Chapter 26: Would You Like A Surprise With That?

A/N: This chapter, I've decided, is for my good friend Lauren K (you asked for it for all of eight grade year) and for galagirl (you requested it by review). You'll see why soon. Enjoy.

Melissa tore down the staircase and turned in to the Great Hall. She screeched to a halt and looked frantically around, scanning the Hall for either Malfoy or any other Slytherins. She was in luck. Or, as much luck, as she wanted to be in anything that concerned Slytherins. Pansy Parkinson and Blaise Zabini were sitting and gossiping about some magazine. Melissa ran over to them and slammed her hands loudly on the table, causing both Slytherin girls to nearly jump out of their skin.

"What the hell was that for, Potter?" Pansy spat venomously. Melissa couldn't resist.

"Just like to see you jump, Parkinson," she retorted, a nasty smile on her face. Pansy rolled her eyes and turned back to Blaise. "Wait," Melissa responded to the cold shoulder. "I need your help."

This came as a shock to both Slytherin girls, Pansy perhaps exaggerated a bit. She fainted and fell of the bench. Blaise's mouth merely dropped open. Melissa glanced down at Pansy's prone form before turning to Blaise.

"Tad of a drama queen, I think," Melissa calmly concluded before turning to the other Slytherin girl. "Please, Zabini, I need to know where Malfoy is," Melissa pleaded, the urgency showing through in her voice. Blaise nodded.

"Sure, he's up in the library," the girl replied as she pulled out a Muggle mystery novel.

"Oh, thank you so much!" Melissa moaned gratefully.

"No problem."

Melissa glanced at the book quickly and added unconsciously, "That's a really good book, by the way."

She had taken three steps before she realized what she had said. She turned back to the Slytherin table with a stunned expression on her face.

"Whoa."

Blaise looked up at her.

"We need to talk and soon," Melissa said before turning and running out of the Hall. Blaise smiled softly before she opened her book.

"Gryffindors are funny . . ."

~*~*~ Ten minutes later ~*~*~

Melissa burst into the library, but slowed to a walk after Madam Pince shot her a death if-you-do-anything-to-ruin-these-books-in-any-way-I'll-kill-you glare. She meekly mouthed an apology and walked quickly past her. She glanced left to right as she hurried through the library, scanning for Malfoy. Wait . . . blonde hair! That's him! He was sitting in an overstuffed armchair, reading a book. Melissa suddenly found herself incapable of doing anything but stare. She unconsciously began memorizing every feature of the Slytherin's face. She'd never seen him looking so peaceful. He wasn't wearing the usual Hogwarts robes, just a pair of jeans and a black tee shirt. His hair wasn't loaded down with all the glue the Slytherin typically used, but was mostly tucked behind his ears. Several, however, had escaped and the soft strands were resting next to one eye. [1]

Wow . . . he looks . . . really different, Melissa found herself thinking. Horrified, she clapped a hand over her mouth and drew off behind a bookshelf out of Malfoy's eyesight. Oh, no, oh, no, oh, no, oh, no, oh, no! Oh, this isn't happening! I was not just . . . admiring Malfoy . . . Oh, dammit, I was! she agonized silently. She gave herself a mental slap before walking quickly over to the blonde boy. He looked up, startled, as she sat down in the armchair directly beside his.

"Malfoy, I'm so sorry," she began apologizing. "It's just that I haven't seen my friends in months and then they show up here to visit for a few days and I've just been tryin to spend s much time as possible with them and—"

"Potter, shut it," Malfoy demanded, leaning forward so the two were barely an inch apart. Melissa clamped her mouth shut and quite suddenly discovered herself staring into the other teen's eyes.

Grey, but not in a bad way. Sort of like . . . silver, I suppose. Or storm clouds.

"Stop apologizing," he went on. "I understand you wanted to spend time with your friends. Don't worry about it."

Melissa wrinkled her brow, confused at the normally cold Slytherin's compassion.

Malfoy smiled at her, which added to her shock even more.

"I'm not that heartless, Melissa," he whispered to her. The fact he called her by her first name was making its way to her brain when Malfoy did something she most definitely did not foresee.

He kissed her.

Draco Malfoy, Pride of Slytherin House, was kissing Melissa Potter, the Girl Who Lived.

There were warning bells flashing and ringing madly in Melissa's head and she knew she should pay attention to them . . . but for the strangest reason, she couldn't remember why and thus ignored them. She began to sink into the kiss just a moment before Malfoy pulled away. He traced a finger down her cheek and kissed her lightly again before picking up his book and walking out of the area. Melissa very nearly melted right then and there. She touched a finger to her tingling lips in amazement. His smile flashed through her mind and she decided it was a heart-breakingly gorgeous smile.

~*~*~ Twenty minutes later ~*~*~

Melissa walked, still stunned, into the Gryffindor common room. Hermione, Ron, and Harry looked up at her as she entered.

"Oh, Melissa, did you find Malfoy?" Harry inquired. Melissa nodded slowly. She brought a finger up to her mouth and began nibbling on it nervously.

"Hermione, can I talk to you for a minute in our dorm?" the redhead asked. Hermione glanced at Ron and Harry oddly before standing up.

"Yeah, sure."

The two girls hurried up the steps to their dormitory. Ron and Harry looked at each other, bewildered.

"What was that all about?"

~*~*~ Up in the girls' dorm ~*~*~

"Melissa, what's the matter?" Hermione asked anxiously as she perched on the edge of her bed. Melissa muttered something completely unintelligible.

"What?"

Melissa exhaled a deep breath forcefully.

"Malfoykissedme."

"WHAT?!?"

Hermione bolted off her bed and stared open-mouthed at her.

"Melissa, you can't be serious!" One look at the Potter girl told the prefect she was. "How?"

"Hermione, you didn't see him! He was so peaceful and sweet and forgiving!" Melissa explained, a pleading note creeping into her voice. "And his eyes, Hermione! Looking into them is like looking into his soul."

"Mel, how do you know he won't turn you over to Vol—to You-Know-Who at the first chance?"

Melissa shrugged.

"I know he won't."

Hermione was silent for a few minutes as she contemplated what Melissa had said.

"Well, then there's only one question left to be asked," Hermione said finally. Melissa looked at her and caught the twinkle in her eyes. "How does he kiss?"

Melissa grinned.

"Absolutely ama—whoa!"

She batted at the owl that had suddenly flown through the window. It dropped a letter into her hands before hooting once and flying off. Melissa and Hermione exchanged a confused look before the redhead tore it open. As she read, her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open.

"Merlin . . ." she breathed.

"What? What does it say?" Hermione asked anxiously, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet. Silently, Melissa handed her the letter.

"'That kiss was an invitation. Will you give me the honor of accompanying me to the Valentine's Day Ball that is being held this year? If you accept, kiss me at dinner. If not, hand this note back to me. Always and forever yours, Draco.' Oh!"

Hermione looked up at Melissa, who had her hands covering her mouth.

"What are you going to do?" Hermione asked, carefully placing the note on a bare space on Melissa's bedside table.

"I don't know. What should I do?" Melissa whispered back between her fingers.

"Well . . . say yes!" Hermione exclaimed, grinning. "What's the worst that could happen?!"

"Okay, then. I'm . . . going out with Draco Malfoy!" Melissa cried, laughing. Hermione threw her arms around her in a hug before Melissa pulled away, her face deathly pale. "What do I wear? What do I say?"

"Relax! I'll help you with everything," Hermione reassured her. She glanced down at her watch. "Come on, we've got a lot to do in two hours!"

~*~*~ Two hours later ~*~*~

Melissa stared nervously at herself in the mirror as she tugged on one of her red curls. She and Hermione had applied a light, flavored lip gloss (watermelon) and some mascara. They had rehearsed what she would say and how she would say it. After close to two hours, Hermione pronounced her perfect, although now the time had actually come to her to do it, Melissa was having second thoughts.

"Melissa, just go!" Hermione ordered after Melissa's fifth excuse, pointing at the door. "There is no way on earth I'm letting you skip dinner."

Melissa paled considerably and she walked, trembling, out the door. The ten-minute walk to the Great Hall was quiet, as Melissa worried over what she was planning to do, Hermione smirked at Melissa, and Harry and Ron were massively confused by their friends' behaviour.

Outside the Hall, Melissa's heart began pounding out a tribal war beat and leapt up somewhere in the vicinity of her throat. She turned quickly to Hermione, but before she could say a word, the prefect pointed sternly at the door. Melissa whimpered and walked reluctantly in.

"Mel, Hermione, what's going on?" Harry demanded as they walked inside. Melissa managed a wobbly smile.

"Nothing, Harry," she reassured. "Go ahead and sit down. I've got something to take care of first."

Harry and Ron both opened their mouths to protest, but Melissa and Hermione pushed them in the direction of the Gryffindor table. Hermione then turned to Melissa with an excited grin on her face. She reached out and grasped the redhead's hand.

"Don't worry; you'll do great," Hermione told her quietly. "And I'll be watching the whole time, too."

"You and the rest of the school," Melissa added anxiously, looking around. Hermione laughed.

"Nervous?"

"Are you kidding?" Melissa asked weakly. "I'm petrified!"

Hermione gave Melissa's hand a squeeze before whispering good luck and walking off after Ron and Harry. Melissa steeled herself and turned in the opposite direction, towards the Slytherin table. She walked purposefully towards the sixth years at the end of the table. Before she could say a word, however, Pansy spoke.

"What do you want, Potter?" she hissed. Malfoy's head snapped up and Melissa detected a hint of worry in his eyes.

"Stuff it, Parkinson, I'm not in the mood," Melissa replied scathingly. She turned to Malfoy, who had stood up by now, and pulled from her pocket the neatly folded note he'd sent her earlier. She stepped closer to him and fiddled with the note. He glanced down and saw it, and his whole body seemed to slump. He reached for it. Melissa hesitated and finally tossed it onto the table. She touched Malfoy's face with one hand and gazed into his eyes. Her heart was now thudding so loudly she was sure the whole Hall could hear it. She took a deep breath and leaned in and up. She closed her eyes and felt soft lips meet hers halfway. An electric thrill shivered through her body and she was oblivious to the murmurs and whispers that fled throughout the Hall. Melissa finally pulled away a bit and looked up at the taller Slytherin. He was smiling again! She felt her heart melt all over at the sight.

"So . . . I take it that's a yes?" he whispered, tracing a finger down her face. She smiled softly and placed a hand on his arm.

"Yeah, it is. Thanks for the invitation," she replied. Their lips met in another sweet kiss; this one broken, however, by the sound of a loud thud next to them. They broke ad looked at the floor. Pansy had fainted again.

"Definitely a bit of a drama queen, that one," Melissa murmured. Malfoy chuckled and placed a kiss on her forehead.

"Oi, ferret-face!"

Melissa and Malfoy turned around to see a red-faced Ron and Harry stalking towards them.

"Oh, dear," Melissa murmured. She and Hermione had failed to think about this when they were preparing.

[1]: Concerning the description of Draco's hair, I was basing it off Johnny Depp's new locks at the Oscars. Go find a picture of him and give me the URL; he's gorgeous!