Chapter 16

I was wrong. It was not a long day. It was a long fucking month and a half. Life was somehow simultaneously better and worse after that morning that Draco decided -- for whatever messed up reason -- to do what he did. I never really figured out why, other than it was some weird way of laying claim to me. Slytherins mostly stopped messing with me, except for Pansy and her friends, of course. I still got suspicious glances from all of them, and more than one accusation of using a love potion on Draco.

While things with my own house were somewhat better, things with every other house got worse. I didn't even know that Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff cared who I was, let alone who I was dating, until glares and suspicion came from every semi-friendly face I'd seen in my few years at Hogwarts.

The worst, obviously, was Gryffindor. The news of what happened in the dining hall went down about as well as acid being poured down their throats. The entire Gryffindor quidditch team looked at me like I was Satan; or maybe, just dating Satan?

Truly, I had one main question: Why was everyone so concerned about my love life? Also, do these people not have anything better to do? And, why are teenagers such gossips that can't just leave me alone?

Those are the main thoughts going through my head the last weekend of the semester, as I get ready for my upcoming date with Draco in Hogsmeade. I was very happy to not have to hide our relationship anymore, though I couldn't get any real answers out of Draco about why exactly he did it, or why he did it in the manner that he did. Basically, all I got out of him was, "I made up my mind." Not very lengthy, for sure, and it irritated the hell out of me.

I met Draco in the common room, and we held hands all the way to the Three Broomsticks. I was slightly surprised we didn't go to the overly love-dovey atmosphere of Madame Puddifoots, but I wasn't complaining. I think I'd be hard pressed to ever find a guy that actually wanted to go in there, anyway. We found a table near the back, close by another vacant table by the Christmas tree, and Draco offered to go get us drinks and something to snack on. I readily agreed, already taking off my scarf as the warmth of the place soaked into me.

After we had our drinks and something that tasted like pretzels, but was most definitely not pretzels (I didn't want to know what they were), I watched as the Golden Trio came in and sat at the table near us. I don't think they noticed us, and Draco wasn't paying attention to them either, if the way he was absentmindedly playing with my hair as he stared off into space was any indication. I was a bit confused by Harry's presence -- I thought he wasn't allowed -- but shrugged and turned back to my drink. After I took another sip, I finally got to what I wanted to discuss.

"So, Draco, you never told me what you're planning to do for the holiday."

He looked at me as if surprised by my presence. "Huh?"

"Where are you going in your head?" I asked him, only slightly rhetorical. "Are you staying or going home for Christmas?"

He sighed, and looked down. "Sorry, that's actually what I was just thinking about. I think I'm going to have to go home, but I don't really want to."

"Well, if you want to stay, we can think of some fun...activities to do together," I say with a teasing smile.

That gets a small grin out of him. "I would very much like to participate in these activities, but I can't really help it. My father is demanding my presence." The grin fades off his face. "I think he somehow found out about our relationship, and he's probably going to talk to me about it."

I frown, and open my mouth to respond, right when I hear, "Mobiliarbus!" The Chistmas tree moves in front of the table near us, immediately drawing my attention to the fact that Harry in now being pushed underneath the table, as the trio stare at the people on the other side of the tree. Who are teachers, I'm realizing. I'm full-on scowling now as I realize that Harry is most definitely not supposed to be here.

Draco looks over to see what drew my attention, but he must not notice Harry, or he would've said something immediately. As it is, he gets a cruel gleam in his eye as he whispers and incantation, but I couldn't tell what he said, which was probably on purpose. The moment I turn back to him, no longer interested in hearing about Sirius Black from the teachers, I hear liquid and a squeak. I look back over to see that Hermione and Ron's butterbeers have exploded in their faces, and they are now drenched in the fluid.

"Pfft." I cover my mouth before more than that sound can escape, but I instantly see three sets of eyes latch onto me. Two of them are glaring, but Hermione just looks like she's either going to cry or scream and can't decide which. I look away quickly, to find a large smirk playing over Draco's face. I couldn't tell what spell he said, but I have no doubt that he caused this.

"Come on, love, we'd better leave before it starts to smell like wet animals in here." He got up and reached his hand out for me to take, and I do, not even looking back.

The next morning, I said my goodbyes to Draco, and went about my day. Christmas was always bittersweet. My parents weren't here, I wouldn't even be getting my one present from the foster home because of 'mailing issues,' but I did get peace and quiet. I was the only Slytherin left, so I had the common room to myself, and I didn't have to worry about idiots hassling me like usual.

Or so I thought, until dinner that night when two out of three Gryffindors left would not stop glaring at me. I sighed, frowning back at them. Can they not even give me this?

Once I was done eating, I made the decision to follow them and call them out. I hadn't done anything to them, and they could literally just ignore me for the rest of the break, and I'd be happy. "So, what's y'all's problem?" I asked as casually as I could manage, while trying to reign in my temper.

They turned back, and Hermione gave the two boys a sharp glance before she cut them off. "It's not really you, Shae, these two are just being ridiculous."

I raised my brows. "About...?"

Harry scoffed, "Like your boyfriend hasn't already told you. I'm sure he wouldn't have missed a possible chance to gloat."

I just gave him a confused look. "Gloat about what, exactly? You're going to have to be more specific." A realization dawned on me then. "If this is about the butterbeer explosing in your faces yesterday, that wasn't me. It may have been funny, but we all know that Draco would've messed with y'all whether I was there or not."

Ron looked at me like I was stupid, which pissed me off, but clearly the reminder of yesterday hadn't made him any happier. "You think we're angry about a bloody prank that git pulled?! Are you--"

Hermione cut him off, "Obviously, she doesn't know. Come on, let's just go back to the library for a while."

Harry looked me up and down, as if judging the validity of her words. He was still scowling as he said, "Malfoy's dad has arranged a trial for the hippogriff that he provoked, and they might execute him."

I could feel the blood draining from my face. No wonder they were so mad. I brought my hand up to my mouth, scrubbing down my face before dropping it, then rolled my eyes to the ceiling. "All I wanted was a peaceful break. Is that really so much to ask for?" I looked back at them. "Well, fuck. I'll write to Draco and see if he can convince his father to...I dunno, rescind the decision or something." I looked away as I rubbed my temples, cursing under my breath.

Harry's expression was less hostile when he asked his next question. In fact, I thought they had already left, so I might've jumped a little when he started speaking. "And if he won't do anything?"

I looked at him distractedly. "Huh?"

"If Malfoy won't try to get the decision overturned, if he does nothing, what will you do then? Just stay with him? Even after that?" He looked a little more than just curious, but I didn't know what other stake he could have in those answers.

I didn't even know the answers to those questions, so I just looked at him, completely blank, and he walked away.