Chapter 9: Drowning

Draco saw her sitting on the rock all alone with her head in between her legs. He'd been looking for her for awhile. Her heard her crying, but he didn't know whether to announce himself or wait for her to stop. But, she suddenly lifted her head and wiped away her tears. Draco tapped her on the shoulder and she jumped a few feet, and fell off the rock into the water below. Draco shed himself of cloak as he clambered up the rock. He peered over the edge, and jumped in after her. At first touch the water was freezing cold, and he couldn't see though it, but he thought he saw someone struggling through the water. He reacher for Lacy, but she fought him and landed a few well placed kicks and knocked the wind out of him. He kicked up and broke the surface of the water, took a few gulps of fresh air, and went back under. She was falling and landed on the bottom of the lake. Draco reached his hands for her, and she didn't struggle. He used both hands to pull her up, she was heavier than he anticipated, it must have been the heavy cloak she was wearing. He dragged her up to the surface, and held her head above to let her drink in the air, but she wasn't breathing. Draco ripped off the heavy cloak and let it wall back into the murky waters. He picked her up and set her on the rock, he jumped up after her. He gazed at her limp form, not knowing what to do. He opened her mouth and breathed in and then pumped her chest, nothing happened, so he repeated the action. After the third try she spurted water from her lungs and rolled over and threw up water. She breathed heavily and Draco sat back and let out his own heavy sighs. Lacy turned over to face Draco, she looked shocked.

"It was you? You scared me, and I almost drowned?" She looked angry, but her voice was limp and scraggly. Her face relaxed and she laid back down, closing her eyes. Draco was speechless, he just sat there beside her motionless. He tasted her lips, and had his hands on her body where they shouldn't have been, only in his dreams had this happened to him.

"Why were you out here anyway?" Lacy broke the silence, she still had her eyes closed though. Draco hesitated before answering her.

"I was looking for you." He didn't think about what he was saying, he just said them. He was mesmerized by her chest and how she breathed. Lacy said something, but Draco didn't hear her. She opened her eyes, looking at him expectantly.

"What?" he asked. He hadn't realized she'd said something.

"I asked you why you were looking for me." Draco looked into her eyes and was dumbfounded.

"Uhh..I wanted to ask you why you punched Pansy. She doesn't like you much now." Draco half teased, but Lacy looked angry again.

"I punched her because she deserved to be. I was angry, and I took my anger out on her. I shouldn't have, but I did. Eh, I don't care."

"Why were you angry?"

"My father." She said it like it explained everything. Draco waited for her to go on, and when she didn't he asked,

"Your father? Okay. You know you have detention now, don't you?" The color on Lacy's face drained away.

"Hey, it's okay, I mean detention isn't all that bad. I once had to go into the forbidden forest, and that was in my first year. It shouldn't be all that bad." But, Lacy shook her head.

"No, I don't care about detention." Draco mouthed and "Oh."

"He's telling my father." Draco still didn't understand.

"So, he'll send you a howler. End of that." Again, Lacy shook her head.

"No, he'd never send me a howler, they'd bring disgrace to the family name. Not that many people know what my name means, but that's beside the point. If he hears that I let my emotions lead me...ooh..I don't want to think about it. You don't know what I'm talking about." Lacy looked down.

"Yes, I know what you're talking about, maybe not so severe, but I know what it's like. My father is the same way." Draco looked at her curiously.

"Then they'd get along perfectly." Lacy teased, but Draco suddenly looked uncomfortable and changed the subject.

"Well, lets get you into some dry clothes it's getting cold out. Here, you can have my cloak, it'll keep you warm." Lacy accepted his cloak and turned her back on him, so he could put it on her. He slid her arm into one sleeve, and then the other, and let it drop on her shoulders. It was a little big for her, and the sleeves covered her hands. She smiled, and pretended to conduct a concert with the sleeves. Draco laughed and they walked up to the castle. As they entered people looked at them strangely, but they ignored them and went on with their conversation. To anyone watching them, they seemed like a good couple; laughing and talking together, completely unaware of everyone else, even she was wearing his cloak.

Lacy and Draco walked back down to the common room together, and when they walked inside, Professor Snape was waiting for them.

"I've been waiting for you. Didn't I specifically tell you to go back to your common room? And you disobeyed my orders, this will have to prolong your detention. I think you will have to clean the common room for a week, and do her patrolling duties as Prefect. But, you will not be treated as a Prefect, you will only patrol. And if she gets into any trouble, Malfoy, see to it that she is punished accordingly. W-why are you both soaking wet?" He was distracted by their state of dress, something Draco had never seen.

"She fell into the lake, and I pulled her out." Draco stammered out.

"You...fell into the lake?" He looked at Lacy with disbelief.

"Yes, sir." She said, hesitantly.

"And you..rescued her, did you Malfoy? I should just have to tell your parents about this, I am sure they would want to know. I'll just include this in your owl to your father, Miss. Kilnern. You have your first patrol tonight, go with her Malfoy, make sure she doesn't get into any trouble. I will see you tomorrow, in class. Goodnight." Snape stood up and left the room without another word, and leaving both Lacy and Draco speechless. The door slammed shut, and made Draco relax and slump into a chair, but Lacy stood rigid in the same spot.

"What's wrong? Loosen up a bit, that has to be the easiest detention he has ever given anyone. He's given me worse, and I'm his favorite student. I think he's found a new favorite student. Oh well, I won't feel too upset about it. Hey...are you alright?" Draco suddenly seemed aware that Lacy wasn't moving, she was barely breathing.

"Didn't you hear him? He's telling my father, that you "saved" me from drowning. This is not good, not good at all." Lacy started pacing and wringing her hands.

"It'll be fine, he'll be happy that you're alive, you could have died." Draco did not understand anything about her father.

"No, he won't! He would have wanted me to drown, he'll say that it was my fault for sitting on that rock and falling off, and I should have died. He won't care that I could have died, he'll only care that I am now indebted to you. And since you saved my life, I am indebted to you for my entire life. Nothing can break that, nothing. Don't you see? He'd rather me dead, than owe someone something." Lacy looked into Draco's eyes with anger and hostility, but she couldn't be angry at him, because he saved her life. She was angry at her father. She turned away and placed her hands on the mantlepiece, staring down at the fire.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know that saving your life was such a big deal. I promise that I won't do it again. I'll just let you die." Draco was angry at her now, and he didn't even know why.

Part 2: Patrolling

"Draco..no." Lacy turned back around to face him, but he walked away. Lacy sighed and walked to her room. The two other girls were supposedly asleep in their beds. Lacy sat down on her bed, and rubbed her eyes. There was a knock on the door, and Lacy crossed the room and answered it.

"Here. It's for you." A girl with dark blonde hair said, holding out a piece of parchment. Lacy took the paper, and read it.

Be ready at ten for our rounds.

-Malfoy

Lacy looked up, but the girl was already gone. It was almost ten, so Lacy changed her clothes and took off Draco's cloak, setting it on her bed gently. She only had a pair of jeans clean, so she put them on, even though they weren't part of the dress code. She put on one of her own cloaks over a white uniform shirt, and walked into the common room. Draco was down there already. She'd picked up on the fact that in his note he'd signed it 'Malfoy' instead of 'Draco.' She wasn't sure whether to call him Draco or Malfoy, so she didn't say anything; neither did he. They walked the grounds for awhile without talking.

"I didn't mean to sound angry at you. I wasn't' I'm not, at least not at you. I'm sorry." Lacy said as she walked behind Draco. He didn't reply.

"Fine, don't say anything. You're living up to your name really well, Draco." She walked past him quickly, but he reached out and stopped her.

"What does that mean? Living up to my name?" He didn't understand half the things she said. Lacy shook her hand and plucked his hand off of her arm, and continued down the hallway. Draco stood rooted in the spot, but quickly recovered by running up to catch her, and pinning her to the wall.

"You have something to say, say it. I really would like to hear it." Draco had two arms braced to both sides of her.

"Go away." She pushed his arms away, but they wouldn't budge. She tried ducking down beneath one of his arms, but he caught her around the waist, and pushed her back against the wall. Lacy sighed.

"Your name; Draco, dragon..you know." Draco wore a look that said that he knew this already.

"A warrior named Cadmus went in search of his lost sister, and asked the prophetess at Delphi what to do. She told him to follow a cow and to build a city where ever it laid down. Cadmus and his men followed the cow, it laid down, Cadmus sent his men to get water, and when they didn't return he went into the forest in search of them. He found them torn and bloodied, and a dragon hovering over them. Cadmus threw a javelin at the creature, and it slid in between it's scales, it didn't kill him though. He jabbed his spear into the gut of the beast and slew it, only after it had backed him into a corner. A mysterious voice called out to Cadmus and told him to sow the teeth of the dragon and it would reap wonders. He sew the teeth into the ground, and out of the ground where the teeth were, came a crop of full-grown warriors. They fought amongst themselves, and only five were left. They buried the companions of Cadmus, and threw the mutilated body of the dragon into the air. Today it is known at the constellation Draco, coiled forever around the North Star. The stars Etanin and Alwaid are the watchful creature's eyes; they never set." As Lacy finished her story, Draco let his arms fall to his sides.

"I never knew that. But what does that have to do with me? How do I live up to my name?" Lacy looked at him with no apparent emotion.

"You strike when it's unexpected, you back your way into other people to make them vulnerable, and when you lose you bring them down with you." Lacy looked up at him, but Draco seemed to be in his own mind.

Suddenly a large crash sounded from somewhere behind them. Lacy grabbed Draco's arm without realizing it, he noticed though, and peered around him.

"What? What happened?" He asked, coming out of his mind. Lacy shook her head, and pulled around Draco, but her held her back.

"It could be dangerous. Let me do it." Draco pushed Lacy behind him, but this time she held him back.

"If it's dangerous, you could get hurt too. We both go, we're both on patrol. You can lead the way though." She smiled up at him, and he chuckled, leading the way. Lacy followed Draco, and they back-tracked their steps, but they didn't see or hear anyone. Lacy looked around wearily, and strained her ears trying to search out the reason behind the clattering sound, but she couldn't see anything.

"Draco?" she mumbled. She pulled on the back of his robes to get his attention, but he shushed with his hand. He motioned for her to stay where she was, and he walked forward and peered around the dimly lit hallway. No one was there, so Draco motioned for Lacy to join him, but she turned around violently and looked every which way.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Draco asked as he hurried to Lacy's side. Lacy shrugged her shoulders and grabbed Draco by the arm and pushed herself behind him. She made a whimpering sound, and Draco smiled laughingly.

"You don't have to be so scared. Calm down, what happened?" He turned around in her hands so he could face her. She had a sad puppy dog look on her face, which made him smile even more. He clasped her face in his hands, and said,

"Don't worry, you're here with me. Nothing's going to happen to you." Lacy placed her hands over his and smiled, but she still looked worried. She looked down, but Draco brought her face back up again. He smiled at her, and stroked the side of her face. He leaned in about to kiss her, when suddenly—

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Author's Note: I added a part 2 instead of another chapter, because in the second part they are still drowning, as a metaphor. I published the first part as it's own chapter, but I decided to ut the two together. It's getting kinda lovey-dovey, so if you don't like that stop reading. Boo-yah! Keep Burning.-Ash-