ALWAYS AND FOREVER

((By Jackie & Lindsay))

Walking through the main room of the head dormitories, Nicole moves towards the couch and sits down crossing one leg over the other with a book in her hand. The moon was shining through the open window and a cool breeze intrudes the warmth currently surrounding Nicoles circle.

Draco, walking into the main room after completing his studies spies Nicole and decides to pop her bubble. A sly smile appeared on his face as he snuck up behind her. "HI!" he screamed in her ear.

Falling off of the couch, Nicole lands on the floor; not quite happy she stumbles to her feet and turns around to come face to face with the devil himself. "Geez Malfoy, don't give me a heart attack." She sat back down and crossed her legs underneath her, opening her book once again and reading it. The book, go figure, happened to be a romance novel, though many did not know it because the title was not of a romantic genre. Instead, it seemed to fit more of her style, or so others thought. "Unspoken to the lost," the novel of her life. She was secretly a hopeless romantic, but her outter shell was more solid, she couldn't decide on herself anymore.

"Why not, then i could give you cpr" draco wiggled his eyebrows before looking at her book. Whats that your reading, a ROMANCE novel?"

Draco took the novel and started reading a few sentences in the beggining.

"Alex turned around, tears falling scilently down her cheeks as she begged god to not take the one thing that she cared about in this whole wide world. Luke." Draco read outloud. "Wow, thats some interesting reading you got there." Draco said sarcasticly, trying to not sound interested.

With a small huff, Nicole pulled the book from his hands. "Well if it's that horrible then why don't you just go ask Pansy to give you a peice of shit book with loads of people dying. I'm sure that must taste your interest." with that she stood up abruptly and moved for the stairs, she was letting her guard down and a single tear in the quit moment slid to the floor. DROP... and her sheild broke.

Draco silently crept behind her and he put his arms around her waist. "Why would I want to go to Pansy." Draco placed his head atop of Nicoles and hugged her from behind. "Besides" He smiled. "We could just sit on the couch by the fire and I could read YOU some of the story." He kissed her hair lightly.'What do ya say?"

Her heart skipped a beat as Draco, her beloved Draco put his head stop hers and placed his sweet lips to her hair. She closes her eyes and relaxed into his touch. Her barrier was broken once again by the Slytherins beloved prince. All she could do was nod as he brought her over to the couch and they sat down. She leaned into him and slowly let herself be takin in by him reading before she fell fast asleep.

The next morning Nicole awoke to blonde hair. They had fallen asleep on the couch the night before, and now it was saturday. Nicole got up and angered at herself, walked up to the dormitories and into her room. She changed quickly and headed outside to the semi-sunny day. She sat outside a while before it started to rain. I rained, as she cried, and as she cried, it rained even more. It was saddening but she didn't like letting her barriers down. She felt so awkward, and it scared her. Fallin in love was hard. She knew she was his, but what was "his", it made her feel like a toy and it was sad. Standing in the middle of the dock, no one was anywhere around and she just stood there underneath the dark clouds and the rain that fell. Tears streamed down her cheeks. She was so confused.

Draco awoke on the couch when the rain that was going on ouotside boomed to a cracendio with booming thunder. But he noticed one thing, nicole wasnt there.'Did she go back to her room or something?' Draco wonderd as he streched out the kinks in his back that came from sleeping on the couch. He walked over to Nicole's room and, knocking on the door he let himself inside."Nicole? You in here?"Draco looked around and apon finging nobody in the room, he decided to go and look for her. ' I hope shes not outside in this though..."

But she was outside. She was outside, wet and numb. There was only so much hope left in her that it made her weak. Collapsing onto the deck of the dock, she cried a bit more. Eyes red, and worn to the tears.

Draco had thorouly looked turough the castle, twice, and he could not find her anywhere. He was almost to the point of asking Potter where she was, but thankfully he saw a glimpse of a silouite at the docks through the rain and he ran towards it. Towards Nicole. An hopefully before she caught phnumonia.

Nicole could not hear him, but she did stand up. She opened her arms a little bit at her sides and moved to face upwards, letting the rain fall freely onto her. Angrily but yet calmly to no one she said seven words. "I will not be someones play thing."

"--- not be some ones play thing." Darco heard Nicole say, her face turned towards the sky. 'Of course thats what she thinks I want her for, a plaything.' Draco thought angrely, ' i mean what else would i want her for ' his thoughts turned sarcastic 'her wits , company, and freindship, oh no, not this man hoe.' (( that rymes)) Draco turned and started to walk back to the castle.

"Nicole, he's using you, admit it. What would he need you for?!"

She shook her head. "You don;t understand, he's not the same person you think he is, he CAN be nice you know, when he feels like it. But I feel like a playtoy. He probably doesn't even care about me that way. Come one Harry."

Harry, frustrated at Malfoy, angrily it the wall then cursed at himself for doing it. "Then forget about him. He's a right foul git, you know that."

"I can't forget about him Harry," Nicole looked up at Harry seriosuly. "I love him." But she didn't know someone was around the corner listening as she spilled out the most hidden thing yet to be figured out about her inner self.

Nicole walked into the common room of the heads dorms and sat down on the couch. Neville walked into the room and smiled. "Oh, h-hi Nicole."

Nicole looked up at Neville and smiled back. "Hi Neville, is something wrong?"

He shook his head, not able to steal his eyes away from her in what could have been nervousness. "N-no, it's just, Malfoy, he's been, harrassing you lately, yes?"

She shook her head. "No, it's not like that. We are just friends he hasn't harrassed me any more than he did last year."

Neville nodded, a bit flustered. "O-oh, w-well Okay." And with that he left the heads common room quickly.

Nicole shook her head. Weird.

Draco was about to walk into the head dorms when he was bumped by Longbottom , who seamed to be chased by the furies by the speed that he was going. "Watch it Longbottom" Draco spat. "what do you think your doing in the head dorms anyways." Neville glared at Draco. "None of your goddamn buissiness Malfoy." He could not belive that little Longbottom was talking to HIM like that. "well I think I just made it my buissiness, detention tomarrow for trespassing where you are not welcome." Draco issued him a detention slip. " Have fun with Snape" An with that Draco disipeared into the entryway to the common room.

Nicole looked up as he entered and flushed. Trying to hide it. She looked back down and started writing in her journal again.

Dear Diary,

I think Ive fallen in love with someone who will never feel the same for me. What a trip...

Draco, still hurt from her words just walked past her and into his room, got his clothes and went into the bathroom to take a relaxing shower.

Nicole walked up the stairs and into her room. Entering her room she walked ito her closet and strippped her clothes off and threw them into the hampper. She grabbed a towel and walked to the bathroom door, muttering to herself as she entered. (quite loudly of a whisper I might add.) "Dammit, why do I flippin love him! This is ridiculous!" She entered the shower as her voice softly echoed through the bathroom. She turned the water on and steped all the way in to let the warmth take her over and relax her limbs.

"--- I flippin love him! This is ridiculous!" Draco heard over the pounding spray of the water. The first thing Draco could think of was,' shes in ... shes in the SHOWER AT THE SAME TIME AS ME!' and the next thing was' was she talking about me?'. Well it didnt matter at the moment because of one small thing, if she found him in here then she would brobably curse off some of his, more vital parts. She wouldnt listen to him about the fact that he was here first. She was probably spacing, figures.

Nicole slipped as she turned in the shower and smacked her head against the shower tiled wall. She yelped in pain and slid her body down the wall to sit under the water, she slowly slid to the side by accident and hit the shower door, causing it to open and smack against the tile, shattering all over her. She lay amidst the broken glass, halfway out of the shower and her head was bleeding just a little bit, but not enough to make her pass out like it has in the past. It's then, that she noticed someone was in the other shower.

Draco herd a shattering noise and started to panic."Nicole"

Draco opend the shower door a crack and saw Nicole half in and out of the other shower stall. He quickly opend it the rest of the way and even though he was in the middle of washing his body he steped out and ran to her. Draco summoned two towels, one for him and one for Nicole so they wouldn't feel uncomfortable. He quickly started to heal the bleeding on her head with a healing charm. "Nicole are you allright?"

Nicole looked up slightly. "D-draco?" She tried to push herself up a bit more and when she saw him she used all her energy to hug him. Then with her weakening, she settles into his arms and her limbs relax once again. "Draco, I am so sorry. Seamus said he saw you out at the lake, and I didn't mean it. I know you're diffrent but I ... I just want to know that I'm not going to just be dropped like a peice of glass and left there to shatter." She would not let go of him. She mumbled into his shoulder. "I-I love you." softly.

Draco froze for a moment before he started to heal her minor scratches.

"I know." he mumbled softly.

She stood up. Trying to hide that she felt a bit stupid for just letting her barriers fall again. "I-i'm fine. No need, they'll heal." She tried to force a smile but anyone could tell it was fake. So grabbing her towel, she quickly tied it around her and ran out of the bathroom to her room. Grabbing a change of clothes, she pulled them on and sat on her windowsil; wipping away a tear, she forced herself to not cry.

Draco felt like an idiot. You think that he coulda said ' I love you too' or ' I do too and I want us to be together' but no. He had to go and blunder it like an idiot and say ' I know'. Sometimes he hated himself. " Ill just have to go and apalogise and tell her how I really felt. Somehow." Draco walked out of the bathroom and over to Nicoles room, and not even bothering to knock barged " Nicole we need to ... oh"

Nicole just sat on the windowsil seating area and had her knees to her chest and her arms ontop of her knees. She was staring out a the grounds through the window, and when he came in she turned her head slightly."Draco?"

" Nicole" Draco went to her and took her into his arms, holding her as close as possible without smothering her to death. " Im so sorry, when I said I know I ment that I knew that you loved me and that i felt the same. I have for a while but couldnt tell you because it... it matterd to much. You matter."

Almost in an utter shock, Nicole hindered. Before long, she looked up, in his arms, and their eyes met. And she smiled softly, hugging him and holding him in return to his arms around her body. Looking once more into those beautiful silver-blue eyes, she leaned up and softly kissed him, then pulled away. With a small short and soft laugh. "Sorry...heh."

Draco just smiled and brought his lips back down on hers, kissing her as softly as she did him."No problem. So you.. really love me?"

Nicole smiled and leaned her head on his chest. "Always and forever, Draco...always and forever."

THE END