CHAPTER NINETEEN: REVELATIONS
Saturday, 13th February 1999
Buffy sat down beside Blaise for breakfast, a grin on her face. Blaise looked at her friend curiously.
"What's got you so happy today Summers?" Blaise asked.
Buffy just grinned even wider and reached for her water goblet, taking a small sip.
"I'm not allowed to be happy?" the Slayer asked.
Blaise laughed a little, and the other Slytherin girls could only wonder why the small blonde girl that they had all become friends with was so happy. Pansy, on the other hand, wasn't looking too impressed. She hated Buffy Summers, and seeing her so happy was entirely unnerving.
"It's just so weird to see you grinning like an idiot," Blaise replied.
Two arms enveloped Buffy from behind, and she felt someone drop a gentle kiss on her shoulder.
"Well, she's my idiot, so she can grin like that all she wants," Draco said, moving to sit beside Buffy, one arm still around her waist.
Blaise broke out into a full-fledged smile and gave Buffy a quick hug. She'd been waiting for Buffy and Draco to get together for weeks, and seeing them as a couple was extremely gratifying.
"You two finally worked out that you're completely perfect for each other huh," Blaise commented. "Good for you."
Pansy snorted in jealousy and disgust, seething at the knowledge of Buffy and Draco's new relationship. She stood up angrily and looked down her nose at the new couple.
"You know Malfoy, you used to have class. If your father could see you now, he'd be so ashamed of you. Dating a muggle. A yankee muggle at that. Lucius Malfoy would never have stopped so low," Pansy said.
The hall suddenly went quiet as they realised that Draco Malfoy had just been insulted. All eyes were on the Slytherin table, waiting for an explosion of some sort.
Draco's first instinct was to stand up, reach across the table and smack the sneer from Pansy's face. Obviously, Buffy could tell that he was thinking of doing some serious violence to the girl, and she put a calming hand on his leg. He slowly counted to five before bothering to reply.
"Just for the record, my father was an idiot who never cared for anyone but himself. I can see why the two of you always got along so well, because you are exactly like him. As for me, I don't give a rat's arse about what my father would think about whom I choose to date. So you can just sod off Parkinson."
Draco's voice carried throughout the Great Hall, a silence descending after he had ceased talking. He was suddenly very much aware that he had the attention of the entire hall, something that once would have been something he craved, but now he didn't particularly want everyone hearing him denounce his family like that.
Most of the people in the school didn't actually know what had happened to the Malfoy family, only that Lucius Malfoy had been sent to Azkaban prison. They didn't know that it had been Malfoy Sr. who had been trying to become the new Dark Lord in Voldemort's place. Only very few select Slytherins, including Blaise, Pansy and Buffy knew. Not even Crabbe and Goyle knew the real reason for Draco's father's imprisonment.
Pansy kept her gaze on Draco for a few more moments before turning to look at Buffy.
"You'll regret this Summers," Pansy said darkly. "You'll regret this so badly when I'm done with you, you little murderer."
Buffy froze once again. The entire school turned their focus to her, and she forced herself to stay calm. Giles had always taught her to keep her breathing even when she was in a battle that she wasn't comfortable with, and this was no different.
"I have nothing to regret," Buffy stated firmly.
Pansy just smirked and cocked her head to the side arrogantly. "We'll see about that."
She turned on her heel and stalked out of the Great Hall. The silence lasted for another five seconds before half the hall burst into applause and the other half began a heated discussion of what had just happened. No one really understood what had jut happened, just that it was the most interesting piece of gossip about Draco since they'd heard that Lucius Malfoy had been imprisoned.
Buffy turned to look at Draco, a smile in her eyes. "Well, that went well."
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The new Slytherin couple walked across the grounds, silence between them. They were headed towards the lake so that they could talk in privacy. Buffy knew that Draco had a lot of questions to ask her, and she was trying to think of how to answer them as truthfully as possible without telling him the entire story.
They sat side by side on the bank of the lake, water lapping near their feet. Buffy watched Draco from the corner of her eye. She saw that he looked a little uncertain about something, and she was fairly sure she knew what was wrong. She scooted closer to him and leant her head on his shoulder. Draco sighed happily and pulled her closer.
"You can ask you know," Buffy whispered quietly.
"You're not just at Hogwarts because you had nothing better to do are you?" Draco asked.
Buffy shook her head and took hold of one of Draco's hands, revelling in his warmth. She studied his fingers and ran her thumb across his palm gently.
"No."
Draco swallowed nervously. He didn't understand who the girl beside him was, but he wanted to know. He'd never felt so strongly for anyone or anything before in his life, and he didn't want anything to ruin the feelings of contentment running through him.
"So why are you here?"
Buffy sighed and pulled away from Draco, shifting her position so that they were seated opposite each other, their hands still entwined.
"You were listening that day I got in an argument with Professor Rayne, weren't you?" Buffy asked.
Draco nodded. "Yeah."
"Then you heard what I'd been accused of."
"Killing someone," Draco replied softly. "Several someones by the sounds of it."
"Just one," Buffy replied. "That's why I'm here."
Draco felt his entire world begin to spin. He couldn't understand how someone as sweet and innocent as Buffy Summers could have been accused of murder. It just didn't fit in with anything he'd learnt about her in the last three weeks. It made no sense to him at all.
"But…you didn't do it, right?"
"I really can't talk about this Draco," Buffy said quietly, tears in her eyes. She wanted nothing more than to tell him the truth, but she'd been strictly forbidden to talk to anyone regarding what had happened. And as much as she knew that Draco would believe her if she told him the truth of what had happened that day, she knew that he would go to Professor Dumbledore and tell the Headmaster that Buffy was innocent. She would be kicked out of Hogwarts, and she'd never see the Scoobies or any of her new Hogwarts friends ever again.
Draco stared at her thoughtfully. He could see that she was close to tears, could feel her hands shaking even as he held them in his own. He knew there was more to it than she was letting on. He weighed his options, thinking over every possible reaction he could choose to have because of Buffy's confession. He breathed in deeply and made his choice.
He leant forward and gently pressed his lips to Buffy's capturing her mouth in a sweet kiss that told Buffy everything she needed to know. When they pulled back, Buffy looked at the Slytherin boy with astonished eyes.
"You still want to be with be?" she asked.
Draco nodded and brought Buffy's hand to his lips.
"I don't care about what happened in the past. These last three weeks, you've pushed past every single one of my barriers, pushed me to be someone I didn't know I could be. No one else has ever believed in me," he admitted softly. "They see me as my father's son, but you…you heard what happened to my father and instead of turning away, you asked me for my story instead of his. In the three weeks I've known you, you've shown me what friendship really is."
Buffy smiled, feeling extremely heartened to hear his soft words. She hadn't known she'd had such an effect on him, and hearing him admit it made her feel warm inside.
"When I look at you, I don't see a murderer," Draco said. Buffy flinched, but Draco refused to let go of her hands even as she tried to pull away from him. "I see you Buffy. I see who you are, what you're really like. You're not evil, and you're not a murderer, and even if you did kill someone, it doesn't change anything with us."
Draco brought his hand up and gently touched his thumb to the solitary tear that had fallen. He put his fingers beneath her chin and tilted her head so that she was looking at him. He kissed her gently and trailed a finger down the side of her face.
"You're a good person Buffy," he whispered, his lips still touching hers lightly. "And nothing anyone says will ever make me think differently."
Buffy couldn't hold it in any longer and broke down sobbing. Draco pulled her closer to him, manoeuvring her so that her back was to his chest. He cuddled her closer, stroking her hair and whispering sweet nothings in her ear, trying to get her to calm down before she made herself sick.
The Slayer couldn't help the tears that continued flowing. In the three weeks that she'd been at Hogwarts, she'd never been able to really just break down and cry with someone holding her for comfort. Being in someone's arms, being held, being loved was what she'd been missing more than anything, and now she found all three things in Draco Malfoy's arms.
After seemingly endless minutes, she quietened down but stayed in Draco's lap, his arms around her tiny waist, the two of them staring at the lake in blissful quiet.
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Awww…B/Dr mush. So cute. Hey, can someone clear something up for me…What's the legal age for ppl to be able to apparate? 17 or 18? Cos I'm very confused as to the whole 'of age' thing in Book Five.
(Oooo, and guess what I just watched…who remembers SeaQuest DSV!! *lol* Talk about a blast from the past…) Anyways, thanks heaps for the reviews!!
Toodles.