Chapter Thirteen- A Treasure
Wrapped in her royal blue scarf and long wool coat, Aliana set off for the Hogwarts Express with Draco on her arm. Christmas holidays were over and the second half of the year was just beginning. Pulling steadily on Draco, she lead their way to platform 9 ¾. An unexpected jerk on her arm caused her to stop and turn only to find Draco staring out of the window and peeking through the fog.
His one hand was sitting firmly in his pocket, like it had been all morning, while his other hand lay flat against the frosted window. His blond hair, like always, laid glimmering messily on his pale head. His eyes, however, had a new glow of life bursting through them. He seemed to have lost that glow around his mother. Now being free again it was as though he had pulled out of his home life and put his past behind him.
"What are you doing?" Aliana asked as she walked over to him. "You can't even see anything out of this window."
"Yeah, I didn't want to go just yet. Actually I wanted to give you something before we left. I meant to give it to you at Christmas but we didn't really get a chance to be alone."
Draco's hand finally pulled out of his pocket revealing the treasure he had held onto all day. It was a beautiful necklace studded with the tiniest diamonds to give it a shimmering appearance. It was in the shape of an Evergreen tree branch and the color of snow. The white gold necklace offset the bright diamonds causing the appearance of a snow covered tree branch to emerge.
"It's beautiful," Aliana managed to say. "It's just… gorgeous."
Draco's cool hands slid around her neck as he clasped the diamonds on her and watched as she fingered the branch. It fit her perfectly, with the cool aspect of winter and the simple beauty that she appreciated so much.
"Thank you, Draco. It's perfect."
"No problem," he replied as he slid his arm around her waist and started leading her to the platform.
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The compartment filled with warmth as the journey slowly started. The trail of smoke falling behind as the train circled its way through the hills and the tree's. Finally, after a holiday snuggled in front of fires and shivering in the snow, the prospect of school was falling back onto the students once more. The trip back to Hogwarts brought on feelings of joy and sorrow as the reuniting of friends dragged the realization of studying for exams along with it.
"I'm gonna miss this," Aliana said as she snuggled into Draco's chest.
"Miss what?"
"Being, just us. You know?" She gazed up at Draco's still confused expression. "We never act like we have these past few weeks. It would ruin our images. You're the 'bad boy', Draco. All the guys secretly want to punch you out and all of the girls really want to get in your pants."
"I never thought I would ever hear you say 'get in your pants'," Draco replied through his laughter.
"Exactly, you're the 'bad boy' and I'm the sweet little innocent Ravenclaw. We're only what we want people to see of us. Everyone hides behind a mask of some sort. That's what I hated so much about Beauxbatons and its no different here. No one's real. I doubt even you know that much about me?"
"Okay, tell me something about you that I didn't know."
Aliana's thoughts pulsed through her with a strength that pained her to ignore them. She knew she mustn't, though; he couldn't know everything just yet. So she settled on something safe.
"My favorite ice cream is Mint Chocolate Chip."
"I could have guessed that," his voice betrayed the disappointment concealed behind it. "Tell me something… deeper."
"Okay," Aliana paused before continuing. "I'm extremely afraid of thunder storms. Especially the wind. I don't know what it is about them but I just don't feel safe."
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Draco rested his head on the window; his feet were propped easily on the opposing seat. Aliana had gone to meet up with her friends and he just hadn't the energy to go find his own. He was perfectly content sitting here by himself. If he was being honest the constant company of Alli had become quite tiring.
He could still hear and see her from his spot in his compartment. He could also see her playing her part extremely well. Like she had mentioned before, she played her mask of the sweet little innocent one. He had just failed to notice it before. In a way he wished she wouldn't have told him about it. He couldn't see her the same any more; all he noticed was the differences between the real Alli and this girl she pretended to be in front of everyone else.
A/N: Okay, so I believe we are finally done with these filler chapters that I'm not loving too much. This chapter doesn't even deserve to be called a chapter, I'm sorry for the major awfulness that was Chapter 13!! The next chapter is going to start leading up to the main aspect of the story, once again. I strictly included these past few chapters to allow Aliana and Draco's relationship to grow stronger. So, I would love to know what you thought (sorry about the length: D, it was extremely pathetic)… any guesses on what's going to happen next??