words ghosted against my mouth.
"Then feel a strong emotion," he suggested, and his hands started pulling up the edges of my shirt. Panic gathered in my chest as I allowed him to pull it up over my head.
"Is this part of t-training?" I asked as his hands wandered over my newly-bared torso.
"Not necessarily. But I do enjoy the view."
Not just the view, I thought as his lips brushed against mine.
"Summon your wand," he repeated.
"I… You're… Very distracting…"
My skin felt extra sensitive under his fingers as they slid up my chest.
"Shh, don't think about it. It's instinctive, right?" Every word from his lips brushed against my own, and my heart beat erratically in my throat.
"You… This isn't fair…"
Just as his grinning mouth began to respond against mine, the door clicked and swung open. Immediately, my wand flew into my hand as we both turned toward the door.
Hermione had swung it open, and her jaw dropped as she observed our intimate stance.
"Oh... "
"It worked," Draco marveled as he glanced from my wand-gripped hand to my face and stepped back.
"Are… Are you two strip dueling?" She asked, entertainment shining bright in her eyes as she leaned against the doorframe.
I turned a shocked expression back toward Draco's.
"No, but that… Is a brilliant idea," he responded as I gaped at him. His whisper to her suddenly clicked, and he turned his face back toward mine, a flush of his own crept into his cheeks. "Well… It worked, didn't it?"
"I'll say," Hermione commented as she eyed us with a grin.
"Get out!" I suddenly shouted at her, more loudly than I'd intended. She raised her hands in surrender.
"Okay! Okay… Sorry…"
Quietly, she closed the door back, eyeing us lasciviously all the while. Once it'd finally clicked shut, I huffed and withdrew from Draco's pressing me against the wall.
"I was about to hex her!" I accused as I leaned against the nearest pillar.
"You think you could've?" He teased as he leaned back against the wall I'd previously been pinned to, eyeing me smugly. My eyes narrowed at him, but then shifted to the wand in my hand. I… Non-verbally Accio'd my wand. That… Could come in handy.
I scowled back up at Draco as he smirked.
"You worry too much," he decided as he pushed off the wall and came to me. My wanded hand lowered slowly as he did, and the implications of what'd just happened settled into my mind.
"You…" I was geared up to chastise him again, when he suddenly reached me and crushed his lips to mine. The rest of my thought fled my mind as his mouth moved against mine.
When he finally released me, we were both out of breath.