Chapter 8: Run Away
Aquaria sat along the banks of the lake, dipping her toes into the cool water. Glancing at the clock tower, she saw it was a quarter past twelve. She knew it wasn't that late, but still, this person asked her here, she'd thought they'd at least be on time. What if this was Oliver? She gave it some serious thought. It'd been a while since he'd written, so his handwriting could have changed slightly. She shook her head. Only a small part of her was hoping against hope that it would be from him, but she knew that was entirely impossible. Another thought came to mind…what if this was just a joke on her? Someone thinking it'd be funny to have her think someone could actually show some interest in her.
"Fuck this shit," she said harshly. And her dad wondered why she was such a loner. Aquaria knew she was overreacting, but she felt like nobody really cared. It always seemed like everyone important always left sooner or later. She peeled off her clothes, down to her bathing suit, which she had decided to wear this time to avoid last Friday's problem. Aquaria slid off the bank into the water.
"Oh my God!" she hissed. The water was freezing…If only she could transform right now; then she wouldn't be so cold. But what if whoever it was came down and saw her…like that? It wouldn't be good. Aquaria swam around for a while to warm herself up and wondered where (and who) this guy was. Her mind began to wander and she thought back to last Friday. It was crazy, amazing almost, how she and Draco had managed to not to even see each other until seventh year...or at least, since Draco had seen her. She'd always watched him from afar, but, although she hated to admit it, she was afraid to approach him for the longest time. It had been at least ten years since they'd been in contact…right after her mother had gone. Aquaria remembered Draco as the boy who was only slightly less scrawny than she, with white-blond hair and a mischievous smirk, the same he had now, although ten years later most girls found it very attractive rather than annoying.
"Swimming again, Ria?" a voice drawled. Aquaria turned. It was Draco, sitting on the bank and staring amusedly at her. Aquaria rolled her eyes, not trying at all to suppress her smile. Well, think of the devil. She should have known.
"Surprised it was me, aren't you?" Draco grinned. Aquaria's eyes widened in slight surprise. "What?" Draco asked self-consciously.
"You're smiling. I guess…I don't really remember seeing you smile often," Aquaria replied awkwardly.
"Oh," Draco answered after a pause. How were you supposed to answer something like that? Aquaria climbed out of the lake onto the bank to sit beside Draco. He noticed her bikini with a hint of a mischievous smile playing on his lips.
"That's quite a patriotic ensemble you've got there," Draco teased her. Her bikini top was a triangle halter that tied both at the back and the neck, and the bottoms had side ties. The material was made to look like the British flag. "Almost makes me want to join the muggle military…if they weren't stupid muggles." Aquaria blushed, surprised that she was pleased by what he said, even though it was only a little bit.
"Draco, muggles aren't bad…well, okay, some are, but not all. They're like wizards, you have the good, and you have--" she stopped short and glanced at Draco, who was smirking at her.
"And you have the bad," he finished for her. "It's all right," he added. "I know you think I'm a Death Eater like my father."
"And you aren't…are you?" Aquaria asked gingerly, wincing a little as she hoped he wouldn't get mad. But she needed to know, she needed to be sure. "Please be honest. I don't want you to lie."
"No. I'm really not, honest. I know how I was the biggest git when I was a dumb kid--"
"Who said you aren't a dumb kid still?" Aquaria teased, and Draco gave her a pointed look.
"Anyway…I may hate muggles and mud--" Draco saw the look on her face and changed his mind of his vocabulary. "I mean, I may hate muggles and muggleborns with a passion, but I've also grown up a little. I think it's stupid, running around risking my neck to kill them, but don't think I'm going to put my ass on the line just to save them when there's nothing in it for me." Aquaria's jaw dropped.
"Draco, that's horrible! And really…selfish," she said unsurely. Draco shrugged.
"I've one person I have to look out for in life; me. And that's not changing," he said bluntly, staring at the water. Aquaria was silent for a while, thinking hard.
"What if you fall in love?" Aquaria asked curiously. Draco snorted.
"Me? In love?" he scoffed. "Ridiculous." Aquaria was quiet again.
"But you say you hate muggles and muggleborns with a passion. Don't you think if you could hate with a passion you could, you know… love with a passion?" Draco laughed snidely.
"Yeah, how about no? Hating with a passion is nothing like loving with a passion."
"No, Draco, you're wrong…there's a very fine line between hate and love. If you can hate, some part of you has to love," Aquaria told him fervently, staring unblinkingly into his eyes. Draco raised his brows, unable to look away from her large eyes.
"Hmm," he said, not really meaning anything at all. He just felt as though he needed to say something after her little speech, as if to acknowledge that he did listen…he just didn't think she was right. They both looked away. Finally a question came to Aquaria's mind.
"What did you want to talk about with me?"
"You."
"Me?"
"Yes, you. Why were you crying today?"
"Oh…Well, a few things…"
"You shouldn't cry, especially in public." Aquaria laughed at that.
"Why?" she asked warily.
"Because, it shows you're weak," Draco told her. She noticed the fierceness in his eyes burning and didn't take her eyes off him as he gazed across the lake broodingly.
"Not really. I think it's obviously powerful," Aquaria said.
"How?" Draco questioned skeptically.
"Well look. It made you worry about me enough to ask me to sneak out, risking losing your House points if you got caught, maybe even earning a detention if you did, too…And if you don't mind me saying so, it's not something that someone who can't love passionately would do," she answered smugly. Draco glared, finally looking back at her.
"As a matter of fact, I do mind you saying so. And I wasn't worried. I was just…curious as to why you were crying is all," Draco mumbled defensively. Aquaria laughed, and he had to turn his head away so she couldn't see him smile. Draco jumped a bit as he felt something soft slide over his hand, and he looked down at it. Aquaria's hand was on his. The weirdest feeling was moving through his arm. Draco felt ridiculous admitting it, but as soon as Aquaria had touched his hand, it'd felt like it was being stung, almost…but in a good way, which was weird. He'd never thought of hand holding as a big thing, and he didn't understand why this time it should feel so different. Just as quickly, Aquaria pulled her hand back.
"Thanks for caring about me," she said softly, smiling at him.
"I wasn't caring, I was curious, I'm telling you," he said, trying to keep up his front and stay cool. Aquaria rolled her eyes as she got up.
"Okay Draco," she replied, sounding as though she didn't believe him, and she dove perfectly into the lake, barely making a splash. "Want to come in?" she asked Draco when she popped back up. Draco looked disgusted.
"No way," he said quickly.
"Why?" Aquaria asked, treading water and lolling about in the water like an otter.
"Because--Just because! You should know why. You know everything else about me, don't you?" His voice was irritated.
"Well, I don't, and I won't, unless you tell me. Are you going to?" she asked quietly. Draco looked hard at her, trying to decide whether or not to trust her with the secrets he'd kept since childhood. Her eyes were hypnotic, and begging him to tell her everything. He felt compelled to tell her and came closer to the water's edge, lying on his stomach so their faces were level. He sighed.
"When I was three, my father tried to teach me how to swim in the small lake on the estate. You remember, you used to spend all day down there with your mother when your family would visit. Never really understood you," he shook his head, smirking a little. "Anyways, he took me to the middle of the lake and watched me sink. He expected after teaching me a few things in the shallower part, that I'd be smart enough to swim in the deep part. He was angry I couldn't swim and wouldn't help me. He left and my mother had to come in to save me. I was nearly…Another minute and she would have been too late." He paused. "My father beat her later for babying me." Draco stared at a blade of grass in front of him.
"But you were a baby! How could he expect you to swim?" Aquaria was shocked.
"My father had very high standards. In his eyes, I could never do anything right, and I've never measured up to his standards," Draco told her. "I tried to be like him, I tried to become him, really…but in the end, my conscience got the better of me," he half-smiled, looking tired. The smile faded and a vacant look came to his steel-gray eyes. "Another trait he loathed above all." Draco sat up and closed his eyes, not wanting to show any emotion and afraid his eyes might betray him. Suddenly Draco felt arms wrapping around his shoulders. He opened his eyes and turned his head to face Aquaria, who had tears in her eyes.
"I'm sorry I pulled you in on Friday. I didn't know," she whispered. Draco felt uncomfortable. Only his mother had ever cried over him. And they were here so Draco could find out what was wrong with her, and exactly the opposite happened. Draco was getting the feeling that getting the opposite results desired might always happen with Aquaria.
"Look there you go again, crying," he said awkwardly, shrugging her arms away. Aquaria debated a second of whether or not to be mad at him for pushing her away, but decided to let it go this time.
"So…you've never learned to swim?" she asked.
"No." There was a painfully long pause.
"Would you let me teach you?" Aquaria asked cautiously. She wanted to help Draco--more than anything he needed it, and she knew she needed to.
Draco thought it over. His first impulse had been no, but he held back. If he learned from Aquaria, it would mean spending time with her, and that would mean he could find out everything that happened in the last ten years. "Aquaria probably thinks I haven't remembered anything at all…but I have a few questions I want answers to," he thought to himself. There were so many memories he had as a child that she was involved in…but they were so bizarre even for the wizarding world that he couldn't help wondering if he'd dreamed them.
"Yeah, okay, you can teach me to swim. But on two conditions. One, you can't tell anyone. And two," he said, "Two, you have to tell me what happened today." Aquaria thought about it.
"Okay." There was a long pause and Draco realized he'd have to drag it out of her.
"So, what was wrong today?" he prompted.
"This may take a bit, so get comfortable." Aquaria sighed. "Today Harry and Ron came in and were talking about Quidditch. Well, that reminded me of Oliver Wood."
"The Gryffindor captain before Potter and Johnson?"
"Yes. When he was still in school, I sort of, well, hated him. I didn't like the way he strutted about, acting like all the girls liked him, and his cocky attitude on the Quidditch field. My dad knew his parents through work, so we knew who each other were, but he was rude and conceited any time he spoke to me, so I tried to stay far away from him. After he graduated, I didn't see him again until last summer. I'd went to a muggle dance club--Oh, shut up I know, muggles, eww," Aquaria interrupted herself as Draco grimaced at the mention of muggles. "Anyways, we wound up dancing together the whole night. We wound up going back to his flat…we messed around…" Aquaria's voice was barely audible, Draco was straining his ears to hear her. "I got home late that night. After that, he barely wrote, and by the time I was back at school, he hadn't written in a month." Aquaria glanced at Draco and looked away as tears welled up in her eyes. " I know he's a big jerk. I mean he used me, but I just can't seem to get over it."
"Aquaria, look, I'm not good at this comforting shyte," Draco told her honestly. "But I'll tell you this. I'm a guy just like Oliver Wood. I use girls." Aquaria nodded, which chagrined him slightly, though he wasn't sure why. "But guys like Oliver, and me, well, don't get caught up with us. We're not worth your time. Most of the time we mess around with girls who don't care about us either, and move on quickly as we do. But sometimes we go and mess with a girl like you. A girl who wants to fall in love and be for real and have a family. You'll want someone like…like Potter," Draco said, spitting out Harry's last name in anger. He looked at Aquaria and saw she was smiling warmly as she gazed at him.
"You're going to find some girl someday, and fall in love with her, Draco Malfoy," she told him contentedly. He rolled his eyes and snorted.
"Sure 'Ria," he said. Aquaria gave him an odd look.
"A nickname for me already, Draco?" she teased. "C'mon then, take off your shirt and get in the water."
"How do I know this isn't some ploy to get my clothes off and seduce me?" he grumbled as he pulled off his shirt. Aquaria didn't gawk at him, but she did get a good look at Draco's lean muscular boy. Smiling at him impishly, she grabbed his wrist and stared intensely into his eyes.
"You don't," she answered playfully. "But don't worry. I don't want to seduce you," she added as she notice a mischievous glint come to Draco's eyes. She dropped his wrist and walked towards the edge of the lake that sloped into the water, then turned and faced him, her smile still coy. "Not yet, anyway. C'mon." She turned and waded into the water, until Draco could only see the tops of her shoulders and above. He gingerly followed her.
Aquaria, being very considerate and going at the pace Draco was comfortable with, first taught him to tread water, then to float. It took him a while to get used to the water, and get him in a little deeper, but Aquaria didn't rush him. It was an hour or two later when he got the hang of treading water, but he picked up floating in minutes. Draco even sort of liked it.
"It feels like levitating," he laughed, making Aquaria laugh.
"Draco!" she said, still giggling.
"What?"
"I…I just don't remember when the last time I heard you laugh without, you know, making fun of someone, or you being sarcastic," she explained. "Where's Draco, and who are you?" she teased. They faced each other, treading water.
"Maybe I don't know either," Draco replied softly. They treaded water a second more, then Draco headed for the banks. "I'm getting tired, how about you?" he asked. Aquaria followed him, and they both got dressed and dried off.
"You did really well, Dray," Aquaria told him as they walked up to the school.
"Dray? You have a nickname for me already?" he mimicked her. Aquaria elbowed him playfully.
"Shall we come down here tomorrow night, same time?" she asked.
"Yes, all right," Draco agreed. He made for the front doors, but Aquaria pulled him to the side of the school.
"Come this way," she whispered, walking to the side instead of the front doors. She pulled her wand out and hit three of the large stone bricks in the wall, and the wall pulled away into a secret passage. She put a finger to her lips and took Draco's hand, leading him through the passage.
"Lumos," Aquaria said, her voice barely a whisper, and the tip of her wand was lit. She loosened her grip on Draco's hand, because it was starting to hurt. After five minutes she had to let go of his hand because she felt as though it was burning, and it was freaking her out.
"Watch your head here…twist coming up ahead…" Aquaria would warn him. There were trick walls and ceilings in the passage as there were in most of the secret passage in the school. "Somewhere around here there's two walls that--oof!" As Aquaria was turning around to tell Draco, the walls in question pulled out and came flying at them. Draco grabbed Aquaria around the waist and twisted to try to protect her from getting hit, and the walls mostly only pressed on Draco, squashing Aquaria tighter in his arms. He smiled weakly, his arms aching slightly.
"What were you saying, Aquaria?" She lowered her eyes.
"There's two walls that pull together and the person gets caught between them. I think it was supposed to scare anyone who wasn't supposed to use the passage back out, because they open up within a minute, and there aren't any more booby traps after this. Usually it makes a room the size of a cupboard, and usually, it really isn't this tight, but then, it's usually only me here too." Her face felt hotter and her heart was beating a little quicker. "Hope you're not claustrophobic."
"Um…how long did you say it is until they move?" Draco asked, smiling roguishly at her, trying to get her to look at his face. Draco's hands, which had been originally around her waist when he'd tried to shield her, were now around her back…her lower back…her much, much lower back. Well, he wasn't really complaining.
Aquaria realized Draco's hands were on her rear end and couldn't look him in the eye. Oh, this was too embarrassing…
"Usually in a minute, so not--" The walls moved away but Draco and Aquaria didn't. "Um…your hands are on my butt," Aquaria said after a second, finally looking him in the eye. Draco quickly removed his hands and Aquaria quickly started moving on.
"Sorry my hand has a mind of its own, I swear," he said. For some reason unknown to Draco, this was making him nervous--which made him more nervous. Aquaria pulled him into something that looked like an elevator lift, and pulled out her wand and tapped five bricks this time. They were suddenly going up and soon, a door appeared, which Aquaria opened to lead Draco into a tower he'd never been in before. It was huge; the part they were in was closed in, but there was a door that led through to a stone court yard he could see through some of the glass-less windows that encircled the closed in walls of the tower. The gardens in the court yard looked overgrown and wild, some of the stone walls within it were dilapidated and crumbling. But it had an eerie beauty about it that mystified Draco.
"This is the West Tower," Aquaria whispered. "No one uses it anymore, except me. Nice place to come to get away from people."
"I know I'd come up here often, then," Draco laughed quietly, interrupting her thoughts. Aquaria gave him a small smile.
"Well, come on," she led him down a few steps, opened a door, and went down an escalating spiral staircase like the one in Dumbledore's office. Then another door, and they were in the dusty old third floor corridor. They crept outside and stood facing each other.
"Well…I guess this is where I go up and you go down," Aquaria said. Draco stared at her thoughtfully.
"Yep, bye," he said shortly, and hurried down the stairs quietly. Aquaria watched him leave, leaning on the banister.
"He must be worried someone might see us together," she thought. She sighed and tiptoed up to Gryffindor Tower.
Draco had finally crawled into bed. He was tired as all hell, but he couldn't drift off just yet. He had forgotten to warn her about Blaise--and she seemed to get along well with Blaise, too-- and he hadn't found out why she had been switched from Ravenclaw. Oh well. "There's always tomorrow night," Draco thought as he smiled into his pillow. He wished it would stop, but he couldn't control his smiling. Draco didn't know what scared him worst, the fact that he was smiling, the fact that he couldn't control it, the fact that his smiling was becoming a habit, or the person who was causing him to smile.
Aquaria, meanwhile, in her own dorm, sat up on the bay window seat, in her purple, pink, yellow, and white striped pajamas. She pulled her knees up to her chin and sighed contentedly. She had on her muggle portable CD player. (Aquaria found that if you went to Professor Dumbledore and asked for his permission to use a muggle appliance while on school grounds, and he approved, he would fix it so it would work properly without chizpurfles getting into them.) Aquaria was listening to the third album of American muggle musician, Britney Spears. Her favorite song, "That's Where you Take Me," was on. Aquaria loved the way it sounded like a music box.
"All things fall into place…My heart it feels so safe…You are my melody…That's where you take me…With you I get so high…Lost in the crystal sky…You are this melody…That's where you take me…" Aquaria sighed inwardly. Why couldn't she find one guy, just one guy? To Oliver, she was just another name, and face…but why was she still stuck on him? Aquaria tried to reason with herself. With a final glance at the almost full moon, she crawled into her bed, which was nearest the windows.
"Love," Aquaria decided as she drifted off to sleep, "Is a silly thing to believe in. It only works in fairy tales and that's not quite what my life is." The moon shone on Aquaria as she slept, illuminating her locket and casting its reflection on the walls.
"Today your truth serums should be ready," Snape told the class. "You shall test them on one of the two of you, and I'll come to be sure your results are accurate. He started at the front of the class with Ron and Pansy and began working his way around. Towards the end of the class, Snape was almost at their table. Blaise gave Aquaria an impish smile.
"Do you want to try it?"
"Yeah, all right." She took a sip as Snape came to their cauldron. As the potion kicked in, Aquaria felt as though a part of her was in a trance, and the other part was normal.
"Are kappas found in Mongolia?" Snape asked, giving her some questions to see if she would tell the truth.
"Yes."
"Good, good. Do you know…Narcissa Malfoy?" Snape said in a lower voice, the only other question he could think of asking her to see if she would tell the truth. Draco's ears perked up at the mention of his mother's name.
"Yes," Aquaria murmured. Snape nodded.
"You only took a small sample, so your potion should wear off in a minute or so," he informed as he moved onto the next pair. Aquaria could almost feel her normal state of mind moving slowly back into the part of her mind that was hypnotized.
"Aquaria, um, is the potion still working?" Blaise asked.
"Yes," she replied, blinking a few times. Draco listened in on them as Snape tested Harry.
"Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?" Blaise said, grinning a little.
"Okay," Aquaria answered unsurely.
"Question one, do you find me attractive, at all?" Aquaria willed her mouth to stay shut, but the potion forced her to say what she was thinking.
"Yes," Aquaria was forced to answer as she blushed. Thank God the trance was fading more and more. Draco wasn't taking too well, thought; his jaw was clenched and his hands were curled into fists at his sides.
"Question two; tomorrow, would you like to go the Three Broomsticks with me on a date?"
"Yes," Aquaria answered truthfully, and smiled. The potion had worn off, and she no longer had to fight her mouth.
"And three--"
"Sorry Blaise, the potion's faded. But what time should I meet you in the Three Broomsticks?" She beamed at him. Blaise raised his brow a second, surprised probably that she, a Gryffindor, was willingly agreeing to a date with a Slytherin, then smiled seductively in return.
"Does twelve sound good?"
"Yeah all right." Everyone around them was staring at Aquaria and Blaise as though they'd suddenly grown wings or something. Aquaria was trying not to laugh. She glanced over at Draco, thinking he would think it funny like she had, but her grin faded as she saw his face. Draco was glowering with fury at Blaise. Aquaria's pace quickened; Draco looked ready to rip Blaise limb from limb. Certainly not because of her, but what other reason could there have been? He then turned his steel gray glare on her, his expression not changing and daring her to look away. Aquaria did, and Draco felt so much anger racing through his veins he couldn't think straight. Finally he turned away, thoroughly disgusted. The bell rang and Aquaria hurried out after a short goodbye to Blaise, Hermione not too far behind her and dragging Ron as well. Harry stopped to glare at both Draco and Blaise before he followed them out. Draco returned the glare, but Blaise gave Harry a smirk as Harry stalked out of the room. Soon Draco and Blaise were the only two left in the room. Even Professor Snape had left.
"Well, aren't you going to congratulate me?" Blaise sneered.
"For what? Getting a date with a Gryffindor? Lucky you," Draco drawled cynically. He refused to let Blaise see how he really felt about this, which even he himself didn't know.
"And I'm sure that's how you really feel," Blaise replied in a sarcastic tone. Draco finally got enough control of his anger to smirk at Blaise, who left. Draco stood alone in the dungeon now. Blaise would pay for this, Draco would make sure. He lost control of his anger again and punched the stone block wall.
"Shit," Draco breathed. The realization hit him as he watched the blood creep down his fist from his knuckles. He was losing his control over his emotions he had worked so long and hard to maintain, and all in one week…since he had met, or re-met, rather, Aquaria. This had to stop.
Aquaria slid into a back corner seat in her Arithmancy class after the break she had after Potions. She didn't understand why people were so shocked about her date with Blaise tomorrow. Nobody acted that way when everyone found out about Parvati and Draco. Aquaria narrowed her brow and wrinkled her nose at the thought of them. Okay, so maybe she had. But seriously, nobody else had.
Mandy Brocklehurst scurried in quite quickly and plunked down beside Aquaria.
"Hey Mand--" Aquaria started, but Mandy interrupted her.
"Is it true that you've a date with that hot Slytherin, Blaise Zabini?" she whispered loudly. Aquaria nodded, dumbfounded that news could travel so fast. Mandy grinned.
"Lucky you Aqua; he's so hot!" she giggled, shaking her honey blond hair out of her navy-blue eyes. Aquaria couldn't help but laugh with her. Aquaria had known Mandy since they were born, practically, and they'd both started at Hogwarts in Ravenclaw. Even though Aquaria was no longer in Ravenclaw, Mandy was still her closest friend, though they didn't get to talk as much because they had less classes with each other. Aquaria sighed.
"So far, you're the only one taking it well. During break, Hermione kept asking me if I felt all right, and Ron just kept repeating "Zabini's a Slytherin" and Harry…Harry wouldn't look at me or say anything at all," Aquaria finished sadly. It hurt her a little that Harry didn't seem to care about Aquaria and showed no interest as a friend, as Hermione and Ron did, although their reaction wasn't quite what she was looking for. Mandy noticed Aquaria's mood change.
"Maybe Harry likes you and he's jealous," Mandy suggested gently.
"Hermione thinks so too, but I doubt it," Aquaria said.
"Well, you're the one who is so against assuming, so give it some time and see," Mandy said wisely. Professor Vector came into class as the late bell rang.
"Alright class; please get out your Arithmantic charts," she began cheerfully, and Aquaria tried to push the Slytherin-Gryffindor situation to the side as she figured out the numerology of the famous witches and wizards listed on their latest worksheet, but it was not an easy task. The Arithmancy charts looked like this:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
A B C D E F G H I
J K L M N O P Q R
S T U V W X Y Z
Arithmancy was one of Aquaria's favorite subjects. It worked by adding the letters by their assigned number. The character number was the first requested on the sheet, and to get that number she had to add all the letters of both the first and last names and reduce the sum of all the numbers until it was a single digit number.
"So…it's 1 plus 3 plus 2 plus 3 plus 1 plus 1…That is 10, which equals 1. First name is: the individual; single-minded, and determined. Leaders and inventors…don't like to take orders, and can be loners, that seems accurate to me! Now, last name…4 plus 1 plus 4 plus 2 plus 3 plus 5 plus 4 plus 6 plus 9 plus 5 equals 45, which equals 9…9…represents completion and achievement to the fullest degree, dedicates themselves to the service of others, as teachers, scientists or humanitarians. Strongly determined, work tirelessly and are an inspiration to others; yeah, I'd say so," she smiled to herself. "It's Grandfather to a tee."
Half the worksheet later, the bell rang and Aquaria and Mandy walked out together, Mandy mostly talking.
"So you will tell me how everything goes with Blaise, right?" Mandy asked pleadingly.
"Yup," Aquaria agreed and she nodded. Mandy gave her a strange look. "What?"
"You're awfully quiet," Mandy answered knowingly.
"Er…well, I don't know," Aquaria replied. "I've been feeling sort of funny lately."
"Well if you didn't have to go running down to the lake every night to go swimming, you probably wouldn't have caught a cold. That's probably why you're out of it," Mandy scolded her in a low voice.
"It's not that kind of funny--But I'm going to be late for Muggle Studies," she interrupted herself hastily.
"Yeah, I have to go to Ancient Runes myself," said Mandy absentmindedly. The two separated and Aquaria sighed with relief. If anyone could wrestle the truth out of her, it was Mandy, and she wasn't about to tell anyone about what she was thinking. Frankly, Aquaria didn't even want to know herself.
Draco sat at the edge of the lake, scowling and waiting for Aquaria.
"Hey Draco," she said cheerfully, suddenly appearing seemingly from nowhere. Draco refused to look at her, but then she began taking off her clothes and as annoyed as he was with her, he couldn't deny his instincts. His scowl remained as he tossed off his own shirt.
"Hey," he answered stiffly. Aquaria suppressed a smile.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
"Oh, come off it. You're sitting there pouting like a little boy who's had his favorite toy taken away," she giggled. Draco stared at her sullenly, and she wrinkled her nose at him. He couldn't help smiling just the littlest bit.
"Stop it," Draco said stubbornly.
"What, big bad Draco Malfoy doesn't want to smile, and some ickle girly-girl made him?" she teased, grabbing his sides to tickle him. Draco couldn't help but smile more; he was too ticklish. He turned quickly and pounced on Aquaria, tickling her in return, and she was laughing in a high pitched to try to keep from getting too loud. Draco pinned her to the ground.
"Draco stop now, please," she gasped, still giggling. Draco chuckled down at her. They were both nearly breathless, so he did. When he calmed down, his sullen look returned. Aquaria gazed up at him, and was about to say something when Draco beat her to it.
"Why do you have to go out with Blaise tomorrow?" he asked sulkily, letting go of her arms, but holding himself up over her. Aquaria cupped his face in her hands and laughed quietly.
"Draco, I don't have to, I want to. What's wrong with that. Or--oh, is it because he's one of your kind?" Aquaria said, making a superior face at him.
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Draco asked, knowing the answer.
"Slytherin; Gryffindor?" she said, pointing her finger towards Draco when she said Slytherin and then at herself when she said Gryffindor, then stuck her nose in the air. Draco laughed.
"Well, it doesn't really matter," he said, lowering himself a bit closer to her.
"And why's that?" Aquaria asked warily.
"Because I said so."
"So it only matters or not if you say so?"
"Yep, pretty much." Aquaria crossed her arms over her chest.
"Am I going to teach you to swim tonight or what?" she asked.
"All right then." He got up and then, unexpectedly, picked up Aquaria, carrying her over to the lake.
"Oh, how cute Draco; carrying me like the groom carries the bride over the threshold?" she joked, batting her eyes exaggeratedly. As he got to the deeper side of the lake, Draco smirked.
"Sort of," he answered, and then promptly dropped her into the water. Aquaria floated back up and broke the surface.
"Such a gentleman," she said sarcastically.
"Well, I did carry you over the threshold…the threshold of the lake," he said smugly.
"Why don't you come down here and face me like a man," Aquaria purred playfully, lolling about in the water.
"Fine…but…will I be able to touch the bottom with out going underwater?" he asked, grinning a little.
"What do you care? You can tread water now, you devil," she teased. Draco jumped in, and Aquaria pulled him up and clung to his shoulders…just to be on the safe side, of course. He made a face at her.
"You don't have any faith in me; you don't believe I can do anything right," Draco complained.
"Oh no, that's not it at all. I just want a big strong man to hold onto," she said sweetly and he snickered. When she didn't let go, he quickly pulled away from her. His shoulders were tingling somewhat where her hands had been.
"C'mon, teach already," he said. An hour later, Draco was doing a fairly decent American crawl, and his treading had much improved. Tired, they pulled themselves out of the water and dragged themselves onto the bank, flopping down beside one another. They stared up the sky, which tonight looked like a blanket of stars with bits of black velvet sky in it. Aquaria sat up and stared at Draco and he glance at her.
"Sit up a minute," she ordered, and he did. Aquaria smiled.
"I like your hair like this," she told him, reaching over to play with it. It was soft and curled around his face. Draco shook his head and batted away her hand.
"It's a mess. Unruly and stubborn."
"It's like you, then. Why do you slick it down or spike it all the time?"
"Because that's the way I like it."
"I like it this way."
"Bully for you, then." Aquaria lay back down, irritated. Self-righteous bastard. Suddenly Draco was laying over her. His eyes were liquid silver, and she felt as though they were pouring through her body. Her face felt hotter, and her knees felt weak. Then Draco backed away and put his shirt on.
"I'm tired. Have fun with Blaise tomorrow," he added with a harsh edge to his voice. Draco stalked off, not looking back, and slipping through another entrance into the castle, leaving Aquaria alone at the edge of the lake. Of all the other nights she had come down here before, before Draco had even came back into her life, she'd never felt so alone as she did now. Holding back tears, she made her way back up to Gryffindor Tower.
"Aquaria! Aquaria! Get up! You have to get ready! You've got less than an hour to get ready for your date!" Hermione shook her. Aquaria moaned.
"Tired wanna sleep," was all that Hermione could distinguish. Hermione sighed, and made towards the door as thought to leave Aquaria alone again in their empty dormitory.
"Oh, okay," she said casually. "I'll just tell Blaise when I see him later that you couldn't be bothered waking up," she added slyly.
"Fine, I'm getting up," Aquaria grumbled.
"Why are you so tired, anyway? You went up to bed at eleven last night, earlier than me. You wouldn't happen to be sneaking out, would you," she asked warily.
"No," Aquaria replied guiltily, "Not really, anyways…" Hermione gave her a reassuring smile.
"It's a yes or no thing, Aqua," she said.
"Fine, then yes. Are you going to give me detention or take points?" she asked haughtily, tilting her chin at her. Hermione was Head Girl, after all Hermione gave her a pointed look.
"No, I'm not going to tell on you. I'm just going to tell you that it's dangerous and you're risking lots of points for our House if someone else catches you. Not to mention other trouble you'll get in. I'm just looking out for you."
"Well I appreciate it, but it's…something I can't help," Aquaria said quietly.
The two girls locked eyes, Hermione standing at the door looking quite neat and preppy, Aquaria looking a mess with her bed head hair and disheveled night clothes. After a minute of a staring contest, they both seemed to understand each other and smiled.
Draco stood at the large window of the dormitory common room that viewed the grounds of the school. Suddenly he felt arms around his waist and his heart raced. What was she doing here?
"Aqu-" he started to choke out, but as he turned around he saw Pansy, and stiffened in surprise, trying not to cringe.
"Pansy, you're…you're not supposed to be in her," he said blandly, smiling weakly.
"Blaise let me in, he said it'd be alright," she told him brightly. Draco looked over pansy's head and saw Blaise grinning maliciously as he leaned against the doorway.
"Yeah, I was just stopping in to get my cloak…nearly time for me and Aquaria's, you know, date," he said, his grin turning Cheshire as he noticed Draco bristle at the emphasis Blaise had put on "date." Pansy rolled her eyes.
"Really Blaise, a Gryffindor? You know you could do better," she said reproachfully, linking her arm with his coquettishly. Blaise smirked at her.
"I frankly don't care if I could or couldn't, Pansy darling. I really like Aquaria, a lot; she's…special," he sighed, his cheesiness making Draco want to retch all over him. Yeah Aquaria was special; special in the head to actually go out with Blaise. "And she's quite a crumpet, wouldn't you say, Draco?"
"Draco doesn't go around ogling other girls; we're quite happy together," she snapped defensively, now going back to Draco's side.
"Okay, okay, sorry." Blaise smirked his way into his bedroom and came back in a minute with his navy blue cloak. "I'll be leaving you two, then; don't want to be late," he said, winking at them, and smirking at Draco as though he knew how well Draco wanted to throw him off the astronomy tower, he left. Suddenly an idea sprung into Draco's head.
"Say Pansy, a butterbeer sounds pretty good right now, what do you say we run down and get one too?" he finished by kissing her long and slowly.
"I would love to," she answered dumbly after Draco broke away, smiling stupidly. "I still have a chance here," he thought determinedly. "And Malfoys always win."
Aquaria and Blaise had been sitting in the Three Broomsticks for about a half hour, and they'd been having a great time. They'd been in Honeydukes only a while ago, and Blaise seemed quite willing to buy the entire contents of the shop for Aquaria if she'd wanted it. They were now enjoying a box of chocolates he'd gotten for them.
"You know, I hated Potions," Blaise started. Okay it was a lie; it was a good subject for him. Aquaria raised a brow.
"Really? Even though Snape favors you. I bet that makes it easier," she said pointedly.
"Okay, maybe I didn't hate it. But it's a hell of a lot better now that I know you," he said, taking hold of her hand. Aquaria laughed.
"Well, I still don't like Potions. But you are a plus," she grinned. Blaise came closer.
"You know, if you hadn't taken that truth serum, I wouldn't have the guts to ask you out," Blaise told her, his voice low and his eyes boring into her. They were so close their legs were touching under the table, and against her very better judgment, his somewhat cliché lines were working on her.
"Oh yeah?" she said softly.
"Yeah, and I probably wouldn't be brave enough to do this either," he murmured huskily, his hand on her chin. Aquaria knew what was coming next and tried to think of something. He was only inches away from her lips when they were suddenly interrupted.
"Hey, Blaise! Imagine seeing you here," Someone's hand was on Blaise's shoulder, a hand Aquaria was very glad to see. Blaise turned around to scowl at the smirking face of Draco Malfoy. Blaise glanced at Aquaria, who'd already moved back and pulled her hand away.
"Hello, Draco," Blaise answered coldly, mad that Draco had purposely ruined his chance.
"Hey Draco," Aquaria said, grinning a little at him and feeling slightly relieved. Pansy noticed that Aquaria seemed familiar and friendly, and narrowed her brow, trying to decide if Aquaria was a threat or not.
"Don't mind if we join you, do?" Draco asked, slinging his arm around Pansy's shoulder. He thought he might have seen Aquaria's brows flex a second, but she only smiled.
"No, no, no, go right a head," she answered brightly. "You must be Pansy Parkinson," she added in a polite tone, smiling at Pansy and offering her hand, even though it was very near killing her to be nice to the bitch. Pansy smiled back coldly.
"Yes…You're that Gryffindor, aren't you?" she said snidely as she sat down across from her, flicking a glance at Aquaria's hand in contempt.
"Well, I suppose so, but feel free to call me Aquaria," Aquaria answered pointedly, though her smile stayed. She pulled her hand back.
"Yes call her Aquaria, but nothing else; she attacks otherwise, I warn you," Draco joked as he sat down between Pansy and Blaise, snatching up the chocolate Blaise had been going for. Aquaria and Draco both laughed, remembering their second confrontation, and both Pansy and Blaise looked annoyed. Aquaria inspected a chocolate.
"Yuck, pecan," she said as she put it back. Draco dove for it.
"Are you crazy? How can you not like pecans?" Draco asked incredulously. He popped the candy in his mouth. "Mmm…" Aquaria arched her brows.
"I'm allergic," she said pointedly. Draco stopped chewing to stare at her, then swallowed.
"Oh. Sorry." The table was silently, and Aquaria found it rather funny that conversation was just glares being passed around and traded; Blaise to Draco, Draco to Blaise, Pansy to Draco, Pansy to Blaise, Blaise to Pansy, Pansy to Aquaria, Draco to Aquaria. It was kind of ironic that one 'outsider' could turn three Slytherins against one another
"So, umm…." Aquaria tried to think of a general topic they could all discuss civilly, but it was a lot harder than she thought it would be, especially being the only Gryffindor in a group of Slytherins. Talk about being thrown in the snake pit. The only thing she could think of talking about was Quidditch, and she didn't really like it much, which put her on the outs even more so, considering Draco was the Slytherin Captain and Seeker, and Blaise was a Beater, and Aquaria had the feeling that Pansy, regardless of whether or not she really liked it, would say she would to please Draco. "Oh well, sod it and take a chance," she thought bravely.
"So…how's your House doing in Quidditch?" she asked gingerly. Draco perked up.
"Fan-bloody-tastic! We're going to completely cremate the Gryffindors," he answered relishingly, forgetting who he was talking to.
"Yeah, we're going to humiliate them!" Blaise laughed.
"Do you play, Aquaria?" Pansy asked bitingly. "You look like the kind of girl who'd like to play sports," she added, making it sound like a bad thing.
"As a matter of fact, I did use to play. I played in second year, and quit in third," Aquaria responded quietly, and primly took a sip of butterbeer. Draco and Blaise stared at her. Aquaria realized by the look on Draco's face that it was a stupid thing to say, even if it did shut Pansy up.
Draco thought maybe he'd heard wrong. If she was afraid of heights, what the hell had she been doing on a Quidditch team? The amount of mysteries surrounding Aquaria were adding up quite quickly.
"What position did you play?" Blaise asked.
"Chaser," Aquaria said, and took another long sip of her butterbeer.
"Why'd you quit, did you get kicked off the team?" Pansy asked spitefully, mad that she had practically handed Aquaria both of the boys' attentions.
"No…There was an accident. So Blaise, you wanna go for a walk?" Aquaria asked quickly. Talking about Quidditch hadn't been as bad as she had thought it'd be; it was most definitely worse.
"Yes, let's," Blaise said eagerly, jumping up quickly. He glanced at Draco and smirked gleefully at Draco's furious look. Aquaria got up as well, and noting Draco's face and how Pansy was clutching his arm as though he was about to float off, an anger she hadn't known before pulsed through her. She laced her hand with Blaise and gave a triumphant smile to spite Draco. Blaise only grinned more.
"Ready to go then?" he asked.
"Yep. Bye. Nice meeting you Pansy," Aquaria added woodenly.
"The pleasure was mine; I'm sure," Pansy answered, sounding as though every word was biting her as she glared at Aquaria.
"Goodbye," Draco said stonily, looking away, not even bothering to glare at Blaise as he pulled Aquaria away. As soon as Pansy was busy with her drink and the remains of the chocolates Aquaria and Blaise had left, he glanced back just in time to see Blaise leading Aquaria through the door, but Aquaria was still looking at Draco. Was it Draco's imagination, or did Aquaria really look wistful? She slipped through the door and was gone. His stomach dropped as though he'd been in a lift. "Goodbye."
At half past midnight, Aquaria sat beside the lake in her bathing suit, tears streaming down her face silently.
"Where is he? Why was he so mad today? Why doesn't he understand anything?" she whispered to herself. Aquaria heard hooves behind her and jumped up, startled. "Firenze!" Before her stood a centaur with a palomino horse body, pale white blond hair, and light sapphire blue eyes. "What are you…"
"I felt you…and I miss you, Love," Firenze said softly. Aquaria ran to him, threw her arms around his neck and sobbed freely. "Who's hurt you?" Firenze asked, concerned. He wrapped his own arms around her back.
"Blaise--I didn't want to kiss him and I did, sort of--he kissed me--I ran away from him. And Draco--he hates me. He's supposed to be here, with me right now," Aquaria cried, her sentences blurred. Firenze rubbed her back gently.
"Come with me to the forest tonight," he suggested, kissing her cheek gently as she clung to him, still crying.
"But Grandfather would be angry if I did, if he found out," Aquaria whispered regretfully. Firenze smiled.
"We will explain it to Dumbledore; he is sure to understand," he assured her. "Your father still comes, though rarely.
"Well, maybe…" Firenze began leading Aquaria towards the Forbidden Forest, when suddenly a tall, lean, pale figure was coming towards them. It was Draco.
"Aquaria!" he called out rather boldly, considering the time. Firenze and Aquaria looked at Draco, then each other.
"That's the one that Murcus said you've been spending all your time with?" he asked, a brow raised. "Possessive little thing, isn't he?" Aquaria blushed.
"Not all my time. Besides, he needs a lot of help; he deserves a lot of time," Aquaria defended herself. "Besides, I don't see that being either yours or Murcus's business." They both laughed
"Aquaria, come here! What are you doing with that--that centaur?" He looked angry, and began to run.
"Quickly, on my back," urged Firenze, and he helped Aquaria climb up. "Hold on." Firenze galloped towards the forest.
"Aquaria, no!" Draco said louder still. He chased them, but they were deep in the forest before he had even made it to the place they'd be standing. Why had she left, was she insane? He'd been a little late, yes; but with a good reason. Now he was going to have to wait until tomorrow, at least. Draco felt nervous. A centaur, a young male one barely older than themselves, had coaxed her into the forest. What if she was in danger? He knew centaurs were notorious for kidnapping and seducing women, and with Aquaria in nothing more than her swim suit, Draco knew they were going to consider her a grand prize. He saw a light turn on, near the edge of the wood in the other direction. A dog started barking and Draco realized that great big oaf of a boarhound Hagrid kept must have heard him before. Well, it was pointless for him to stand around in the dark and wait to get in trouble, and he couldn't possibly go to try and find Aquaria. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small piece of silvery material and his wand.
"Maximiso" he muttered, and the material grew to the size of a large cloak, which in fact, it was. Draco slipped it around himself and became invisible, making his journey back to the castle slightly safer.