The next morning as he walked to potions he was pulled into a small alcove.
"What the hell…" he began, but cut off when he saw the small red head before him.
"What's your game Malfoy?" she asked coldly, staring into his eyes. He just smiled gently at her. He saw surprise flicker briefly in her eyes at the sudden softness of his features and grinned inwardly. It had taken two hours in front of a mirror to get that look just right. Silly chit.
"No game love." He leaned down, and before she could react he gently brushed his lips along hers before turning and continuing to class. He didn't have to look back to know that he had left a stunned group of Ravenclaws and one shocked Gryffindor in his wake.
Draco grabbed Rose's arm as she walked past him in the hallway. He quickly pulled her into a side corridor as she squeaked in surprise.
"Malfoy? What the hell?" she whispered violently.
"Hello Rose," he replied sarcastically, letting go and stepping back.
"What do you want?" she snapped, looking away. He smiled when he say the red tinge that graced her cheeks.
"Help. I want your help."
"Excuse me?" Rose stood, staring at him. This obviously was NOT what she expected.
"With potions. I want you to help me study for the test next week…" He hesitated. "Please?" Rose looked away again, seemingly weighing her options. Finally she shyly met his eyes.
"When?"
"Tomorrow afternoon?" he asked, taking a step forward. She looked back at him and found him directly in front of her.
"O…ok." Her eyes widened slightly as he leaned down towards her.
"Rose…Malfoy!" Harry's voice broke through the tension like a knife. "What the hell are you doing? Get away from her!" Draco stepped back, sneering at the intruder.
"Whatever Potter. Why would I want to be anywhere near your mudblood sister anyways?" He risked a glance at Rose and saw hurt flash threw her eyes. He met them and stared at her for as long as he could without looking suspicious. 'Please understand,' he though.
He looked away and turned towards the door, but not before seeing her nod almost in perceptively. He almost sighed. She understood.
Harry spun, looking his sister over for any signs of pain, or curses.
"Are you ok Rose?" he asked, frowning at her absentminded expression.
"Oh," she shook her head slightly before looking back at him. "Yeah. I'm fine. Thanks Harry." He looked at her for a moment longer before nodding.
"Come on, let's get to class."
Draco sat in History of Magic and stared dazedly out the window. Why had he cared? When he saw the hurt in her eyes, the pain that he had cause…he had wanted to fix it. But that wasn't right. He was a Malfoy. They didn't take away pain, they caused it and then reaped the benefits.
What was it about this girl that made him so crazy? The fact that he had kissed her twice, and enjoyed it…it was wrong. She was a POTTER for pity's sake.
It wasn't like he cared about her anyways. It was just for the money.
Right?
Draco ran his tongue over his lips and laughed as Rose smacked him. He watched as she scanned the book in front of her. Finally, he took a deep breathe and slipped his arm around her waist. He felt her stiffen slightly, but she didn't move away…
He almost sighed in relief when she relaxed and leaned against his shoulder. Since the second kiss, Rose had been even colder towards him. It had taken him a weak to work up the nerve…no. It had taken a week to find the right moment (Malfoy's do NOT worry about the reactions of red headed half bloods) to ask her to help him.
"So if you add Mion Root to Tigers eye, what do you get?" she asked flipping nonchalantly flipping through the text, ignoring the arm around her.
"I…You get blown to bloody America. I don't know…" he sighed and fell back into the grass, pulling her with him.
"Hey!" she protested. The statement lost it's meaning as she shifted closer hesitantly. Her held her tighter, assuring her. "You do too! Just think about it logically. It isn't too hard. Tiger's eye is always used in restoration potions right? And if you add Mion Root, which is a known relaxant you get…?"
"A healing sleep potion?" he guessed. At least he hadn't lied about needing the help. Not that that was necessarily a good thing. His father had always assured his marks would be good, but he wanted to do well for himself. Rose's 'daddy's boy' comment had struck and stung.
"Yup."
"Rose?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm sorry about yesterday." There was a long silence.
"No, I get it. It's fine. I don't think I want Harry to know about…whatever this is…"
Draco leaned up on one arm, watching her face. She looked at him questioningly as he scrutinized her features. He saw he swallow as he leaned closer. He only stopped when their lips were mere inches apart.
"Is this ok?" he asked quietly, swallowing himself at the sensation of her hot breath on his face. She looked at him for a long moment. Draco almost groaned. If she said no…
Suddenly he was pulled down onto her. His lips were pressed hard against hers. After a moment her pulled away.
"Rose?" he whispered, watching her lay there with her eyes closed.
"Hm?"
"Will you go out with me? Like, on an actual date?" Her eyes snapped open and locked with his.
"I…ok."
Rose sat on the dock, still wringing the water out of her hair.
"I really suck at this," she stated morosely, looking up at a perfectly dry Draco. "It's no fair." He laughed. Dueling by the late wasn't necessarily the most brilliant idea they had come up with.
"Sure it is," he replied. "You just aren't as naturally talented as…Woah!" As Draco fell, propelled by Rose into the water, he grabbed her hand, bringing her along with him. He emerged from the dark water with a gasp.
"Damn Rose. Why did you…" he trailed off, searching the water. "Rose?" She was no where to be seen. Draco's heart beat crazily. Where was she?
"Rose!" he spun in the water, searching. Suddenly he was shoved under the water from behind. He struggled back to the surface to find a giggling Rose.
"Why did you do that? You scare…I mean…if you had drowned I would have been blamed.
"Riiight," she replied raising an eyebrow. "And you pulled me in you jerk!"
"Me? You pushed me…" his retort was cut off by Rose's lips against his. He relaxed into the kiss, pulling her closer with one hand while still hovering in the water.
He saw a light blush growing on her cheeks as he pulled away. He smiled slightly. Two weeks after their first official date at a small diner in Hogsmead and Rose still blushed anytime he touched her. He was amazed at how much Rose had changed around him. With her twin, or at least as far as he had seen considering he was still avoiding that particular Potter like the plague, she was often louder and more boisterous though her face never revealed anything but a forced smile. But with him she seemed quieter and as she had proven by slipping dye into Ron's pumpkin juice, quite devious, almost Slytherin.
Rose glanced up into the sky before meeting his eyes, searching. She did this quite often, but he could never quite figure out what she was looking for. She smiled suddenly, pulling away. Whatever it was, she seemed to have found it.
"Come with me. I want to show you something," she said quietly.
She dove suddenly into the water and swam down, seemingly unworried about the creatures that lived there. Draco pulled a deep breath and followed. She led him deep into the lake. Just as he thought his lungs were about to burst he popped up into a small cave. He glanced around at the walls that were now sparkling in the light of the small candle she seemed to have conjured.
He climbed out to join Rose on the ledge she sat on and shook his head violently.
"Hey!" she shouted as his blonde hair sprayed water all over her.
"Hey, hey." Draco looked at her. The one this that he could never deny about Rose was that she was gorgeous. Her sharp features were accented greatly by the slight light and tonight her green eyes almost seemed to glow.
Draco broke out of his revelry as Rose stood, smiling and pulled him to his feet.
"Come on." He followed her farther into the cave. The floor had a slight upward slant to it, making the walk tedious. He sighed in relief as he saw light up ahead. Suddenly they came out into a large field full of flowers.
"What? Where are we?" he asked in amassment. He had never been here before.
"You know that island in the middle of the lake? Well…come on." She grabbed his hand and pulled him to a large flat stone. She climbed on top and lay on her back.
He mimicked her and looked up into the sky. After a few moments he was about to ask what they were looking at when he saw a dark figure hurtle into the sky.
"Hey what's…"
"Sh…" Together they watched as a large bird rocketed up higher and higher. Draco gasped as it turned towards the sun and spread its wings. It had suddenly erupted into a ball of flame. They watched as more and more of these birds flew up to join the first. Finally Draco spoke.
"How many people know about this?" he asked quietly.
"Only me, you and probably professor Dumbledore that I know of." She responded quietly.
"You haven't shown this to anyone?" She looked at him and smiled lightly.
"No," she replied before lying back down.
It's just for the money.
Alright. I know that this whole section moved along really fast, but i want to get to some of the other parts thanks. I hope you still like it:) And no, Harry and them don't know about Rose and Draco if that wasn't made clear before. The story is close to half way done! Yay! I know it isn't too long, but it's fluff, and how long can you drag that on without ruining it?
Well i hope you liked it. If you did...REVEIW! I only have ONE reveiwer(to whom i am eternally greatful) but i would like some more thank you! More more more!
Aevum