"E-explain to me w-why I allowed you t-to bring me h-here." Her teeth chattered as she hugged her torso. Even under two layers of long-sleeved shirts, a magenta colored sweater and a water proof jacket Claire shivered as if she stood in the stands bare naked. The Quidditch game was Slytherin vs. Gryffindor but the weather, now that it was mid November, wasn't at its best.
The skies let loose mini drops of water unto the students in the stands but that didn't seem to discourage any of them as they chanted their House's name. Ron gave her an apologetic look and hugged her close to him though that didn't seem to help much. "It wasn't just me you know; Fred and George wanted you to come see them beat Slytherin to the ground!" She shook her head; a shiver ran down her spine at the cold wind.
"I-I'll be righ-t-t back, I'm going t-t-to get some h-hot chocolate." Biting into her glove to keep her insistent chattering teeth at bay, she made her way through the mass of people all the way to the bottom floor where a small stand was selling food and other goods. "'Ello miss, how can I help ye?" The man held back laughter as he looked down at the rosy cheeks and blue lips of the girl who stood in front of him. "Can I p-please h-have the biggest c-cup of hot c-chocolate y-y-you have?"
He got to work as soon as she had stuttered out the words 'hot chocolate' and in no less than thirty seconds, she held the steaming cup in her hands, inhaling the soft chocolate smell that wafted around her. A hand appeared out of the flaps of the tent near the stadium and roughly pulled her in, the scream never leaving her lips seeing at they were covered by someone else's. "Bloody hell Claire, what are you doing outside? Especially in this weather none the less!" It was a tad warmer inside the tent, something she was highly grateful for, and leaned in towards the body.
Her chattering teeth came to a halt as his searing lips pressed on her jaw, his warm hands rubbing her body under her shirt. "I came to c-cheer my friends on." She sighed as he kissed her again and he was glad to see her lips returning to a somewhat more 'alive' color. "Well it doesn't seem like Weaselbee cares much about cheering his team on, seems to me this was an excuse to have his arms around you." She laughed at his words and even though she hadn't noticed at first, it still shocked her when she did realize it.
"You gelled your hair." He looked up really quickly almost as if trying to look at his hair and looked back at her with a slight arch of an eyebrow. "Yeah, the wind is really strong so my hair gets in the way if I don't gel it." Claire gave a small 'hmm' as she burrowed her face on the crook of his neck, finally warm again. "Where's Pansy? She seems to have quite a fascination with you lately; it seems she doesn't want to lose a second without you." She had noticed the past few weeks, even before their little romp a week ago, how the girl known as Pansy Parkinson, an odd looking Slytherin girl practically hanged around every waking moment with the blonde.
"She's up in the stands with Crabe and Goyle." He said but there was something odd in his voice, something she couldn't name. Dumbledore's voice was heard even all the way in the tent as he began announcing the first game of this year. "When are we meeting again?" She smiled when he asked her, as if it was always her choice whether she wanted to or not. "Why Malfoy? Are you feeling needy?" She took his bottom lips between her lips, one of her favorite things to do to him knowing he loved it just as much, and let it go.
"Damn tease." He practically growled as he brought her waist closer to his own. "Play your best out there Draco." With a small peck on the side of his mouth she turned and disappeared from his sight, making her way up the stands and back into the cold. "What took you so long?" Ron stared at the players below and gave her a confused glance when she stared at one particular green clothed player. "Just warming up Ronnie… So explain to me what Fred and George are again?"
Ron sighed and shook his head and began explaining the rules and players of the game.
"Drown me in a Death Potion… Please." Harry chuckled at his friend who sat next to him; her hands were on her face as she looked down at the large book in front of her. "Come one Claire, Astronomy isn't that difficult." Hermione tried calming the girl down, afraid that she really would drown herself. Claire, on the other hand, slowly raised her head and narrowed her eyes as she looked at Hermione. "Do you know how many stars there are in the sky? Does Professor Sinistra ACTUALLY believe that were ever going to need the name of stars when were in danger?"
The girl cursed as she took out a paper and began writing what supposedly was going to be on the big exam. "So Harry, how did it feel to win the first game of the season?" Making small talk, she looked at Harry then back at her paper to show she was interested in the subject. "Brilliant actually, I thought Slytherin was going to pull off more of a fight." She shrugged and fixed her green and silver tie. "Can't say I'm proud on how my house played, thought they would be bett- Ron, what in Merlin's name happened to your face?"
Standing up she looked at the younger Weasley whom supported a fresh new purple eye that held a strange purple and magenta color. "Malfoy is what happened. Made fun of my mum and dad that's what he did so I hit him." Ron left out the part where Draco had hit back but his friends could probably fill in the gap. Claire stared at the large bruise and flinched, almost as if she could feel it herself and suddenly something inside her stomach bubbled, her face reaching a rosy color as her fist clenched. "He… I… UGH!" Stomping her foot she closed her book in a haste and grabbed it in her hands.
Ron called her name as she sped walk to where the blonde would most probably be: the Slytherin Common Room. Inside were quite a few Slytherin's studying for a test or just hanging out but she didn't care, her eyes were targeted on a certain white-blonde head and slammed her book on a nearby table. Walking over to him, the clicking of her heels alerted him she was coming even before she got to him, she grabbed his tie in her hands and yanked him up. His eyes widen at the anger in her eyes and for just a second he had been scared. "Hey what are you doing?"
Pansy screeched out and stood from her place on the couch which had been right next to him. Claire held her glare for a second then turned to the girl, her strong gaze not wavering once. "Stay out of this Parkinson." Claire nearly growled as she dragged the blonde behind her, his tie still firmly in her hand. She opened a wooden door and shoved him inside, glaring at everyone else to interrupt them if they dared. "What the hell is your problem Dupree?" Draco said but was met with two fists against his chest.
She leaned her face towards him and said in a menacing whisper, "Why did you hit Ronnie?" Draco stared at the girl and clenched his fist, laughing in his mind on how worried she was about the Weasley. "He had it coming. The bloody traitors his family are, all of them." She punched his chest again and gripped his vest with her fingers. "I just don't understand, Malfoy, why you always have to bring people down even though they have never done anything unto you." His steely eyes narrowed and this time he grabbed her arms and pushed her against the opposite wall, random items in the small broom closet clattered loudly on the ground.
"You want to know why? Because that is how I was brought up Dupree, all those who associate with Muggles and Mudbloods alike do not belong in this world. Pure blood is disappearing Dupree and they are just tainting it, they'll continue doing it until the very last drop vanishes." He said it as if he had said it many times before, so used to it now that his face showed no emotion. Claire looked at his eyes, hoping that what he was saying wasn't true and the anger in her vanished, leaving her deflated against the wall. "So you're saying I do not belong here Draco? Just because I 'associate' myself with those who do not have a pure linage? You are disgusting, you really are."
He scoffed and let go of her arms only to cross them against his chest. "What I don't understand is that you are a Slytherin, a pure-blooded wizard whose parents are high up in society yet you don't befriend anyone in our house, instead you join the Gryffindor's in their stupid little parties and cheer for them in the games. Answer me in why you do." Claire took a deep breath knowing that to reason with a Malfoy, Draco no less, she would have to speak clearly for him to hear every word. "Because Draco," Her hands rose and cupped his cheeks, her thumbs running below his eyes, "They do not judge, they do not care about lineage or whether my family is powerful or not. They see me for who I am, for who I have come to be."
She felt tired now, all her adrenaline that she had started out with had drained out of her body and tears had come to her eyes. "You know what? I had actually started having feelings for you Draco; I didn't just see you for someone who he and I occasionally got together for a romp in the hay but as an actual being whom shared his feelings and thoughts about himself with me… I see now that apparently my feelings were wrong." It hurt her to say that and she had caught something flash in his eyes before she looked down. "You have got to be bloody kidding me! You're going to end what we have all because of a stupid Weasley?" He practically roared, his nostrils flared and his eyes widen. His hands hit the wall in rage but she stood there letting him let out whatever he was releasing.
Claire knew she had to do it not only to save his pride but save himself from anything further he wanted to say. "We never HAD anything Draco and we never will." She rubbed her eyes and took a deep breath, the oxygen inside the cramped room was now warm and heavy and suffocating. She opened the door and noticed everyone whip back to what they were doing; no doubt probably had heard some of the conversation. Taking her book with her she left the Slytherin Common Room and went on the search for her two best friends.