Entranced, Chapter four.
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The next morning came far too quickly for my taste.
I was still too tired to open my eyes as light filtered in through the window that a house elf had opened the curtains of.
When I had growled in annoyance, the creature quickly vanished with a small squeak, the scene managing to stir the body I was using as a pillow.
My eyes snapped open but I laid still on his chest, feeling his heartbeat speed up a little as he woke up and groaned softly.
His sleepy grumble and natural scent made my body tingle in happiness, yet my face remained in one of shock.
My body reacted again as a pair of arms pulled me closer to a torso behind me and I had to scold myself.
This wasn't me, this was my body reacting to the triad being so close and intimate...
I pinched my arm to try wake my body from the floaty haze it was in but it didn't work and I just slumped, relaxing back on Draco's chest and his arms wrapped around my shoulders.
I was still too sleepy still to argue against the magic that affected me so. I just wanted to lean up and kiss his narrow jawline, tracing his throat with my lips before turning to the young man holding my body possessively to him to kiss his forehead, nose then lips...
I audibly groaned and buried my face in Draco's chest, cursing the insistent desire to affirm the triad permanently.
It was enough, however, to snap me out of my drifting thoughts... Until Draco ran a hand through my hair and when Blaise kissed my shoulder I couldn't suppress the shiver of pleasure, to which they both chuckled, such low, husky and sexy sounds.
"Good morning Arellia..." Blaise purred, stroking his hand up and down the curve of my back which maddened me with how wonderful it felt.
I had to sit up to pull myself away from their hypnotising touches and reset my head.
My greatest mistake was looking back down at them, sleepy and scruffy and hot as all fuck...
No, no no, Arellia, stop please... I begged myself, having to climb over Draco's legs to escape the bed and angrily remind myself that I could ruin our lives if I didn't keep my head tightly screwed onto my shoulders.
My escape led me to the bathroom and I narrowed my eyes at my reflection after closing the door.
This was on me to keep my emotions in check. I wanted to know them, not eat up their manipulated affection and be manipulated myself into kissing them and sealing their fate...
No matter what they said, I couldn't take it as their true feelings until this intensity died down...
I glanced down at my wrist and squeaked. The triangle was much more prominent now, a pinkish colour and a little wider than before.
I swallowed thickly and splashed some water in my face to bring my head back to the bathroom.
After a few moments of collecting myself, I reentered my room to find the two sat up and talking quietly to each other.
I stood in the door way and raised a brow, just watching them sleepily chatter while I crossed my arms.
They seemed so relaxed as each other just sat up against the headboard, their bodies angled towards each other and I couldn't help but wonder if they were just good and comfortable friends normally or if the triad connected them in a different way too...
I liked watching them interact, how they joked, how they opened up and through out the day, as long as I kept my focus, I could enjoy that.
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As the sun was out and the skies were crystal clear, we decided some quidditch practice could be a fun way to be around each other without risking too much contact.
My finger tips burned every time I touched them and it ached to pull away, making it harder to keep my hands to myself for the duration of the discomfort which would eventually ebb, thank Merlin...
I hadn't been on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, but I had been to tryouts once or twice to have the experience.
I could quite easily kick off and control my broom-well, a borrowed broom from Draco- at a leisurely pace.
But the boys were quidditch competitive players and whizzed around in the air high above me, passing quaffles back and forth in the air to warm up.
I was happy to hover below them and close my eyes, enjoying the sun's rays on my light skin and the sounds of their playful laughter and grunts of effort as the passing became more like a game of volleyball, trying to make the other drop it first.
I glanced up in time to watch a skilful Draco twist in the air and dive to smack the ball back up towards Blaise, effortlessly coming out of his dive with a bit of showboating. His years as Seeker showing through proudly.
But as quick and nibble as Draco was, Blaise had the foresight and strength of a beater to predict the balls trajectory and catch it, before tossing it high into the air and smacking it towards Draco.
The speed the ball flew at Draco made my jaw drop and I gasped out as Draco narrowly ducked it, a little shaken as Blaise chuckled, floating down towards him.
"I think I won." He beamed and Draco scoffed.
"Alright Beater, you know it's not my job to go after those big balls. I'd like to see you catch a snitch." He smirked and Blaises brow quirked, his body posture screaming 'you're on'.
With a small laugh and a roll of my eyes, I flew down to the trunk storing the balls and unlatched the little golden orb, holding it in my palm as it seemed to wake up, fluttering out its wings.
"Fly fast." I whispered to it before it lifted from my hand and zoomed up high, the boys now fixated and flying in the same direction.
I hopped back on my borrowed broom and took back to the air, a small distance away from the scuffle to watch them, watch their strengths and weaknesses while they dipped, ducked, dived and weaved around each other in countless close calls to prove one was the better flyer over the other.
I couldn't help but let my lips part in amazement at how long they kept up their fierce pursuit, how skilled each of them were in their own ways.
Draco could turn 180' with so much speed and grace I wondered exactly how fast his reflexes were...
Yet Blaise could match his speed on the straights, diving so fast I thought he'd lost control of his broom once or twice and gasped out in fear for him.
I began to get nervous as their action came closer and closer and I was about to move further back when a golden blur caught my eye and floated right in front of my face.
I smiled and looked up to see if the boys had lost track of it...
They hadn't.
Their eyes were solely fixed on the snitch and charging side by side, hands outstretched.
I suppose they had expected me to have faster reflexes than I did, far more used to other competitors knowing to quickly move away from two battling seekers... I was not a real player, however.
I moved to duck a moment too late and someone's broom shot into the tail end of mine, sending me in a terrifying spin and plummet towards the ground.
I held onto my broom for dear life and screamed in my head over and over 'up up up up UP!'
A hand caught the end of my broom and stopped it but the sudden jerk knocked me loose and now I was tumbling through the air with nothing to hold onto...
I don't even think I screamed, I was too in shock at how quickly everything had happened, feeling the air whip around my clothes and hair while my ears rang like white noise to slow everything down.
My heart slowed and sped up sporadically as I wondered how much further until I hit the ground, I was falling backwards and could see Draco looking horrified as he chucked away my broom and made a dive for me.
I desperately stretched out a hand to him and felt my scream finally tear from my throat, but a darker hand snagged mine and pulled me to a strong warm body that panted wildly as he slowed our descent.
I held onto him for dear life and saw Draco pull up from his dive in time to float with us down the last 10 feet to the ground before ditching his broom and grabbing my face in his hands.
"Arellia! Are you alright? I'm sorry, oh I'm so so sorry..." His face was twisted in fear and horror, but it slowly turned to just worry as he checked me over and I touched his face.
"It's alright, I'm okay..." I breathed shakily, stroking his face which seemed to bring us both a great deal of comfort and I could feel the instant slowing and regular pace of my heartbeat once more.
"We didn't see you until it was too late..." Blaise said as we hovered an inch away from touching the ground with our feet, slowly bringing the ground closer to hold me tight from behind and drop his broom.
After seeing Draco calm down significantly, I turned in Blaises arms to pull him close for a hug, burying my face in his neck and whispering over and over again that it was alright, I was alright.
"You caught me." I said with a small grateful smile against the skin of his neck and felt him relax in my arms.
It was like instant morphine to all of us and I was grateful of the triad magic in the moment for de-escalating a tense and horrible moment of guilt from all three of us.
My stomach gave a small growl after we had all seemed to calm down and I had laughed but Draco looked very serious.
"Are you hungry?" I blinked at his stern tone and gave a small uncertain nod.
Blaise stepped away and held my hand as he and Draco practically dragged me back into the Mannor while I gave a series of confused noises.
"Hey, I can walk by myself..." I frowned at Blaise who sheepishly let go of his tight grip on my hand and resorted to placing it on the small of my back while Draco stormed ahead.
When Blaise and I finally entered the Mannor, we found Draco ordering house elves to make lunch as quickly as possible.
"Umm... Draco? You okay there?" I asked, taking a hesitant step towards him and touching his shoulder.
He swallowed and looked down and me with a confused face.
"I don't know why I did that..."
Blaise reached out to shake Draco's shoulders a little and shrugged with a small smile.
"Must have been the Triad making you overprotective to her needs after what we just went through." He guessed.
Oh! That did make sense...
Slowly, Draco nodded and sat down at the breakfast bar that I'm sure was never actually used to eat at.
"At least you could tell that wasn't your actions..." I said with a supportive smile as I joined him but he shook his head.
"No... It started out as me for a moment. Your stomach made a noise and in my head I wondered if it was time for us to get something to eat... Then all I could think about was that you two needed to have lunch by now and something took over..."
I wanted to put my arm around him and pull him to me to comfort his confused state... But that might make it worse for the both of us.
Blaise sighed and sat the other side of me, clasping his hands together on the bar.
"I wish they'd never told us... I liked how it felt before we knew. Now I just feel guilty for wanting to be near you all the time. Both of you." He added while looking away.
I'd heard the occasional rumour that Blaise Zambini was a bisexual and had taken a boy or two to bed at one point last year and wondered how difficult his part of the triad felt if he was forced to feel the same for Draco as he did me...
I glanced at Draco from the corner of my eye and saw him fixated on a loose thread on his sleeve, a hint of blush on his cheek.
He either felt awkward or the same.. or awkwardly the same.
The quiet that followed was not a comfortable one.
I don't know why, but I began to hum a strange little melody that had just popped into my head.
I tapped my fingers on the bar faintly as I did so and felt the boys eyes lazily fall on me, guessing they were as confused as I was... Yet the humming soothed me.
I glanced either side of me and saw no looks of confusion, but looks of comfort in their eyes before they looked at each other.
If the magic had affected them in the same way, then denying the emotional bond it caused them would have been much easier to do on the outside... But I could bet in their heads they were going mad.
The conflict in their eyes was evidence enough as I let my humming continue, tracing circles on the counter top and closely followed the movement of my fingers with my eyes to give them a small sense of privacy.
"E-excuse me..." a small house elf bowed their head from the doorway and I turned my eyes to them, the boys not seeming to have heard it.
"Would you like lunch in the dining room?"
I shook my head and pointed to the counter top we sat at, still humming like I couldn't stop if my life depended on it.
The elf bowed again and clicked it's fingers, food blooming in front of the three of us.
Finally the boys broke their intense stares and looked at the food in mild surprise before digging in.
"Oh, I'm sorry." A voice to the left made me jump a little as I bit into a pastry.
"Didn't mean to catch you having lunch." Mrs Zambini walked into the room with a kind smile.
"Mother? What's wrong?" Blaise said, his brow furrowing curiously as she sighed and raised a hand.
"Please finish eating. I'll be in the drawing room when you're done. I have some information I wish to impart."
About the triad?
We all eyed each other and unanimously decided we weren't hungry anymore and quickly followed her.
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A/N: thank you so much to the two of you who have followed my story! It means a lot :3
Please feel free to leave a little review if you like! I'd love to hear why you've read this far ;)
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