He looked so peaceful. I was contemplating waking him up, or just going back to the dorm. I really didn't mean to take that long, but me and Lottie had been talking about very important things ("Hey, where did you get your eye shadow?"). As I watched him lying there, I couldn't help think about what he wanted to talk to me about. Was it something so important it couldn't wait until tomorrow? I decided it was best to let him rest, so I found a green and silver blanket, adorned with a picture of the Slytherin serpent biting the Gryffindor lion, and spread it out over Draco's sleeping body.
"Sweet dreams." I whispered softly, but apparently he wasn't a very deep sleeper, because just then his eyes slowly opened and we looked at each other for a few moments. I felt terrible. I really didn't mean to wake him up. I remember hoping he wouldn't be angry.
"I am so sorry! I didn't mean to wake you up, I just-" He laughed, sat up, and moved over to the far end of the small loveseat. He motionlessly gestured to sit down, and I did automatically. My mind was racing in anxious excitement. Thoughts were running about my brain thinking of what he could need me for.
"So, what do you need to talk to me about?" I asked shyly, my face reddening by the moment. He stammered for a couple of minutes, and I could tell he was nervous, which made me nervous for some reason.
"Listen Weas-Ginny. I-I think that we should…umm…that we should keep…umm…our friendshipness like…a secret." Draco said staring at his feet. Although I had replayed this idea in my head, and was fine with it earlier…when he said it, something inside of me stirred and I went crazy.
"Oh, so you are too embarrassed to be seen with a Weasley?" I said maliciously.
"No, no! I just think that well, your brother and Potter, they wouldn't like it if-"
"MAYBE I don't care what they think! I don't care about them knowing about us. Have you not noticed that we want to be together!" His head shot up and his face had turned pale as white and I started to stutter uncontrollably, "I mean-I uh, um..."
I tried to come up with a different meaning for my words…but there was none. I was falling for him, and I was scared. I said a very quick goodnight and ran all the way to the girls dorm. As I laid in my bed, his smiling face lingered in my mind, and I wasn't able to stop thinking about him. But this was MALFOY! My enemy, my family's enemy. In my head I knew none of them could find out. They couldn't know. Draco was right. Secrecy was our only option.
I was falling for her and I didn't care. I didn't care that I wasn't fond of her family, nor was her's fond of mine. I didn't care that she was just a visitor to Slytherin, that she was always a Gryffindor, no matter how many times I tried to deny it. I didn't care that she wasn't really "my type." All I knew or cared about was that I was ever so slowly falling for her, and I knew she was falling for me too.
The next morning, before everyone went to breakfast, I approached Ginny, and as soon as she saw me, her face turned dark red.
"Hi…I-I wanted to say, uhm" she started, but I interrupted her.
"Ginny, I was wrong. I was. We shouldn't care what people think. I don't care. I should I know, but really I don't. Please, understand that I want to be with-your friend." I gulped and waited for her reply. She started to speak and then closed her mouth, took my shaking hand, and led me out of the common room. Her hand felt warm and calming as she took me in an empty classroom on the same floor. She sat on a desk and looked me straight in the eye.
"No, Draco you were right. As much as I hate to say this, we have to be kept secret. I don't know why I freaked out last night. I was not in a good mood, I'm so sorry." I was not expecting this. My heart sank. Just when I realized I didn't care about people knowing we were friends, she had to go around and change her mind. As she sat there, twiddling her thumbs, a sudden urge which I had to hold back to kiss her right then and there, swept over me like a rush of cold air. Her brown eyes took in every inch of me as we sat there in utter silence. Finally I built up the courage to reply.
"I'm happy you understand." I croaked not really meaning what I said. I swiftly left the room, I think leaving her in shock. Once I had sat down at the Slytherin table, Pansy sat down next to me, and started to stuff her face with scrambled eggs.
Ginny walked in a minute later with her friend, Lottie and they were laughing and talking. I was so happy she had found a friend, I really was. But I'm not sure what I would have given for me to be the friend she was walking with. I ate my breakfast in silence, only nodding or shaking my head when Pansy asked me a trivial question.
After breakfast had ended, Professor Snape handed out the schedules for my classes, and I was rather glad to see that only two classes were with Gryffindor. My first class, Advanced Transfigurations, was up on the topmost floor, so I walked out of the Great Hall, sadly with Pansy draped over my arm, her sweaty hand in mine.
I was in my sixth year, so I had a lot of free time that year. It just so happens that my very first period was an hour of free time. Lottie and I had already become amazing friends and so we decided to spend the time out in the end of summer sunshine beneath an overgrown tree sitting right beside the lake. Lottie was an odd girl and I don't think I have ever met anyone like her. She was kind, yet completely sarcastic, and had a way of annoying you to the point in which you just wanted to kill her. But at the same time, her charm and sense of humor made you feel happier every single minute you spent with her. She was extremely pretty and sweet, and I couldn't understand why she didn't have any friends. There were 3 other girls my age in Slytherin, but for some reason they avoided her at every moment. But she seemed not to care at all, and frankly I honestly wanted to know why.
As she talked on and on, I wasn't really paying attention. My mind was drifting off into another land and the only person or thing on my mind was him. He was somewhere, and all I waned was to be with him. But I couldn't. Lottie obviously noticed my quietness, for after a couple of minutes she looked me in the eye and asked, "Nev, you okay?" I looked out onto the lake and asked, "Why is life so unfair?"
"Because we are teenage girls. Everything is unfair. What's up?" I wasn't sure if I was ready to tell anyone. We had met the day before. Maybe she'd understand…and then maybe she wouldn't. I was scared to tell her, but I knew I needed to tell someone. I asked her not to tell anyone, which really didn't need to be said. She had no one to talk to anyway. But she promised nonetheless, and so I told her everything. And when I say everything, I mean it. Every bad or good feeling I had had since that day when me and Draco ran into each other in Diagon Alley. For such a talker, she was also a great listener. When I was finished, I was on the verge of tears. Lottie looked at me and then quickly took me in her arms and I just sat and cried into her shoulder. It was such a relief to have everything out and as I cried she said softly to me, "Shh, everything will be fine. Everything will work out. From the sound of it, this boy really likes you. If it's meant to be, it'll find a way to happen." Those last words comforted me the most. Meant to be…
