Out Of The Closet

Extremely early the next morning, Harry and I heard my dad calling for me. He sounded very worried, which sent a pang of guilt through me, and he also sounded . . . scared?

Harry gave me a look that said vividly just how grateful he was to hear my father's voice while we were locked in a closet together. I didn't think about that then, though. It was such a relief for me that I sighed and began to pound on the door, calling as loudly as I could for him.

"Princess?" we heard him ask.

"Daddy, in here!"

He opened the door and gave me a giant bear hug. After a few moments, he set me down and glanced disdainfully at my companion.

"Okay, why don't you go to your dorm, Ame?" Then he seemed to change his mind. "Hold on. Let me go with you. Just . . . Let me talk to Harry for a minute okay?"

Harry? Daddy called Harry "Harry"? Wow.

"Daddy, he didn't do anything wrong."

"Of course not. I just wanna give him some directions, that's all. I mean, how you get lost on your way to the infirmary . . . well . . . It's almost impossible."

"Daddy. We were talking and just ended up here. We didn't get lost, we just . . . kinda . . . showed up."

He sighed resignedly, looking skeptic, but kissed me on the forehead. "All right. Let's get you to your dorm."

"All right. Can you wait a second though?" I asked, sending him that hopeful, "I'll-cry-if-you-don't" look.

"Why?" he said through his teeth. Poor Harry.

"Just so I can say goodbye."

My father was muttering under his breath but, staying firmly put, said, "Fine."

"Um . . . Could you . . . maybe give us a little more privacy please?"

Scowling darkly, he slowly backed toward the stairs. Realizing I would watch and wait until he was actually gone, he finally left. I rolled my eyes.

"I'm sorry about that."

Harry smiled. "It's all right. I just hope I didn't get you into any trouble."

"It's totally okay," I whispered. "Daddy is so wrapped."

He laughed. "Well . . . Thanks, Ame."

"No. Thank you. It was . . . interesting . . . But fun."

"Yeah." He nodded slightly toward the top of the stairs where I knew my father was standing. "I think he's ready to go, but . . . I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Definitely." I kissed him on the cheek before I left--I just couldn't resist; he was too cute.

|~*~|

I slept through that day, so the story continues the next morning at breakfast. I walked down to the Great Hall and took my usual seat by Draco. I smiled at him, then glanced at the Gryffindor table. Harry wasn't downstairs yet, so I pouted, but began to eat anyway. Draco watched me as he ate, but then raised an eyebrow at me, seeing that I wasn't going to start a conversation. But what was I supposed to say?

"Well?" he said.

"Well what?"

"Where were you?"

I laughed and answered in a half-sarcastic tone, "I got locked in the astronomy tower closet with Harry Potter."

He paled (as much as he could have anyway). "Seriously, where were you?"

"What does it matter?"

"It . . . It just does. I . . . I'm just a little . . . worried."

I was the one to raise an eyebrow then. "I can take care of myself, thanks--no matter what my dad says."

Draco sighed. "Ame. You . . . You scared us. And I would just . . . like to know where you were and what you were doing that was so important that you couldn't come back to the dorm."

"Honestly?"

"Yes."

"I really did get locked in the astronomy tower closet with Harry."

He . . . laughed. "But . . . That's impossible, because I . . . was in . . ."

"I know," I told him guiltily, not bothering to pretend to eat anymore.

He stopped what he was doing (eating, of course) completely. "Then you heard--"

"Yeah. I'm sorry Draco. I didn't . . . I didn't mean to, it's just . . . well, we were locked in. We couldn't help but overhear . . ."

Rather loudly, he asked, "What were you and Potter doing in a closet?"

We both winced at his volume as all in the Great Hall came to an abrupt halt (unless you counted the silverware clattering to various plates because of people being so distracted they dropped them). I felt my face turning red as Draco watched me, waiting for a reply.

"We . . . Uh, we . . . were . . . hiding from you . . ." I said quietly after a moment.

His eyes widened and blood began rushing to his face. "I was looking for you. To make sure that you were all right. And you were hiding from me. And listening to what I had to say?"

"Draco, I'm sorry; I didn't know." Day just kept getting better and better, eh?

"And Potter was there, probably . . . doing something he shouldn't."

Draco? Being evasive with words? Not being blunt? There really must have been somebody screwing around with the drinks.

"We were *talking* Draco. That's it. Is there a problem with that or something?"

He gave a bitter laugh. "Sure. You were talking. And there I was; I was talking too. I was acting like a fool, telling V--telling everything. And there you were, just listening."

He stood to leave, but I pulled him back onto the bench.

"Draco, listen to me. You were *not* acting like a fool. And . . . I'm sorry, it's just . . . we knew you'd get really angry, plus . . . We didn't want to intrude . . ." He sat down and watched me as if contemplating his belief. I looked at him pleadingly, beginning to feel brokenhearted (which bit, because I'd just figured out that I had one!). "Draco, please?"

He sighed. "Nothing happened?"

I couldn't help but hesitate. See, it would depend on his definition of 'nothing.' "No. Nothing happened."

"Nothing at all?"

Darn it. "Well . . . I kissed him on the cheek. Once. But that's it."

"You kissed him on the cheek. Once. And that's it."

"Well . . . Maybe more than once . . ."

He stared at me and said very slowly, "More than once."

"Well . . . maybe . . . two . . . or three times . . ." I admitted, shifting uncomfortably.

"But no more than that?"

"Huh-uh."

Draco sighed again. "What am I going to do with you, Ame?"

I grinned. Finally--a question I could answer.