CHAPTER SEVEN
The week inched by painstakingly slow for Lara. She was, of all things, excited about Saturday. Okay, so Malfoy was a bit of a bastard. But in the last weeks he had shown a more human side to him, and Lara knew there was more where it came from. Besides he was funny, smart, and dead sexy. It couldn't hurt could it?
Even so, she didn't tell anyone but Hermione about it.
"I don't know what to wear!" Lara cried, throwing clothes on her bed as she frantically searched through her trunk, trying to find something.
"Oh, definitely this!" Hermione said, holding up a bright red, lacy bra with matching panties.
"Somehow, I don't think he'd complain." Hermione laughed. The two girls continued to search through the mountain of clothes. "Oh my goodness! This is beautiful!" Hermione squealed as she held up a black off the shoulder top.
"With what?"
"Those jeans, and black boots. You're hair up, with some silver earrings, and... this necklace!" Hermione said triumphantly as the took the beautiful pendant from around her neck and gave it to Lara.
"Are you sure?" Lara asked uncertainly. The necklace was Hermione's favourite, and she knew how much she loved it.
"Of course I am!" Hermione said impatiently. "Now hurry, or you'll be late." Lara grinned at her friend as she carefully took the necklace and clasped it around her neck.
15 minutes later Lara was down in the common room, dressed and ready to go.
She was just about to step out of the portrait hole when Ron caught her by the arm.
"Where do you think you're going dressed up like that?"
"I'm meeting some friends outside of school." Lara said casually. Ron gave her a weird look but let it pass.
"I thought you were going with us."
"I was, but then this came up. And I see you guys every day, and my other friends I only see rarely, so..." Lara was lying through her teeth by now.
"Okay okay, I understand. Have fun." Ron said, grinning and letting her go before resuming his seat on the couch next to Harry. Once she was out of the room, Ron turned to Harry.
"She's lying."
"I know."
"What do you reckon she's actually doing?"
"Well, considering she just spent an hour getting ready, and she came out dressed like that, she's either going to prositutes' anonymous or a date." Ron laughed.
"You're terrible Harry, she looked great!"
"You like her?" The raven haired boy asked incredulously.
"Naa, not like that."
"It's still Hermione then?" Ron nodded fervently.
"I don't understand why you don't just ask her out Ron."
"It's not that easy man. What if she says no?"
"She won't." Harry assured his friend.
"Easy for you to say, you've never been shot down in your life."
"Yeah I have, Cho Chang, last year, remember?"
"Oh yeah... do you still like her?"
"No actually. She's followed me around like a little lap dog ever since I came back, and I somehow don't think it's coz she's suddenly attracted to my personality." Harry said gloomily, leaning forward on his hands.
"I know it's tough to find someone who likes you for you and all, but you know Ginny... she's liked you for ages." Ron said. Harry frowned slightly. He knew this, as he and Ron had this conversation often, but he still maintained he didn't see Ginny as anything more than a friend. But Ginny had liked him ever since they met, before he had changed his looks, before he had become Hogwarts most wanted; maybe it was worth a shot...
******************************************************
"Morning My Lady, how are we this morning?" Draco said in a cultured voice, bowing as Lara approached him and holding out his hand.
"Spiffing my Lord, absolutely spiffing." Lara replied, as she took his hand and let him steer her down the stairs and onto the grounds.
"So tell me Malfoy, why me?"
"What about you?" The blonde haired Slytherin asked. He was wearing a black button down shirt and baggy jeans with floppy hair. Lara was glad he hadn't gelled it back as he did occasionally.
"I've asked around, and you're not much of a ladies man, even though you could be. But you asked me out. Why?"
"Most girls fall at my feet at one word, and when I insult them break down in tears. You however, don't. You're not like the rest of them. I suppose you say, I've met my match in you." Lara smiled at this.
"Good answer." She said simply. The pair walked across the grounds and out of the gate, talking happily. Lara found she could relax in his presence, and enjoy his company. He was intelligent, that much was obvious, and extremely arrogant. But then, so was she.
******************************************************
"So tell me, why do you insult everyone? What have you got against Potter for example." Lara asked after taking a sip of her butter beer. They had walked to Hogsmeade and were now sitting on a bench in the Three Broomsticks, still talking away. Malfoy put his mug down slowly and stared at Lara, as if contemplating whether she was ready to hear what she wanted to say. Apparently she was, as he sighed softly and answered her question.
"Okay Miss Black, I knew this question was coming. I don't do it on purpose. Okay, so Potter I do, but that's just because he's a git."
"I can agree with you there." Lara said, grinning. Draco smirked back at her.
"But everyone else, like Granger, I insult them because Dad keeps tabs on me. He has this spell that ensures I don't rebel against the Dark Lord, and that I keep up his noble work. If he senses any sign of rebellion then bam... I'm hit with the cruciatus curse." Lara looked at him in horror.
"How do you stand it? All these years..."
"Well I don't, I've learnt to fight the curse, it's sort of like the Imperious. But that doesn't mean I can openly rebel the Dark Lord, I don't have complete control over the spell."
"So you don't mean most of the things you say?"
"All that pure blood crap? No way!"
"So you're a softie at heart?" Lara said, teasingly.
"Well, I wouldn't go that far..." Draco said, grinning. He shuffled closer to her in the booth, putting his arm around her waist. "I'm still a bad boy..." He said seductively in her ear. Lara felt shivers run up and down her spine.
"Just the way I like it." Lara said, smiling at him as she took shuffled closer into his embrace. She looked up at the blonde Slytherin and smiled as she caught him staring at her.
"You're beautiful, you know that?"
"Of course I do, it's hard to miss. I suppose you're aware that you are drop dead sexy?" Lara asked him, leaning close to his face so she could feel his warm breath on her neck.
"With all these girls falling at my feet, it's hard to not notice." Draco said immodestly as he leaned in and brushed his lips against hers. "Mm... I like that lip gloss. Strawberry?" He asked, completely ruining the romantic mood. Lara laughed at him as he licked his lips.
"You tell me..." She said seductively.
"Well I'll need another try..." He said, as he leaned in and kissed her, this time longer and deeper. For some reason, there was little conversation between the two for the next few minutes... ******************************************************
"Today was good." Lara said, as she climbed the entrance hall steps beside Draco, her arms around his waist.
"Good? That's all you can say."
"Okay, it was fantastic." Lara said, grinning into his lips as they shared another kiss.
"That's better." Draco said, as they stopped in the entrance hall to say goodbye, as he had to go down the stairs to the dungeons while Lara had to climb them to go to Gryffindor tower.
"Goodbye Draco."
"Goodbye my gracious Lady. Today was delightful; I shall contact you as to the details of our next outing." He said in the same cultured voice he used at the beginning of their date.
"I look forward to it My Lord." Lara replied, curtsying deeply before he gathered her in his arms for a parting kiss.
"Until tomorrow." He said, as they reluctantly broke apart and headed towards their respective dormitories.
"Until tomorrow my Lord." Lara said before disappearing from view. Draco watched her go before crying out loud.
"Yes!" He said, punching the air in excitement. The day had gone well. No, better than that. It was fantastic.
***************************************************
"Mione!" Lara said, as she ran through the portrait hole in a hurry.
"Lara! How did it go? Tell all!" Hermione said, as she jumped up from her table in the corner and ran towards her friend, embracing her in a tight hug. Suddenly, she let go quickly as she saw Harry and Ron look up from their work, obviously interested in the conversation. "Do you want to go upstairs?" Hermione asked pointedly.
"I don't care who knows anymore! I'm on top of the world!" Lara laughed as spun around the room, arms wide, drowning in happiness.
"So it went well?" Hermione asked, forgetting their audience in her curiosity.
"Better than well. I am, as of today, officially Draco Malfoy's girlfriend." Hermione squealed in delight, hugging her friend again.
"WHAT?" Harry yelled from his position across the room. He stood up from his desk quickly, striding towards the two hysterical girls. "What did you just say?" Lara let go of Hermione and rounded on Harry.
"I said, I'm going out with Draco." She said in a challenging voice.
"You're putting us all at risk you moron! Your endangering our lives for some stupid fling!" Harry spat out, vibrant red in anger.
"What are you talking about Potter?"
"He'll betray you to Voldemort, and you know it."
"He won't. I trust him!" Lara yelled defiantly.
"He's a Malfoy! What do you mean, you trust him?"
"Exactly what I said, I trust him! And I'm going to continue going out with him, whether you like it or not!"
"You're going out with a git who called your best friend a Mudblood! Don't you feel ashamed of yourself at all?" Harry yelled back, the entire common room now silent and listening intently to the conversation.
"HE DOESN"T MEAN IT! HE DOESN"T LIKE INSULTING EVERYONE!" Lara yelled back, her fists clenched at her side.
"BUT HE DOES IT ANYWAY, JUST FOR THE KICK HE GETS OUT OF IT?"
"Don't talk about stuff you don't understand Potter!"
"I will when it concerns me!"
"NOT EVERYTHING IS ABOUT YOU!" Lara yelled, absolutely infuriated at this point. Harry however, seemed to have been pushed even further, because at this comment he swung his fist around and connected it with Lara's jaw. The girl took several second to recover, but once she did she threw another punch back at him.
"Stop it!" Hermione yelled desperately, trying to separate them with no avail. "Petrificus Totalus!" She yelled with a flick of the wand she had taken out of her robes. Instantly, Harry and Lara stiffened and sprang apart. "You two should both me ashamed of yourselves. I'm going to leave you to heal your own cuts and bruises this time!" She said, before stomping off up the stairs. As soon as she was gone, Lara sprang apart.
"Silly girl doesn't know the curse is useless on me." She said, smiling smugly before collapsing on the couch and beginning to heal her bruises. Ron jumped down and undid the spell binding Harry. He was still fuming, but decided not to risk another confrontation with Hermione in such a state. He too, headed up the stairs to his dormitory, Ron following silently behind.
Once she finished fixing herself up, Lara stood up off the couch and headed out the portrait hole. She needed to see Draco.
The week inched by painstakingly slow for Lara. She was, of all things, excited about Saturday. Okay, so Malfoy was a bit of a bastard. But in the last weeks he had shown a more human side to him, and Lara knew there was more where it came from. Besides he was funny, smart, and dead sexy. It couldn't hurt could it?
Even so, she didn't tell anyone but Hermione about it.
"I don't know what to wear!" Lara cried, throwing clothes on her bed as she frantically searched through her trunk, trying to find something.
"Oh, definitely this!" Hermione said, holding up a bright red, lacy bra with matching panties.
"Somehow, I don't think he'd complain." Hermione laughed. The two girls continued to search through the mountain of clothes. "Oh my goodness! This is beautiful!" Hermione squealed as she held up a black off the shoulder top.
"With what?"
"Those jeans, and black boots. You're hair up, with some silver earrings, and... this necklace!" Hermione said triumphantly as the took the beautiful pendant from around her neck and gave it to Lara.
"Are you sure?" Lara asked uncertainly. The necklace was Hermione's favourite, and she knew how much she loved it.
"Of course I am!" Hermione said impatiently. "Now hurry, or you'll be late." Lara grinned at her friend as she carefully took the necklace and clasped it around her neck.
15 minutes later Lara was down in the common room, dressed and ready to go.
She was just about to step out of the portrait hole when Ron caught her by the arm.
"Where do you think you're going dressed up like that?"
"I'm meeting some friends outside of school." Lara said casually. Ron gave her a weird look but let it pass.
"I thought you were going with us."
"I was, but then this came up. And I see you guys every day, and my other friends I only see rarely, so..." Lara was lying through her teeth by now.
"Okay okay, I understand. Have fun." Ron said, grinning and letting her go before resuming his seat on the couch next to Harry. Once she was out of the room, Ron turned to Harry.
"She's lying."
"I know."
"What do you reckon she's actually doing?"
"Well, considering she just spent an hour getting ready, and she came out dressed like that, she's either going to prositutes' anonymous or a date." Ron laughed.
"You're terrible Harry, she looked great!"
"You like her?" The raven haired boy asked incredulously.
"Naa, not like that."
"It's still Hermione then?" Ron nodded fervently.
"I don't understand why you don't just ask her out Ron."
"It's not that easy man. What if she says no?"
"She won't." Harry assured his friend.
"Easy for you to say, you've never been shot down in your life."
"Yeah I have, Cho Chang, last year, remember?"
"Oh yeah... do you still like her?"
"No actually. She's followed me around like a little lap dog ever since I came back, and I somehow don't think it's coz she's suddenly attracted to my personality." Harry said gloomily, leaning forward on his hands.
"I know it's tough to find someone who likes you for you and all, but you know Ginny... she's liked you for ages." Ron said. Harry frowned slightly. He knew this, as he and Ron had this conversation often, but he still maintained he didn't see Ginny as anything more than a friend. But Ginny had liked him ever since they met, before he had changed his looks, before he had become Hogwarts most wanted; maybe it was worth a shot...
******************************************************
"Morning My Lady, how are we this morning?" Draco said in a cultured voice, bowing as Lara approached him and holding out his hand.
"Spiffing my Lord, absolutely spiffing." Lara replied, as she took his hand and let him steer her down the stairs and onto the grounds.
"So tell me Malfoy, why me?"
"What about you?" The blonde haired Slytherin asked. He was wearing a black button down shirt and baggy jeans with floppy hair. Lara was glad he hadn't gelled it back as he did occasionally.
"I've asked around, and you're not much of a ladies man, even though you could be. But you asked me out. Why?"
"Most girls fall at my feet at one word, and when I insult them break down in tears. You however, don't. You're not like the rest of them. I suppose you say, I've met my match in you." Lara smiled at this.
"Good answer." She said simply. The pair walked across the grounds and out of the gate, talking happily. Lara found she could relax in his presence, and enjoy his company. He was intelligent, that much was obvious, and extremely arrogant. But then, so was she.
******************************************************
"So tell me, why do you insult everyone? What have you got against Potter for example." Lara asked after taking a sip of her butter beer. They had walked to Hogsmeade and were now sitting on a bench in the Three Broomsticks, still talking away. Malfoy put his mug down slowly and stared at Lara, as if contemplating whether she was ready to hear what she wanted to say. Apparently she was, as he sighed softly and answered her question.
"Okay Miss Black, I knew this question was coming. I don't do it on purpose. Okay, so Potter I do, but that's just because he's a git."
"I can agree with you there." Lara said, grinning. Draco smirked back at her.
"But everyone else, like Granger, I insult them because Dad keeps tabs on me. He has this spell that ensures I don't rebel against the Dark Lord, and that I keep up his noble work. If he senses any sign of rebellion then bam... I'm hit with the cruciatus curse." Lara looked at him in horror.
"How do you stand it? All these years..."
"Well I don't, I've learnt to fight the curse, it's sort of like the Imperious. But that doesn't mean I can openly rebel the Dark Lord, I don't have complete control over the spell."
"So you don't mean most of the things you say?"
"All that pure blood crap? No way!"
"So you're a softie at heart?" Lara said, teasingly.
"Well, I wouldn't go that far..." Draco said, grinning. He shuffled closer to her in the booth, putting his arm around her waist. "I'm still a bad boy..." He said seductively in her ear. Lara felt shivers run up and down her spine.
"Just the way I like it." Lara said, smiling at him as she took shuffled closer into his embrace. She looked up at the blonde Slytherin and smiled as she caught him staring at her.
"You're beautiful, you know that?"
"Of course I do, it's hard to miss. I suppose you're aware that you are drop dead sexy?" Lara asked him, leaning close to his face so she could feel his warm breath on her neck.
"With all these girls falling at my feet, it's hard to not notice." Draco said immodestly as he leaned in and brushed his lips against hers. "Mm... I like that lip gloss. Strawberry?" He asked, completely ruining the romantic mood. Lara laughed at him as he licked his lips.
"You tell me..." She said seductively.
"Well I'll need another try..." He said, as he leaned in and kissed her, this time longer and deeper. For some reason, there was little conversation between the two for the next few minutes... ******************************************************
"Today was good." Lara said, as she climbed the entrance hall steps beside Draco, her arms around his waist.
"Good? That's all you can say."
"Okay, it was fantastic." Lara said, grinning into his lips as they shared another kiss.
"That's better." Draco said, as they stopped in the entrance hall to say goodbye, as he had to go down the stairs to the dungeons while Lara had to climb them to go to Gryffindor tower.
"Goodbye Draco."
"Goodbye my gracious Lady. Today was delightful; I shall contact you as to the details of our next outing." He said in the same cultured voice he used at the beginning of their date.
"I look forward to it My Lord." Lara replied, curtsying deeply before he gathered her in his arms for a parting kiss.
"Until tomorrow." He said, as they reluctantly broke apart and headed towards their respective dormitories.
"Until tomorrow my Lord." Lara said before disappearing from view. Draco watched her go before crying out loud.
"Yes!" He said, punching the air in excitement. The day had gone well. No, better than that. It was fantastic.
***************************************************
"Mione!" Lara said, as she ran through the portrait hole in a hurry.
"Lara! How did it go? Tell all!" Hermione said, as she jumped up from her table in the corner and ran towards her friend, embracing her in a tight hug. Suddenly, she let go quickly as she saw Harry and Ron look up from their work, obviously interested in the conversation. "Do you want to go upstairs?" Hermione asked pointedly.
"I don't care who knows anymore! I'm on top of the world!" Lara laughed as spun around the room, arms wide, drowning in happiness.
"So it went well?" Hermione asked, forgetting their audience in her curiosity.
"Better than well. I am, as of today, officially Draco Malfoy's girlfriend." Hermione squealed in delight, hugging her friend again.
"WHAT?" Harry yelled from his position across the room. He stood up from his desk quickly, striding towards the two hysterical girls. "What did you just say?" Lara let go of Hermione and rounded on Harry.
"I said, I'm going out with Draco." She said in a challenging voice.
"You're putting us all at risk you moron! Your endangering our lives for some stupid fling!" Harry spat out, vibrant red in anger.
"What are you talking about Potter?"
"He'll betray you to Voldemort, and you know it."
"He won't. I trust him!" Lara yelled defiantly.
"He's a Malfoy! What do you mean, you trust him?"
"Exactly what I said, I trust him! And I'm going to continue going out with him, whether you like it or not!"
"You're going out with a git who called your best friend a Mudblood! Don't you feel ashamed of yourself at all?" Harry yelled back, the entire common room now silent and listening intently to the conversation.
"HE DOESN"T MEAN IT! HE DOESN"T LIKE INSULTING EVERYONE!" Lara yelled back, her fists clenched at her side.
"BUT HE DOES IT ANYWAY, JUST FOR THE KICK HE GETS OUT OF IT?"
"Don't talk about stuff you don't understand Potter!"
"I will when it concerns me!"
"NOT EVERYTHING IS ABOUT YOU!" Lara yelled, absolutely infuriated at this point. Harry however, seemed to have been pushed even further, because at this comment he swung his fist around and connected it with Lara's jaw. The girl took several second to recover, but once she did she threw another punch back at him.
"Stop it!" Hermione yelled desperately, trying to separate them with no avail. "Petrificus Totalus!" She yelled with a flick of the wand she had taken out of her robes. Instantly, Harry and Lara stiffened and sprang apart. "You two should both me ashamed of yourselves. I'm going to leave you to heal your own cuts and bruises this time!" She said, before stomping off up the stairs. As soon as she was gone, Lara sprang apart.
"Silly girl doesn't know the curse is useless on me." She said, smiling smugly before collapsing on the couch and beginning to heal her bruises. Ron jumped down and undid the spell binding Harry. He was still fuming, but decided not to risk another confrontation with Hermione in such a state. He too, headed up the stairs to his dormitory, Ron following silently behind.
Once she finished fixing herself up, Lara stood up off the couch and headed out the portrait hole. She needed to see Draco.