AN: New Chapter just cause I felt like it, started this one in the library yesterday morning when I was waiting for my prep writing class to start, finished it tonight. When I hit twenty reviews, I'll update. I know, I hate when writers do that to me but hey, I need feedback to know that what I'm doing is good. Review, lovely ones! :]
Her heart hammered anxiously in her chest all day at the thought of Lucius Malfoy actually taking an interest in her, it was stupid and inappropriate, but she couldn't help but grin at the idea. The rational side of her head was telling her to be reasonable and to stop and think about the possibilities of him actually being interested in her. The other side of her head was telling the rational side to not be such a killjoy.
"Nessa, I swear, if he kisses you, you had damn well better kiss back -"
"Astoria!" exclaimed Vanessa, throwing her a sharp look.
"What?All I'm saying is, if Lucius Malfoy should try to feel you up-"
"Astoria!" barked Daphne, glaring at her younger sister.
Astoria raised her hands in defense, a coy smile playing out across her lips, "What? Oh are you two trying to protect Draco's sensitive ears?" she question with a giggle at Draco's expression. At the mentioning of his father attempting to kiss Vanessa, he pushed his plate away and was staring at Astoria with a curled upper lip and creased brow.
"Nothing against you, Cunningham. Just, the thought-" Draco stopped in mid sentence and covered his face with his hand.
"It's fine, Draco. No need to torture yourself with the ideas Astoria has been planting in your head, none of that is going to happen." replied Vanessa smoothly, tossing Astoria a sideways glance. For once that day, she had let her rational side take over, it had a sobering effect over her. She had been letting Astoria's over active imagination filled ramblings affect her, influencing and encouraging the daydreams Vanessa had been having all day.
Astoria took a disheartening notice to Vanessa's reply, "Oh come off it, Van. You were all for it today, why are you giving out on me now? Haven't let this one affect you, have you?" inquired Astoria with a nod of the head to her sister, who immediately gave Astoria a cross look.
"Astoria, be reasonable. It's detention, nothing else. You heard the same words come out of his mouth as I did. What he's doing is no different than what Snape or McGonagall do."
Astoria grimaced, "I don't want to picture Snape taking me down the dungeons and-"
"Astoria!" all three yelled in unison at a disgusted looking Astoria.
- - - - - - - - - -
It was a few minutes until eight and Vanessa knew it would be better if she were a few minutes early, given that most detentions involved something tedious and tiresome, she just wanted to get it over and done with. She wanted desperately to go down to her dorm and collapse onto her soft emerald sheets.
She rounded the corner to the Defense Against the Dark Arts class, the swarming, restless butterflies in her stomach were making her nauseous, the memory of being sea sick passed through her mind. Vanessa clutched her stomach, almost a plead for them to stop before she entered the classroom. She took one deep inhale and exhale, straightening her posture before she gingerly pulled the door open. She felt her cheeks flush full on scarlet as she saw Lucius Malfoy standing, with his back turned to her, in front of the black board. As quietly as she could, Vanessa let the door close behind her, creeping over to her desk, slipping carefully into her seat.
"Good evening, Ms. Cunningham."
Vanessa jumped in her seat, a small girlish squeal escaping her. She kept her eyes down at the clear desk in front of her, wanting to avoid Mr. Malfoy's amused gray gaze. "Didn't mean to frighten you, Vanessa." he smiled as he turned around, even with the lack of light in the room, he could still make out the blush spreading across her cheeks.
"It's all right, sir. I should have made my presence more obvious, I just thought-"
"That maybe I didn't want to be disturbed?" he questioned with a knowing smile.
"Yes sir. I figured you may have just wanted it to be quiet so I-" but Vanessa did not finish her sentence, Lucius had begun to make his way to the front of her desk as she spoke, his intimidating form towered over Vanessa. She couldn't help it as her eyes quickly gave his whole form a once over.
"Please, my dear, I want your presence to be known." he cooed down at her as he took another bold step toward her, grasping her hand in his. He wasn't wearing his usual black dragon skin gloves, the feeling of his hand on her's once again brought a wave of comfort and warmth all throughout Vanessa's body. Suddenly, the swarming, restless butterflies in her stomach ceased their fluttering, resting with ease in her stomach. She looked away from him, fearing getting lost in his gaze, that was not what she was here for. Vanessa felt quite intimidated by Lucius Malfoy, not necessarily frightened or scared, perhaps just impressed and intrigued by him, something about him was intimidating yet lazy and comforting. Needless to say, she was quite confused by his advances. As Lucius rested a finger underneath her chin, she noticed once again that her cheeks were still burning hot, refusing to cool down at her inward commands. "No need to be anxious or shy." he chuckled, coaxing her to face him. She did as she was bade, staring back into his penetrating stare, she cleared her throat, regaining her posture.
"What is my detention you are giving me, Mr. Malfoy?" asked Vanessa in the calmest voice she could muster in that moment. Lucius was a bit put off by her sudden change in mood, but didn't let it show on his face. "Yes, of course. Your detention. Well, I'm going to be having you make a potion of my choosing. Doesn't sound too difficult does it?" asked Lucius, finally releasing her hand.
"No sir. Not difficult at all." smiled Vanessa, she would happily make any potion he suggested. Lucius raised a brow at her response, "Well, if it's too easy then-"
"No, no. Sir." she added quickly, "I just meant, it's not going to be overly difficult or too-"
Lucius held up a hand to cease her, "I understand, Vanessa. We won't be making the potion here so if you will, follow me?" he offered that same hand out to her to grasp, she cautiously placed her small hand in his, allowing him to gently pull her up. She pulled her bag over her shoulder and followed behind him, he pushed open the door for her, "After you, my dear." Vanessa quietly thanked him, leading the way through the deserted hallway, down to the dungeons. The whole walk there was deathly quiet, stirring up Vanessa's already tied up nerves. She could feel the familiar tingling of eyes on her, as Lucius followed behind her the whole time, the tingling not just on the back of her head.
Lucius, once again, held open the door for her, allowing her before him. Vanessa took her place at the very front of the class, adjusting the cauldron in front of her. "Now, the potion I want you to make is called The Draught of the Living Dead. The ingredients you will be needing-" Before he had even finished his sentence Vanessa had happily popped off her chair and trotted over to the ingredient cabinet, pulling out bottles filled with wormwood, asphodel, Valerian roots, and Sopophorous beans, even though she only needed one bean to make the potion.
Lucius watched her cradling the ingredients, searching for the rest, with a smirk creeping across his lips, she was definitely more intelligent than what he originally thought. He couldn't stop his eyes trailing over the curve of her bottom as she bent over to reach one last vile. She carried all the tiny bottles over to her desk and began eagerly cutting the Valerian roots, biting her bottom lip in thought. He chuckled softly as he saw her mutter a few choice swear words under her breath as she dropped a few Sopophorous beans. As he saw her kneel down to pick it up, he quickly pulled his wand from his cane and levitated all of the beans back into the jar.
Vanessa looked up at him, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear, as she stood back up, "Thank you, sir." she said shyly, beginning once again with her potion making.
For nearly an hour, Lucius sat at Professor Snape's desk, ever so often stealing glances at Vanessa, observing her rather impressive potion making. He wondered to himself why Severus had told him she wasn't very good at it, she seemed to be knowing what she was doing, as far as a fifteen year old would anyway. As he saw a triumphant smile dance on her full lips, he rose from his seat and walked over to look into her cauldron. He nodded his head to himself, it wasn't the exact shade that it needed to be but it was good enough to him. "The color is a tad off, you must've not stirred it the right way. Not to worry, my dear. You've done rather well, considering this is a potion covered in your sixth year. Well done."
Vanessa felt a rush of pride run through her, knowing she had accomplished a potion most fifth years couldn't and the fact she had impressed Lucius Malfoy made her feel very proud. A beaming smile tugged at the corners of her mouth, she couldn't hide her pride, even in the present company. She nearly jerked her arm as she felt his hand on hers, but once again, found herself at ease with him. Suddenly the room felt much warmer, Lucius ran one hand over her cheek, delighting the skin beneath it. Vanessa tried her best to pull herself away from his gaze, but it was nearly impossible, the blue and brown acting on their own accord. "You're quite the lovely girl, Vanessa." cooed Lucius, running the back of his hand over her cheek again, creating extreme warmth beneath his hand.
She felt the gap between her body and his close as his other hand rested at her waist, her breathing involuntarily hitched. "Don't be frightened of me, Vanessa. I'm not going to harm you." he spoke once again in his silk like voice. Vanessa relaxed against his hand on her waist, trying desperately to cool the heat in her cheeks. Out of habit she wet her lips, intent on speaking, but fell silent as Lucius' thumb ran over her bottom lip, cradling her face as he did so. As his eyes were locked on her lips, she took the opportunity to give his face a good look.
He had few wrinkles under his eyes, enough to show his age, yet less than most men his age, she supposed. His lips were thin and had small creases on them, from time and age, the corners of his mouth looked as if he smirked often. His cheekbones were well defined, as was his jaw, the blond hair and blue eyes only adding to his attractive features. Vanessa felt his thumb cease its motions on her bottom lip, she looked up into his gray orbs, knowing she'd see his staring straight back.
Without a word, Lucius pressed his lips gently against Vanessa's, running his hand into her hair as he pulled her into him. At first, Vanessa was a taken aback at his sudden kiss, but not a moment after his hand found her hair did she kiss him back, resting her hands on his broad shoulders. Vanessa felt his hand slide to the middle of her back, keeping her pressed up against his towering form. She couldn't hold back a giggle as he slid her bottom lip between his teeth, giving her a playful nip. The two parted lips, Vanessa's big doe eyes staring up at his confident gray orbs, an expectant and shy glint in her stare. He could help himself as he placed small kiss on her forehead, running his hand through her hair again, rubbing her back protectively. "I know that it isn't appropriate or in my best interest to be interested in a girl your age, but, one can't exactly change what they find fascinating."
Did he, really? Really?Oh Astoria is going to have a fit at this.
"I'm sorry?" breathed Vanessa, still reeling from the kiss they just shared, "Do you mean to say, you are, I mean-" He gently pressed his fingers against her lips, shushing her.
"Yes, Vanessa." he replied confidently, secretly loving the blush that rose in her cheeks, she had been doing that an awful lot that night, he was thoroughly enjoying in it.
"Mr. Malfoy what is it that you find so fascinating?" asked Vanessa, still a bit in shock of his recent confession.
"Am I not allowed to take interest in a beautiful girl? And please, it's Lucius."
Vanessa felt her blood race in her veins, the butterflies reawakening in her stomach, slamming against her insides. She really hadn't anything to say to him, as her mind scrambled to come up with something, nothing but blanks came up, she was speechless.
"Well, Mr., I mean, Lucius, I should probably go back to my, uh, dorm." suggested Vanessa nervously, noticing that her hands were shaking with nerves.
"Of course, you need your rest, but not before you tell me whether or not you'll have dinner with me at seven tomorrow night." he asked with a sly grin that made Vanessa smile involuntarily.
"Of course, M- Lucius."
Lucius beamed down at her, feeling a rush of excitement and, though he wouldn't admit it, nerves. His hand left her back, allowing her to grab her bag off of the table beside them. As Vanessa began to clean up the left over potion and ingredients, Lucius stopped her, "No need, Vanessa. I'll take care of it, you're excused to go down to your dormitory."
Vanessa thanked him with a smile, biting her bottom lip in excitement as she got to the door, but she stopped to ask, "Where do you want me to meet you?"
Lucius stopped to think, where could they meet without being seen? "In the common room. Don't be late."
Oh you won't have to worry about that.
Vanessa smiled back shyly before practically bouncing out of the room, her happiness seemingly over flowing from her. She could still feel her lips tingling from the feeling of his soft thin lips against her, his kiss felt like nothing she had ever had before. All the other people she had ever kissed were rough or inexperienced, boys. In that moment, she had completely forgotten about the event three months previously, her over joyed mind not allowing any thoughts of IT to plague its perfectly happy state.