Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. If I did, I'd be rich and you wouldn't see me here posting this fanfic. I do, however, own Jade. Jade Miko is my character and no one else's.
~~Draco and Jade are getting close to each other! Hehe!~~
Just like the waves down by the shore
We're gonna keep on coming back for more
'Cause we don't ever wanna stop
Out in this brave new world you seek
Oh the valleys and the peaks
And I can see you on the top
-Tim McGraw, "Please Remember Me"
Chapter 2: Mushiness Under the Willow Tree
Draco and Jade stood just outside the dungeons. "Do you have anymore classes?" Draco asked.
Jade shook her head. "No, I don't think so."
"Do you want to go for a walk?"
"Oh, uh…alright," Jade said shyly.
Draco frowned. "Unless you have somewhere you need to be. I'm bad, remember? You guys don't think much of me…don't want to be seen with a bad guy, do you?"
Jade shook her head. "I don't have anywhere I need to be. And I don't think you're bad…a little rude, maybe." Jade had to walk fairly fast to keep up with Draco, who still seemed angry about Professor Snape and Potions class. He noticed Jade trying to keep up and slowed down a little. As they walked out of the castle and down a hill, Jade looked thoughtful.
"What are you thinking about?" he asked.
Jade hesitated, not wanting to say anything. "It's just…if there is such a rivalry between my house and yours…one wonders if we should be hanging around together…" She winced, expecting the worst.
"I don't care anymore, do you?" Draco asked. "You're nice."
"You are too…at least, to me anyway," Jade replied. She thought for a moment. "Your reputation may be damaged."
Draco shrugged. "Hey, I got out of losing points and I met a nice chi—I mean girl. Don't see how I can lose."
Jade didn't say anything, just smiled. Draco smiled back and continued walking down the hill. "Jade! Hey, Jade!" someone called from up the hill. Draco looked up the hill. He recognized the girl running down the hill as Ginny Weasley. He rolled his eyes. He leaned against the wall, waiting for Jade.
Jade turned around as Ginny came skidding to a halt in front of her. "Ginny, hi."
Draco tapped his foot on the ground repeatedly, impatiently waiting. Ginny spotted Draco leaning against the wall. "Uh…Jade? You do know who that is right? That's Malfoy!" She grimaced.
Draco stuck out is tongue at Ginny and walked away a bit. "Of course I know who it is!" Jade said defensively. "And don't talk about him like he's not here. Draco, come here."
Ginny glared at Draco as he walked to Jade's side. "Ughh!" she cried, a disgusted look painting her face. Completely forgetting why she came to see Jade in the first place, she stormed off.
"Yeah, well you stupid Weasley," Draco began. "Don't forget your hand-me-down text book!" And with that, Draco picked up Ginny's dropped textbook and hurls it at her. Not looking to see if it hit her, he turned around and started to walk again. "Come on. May we continue?"
The book hit Ginny in the small of her back. "OWW!!" Ginny cried, grabbing her book. "Malfoy you asshole!"
Jade just stared, shocked at what had just occurred. Draco grumbled under his breath, "Stupid Weasleys."
"D-draco!" Jade cried.
"What?" Draco asked, surprised. "I mean, yes?"
"Why?" she said shortly.
"Why what?" Draco looked confused.
"Why did you do that?" she demanded.
"She deserved it! Did you see that look she gave me? Like I was some stepped on spider at the bottom of her shoe."
"Still no reason to throw her book at her!" Jade protested.
"I didn't mean to actually hit her," Draco replied. "I didn't realize I was that strong," he said, flexing his muscles, but still looked angry.
"Well, you did," Jade pointed out angrily.
Draco's expression changed from anger to guilt. He looked at his feet. "Sorry."
Jade put her hand on his shoulder. "You are like duct tape, you know that?"
"How so?" Draco asked, confused.
"You have a light side and a dark side…and… and...," Jade said, unsure of what to say next.
"I'm annoying and whenever I stick on something I leave a nasty filth when I get ripped away?" Draco finished for her.
"Draco!" Jade gasped.
"What?!?!?!?!"
Jade shrunk away, taken aback by Draco's sudden shout. "That's disgusting!" she said quietly. "You aren't like that!"
"What do you want from me?" Draco demanded. "I'm not as nice as you think."
"I know," Jade said quietly.
"Maybe you were right. Maybe you shouldn't be hanging out with me…" Draco said, and ran off up the hill towards the castle.
"Wait, Draco!" Jade called after him. Draco continued to run, shaking his head. Jade ran after him. "Please wait."
Draco ran a little slower, but didn't stop. He yelled back, "Why? You shouldn't be seen with me it's bad for you."
Jade caught up to him finally. She moved in front of him. "I don't care." Draco stopped suddenly, not wanting to run over her.
"Well, obviously you do, or at least everyone else does," Draco said, not looking at her.
"Everyone else is not me…" Jade said slowly. "Draco…I like being with you…"
"I thought you'd say that," Draco said. He was speechless for a moment. "Well, I like being with you too…" He paused again. "Not many people are that nice to me, except my fellow Slytherins. That's because, well you know…my 'sticky side of the duct tape'."
Jade nodded. "I know," she paused. "Well, I'm not a Slytherin. Think you can deal with it?"
"I know you aren't," Draco snapped. "And I don't mind that."
"You'll still hang out with me, won't you?" Jade asked.
"Of course," Draco replied quickly. "I just thought you didn't want to hang out with…me."
Jade sighed. "Of course I want to hang out with you. You're one of the few who's actually talked to me. I mean the Gryffindors are okay, but…" Jade trailed off.
"But?" Draco asked. "Snobby right? Miss Granger is Miss Know-it-All, that one is…er…" Draco stopped, seeing Jade's face. "I'm sorry. I guess I have a lot to work on, huh?" Jade nodded. "Well, I'll try. For you, anyway."
Jade hugged Draco. "Thanks."
Draco was surprised for a moment, and then hugged Jade back. "Um…no problem."
Jade pulled back, blushing. "Sorry."
"Uh, its okay." Draco didn't realize that he was blushing as well. There was an awkward silence. "Um, shall we continue walking?" Draco asked, breaking the silence.
"Yeah, of course. You're not going to run off again, are you?" Jade asked, looking at Draco.
He laughed a little. "No." They resumed walking. Jade threw her long jet black hair, smiling. Her pack was slung lightly over her shoulder. Draco watched Jade do this. He shook his head, and mumbled something incoherent to himself, and walked in pace with her.
"Huh?" Jade said, hearing Draco mumble. "Did you say something, Draco?"
"Um," Draco blushed. "No."
Jade smiled. "What are you blushing for?
"I'm not blushing!" Draco cried, rubbing his cheeks, embarrassed. It was pointless, that only made his cheeks redder. Jade laughed. "Don't laugh!"
Jade quieted down. "Oh…I'm sorry."
"You're just…pretty that's all," Draco said, blushing again.
Jade gave Draco a slightly confused look, blushing. "Oh, well…um...thank you," was all she could think to say. She sighed.
"Something wrong?" Draco asked, concerned.
She looked at Draco. "Nothing, nothing at all, "she said dreamily.
"What?"
Jade snapped out of her fantasy. "Huh?"
"I asked you what's wrong," Draco said. "What's on your mind?"
Jade blushed, not wanting to reveal to Draco what she had been thinking. "N-nothing. It's just…"she didn't know what to say. "It's a beautiful day," she lied. "Isn't it?"
Draco chuckled. "Yes it is, but a beautiful day doesn't give someone the look you had."
"Look?" Jade said, trying to sound innocent. "What look?"
"That look on your face," Draco explained. "I don't know, you seemed very happy."
"What am I not allowed to be happy?" Jade demanded with mock anger.
Draco laughed. "Yes, you are. You just seemed extra happy. Never mind," Draco said, through with trying to explain it. "Let's just walk."
"Hmm," she said thoughtfully, walking in pace with Draco. "Maybe it's because of who I'm with that I'm so happy."
Draco blushed brightly. "Nah, I'm too rough around the edges."
"Maybe that's why I like you."
Draco's face blushed even brighter. "You like me?"
Jade's eyes locked onto Draco's. "Yes."
If it was possible, Draco blushed even more. "Well, I…"he paused. This was really hard for him to say, considering the kind of person he was. "I like you too."
"Your face," Jade said, looking concerned. "It's so red. Are you alright?"
"Yeah," Draco answered, calming down enough for some of the blushing to fade. His face was now a bright pink instead of a bright red. "Yes I am. Um, I'm fine," he stammered. He laughed nervously. Jade smiled, staring at the ground. Draco cleared his throat and began playing with Jade's hair. Jade moved closer to Draco. Becoming a little nervous, he asked, "Um…do you want to go…um…sit under the tree over there?" He pointed to a large weeping willow at the bottom of the hill. She nodded and they sat under the tree together, with Jade sitting really close to Draco. Nervously, he put his arm around her.
Snuggling close, she asked, "You've never done this before have you?"
"Um…no."
"I can tell," Jade said, chuckling a little.
"Girls don't usually shine to me. If you don't like it, I'll stop," he said, starting to move away from Jade.
She grabbed his hand, keeping it where it was. "You're fine."
"O…kay…"
"Girls don't usually shine to you?" Jade began, but stopped, looking at Draco, who had just whispered something. "What?"
"Nothing it's just well…" he pointed at the hill, where she spotted Harry Potter walking down the hill towards them.
"Wonder why he's coming down here."
Draco's face was contorted with anger. Harry came within earshot of them. "Jade!" he called. "Hey, it's al—," he stopped when he spotted Draco there with his arm around Jade.
"Hello, Potter," Draco sneered. Harry glared at Draco. He returned the glare. "What are you doing here?"
"I came to find Jade," he said shortly.
"Why?"
"No business of yours, Malfoy," Harry snapped.
"Well, it is my business," Draco insisted, keeping his arm around Jade.
Harry looked as if he was ready to kill Malfoy. "I was just coming to see if she was coming to dinner. It's almost time."
"Well," Malfoy said icily. "I guess we'll se you there."
Harry, trying to control his anger, looked at Jade. "Jade, are you coming with me?"
Draco looked at Jade, expecting the worst. He started to remove his arm. "No, I'll be up there soon," she said. Then, noticing Harry's surprised look said, "Don't worry Harry." Harry, still glaring daggers at Draco, pulled Jade aside.
Draco glared evilly at Harry as he spoke a few words to Jade, and as he walked away. "What did that jerk say?" Draco asked coldly.
Jade narrowed her eyes at Draco. "He just asked me if I was sure about what I was doing with you. He said you were no good, and a liar."
"Hah," Draco spat. "Look who's talking." He looked down. "You know he's right? I am no good."
Jade lifted his chin lightly. "You think too low of yourself," she said. Draco looked into her eyes, but didn't say anything. She kissed him gently on the cheek. "You are so much more, Draco."
Draco blushed, smiling. "You want to go eat now?" he asked.
Jade nodded. "I suppose so."
"Okay," he said, and stood up. Jade rose as well. Draco offered his hand. Jade took it and clasped it tightly, surprising Draco. They made their way up to the Great Hall for dinner.
Jade sighed. "You know we can't eat together…"
"You sure?"
"I want to—badly," Jade said.
"We can sit facing each other at our tables if you want," Draco suggested.
Jade touched his cheek lightly. "That way I can at least see your face while I eat."
"If it doesn't make you sick first."
"Draco!" Jade cried.
"Sorry," he apologized.
"I love your face…I love your hair…I love everything about you. That's why it pains me to see you insult yourself…" Jade trailed off.
"You love me?" he asked, bewildered.
"I—yes. I do." Draco was speechless. Jade shook her head. "It's weird…Since I've only known you since…well, today. But I've seen you around. It's only the other Gryffindors that kept me from speaking to you." Jade's face was confused. "At least, I think I leave you…I'm not sure."
"Just take your time," Draco said. "There is no rush I'm only a year older than you."
Jade kissed Draco lightly on the lips. "I'll talk to you after dinner."
Draco blushed. "Okay."
Jade departed from Draco, walking into the Great Hall. She didn't get too far before Draco grabbed Jade. He whirled her about and kissed her full out on the lips. Jade was surprised at first, but soon melted into the kiss, closing her eyes. She pulled back, breathless. Draco looked at Jade and smiled. As Jade walked into the Great Hall, she had a stupid, giddy look on her face.
~~~
You'll find better love
Strong as it ever was
Deep as the river runs
Warm as the morning sun
Please remember me
-Tim McGraw, "Please Remember Me"