Chapter Six
The time till end of term passed quickly for Alaya. She spent a lot of time with Natalia, Hermione, and Ginny. If it hadn't been for Natalia she probably would have not become close friends with the two Gryffindors, but all the same they were great friends now.
It was weird not hanging around her Slytherin friends all the time, she still saw her brother from time to time but not as much as she used to. After a few weeks of not acknowledging Blaise's existence the two of them were on talking terms again which for the time being was somewhat awkward. Another person Alaya saw especially less of was Malfoy; he always seemed to disappear when he had any free time.
Just before term ended Slughorn held a Christmas party. She decided to go with Hermione and Ginny since neither of their boyfriends/love interests wanted to go. The night of the party Alaya dressed in a beautiful knee length red strapless dress with a sweetheart neck line and a black velvet cardigan to wear over. She paired basic black heels with the dress with some festive red and green jewelry. She did her makeup lightly not wanting to overdo it. Once she was satisfied with her appearance she met up with Hermione and Ginny who gushed when they saw her enter the corridor that Slughorn's office was on.
"Alaya you look gorgeous!" Ginny squealed hugging her. "Thanks Gin, you both look amazing!" she smiled. "Thanks, glad to see you're over everything with Zabini and decided to be happy again." Hermione smiled hugging her as well. "Well I knew it wasn't as big of deal as I was making it out to be. It was fun while it lasted but it's whatever now. I just want to date now, not have a relationship." She smiled as they approached the door. The three entered the party smiling and began mingling with the other students. As they were walking around chatting Blaise came up to Alaya with a big grin on his face.
"Why are you so happy?" Alaya chuckled seeing him. "Well one I'm glad we're back to being friends and two I want you to meet my new girlfriend." He said motioning behind him. A tall and thin girl appeared at his side. Alaya recognized her as a Slytherin but wasn't sure of her year or name. "Alaya this is Caitlyn, she's a fifth year. Caitlyn this is Alaya." Blaise beamed introducing the two of them to each other. "It's a pleasure to meet you." Alaya smiled. "You too." She smiled back. "Mr. Zabini you moved on quick. How long have the two of you been dating?" Alaya asked laughing. "Only a few days." He said laughing as well. "Well enjoy the party! I have to catch up with Ginny and Hermione. I may have to save her from McLaggen." She laughed walking off from the pair.
Alaya was happy for Blaise, this was what your teenage years were for and Alaya promised herself not to get too caught up in a boy and enjoy her remaining time at Hogwarts.
It wasn't long before Alaya found Hermione and Ginny; Hermione seemed to be cornered by McLaggen. Laughing to herself about the terrified look on Hermione's face while Ginny stood there looking rather uncomfortable gazing at the ceiling. Alaya decided she would save the two the pain and get rid of McLaggen for them.
"Hermione, Ginny I need you two for a second. Excuse me Cormac; I have to steal Hermione from you." Alaya smiled looking at him grabbing her friend's hands. He looked utterly annoyed but nodded. "I promise I'll return her when I'm finished." She laughed as Hermione shot her a horrified glare. Alaya then pulled the two girls to the other side of the room making sure Cormac didn't see where she took them then broke down into hysterics.
"What's so funny?" Hermione asked looking around her nervously. "The look on you faces Hermione. You seriously think I take you back to him! Merlin that'd be like throwing a lion a lamb." She laughed not realizing there was a weird and bizarre Gryffindor reference in her comment. "Thank you." Hermione said happily and ran off soon Ginny said she had something to attend to and it left Alaya standing there alone. She began talking to the other students when she heard a commotion at the front of the room.
Alaya tried her best to see what was going on but when she got to the scene Snape was escorting Malfoy out of the party. From the corner of her eyes she saw Harry follow. Sighing she did the same. It wasn't long before she ran into Snape and Harry. Snape simply looked at her and continued on when she met Harry he did the same. Alaya wanted to find Malfoy and find out what was going on with him. It wasn't long before she caught up with him either.
"Malfoy!" she called out and when he turned to look at her he looked furious but when he realized it was her his features softened. "Livingston, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you still be at the party?" he asked as she walked towards him. Alaya was shocked at his appearance for she hadn't seen him in the past few weeks. The two classes they had together he seemed to not be there or came in late and he was never anywhere to be found afterward.
She had never seen Malfoy like this before, he was paler than usual with dark circles under his eyes and the shining sliver glint that his eyes usually had were now a steely grey. As she got closer to him she gasped and he noticed and turned away from her.
"Are you okay?" she asked putting a hand on his shoulder. "I'm bloody brilliant!" he roared shaking her hand off him. "Malfoy I'm just worried, you don't look yourself and you're sure haven't been acting yourself lately." She said walking around to face him. "Oh shove off Livingston! Why do you care? It's not like it's any of your damned bloody business anyway." He sneered at her. "Well Malfoy if you want to live up to your bloody name and Slytherin pride your doing a bloody damn good job about it." She replied crossing her arms. He sighed and turned back around to look at her. "I've got a lot on my mind and I'm not going to concern you with it. It's my problem to deal with." He replied tense. "Malfoy I just wanted to return the favor of you being there for me when I needed someone but you've made it very clear that you want to be a prat to me at the moment so I'm going to leave." She huffed turning around to walk off only to feel his arm grab her waist.
She sighed and turned to look up at him while he kept his arm firmly around her waist. He looked at her for a moment before he brought her into a hug. Surprised at first Alaya looked up to see the expression on his face and found it was one she couldn't read. She gave him a small smile and put her arms around his neck hugging him back.
"We really don't need to be doing this." He whispered into her hair as he hugged her tighter. "You honestly think I give a rat's ass? I don't know what's troubling you so bad Malfoy but you've been there for me so it's only fair that I return the favor." She replied looking up at him. "Well thank you." He said letting go of her. "Won't ever understand why Blaise broke up with you." He mumbled kissing her on the cheek making her blush.
"Well I better get back, Hermione and Ginny will be looking for me." She stammered looking at him. "Okay, but when they are done with you I want you back. Meet me in the astronomy tower when the party is over. I just need some company right now." He asked with pleading eyes. "As long as you promise not to turn me in Mr. Prefect." She teased. "Would never dream of it." He smirked allowing her to go back to the party.
When she reentered it wasn't long before Hermione and Ginny found her and began questioning her about where she disappeared to. She told them she had to go to the restroom to adjust her dress and they accepted the poorly made up excuse and an hour later she found herself saying goodbye to the two of them and headed to the astronomy tower.
She saw Malfoy already standing there leaned over the railing but upon hearing the click of her heels he turned to face her. "I have no idea how you do it but you always look beautiful no matter what you in." he said giving her a small smile walking over to her. She returned the smile and shivered a bit when the wind blew. Malfoy noticed this and took her into the corner by the door and sat down and pulled her down into his lap wrapping his arms around her to warm her up. The two sat in silence for what seemed like an eternity before either one of them spoke.
"Can you promise me something Alaya?" he said softly. "What?" she asked looking up at him. "Promise me no matter how horrible I am to you or try to avoid you that you won't hold it against me." He whispered seriously. "Well Malfoy the past few years you have been pretty horrible to me so how much worse could you get." She chuckled making him smile a bit before he returned to his serious face. "Promise me." He said looking into her eyes. "I promise." She replied making him smile. "Oh and one more thing." He said making her look at him confused. "Call me Draco."