I do not own any characters from Harry Potter. All rights belong to J.K. Rowling. I only own my own OCs.

Chapter 19: The Astronomy Tower

"Bets! Place your bets!"

"Bets taken! Bets taken here!"

"Step up, folks!"

"Who fancies a flutter in today's bloodbath?"

"Smart money's on Krum to survive."

"Any bets?"

Sienna rolled her eyes as she listened to Fred and George exchange banter towards students, and even some professors, who were walking to their seats. They continued and Sienna figured she would stretch her legs before the task started. She asked Ginny to save her seat, who nodded at her and waited for the champions to arise from their tents. Sienna's mind wandered a bit and she ended up at the tent where Harry and the others were preparing.

Sienna made her way to the side of the tent, and noticed a male silhouette on the cloth. A loud roar was heard, as the dragons were being flown onto the pitch. The roar shook in her stomach and throughout her veins, and her hair whipped from the gusts. Her long black hair that was usually braided was curled, thanks to Ginny, and flowed freely with each whip of the wind. Dumbledore's voice could be heard announcing an introduction to the crowd as everyone waited impatiently for the tasks to start.

She approached the tent quietly and whispered psst to the figure. "Harry?"

"Yeah?" the voice whispered back. Sienna sighed with relief. Thank Merlin it wasn't Cedric, that would be embarrassing.

"Are you feeling okay?" She was met with silence. She could feel the cloth of the tent move suddenly, meaning Harry was wringing his hands together, anxious.

Sienna took a deep breath. "The key is to concentrate, okay? Once you do that, you-"

"Just have to battle a dragon." Harry said bluntly. Sienna winced at his words. She ripped the tent aside and walked in. Harry stared at her momentarily, his eyes big and round, afraid of what will happen as the day progresses. Sienna smiled before wrapping her arms around Harry's waist. Harry wrapped his around her neck and they stood there for a moment, before a bright white light blinded them both.

"Young love!" Sienna heard, and turned to find none other than Rita Skeeter. "How…" she hesitated, and looked at her quil that was magically writing on its own, waiting for her words. She continued, "...stirring!"

Sienna and Harry separated quickly, staring at Rita. Harry said nothing, but Sienna was not happy.

"You two might even make the front page!"

"I swear to Merlin if you put this on the Daily-"

"Ms. Snape? What are you doing here?"

Sienna turned around to find Professor Dumbledore and Barty Crouch standing at the opening of the tent. Sienna began to blush, and looked around to find all the other champions staring at her. Cedric's eyebrow was hitched, laughing at the poor girl. Sienna spun back to Harry, blushing like mad. "S-Sorry. I was just going." She smiled at Harry once more before exiting the tent.

Sienna made her way back to her seat, and she found none other than Draco sitting there, laughing with Blaise, Crabbe, and Goyle. She vaguely heard Blaise talking before she got to them completely.

"I bet you Potter will get a new scar if you ask me. That dragon will crisp him up."

Draco laughed, nodding in agreement. "Maybe he'll be smart enough to summon his broom. That'll be his only shot at winning."

"Mind your tongue, Zabini." Sienna snapped at them as she walked by. The four heads snapped towards her, and Blaise saw the opportunity to take.

"Why isn't it little Sienna Snape? Come to join the house she belongs to?"

"I have seats already, thank you very much." She responded, glaring at the boy.

Draco rolled his eyes. "You could pretend you're in Slytherin, ya know. It won't hurt you."

"I don't want to sit with a bad crowd." She tipped her head towards the three boys he was sitting with. "Besides, I don't want to be too close to the pitch in case the dragons get unruly."

Draco smirked at her. "Be sure to send an owl when it starts raining, will you? Considering you're probably sitting with the red-headed cult."

"Piss off, Malfoy." Sienna retaliated at him. Draco's smirk widened, knowing he got under Sienna's skin. Without giving the boy a chance to answer, Sienna turned her heel and started to walk back to her seat. She could hear Goyle mutter something as soon as she was far away enough, thinking she wouldn't hear.

"That one's a blood traitor."

Suddenly, she heard people gasping and one frightened scream out of a 2nd year that was sitting in the crowd. She whipped her head around, her black hair falling infront of her face slightly, to find Draco's wand inches from Goyle's throat. Goyle's eyes screamed for help, as Draco stood over him, panting.

"Don't you dare speak about her like that again, Goyle."

"Malfoy, what's gotten into-"

"Do I make myself clear?" He sneered at him, his grey eyes burrowing into Goyle's.

Sienna ran back to Draco's side, her face showing obvious signs of panic. "Draco, stop. Put your wand down."

Draco kept his hand still, the tip of his wand now on the boy's Adam's apple. Sienna grabbed Draco's wrist. "Draco, please. Stop it." She begged him. She looked up at Draco's eyes and it was as if a fire was lit in them. She's never seen him so treacherous before. "Draco!" She shouted.

Draco's eyes snapped towards her, the light behind them dimming slowly. His face, once contorted into a sneer, was now calming down at the sight of her. His grey eyes bore into her blue ones, his breathing starting to return to normal. He slowly looked at her hand on his wrist, and began to lower his wand back to his pocket. She kept her hand on his wrist until it was at his side.

"What is the meaning of this, Mr. Malfoy?"

Sienna and Draco looked up at the voice to find her father, eyebrows raised at the two. "Do I need to remind you that you're not in the Triwizard Tournament?" He continued.

Sienna pulled her hand back to her side, leaving Draco's to the cold November air. Draco cleared his throat slightly. "Sorry, sir. Won't happen again."

Snape fixated his gaze onto his daughter, who was fixing her hair out of her face. "Sienna, let's go."

She nodded, following her father quietly. She looked over her shoulder and smiled at Draco slightly. He returned it with no hesitation.

Once Harry won the first task, Sienna let her Gryffindor mates celebrate back at their own common room. Ginny insisted it was alright if she was part of the party, but Sienna felt that some of the Gryffindors still didn't trust her. Dean Thomas being one of them. Although he was cordial with Sienna, and she could tell he fancied Ginny, every time she happened to be in the same group of people with him, he wouldn't look at her nor speak to her. It made Sienna uncomfortable at times, but never enough to never be around her friends.

Sienna didn't feel like going back to her common room right away, so she figured she'd stroll around the castle to clear her head. She was happy for Harry and glad that the Hungarian Horntail did not burn Harry's face off to a crisp, but she couldn't get her mind off of Draco's face when he was defending her. Sienna has seen Draco angry before, but this was something new that made her nervous. It reminded her of his father, Lucius, when he was ready to strike Harry with the Killing Curse in her first year. Although she knew Draco would not hurt a fly, she worried he would slowly become his father and be a cruel, miserable man. That's the last thing she wanted for him.

Sienna found herself wandering to the Astronomy Tower, the sun was just starting to set on her side of the world. She could see in the distant horizon the brilliant colors of orange and pink. She took a second to look at the sunset, and slowly brought herself to the railing. Her cold hands grasped the metal railing, and she felt her shoulders ease the tension that they held. In that moment, there were no houses, there was no politics, there was no worry of who was going to win the tournament - it was just her and the sunset. A breeze appeared, her black hair blowing behind her slightly. Sienna closed her eyes and sighed. She could smell the leaves of the late Autumn season and the air was crisp on her skin.

Then, she heard someone clear their throat.

She turned and found none other than the boy who continuously made her heart skip.

"Draco." She breathed.

Draco walked towards her, placing himself on the empty space on the railing next to her. He changed from his outfit earlier - he now sported a light grey hoodie with black joggers. He wore casual sneakers that matched his pants. Sienna noted that he must've left the First Task early.

"Snape." He nodded to her.

"Come here often?" She joked, but lost her smile when she realized Draco wasn't smiling.

He cleared his throat again. "Yes, actually."

"Oh. It's nice up here." She complimented.

He nodded, turning his face to the sunset. "It is. It helps me clear my head."

"I can see why." She agreed. She saw the right corner of his mouth twitch up. There was a moment where neither of them talked, but Sienna stared at the boy next to her. His blonde hair was not tamed anymore, a few strands falling over his eyes. He looked different than he did this morning before the First Task, he looked like the Draco that hugged her after she came back from the Chamber of Secrets. He looked like the Draco that sat with her in the Hospital Wing when her cousin Sirius pushed her out of the way of Professor Remus' werewolf form and she broke her collarbone.

He looked like the Draco she knew and loved.

Draco realized that Sienna was staring and turned his head towards her, giving her his full attention. "What's on your mind, Snape?"

She shook her head, "Nothing. I just like seeing you… relaxed."

Draco seemed to blush a bit at her statement. He averted his gaze to the ground for a moment before picking his head back up and smiling at her.

"I don't get to do it often, unfortunately."

"I know you don't. I see how hard you work."

He nodded. "Thanks."

She nodded back at him. This time, she averted her gaze back to the sunset that, only to notice there was only about a sliver of it left in the sky. She looked up and saw that the stars had started to show themselves. One in particular caught her eye.

"Polaris." She heard Draco say. She turned back to him, to see him also gazing at the stars. "It's also known as the North Star. It's always in the same place at the same time, every night."

"I didn't know that."

Draco looked back at her. "I pay attention to Divination, sometimes." He joked. "Even if that loon does teach it."

Sienna giggled. Although she appreciated Professor Trelawney, she was not fond of the course. "Someone has to."

Draco chuckled next to her, making Sienna's heart skip a beat. Draco rarely laughs genuinely. She noticed he always seemed to laugh around his cronies and other Slytherin housemates, but never actually truly laughed until his stomach hurt. Sienna smiled at the interaction.

"Hey, Draco?"

Draco would never admit it, but that was his new favorite sentence that came out of her mouth.

"Snape?" He mimicked her tone.

She smiled again. "Do you come up here to get away from… you know… life?"

He nodded. "Always. There's no pressure from people up here. It's just me and my thoughts. No one to tell me I'm wrong." Sienna knew he meant his father, the one who is constantly criticizing him, making sure he is upholding the Malfoy name nicely. "It's almost like it's just me who exists up here."

Sienna's face was neutral, not showing any emotion, trying to play it cool. "Well, now I exist with you up here."

Draco's grin dropped, and he looked at Sienna with a look she had never seen before. Draco grabbed her left hand and turned her to face him. As he held on to her hand, she noticed it had warmed up instantly. Draco looked in Sienna's eyes, and suddenly she felt her legs would turn into marshmallows. "You'll always exist in my world, Sienna."

Sienna's breath caught in her throat. Her heart soared all the way up her chest, and she felt as if a flood had taken over her stomach. Her hands went numb, her heart still as a ghost. She knew at that moment, she was going to be tied to Draco until her heart had no more to give.

Sienna smiled at Draco. His feet stepped closer to her, his chest on hers. Draco's face was well above her own, him standing five inches taller than her. However, it was closer than she had ever been to it. Sienna noticed a single freckle on his right cheek, small enough that if you stood far away, you would not be able to notice it. She looked back into Draco's eyes, intrigued by what might happen next. He visibly gulped, his Adam's Apple bobbing up and down. "You'll always exist in mine, Draco." Sienna whispered.

Draco took his left hand and brought it to the nape of Sienna's neck. "Good." He responded, smirking.

Next thing she knew, the world around them faded away.

Draco leaned down and placed his forehead on hers. Sienna closed her eyes and breathed as softly as she could, content with the moment. Draco's nose brushed hers, and suddenly she felt like the only thing that existed was each other. Draco closed his eyes as well, breathing slowly, trying to regain his control. "I'm going to kiss you, Sienna Snape." He whispered gently.

She sucked in a short breath before muttering, "okay."

Fireworks. That's what Sienna felt as Draco placed his soft, minty lips on hers.

Sienna saw stars behind her eyelids, and felt that her body electrified throughout her nerves. The hair on her body stood up, goosebumps taking her by storm. Her mind knew nothing, it was blank. All she knew was that Draco was here, and she knew he would be around for the long run.

Until her heart had no more to give.