Chapter 15
Draco strode down the dark hallways, heat and anger and something unknown pulsing through his veins. The die had been cast, he was trapped into playing this hand now. He bared his teeth in a silently vicious snarl as he made his way toward the Slytherin common room.
Enough with 'friends', he thought, that odd anger still in him. Cara was his, now. And he would have to find a way to keep her out of Bellatrix's games. He dropped one hand to the vial in his pocket. The common room would be crowded; he'd have to work in the cover of his bed hangings.
He thought again of the taste of her lips opening under his, and could barely taste that faint flavor of chocolate. His mouth curved again, a little less cruelly. She didn't know how to kiss, and he was looking forward to teaching her.
Of course, all this might not have happened if that little twit had kept her hands out of her mouth and away from the moonstone, he grumbled even as his anger died a little more. Instead, some of that fear that had washed over him back in the dungeon classroom surfaced. She could have died in front of him, he thought, fingertips going cold. And dammit, he would have cared.
Bellatrix wouldn't. Draco set his teeth and reined in his wandering thoughts. He had work to do, work for two people now. Cara was a target, by his dear cousin's own hand.
Briefly, he thought of his beautiful, cold mother, still comfortably ensconced in Malfoy Manor. She hadn't lifted a finger to help him this summer, she wouldn't help now. Not after his part in his father's death. She was content to sit back and let someone else do all the dirty work.
He stepped through the portal and silently made his way across the nearly full common room. Eyes slid away from him and backs turned, and that was how he wanted it. He narrowed his eyes as he spotted Crabbe on the other side of the room, appearing to be buried in homework. How was Bellatrix getting her nasty little notes in? Was a dorm mate in on her little plan?
Briefly he considered and then discarded the boys in his room. Imbeciles, all of them. The wards he had around his bed were too strong for a mere student to slip through, or they would have already done it. No, Bellatrix had to have something special going. Perhaps that house elf that had come from the Black family? The wretched thing had attached itself to his mother; Draco could see her handing it over to Bellatrix.
He entered his room, and set his bag on the foot of his bed. He bent and rummaged through his trunk, finally finding the store of slightly odd potions ingredients. He should have an infusion of foxglove in here, he thought. He located the slim gold vial, and set the others back in his trunk. He made sure his wards and safeguards were all in place, and then settled on his bed and drew the curtains tight.
"Lumos," he said, and then pointed his now-lit wand at the curtains. "Aurus impervious." He had included Silencing Charms when he had set up his wards, but it never hurt to add another layer.
Carefully, he unscrewed the top of the foxglove vial. With his free hand, he took out the vial of Nerve-Deadening potion and flicked the stopper out with his thumb. He gazed at the silvery liquid in silence. This was his hope, he thought. With this, if it worked, he might be able to buy himself enough time, enough surprise for one chance.
Carefully, he tipped three drops of foxglove into the silver liquid. The mixture swirled and then returned to its original state. Carefully, he maneuvered the stopper back into place, and then screwed the top back on the foxglove. He really had no idea how much to use, he though, studying his new potion, but one thing he'd learned from watching Professor Stone was to begin small. Too little was generally safer than too much.
Getting up, he packed away both vials into his trunk, before settling back onto his bed. He released a sigh, one that seemed to have been building for a while as he stared up at the ceiling. His shoulder was aching. He should really get up and take a hot shower.
Instead he lay still and thought about kissing Cara again. Merlin, he was soft, spending this much time on a girl. A Gryffindor, no less. He rubbed the bridge of his nose, where a headache was starting to form. Why did his interest have to fall on one of them? Why did his interest have to become fixed at all?
Unbidden, the Potion Master's words from the day before flashed into his memory.
"A true friend is beyond price, Mr. Malfoy," was all the other said as he started turning away. "Do not waste it."
He smiled a little grimly as he forced his body up off the bed and toward the bathroom. A friend? He wasn't sure that was quite what he had in mind.
**********
Cara walked into the noise, light and laughter of the bustling common room and barely managed to even blink. She was actually pretty impressed she was putting one foot in front of the other, giving how much her mind was still reeling from that last delectable, overwhelming kiss.
She spotted Ginny sitting on one of the couches, next to Harry as he appeared to be playing chess with her brother. If the glare coming from the black-haired boy was any indication, he wasn't having any more luck than he normally did. Her feet carried her over to where the game was taking place, weaving in between the groups of other students.
Ginny glanced up as she came over. "Hey, Cara, back already?" she asked, eyes going right back to the board. "You're just in time. This is hilarious. Harry's pieces are so mad at him, ever since they won with you playing…"
Harry scowled deeper. "You're not helping," he told Ginny, poking her in the ribs. Ginny just snickered and batted his hand away.
"My lady!" the tiny white king cried out from the board, apparently having spotted Cara. "I prithee, save us from this most gruesome fate, at the hands of this feeble-minded jester…"
"Oi!" Harry objected with a scowl. "If she was playing Ron, she'd loose too!" On the other side of the board, the black queen stuck out her tongue at her counterpart.
"Umm, Gin?" Cara said, before a small war could break out on the board. "You got a minute?"
"Yeah, sure, what's up?" Ginny said, finally looking back up with something resembling attention. Then her eyes sharpened. "Oh my," slipped out before she snapped her mouth shut. "Right then, good luck, Harry, as always you'll need it, I'm off to bed."
"Hey, where's the fire?" Ron was protesting as Ginny headed for the dorm stairs, Cara trailing behind her. Cara glanced back to find that Ron was muttering something to Hermione, who'd come over a moment before, and that Harry's eyes were fixed curiously and rather unnervingly on her. For a second that emerald gaze seemed to see far too much, and it sharpened. She felt a throb of a headache begin. And then he blinked and gave her a faint, somewhat sympathetic smile and turned back to his friends.
Cara turned back and followed Ginny up to their room. Her friend was already waiting on her bed. Cara carefully set her bag on the end of the bed, and then crawled up until she was sitting next to Ginny, leaning back against the headboard. Ginny flicked her wand, shutting the bed curtains. "Aurus impervious," she said.
Cara studied her hands intently, not really sure what to say. Ginny's voice broke into her thoughts. "First things," she said gently. "Are you hurt?"
"Huh? No," Cara said quickly. "I mean, no. Well, there was that thing with the moonstone, but he gave me the antidote and I'm ok now, just my throat's a little scratchy but really I feel fine and…"
"Cara," Ginny broke in. "Malfoy gave you moonstone?"
Cara snapped her head up, startled. "No! I was grinding it, and broke my pestle, and cut my finger and there was moonstone on it and I didn't know and I was sucking the cut and then I got…"
Ginny stopped her by holding up her hand. "Ok. So Malfoy saw you'd accidentally swallowed moonstone, and gave you blackwater?" Cara nodded, and then pressed her lips together. And then… she thought.
"Ok," said Ginny, studying her, clearly thinking out loud. "So Malfoy saves your life again tonight." Cara nodded again. "And then… Oh my god. He kissed you, didn't he?" Her friend's eyes were huge and wide and Cara swallowed hard.
"Yes," she said.
Ginny just stared at her, mouth open for a moment before she snapped it shut. "I… Wow. He did?" Cara nodded again. "Really? He did, Draco Malfoy kissed you?"
Cara's brows drew together. "What, am I that unkissable?" she glared.
Ginny rolled her eyes. "Come on, you know that's not true," she said. "But this is Malfoy. He has no friends. He's mean and doesn't like people and hates Gryffindors. And… he kissed you?"
"Three times," Cara blurted.
"Wow." Ginny just sat there. "Well… I mean… what's it mean?"
Cara heaved a sigh. "I was kind of hoping you'd know," she mumbled.
"Well," Ginny seemed to be thinking. "Did he say anything?"
"We're not friends any longer." She blew out a breath. "Yeah," she said. "And then he kissed me again."
She could almost see the steam coming out of Ginny's ears as the wheels turned. "I almost can't believe I'm saying this," her friend finally said. "But… I think he might like you." Her face flushed again. Some part of her had come to that conclusion as well. "I guess the question is, how do you feel about him? Because if you don't like him, Malfoy's going to be tough to make back down."
She got a dizzying memory of those kisses, and swallowed hard. "I really liked being kissed," she said softly.
"Then I guess that's that," Ginny said. She reached over and picked up Cara's hand. "Just promise me, you'll be careful, ok? And tell me if anything, anything at all, ever happens."
Cara squeezed her hand. "I promise," she said.
I'm going to be kissing Draco Malfoy, she thought dizzily. Because I… like him. Merlin, was life about to get weird.
**********
The next morning Cara was very nervous as she dressed for the day. She'd combed her hair five different times, before Diana had finally shoved her away from the mirror, complaining that she was hogging it. She'd packed and repacked her back for the morning, each time forgetting something else she needed, until Ginny finally grabbed her by the arm and dragged her down to breakfast.
"You've got to face him sometime," her friend had muttered as she'd been bodily hauled down to the Great Hall.
But she wasn't ready, she thought frantically. She didn't know what to say or do and she'd end up being really weird and probably screwing up everything and…
And then she bumped into someone as Ginny shoved her through the open doors of the Great Hall. Strong hands caught and steadied her, and she looked straight up into cool gray eyes. Dammit.
"Forget how to walk, McDouglas?" he drawled as he set her back on her feet. His face was smooth and emotionless, a perfect mask. Except… she looked deeper into those eyes. Except for one little spark in those silvery depths.
And that little spark cleared up all her confusion, and Cara gave him a brilliant smile. "Why, I was completely overwhelmed by your very presence," she grinned. Stretching up on her toes, she pecked his cheek. "How lovely to see you this morning, Mr. Malfoy."
One pale eyebrow shot up, and she was subjected to a thorough examination. Finally, finally, Cara conscious that a good number of eyes were on them the entire time, one corner of his mouth tilted just the slightest bit. "Likewise," he murmured, too soft to be heard by anyone but her. Cara glowed as he then settled one hand on the back of her neck, a rather propriety gesture, she thought with a funny feeling in her chest, and gave her a little push toward the Gryffindor table before turning and heading for the Slytherin table.
Ginny was grinning madly as Cara dropped down beside her, completely winded for some reason. Diana was staring, eyes wide as saucers. "I… you… he…" her dormmate sputtered.
Ginny grinned and handed Diana a cinnamon roll. "You might need the sugar," she suggested. Cara helped herself to a particularly drippy one.
Harry leaned down the table. "Alright there, Cara?" he asked quietly.
Cara looked up and flashed him a brilliant smile, before looking over at the Slytherin table. Draco was sitting, completely relaxed, ignoring everyone else around him, his eyes on her. She blushed and smiled at him, before looking back at Harry. "Never better," she said. And took a huge bite.