A/N: Woohooo back from VB camp…yup, that's all I need to say. Oh and this chapter is for now un-beta read. The beta-ed version'll be up when my beta sends it back to me. Which should be soon.
"Draco, I'm bored." I sighed. It was the morning after the candy makers' convention and the two of us were, as usual eating breakfast in the rose garden.
"Then you should take up a hobby." Draco shrugged. I shot him an icy glare before looking down into my coffee. Once again there was a rose petal floating in it. I couldn't help the smile on my face as I carefully picked it out of the liquid.
"Hey, Draco, you haven't said anything weird today." I snickered. When the blonde across from me didn't respond a few thin trials of panic snuck up my spine, "Draco?"
I glanced up to find him tilted back in his chair, looking up into the brilliant blue sky above us. There was a troubled look playing on his elegant eyebrows and soft mouth. I wanted to reach over and brush that look off his face. Instead I wrapped my hand around my coffee cup and looked into the sky with him. Despite the kisses we shared and the casual touching, and the way he seemed to relax around me, I still felt as if I wasn't golden enough to touch Draco in all his aristocratic glory. I still felt that he'd lash out at me if I moved any closer.
"Have you ever wished upon a star?" Draco murmured.
I looked curiously at him, but his face gave me not hint to what he was implying. I sighed and switched my gaze back to the blue sky above us. "When I was little…I'd look up at the moon and I'd wish that somebody up there would come down and save me," I chuckled. "I always hoped that there's something up there watching out for us."
"I wished upon a star once," The blonde sighed. "Know what happened?"
"What?"
"Nothing."
He pushed himself to his feet and started to walk back towards the forest that separated us from the chocolate river. I followed him with my eyes for a moment before cursing and slamming my coffee down on the table. I trotted after him and caught sight of that blonde hair a few feet ahead of me. "Draco!" I shouted.
I started to run after him, but I couldn't see that shining hair, nor the dazzling eyes. Suddenly I realized we were in that forest again. The blue sky above us was darkened by the tree canopies and the ground beneath my feet was cold brown dirt. I'd strayed off the stone path. "Shit! Draco!" I yelled again.
The trees were becoming taller and taller and their trunks grew larger and larger the deeper I ran. It was suffocating in the forest, with the trees all crowded around me. My throat was tight and constricted and my eyes began to burn with unshed tears. It was becoming dark in this forest, so dark.
Suddenly a wind whipped through the trees and I whirled around frantically. Each tree looked at me with a sadistic grin. The little noises and subtle crunch of dirt beneath a foot convinced me that somebody was following me.
"Draco!" I screamed. Finally I shut my eyes and I ran. I didn't look back, I didn't look ahead, I trust my feet to lead me out of the forest. I guess I trusted the forest to take me to freedom.
When I finally stopped I stood a moment, eyes closed and fists clenched, praying I wasn't alone in that dark forest anymore. I cautiously opened one eyes and a gasp left my mouth. All I could see for a moment was a storm of black rose petals. It cleared slowly and my eyes became accustomed to the lushness around me. Huge, thick crimson roses grew every where. Each step I took I found my feet cushioned by roses. Amidst the roses were tall silver poles that had rested over to black. Crawling up the roses and these ornament poles were vines of brilliant green ivy.
"Draco?" I called uncertainly.
"Isn't it lovely?" Draco sighed. He was sitting amongst the roses on a black metal swing, so decorated by swirling pieces of dark metal I could hardly tell where the seat was. The swing itself was crawling with ivy.
"You ass, you run off and leave me alone in that damned forest so you can take me to see more roses!" I glanced around at these roses and hissed in exasperation. "What is up with you and the damn roses?"
"Come here, Harry."
Muttering curses under my breath I walked up to him, taking care to step one ach and every rose I could see on the ground. I carefully sat down on the swing, as far away from him as possible.
Another gasp escaped my throat and my eyes bulged. Lying in front of us was the chocolate waterfall and then the river, winding though the lush green meadow. Each tree and flower was visible from up here. I could even see the forest, wild and twisting.
"This is my favorite place." Draco murmured blankly.
"Where's the other rose garden?"
"Through the forest,"
I sighed and slumped back against the swing. Sure it was pretty, but it didn't make up for Draco abandoning me. He always pushed me away, just when I felt like I was getting close I realized I was miles and miles away from ever touching, really touching Draco. "Well, any more cryptic statements you want to make?" I growled.
"Harry don't be like that."
"I'm not being like anything!" I exploded. "What is with you and the roses! Why do you always have roses! What is so damn special about the roses!" I stood up from the swing and tore a rose from it. "It's a flower," I held it out to him. Those blue eyes regarded me with only the slightest bit of interest.
Slowly I started to yank the petals off it and toss them into the wind. "It's not alive. It's beautiful to look at but it won't keep you warm at night. It won't hold you while you cry. It'll laugh at you. Because when you're crippled and ugly, it'll always be beautiful."
Draco stood and walked over to me. I could only stand there watching, almost petrified. I was scared he'd confirm everything I'd just said. I was scared he'd hit me. I was scared he'd move even farther from me. Instead he gently plucked the mutilated and defaced rose from my hand and tucked it behind my ear.
"People think that the beautiful people are the happiest people. But I find, it is the crippled ugly man who shines, and the beautiful man who rots on the inside."
I looked up at him with big emerald eyes and he looked down at me with indifferent sapphire ones. Only his eyes weren't dark enough to be sapphires. I'd say they look more like blue diamonds, as corny as that sounds. His eyes were a mask, and behind them I could only find ice. Finally I shook my head and pulled the rose from behind my ear and let the wind carry it away.
"That's a very pretty image, Draco. But I don't understand it. Stop playing word games with me and just be honest."
He broke our eye contact to look over the cliff at the river winding blow us. Suddenly I realized how close he was to me. We could've kissed or hugged…or cuddled like normal that couples do. But I guess we weren't a couple. And even if we were, there was no way we were normal.
"I like the roses because they're honest. They don't play games with you, and they'd never lie." Draco explained.
I sighed and started to take a step back when an arm snaked around the small of my back and yanked me forward. I stumbled and fell against Draco's chest, cheeks burning and eyes wide. He didn't press me any tighter and I didn't move any closer to him. My hands dangled uselessly at my sides, I couldn't bring myself to push away from him.
"Draco," I finally whispered. "It's time to let go, this was a mistake, right?"
He didn't say anything, which only made me want to push away more. I looked up at him, and hated having to seem weaker then him. I hated being smaller and more human then he would ever be.
Cold slender fingers wrapped around my own and he pulled my pale hand up to rest on his heart. He pressed his hand over mine, effectively holding my hand over his chest. Draco's other arm dropped from my back and reappeared in front of my face holding a ring.
The ring was silver which had rusted over to black, but underneath its coat of darkness the silver still shone through. He moved the ring so I could see the jewel it cupped and my eyes widened. A brilliant, glimmering emerald sat between two swirls of the dark silver. There were no other jeweled accents because there didn't need to be. That emerald could've easily outshone any diamond.
"Draco?" I breathed. He said nothing as he slipped the ring onto my finger and planted the tiniest of kisses on it.
"You deserve to have it back." The blonde said with a mischievous glint in his eyes.
I looked down at the ring, which probably cost more then all my earthly possessions and back up at him. "There's no way I ever owned something this expensive!"
"Then I must have made a mistake." Draco smirked in a tone that said, there's-no-mistake.
"You did! Draco, this doesn't belong to me!" I argued. I reached to tug it off when his fingers pulled mine back and he planted a soft kiss on them.
"The ring fits you perfectly, it was made to fit your finger." He whispered into my hand, "Keep it." Hi eyes met mine and a flurry of emotions gusted across his glimmering eyes. Love, tenderness, affection, hate, jealously, possession, and even more I couldn't identify. I guess compared to him my emotions were simple, hell anybodies emotions were simple compared to his.
How could anything as simple as a ring make him feel so much? I looked down at the ring and then up at him. "Fine, but I'm buying you something."
"What?" Draco asked, genuinely taken aback.
I couldn't help grinning at his deer in the headlights look, it was too precious. "You heard me, I'm not letting you buy me stuff like I'm some chick. I'm buying you something."
"Harry, it's a gift, I don't expect anything in return."
"I don't give, I'm buying you something."
"With my money?" Draco snickered.
"Yeah with your money, now call the damn limo, we're going shopping!"
"You don't sound like a chick at all," The blonde chuckled, voice laced with sarcasm.
I pursed my lips and pouted for a moment before finally asking, "So it wasn't a mistake?"
"What wasn't?" He asked. Draco's arms snaked around my back and tugged me close to him. I didn't stumble or blush this time. I wrapped my arms around his neck and buried my face in his neck.
"The kisses….the…" I trialed off and shook my head. "I-"
Draco silenced me with a chaste press of his lips against mine, with two fingers on my chin he tilted my face up, locking his eyes with mine, "It wasn't a mistake."
XoXoXo
Fifteen minutes later we were in the limo, driving towards one of the larger shopping districts in London. We were both dressed casually, I in black jeans and a t-shirt and Draco wearing a long sleeved green shirt and light blue jeans. But Draco had a black suit jacket tossed on and designer sunglass.
"Draco, what's with the shades?" I snickered, plucking them off his face by crawling on his lap. "Are you a terrorist or something?"
The blonde regarded me with the same look one would give a playful kitten and watched as I examined them. "I am very famous Harry, and I'd rather not have paparazzi tailing us while we shop."
"Since when were you famous?"
"Since I'm rich and sexy."
"Ah, gotcha." I laughed while repositioning the sunglasses on his face. "You look like one of those agents from the matrix."
"Do you wanna get burgers for lunch?" Draco sighed. "Those really were good."
"Yes I know, that's why I eat them as much as possible." I chuckled. I tried to slip back into the seat next to Draco, but two arms around my waist kept me right where I was on his lap.
I rested my face on his shoulder and smiled up at him. "Guess what I'm gonna buy you."
"Surprise me," Draco smirked.
The truth was I had no idea what I was going to get Draco. I knew this ring meant something special to him, so I guess buying porn was out of the question. I sighed, I guess I'd know what to buy when I saw it. But I hoped I could find something just as important for Draco…the damn bastard really had weaseled his way into my heart.
The limo dropped us off, Draco with an arm protectively around my waist and me blushing, trying to push him off. When I finally realized he wasn't letting go, I grudgingly started to walk forward, for once Draco was following me. I spotted a jewelry store and grinned.
When the blond caught sight of what I was grinning like a maniac at he groaned. "Harry, anywhere but there! It's so over priced!"
"Your rich, you can buy anything!"
"Still," Draco pouted. "I'm very attached to my money."
"I am to, Draco, I'll really regret spending it." I responded with mock gravity.
I whipped open the door into the store and if possible my grin only grew at the very sparkly objects lining the store. Draco on the other hand moaned and looked down sadly at his credit card. I darted around like a kid in a candy store, looking for the perfect present. I left Draco to make small talk with the store clerk.
"Can I help you?"
I looked up from the display case I was looking at to see a woman standing in front of me, smiling kindly. "Yeah…I was looking for a present for somebody."
"Whose the present for, if you don't mind my asking," She laughed.
"The blonde guy," I whispered.
"What's the occasion?"
"Um…well, he bought me this," I showed her the ring on my finger, "And I wanted to get him something in return."
"Oh!" She gasped, she grabbed my hand and examined the ring and grin blooming on her face. "This ring is one of our newest trends! Each ring has a match that's supposed to fit together when the wearers hold hands! "
I looked down at the ring wondering briefly why Draco hadn't bought its match as well. But I shrugged the thought off and looked back at the saleslady, "Can I see the match?"
"Of course!" She bustled off and returned a few moments later with a wooden box. The woman set it on the counter and flipped open the lid. "These are the original rings, you can buy a cheaper replica instead of these. But your ring is part of the original collection."
The rings' bands glimmered all shade of the rainbow, as did their jewels. I looked in fascination for a few moments before pulling out a brilliant blue stone. Each time the light hit it glimmered with a different shade of blue. The stone was an odd shape, like it had a large chunk cut out of it.
"Does this one match my ring?" I asked.
"May I see your ring?"
I gave her my ring and watched as she fit the two rings together. The whole in the blue stone was filled by my emerald and I couldn't help the grin that bloomed on my face. "How much is it?" She told me and my grin grew into a wicked cat-ate-the-canary smile.
"Draco!" I called.
"What, traitor." Draco growled back. He darted away from the clerk as fast as possible and moved to my side. "How could you leave me with him!"
"Well look what I found you," I gave him a playful shove. He sighed and looked at the saleswoman, holding the two interlocking rings.
"Harry," He laughed. "You don't have to,"
"Of course I do, the chance to make you play the girl and spend your money is too sweet to pass up."
Draco gently took his ring from the woman and slipped it on his finger. "Fine, how much?"
His expression when the woman told him was so priceless I would've given my left arm for a camera. I cackled hysterically next to him as he gave her his credit card.
"How can you buy me a present with my own money?" Draco muttered darkly as he signed the receipt.
"It's the thought that counts." I giggled.
Draco wrapped an arm around my back, letting his hand rest on my hip and yanked me close to him. We walked out, both wearing our rings, with Draco looking very satisfied and me blushing like there was no tomorrow.
"Draco, let me go! People will stare."
The moment we stepped out of the store somebody shrieked and snapped a photo of us with her camera phone, "That's Draco Malfoy!"
"Time to run, lovely." Draco snapped. He quickly started to walk the other way when a camera snapped a picture of us. "Shit."
"People take pictures of you?" I gasped. "You really are famous!"
"I told you that, you ditz." The blonde growled. "Now smile pretty for the cameras."
He turned around and flashed the cameras behind us a grin before walking forward. I stumbled along next to him.
"Shouldn't we call the limo now?" I growled.
"One more thing."
He whispered. He jerked me over to a new paper stand and bought a
Malfoy chocolate bar. H shoved the bar in his jacket and produced an
identical bar of chocolate.
I shot him a confused look and he
hissed quickly. "Just smile and look pretty."
"Draco! What're you doing out?" A somebody with a camera called.
"Whose the cutie?"
"Since when were you gay!"
"Smile for us!"
Draco gave them his most charming smile, "Well my vice-president and I needed some fresh air,"
"You're sleeping with your vice-president?"
"Isn't that fraternization?"
"I can't help but notice your ring? Are you engaged?"
"Cheating on your fiancé with a guy?"
The blonde laughed and shook his head. "I'm single, no fiancé to cheat on. I just come out to announce something," He started to open the chocolate bar, and handed it to me. "Open it," He whispered quickly.
I sighed and continued to open the bar while at the same time trying to figure out what the hell Draco was doing.
"You see it's been a while since I've opened the factory and all, So I've decided to have a contest! I have hidden six golden tickets in six different candy bars. Whoever finds a golden ticket, gets to come into my factory for a day. And at the end of the day, they will receive a prize far beyond their wildest imagination!"
Suddenly I felt something smooth in place of where a chocolate bar should be and I jerked my gaze down to my hands. The first thing I saw was a glimmer of gold. "D-Draco?"
"And it looks like my vice-president has found the first golden ticket," Draco laughed, with a flick of his wrist he waved the ticket through the air. "Well I guess there're only five tickets left."
A/N: Woohoo, well the story's halfway over….sorta kinda. If anybody has ideas for what sort of dysfunctional person will find the tickets review and tell me. Thank you!
