Chapter 8

Jennifer lay in bed awake, thinking about her date with Draco. She remembered how he went stiff and started acting weirdly after she told him about her dad.

.::.It was probably because I said the name Voldemort.::.

But even as she thought this, she knew it wasn't the whole reason.

After they had watched the movie, Draco took Jennifer on another ride on his broom and they circled around the cinema for half an hour, making sure nobody was around.

Jennifer smiled and looked at her clock, it read 2:28. She sighed and tried to go back to sleep, but she wasn't tired at all. She sat up again and something on her bedside table caught her eye. It was the letter she was supposed to send to Nini! She picked it up and realised that her friend was coming in 4 days.

.::.I hope it's not too late.::.

She picked it up, changed into some track pants and a jumper and headed out to post it, since she wasn't tired at all.

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Draco lied in bed awake, thoughts swimming through his brain. He really liked Jennifer, but sooner or later, she would have to find out about his 'dad' being one of the Death Eaters, probably one of those that had been there on the night her dad had been killed.

Draco closed his eyes but felt so uncomfortable that he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep for a while. He looked at his clock on the wall and it read 2:30. He sighed and tried to go to sleep again. But he was woken up again by a noise coming from outside his room.

He sighed again and got up out of his bed, put on a jumper and opened his door quietly.

"Shh! I don't want to wake anybody up!" Draco saw Leon whispering to a girl. The girl was very pretty, with long, red hair shimmering with glitter and full of bouncy curls. She was giggling and it looked like she had just knocked off the pack of cards from the table.

"Are you guys alright?" Draco whispered, stepping out of his room. Leon's head snapped in his direction and the red hair girl looked up, giggling.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up! Caitlin's just drank one too many drinks, so I thought I'd let her crash on the sofa or something" Leon explained in a whisper, struggling to keep Caitlin up.

"No, I couldn't sleep. Do you need any help?" Draco offered the struggling Leon.

"Thanks" Leon said breathlessly. Draco took one side and Leon took the other side of Caitlin. Together, they dragged her towards the couch and laid her down.

"You're cute!" Caitlin said to Draco in between giggles. She then looked at Leon and added in a sweet voice, "Don't worry, he's not as cute as you!" and tapped him on the nose. She then broke into another fit of giggles.

"Where did you find this one?" Draco asked Leon, knowing all too well of his friend's habit of picking up different girls almost every night.

"She was at the party I went to. She seemed nice, so we started dancing, she had a bit too much to drink, and she didn't know the way back to her dorm, so I took it into my liberty to let her crash on the couch." Leon explained with his mischievous smile.

"She didn't have any friends?" Draco asked knowingly.

"There's an idea! Friends, gee, why didn't I think of that before?" Leon replied, pretending to look shocked. Draco rolled his eyes and got up.

"I think I'm going to go for a walk." Draco told Leon, who was kneeling beside the couch, putting a blanket over Caitlin. Leon mumbled something as Draco went outside.

He walked by himself for a while, thinking about his mother. He hadn't received anything from her for at least a month now, and that time was only to tell him she was going to visit him on the 26th, the night of the dance.

.::.Only 5 more days until she arrives.::.

Draco then saw someone post something in the post box under the pool of light coming from the lamppost.

.::.Who would be up at this time?.::.

Draco wondered, he walked closer and his heart gave an uncomfortable skip as he recognised the soft black hair and the slim figure of this girl.

"Jennifer?" Draco called out. Jennifer jumped around, utterly shocked. She peered through the darkness and recognised the person as Draco.

"Draco? What are you doing here?" She asked, taking a step closer.

"Couldn't sleep, so I decided to go for a walk. What are you doing out here?" Draco asked, walking closer to Jennifer until he was beside her.

"Same, couldn't sleep, but then I forgot to post a letter to my friend, so I went out for a walk, posting the letter" Jennifer replied, indicating the postbox.

"Who were you writing a letter to?" Draco asked, putting his arm around her and started walking down the path.

"My childhood friend, Nini." Jennifer replied.

"Nini?" Draco asked curiously.

"Nini was just a nickname I gave her when we were younger, because I couldn't pronounce her name. It kind of just, stuck with me I guess." Jennifer laughed. "She's coming to America, and she wanted to know where I was so she could visit."

"When is she coming?" Draco asked.

"On the 25th" Jennifer replied, "Just 4 more days"

"The 25th? That's a day before the dance" Draco wondered aloud.

"Oh my gosh! It is a day before the dance! She can come to it!" Jennifer said excitedly. Draco started getting uncomfortable, he wasn't sure if Jennifer wanted to go to the dance with him or not.

"Umm, you were planning to go to the dance weren't you?" Jennifer asked, feeling Draco stiffen up.

"Well, you see... I wasn't really planning to go to the dance at all." Draco explained. "My mother's coming to visit me and I wanted to leave the whole day free for her" He added hurriedly, looking at Jennifer's questioning face.

Before Jennifer could refute, a drunken man suddenly stumbled onto the path walk and fell onto Jennifer. Jennifer screamed and backed away. The drunken man fell onto the floor, where he lay still.

"He's not dead is he?" Jennifer asked uncertainly. The man lay still on the ground, his greasy, long hair falling over his face. It was covered with filth so much that it looked almost brown. His hand was clutching a beer bottle tightly.

Draco cautiously walked towards the limp figure on the ground, followed closely by Jennifer.

"He's still breathing" Draco told Jennifer, after watching the man's chest rise and fall.

"Maybe we should help him?" Jennifer asked, feeling sorry for the man.

"Umm... That may not be such a good idea," Draco asked uncertainly.

"Don't be silly, he's unconscious!" Jennifer exclaimed, walking towards the drunken man and kneeling beside him. She took one of his arms and slung it over her shoulders. She attempted to lift him up, but he was too heavy. She heavily dropped him on the ground and tried to get a better grip.

After several attempts, Draco sighed and walked on the other side of the man and helped Jennifer lift him to an almost upright position.

"Where are we going to take him?" Draco asked.

"Just over to that bench over there." Jennifer panted, pointing to a bench nearby. Between the two of them, they dragged the drunken man to the bench and sat him upon it.

Suddenly, the man jerked awake and looked straight at Draco, his blue eyes piercing through Draco's. Draco started to shift uncomfortably, not knowing what to do. He was about to run away when the man took hold of his arm. Jennifer gasped, standing away, frozen to the spot. A look of recognition reached this man's face as he pulled Draco closer.

"You" He breathed out, the smell of beer strong on his breath. Draco pulled away abruptly and started backing away. The man didn't seem to be getting up, just staring at Draco with recognition on his face.

"Let's go" Draco hissed to Jennifer, taking her arm. They slowly backed away and then turned and ran. They didn't stop running until they were back at Henry's apartment. They closed and locked the door behind them, breathing deeply for a while before walking past the sleeping Caitlin on the couch and went to Draco's room.

"You'll be staying the night I suppose?" Draco asked. Jennifer nodded silently and he set up a sleeping bag and pillow next to his bed.

"I think it's best if I sleep outside next to the couch" Jennifer said stiffly, taking the sleeping bag and pillow and walking out of Draco's room with them.

"Goodnight" she whispered before shutting the door behind her.

"Goodnight" Draco whispered back at the now closed door.