I couldn't resist. New chapter!

Chapter Quote:
"Honestly, if you were any slower, you'd be going backward."
~Draco Malfoy

Chapter 3

Ziva

Monday came quickly, and Ziva was anxious to seem Malfoy again. She hated how she couldn't tell her friends about the whole situation; they'd hate her for 'fraternizing with the enemy.' But was he really the enemy if he wasn't a threat to her? She didn't think so but he did support the Death Eaters (supposedly). Would it be so bad that a Gryffindor and a Slytherin got along? Wouldn't it show that, in times of deep distrust of certain groups, two people from opposing sides could get along?

Ziva forced herself to stop thinking. She'd already wasted five minutes staring into the mirror, doing nothing but thinking. She quickly applied her makeup, putting some eyeliner around her eyes to make them 'pop.' Afterwards, since it was especially hot outside with the temperatures being thirty-five degrees Celsius, Ziva chose to wear a dress. It was white with lace at the bottom and a brown belt. She'd never gotten the chance to wear it so why not now?

She tried not to hurry too much. She didn't want to get there before he did, if he even showed up. Hopefully he wouldn't stand her up. That would be unacceptable and she'd have to hex or jinx him when they got back to school.

Ziva headed downstairs, grabbed her purse, left a note for her mum and dad (who were away on business) telling them where she was going, and then went to the train station. There, she caught a train to Kings Cross and from there, she went down to the Tube, the underground network of trains. She managed to finagle her way onto the train even with the mass amount of people shoving and pushing their way on. She got off at the correct platform and walked back up into the sweltering sunlight. Ziva had to walk a little ways to get to Buckingham Palace; she took her time though. She wanted to give Draco plenty of time to get there before her.

Buckingham Palace suddenly was in view. At first, Ziva froze, wondering where Malfoy intended to meet up. The palace grounds were huge and there were multiple places that could be where he meant. However, she figured that the safest place to go was the Victoria Memorial, the fountain located in front of the palace.

People were milling about when she walked up to the fountain; there were tourists of all nationalities taking pictures of everything they thought was interesting, even if it was a mere tree. She walked up the steps of the Victoria Memorial and sat down on one of the lower ones, where she began to watch her surroundings. Ever since Harry Potter had brought the body of Cedric Diggory back in the Triwizard Tournament and had declared quite passionately that Voldemort was back, she'd been on edge and constantly made sure she was aware of her surroundings. Her parents were one of the families that had gone into hiding. They'd actually moved to America in a quiet little town in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. They kept in touch with other families from what they'd told Ziva, and they had both cried when they heard of the deaths of Lily and James Potter. Apparently, Ziva's mum had been best friends with Lily.

Now, she knew underage magic wasn't allowed but if she had to choose between fighting off Death Eaters and obeying the law, Ziva would, without hesitation, protect herself and use magic.

"What are you looking at?" someone whispered into her ear. Ziva flipped and slammed her purse into their stomach. There was a grunt but laughter followed.

"God, Draco! Don't scare me like that!" Ziva told him, shouldering her purse. "Are you okay?"

"Remind me not to scare you again," he replied with a grin. He was wearing a dark blue polo shirt with tan khakis and he looked great. "I was sitting there for ten minutes at least and you had no inkling I was there did you?"

"Oops…"

So much for being aware of her surroundings…

Draco offered his hand to help her stand up. She accepted.

"So where are we going?" she queried, looking at him.

"I thought we might go get some lunch and then tour around London, maybe go on the London Eye. What do you say?"

"Sounds like a plan. Just out of curiosity, do your friends know about this little rendezvous with me?"

"No. Thought it best not to have everyone giving us hell for it. What about you?"

"No. If my friends found out I was hanging out with a Slytherin, they'd kill me then you."

"What a lovely thought. I hope you like Italian. This place is phenomenal from what I've heard."

"I feel underdressed for this place," Ziva admitted.

"Oh it's fine. They're only Muggles."

"Not all Muggles are bad you know," she retorted.

"Just most of them?"

"Draco."

"All right, no talk about Muggles. Sensitive subject for a Gryffindor." He winked at her. She hit him with her purse again. They took a booth in the back of the restaurant. "Order anything you want. Tab's on me."

"Hmm, I think I'm going to do the ravioli. What about you?"

"Well since you just stole my idea, I think I'll get the spaghetti," he decided. The waiter came over, they placed their orders, and waited patiently for their meals to come. In the meantime, Draco entertained Ziva with stories about his childhood, particularly one time when he accidentally set Crabbe's pants on fire. Then one time he and Goyle had been chased by gnomes for an hour (he made her swear to never tell that story to anyone). Ziva realized he stayed away from any stories about his parents or relatives. She vaguely wondered why but his entertaining stories kept her from delving further. When he was done with his stories, she started telling ones of her life. She explained that one time she, Jade, and Ellie had been hanging out in Jade's living room and were getting into stuff (they were about four or five at the time). Jade stole her dad's wand and they were fooling around with it. Well, Jade muttered some curse and they all ended up with wings. When Jade's mum and little sister Jennel entered the house from working in the garden, she found them flying through the house. Miss Carter had been terribly upset, and she chastised the girls harshly. The girls still found it funny though. Then, another time, and more recently, the girls went to go see a movie and there was this really handsome guy in it. He took his shirt off and Ziva explained that she thought at the time she had wolf-whistled quietly. Turns out she didn't because the entire theater started laughing. Draco called that one "bloody brilliant."

Their lunches came right as Ziva finished her story, shutting the two up as they started eating. Draco kept snatching some ravioli off her plate so Ziva took some of his meatballs. The meal, she thought, was beyond incredible. The dessert, which was simple lemon sorbet, was to die for. However, when it came time to pay, she and Draco argued for a good while about who was paying the bill. He won much to her annoyance.

The two of them walked back out into the sunshine and hopped in a cab to the London Eye. Even there Draco paid for two tickets to ride the ginormous Ferris wheel. The view was incredible. She could see so much of London. The Thames River actually looked clean all the way at the top of the Ferris wheel. Of course, she knew the truth but for a little bit, she could enjoy the beauty of it.

"You should try being this nice at school," she said.

He snorted. "If only. It's hard being the bad boy, although I'll admit fun at times. Unless you get turned into a ferret. That git of a professor."

Ziva remembered that day. She had actually been in the courtyard when it happened and like all the other students (except for some Slytherins), she'd been howling with laughter along with Jade and Elliot. She felt bad for Malfoy, but it was still hilarious.

"What is it with you and your bad boy act? You're really nothing like at all… well, almost," Ziva acknowledged.

"It's easier. I mean, I make good grades in all my classes if that surprises you… well, maybe A History of Magic I could brush up on but seriously he bores you to death. Makes you wonder if he bored himself to death… But that's not the point. People don't care if you make good grades. It's how you act. I like being leader but no one listens to me when I act…"

"How you are right now?" Ziva suggested.

"Yeah, like how I am now. Or just with you in general. I'm never like this," he confessed sheepishly. "I swear, you've put a spell on me."

"And now you're mine!" Ziva sang. She smiled cheerfully as Draco laughed. She had been singing a part from the song 'I Put a Spell on You' by Screamin' Jay Hawkins. Apparently, Draco had caught what she was doing.

"That was so bad yet so good," he noted drolly. They leaned against the rail on their forearms, looking down.

"Ziva! Get back!" Draco suddenly hissed. He pulled her back into the middle of the passenger car. They received some inquisitive looks from the other people that were with them.

"What's the matter?" she demanded quietly.

He leaned in next to her and whispered, "Death Eaters. I don't know what they're doing here but they'll recognize me. When we get off, we need to make sure they don't see us, do you understand?"

Ziva nodded. They then went on pretending to look out the window.

Her heart was beating. She was a pureblood, so she should be safe. But what if the Death Eaters captured her and Draco and told her that unless she joined their cause, they'd kill her? Ziva didn't want to be a Death Eater. Her best friend was a Muggle and her other one was a halfblood. Both were wizard types that the Death Eaters liked to kill. She didn't have the guts to kill anybody. Well, maybe if she was defending herself, she might, but she would never kill people just for the hell of it.

"You okay, Z?" Draco nudged her. She looked up at him and nodded. Then it hit her that he hadn't called her by her real name; he'd just given her a nickname.

"I'm fine, D," she said.

He smiled at her. "When it's time to get off, I'm going to take your hand and we're going to get off in the middle of all the people. If they start chasing us, run."

"Gladly."

Finally, after what seemed like ages, their car came to the ground. They allowed for a certain number of people to get in front and behind them. They disembarked, hurriedly getting away from the London Eye. Draco looked over his shoulder.

"Run!" he urged.

And run they did.

They ran through the crowds and Ziva could hear shouting behind them. Why Draco was running from people he got along with, she wasn't sure, but she certainly wasn't going to question him. In a way, he was probably saving her life at the moment. She and Draco leaped over a puddle from that was left from a rainstorm the night before.

"This way!" Draco ordered, taking her hand and running down an alley. The alley itself had multiple turns and twists and alleyways. He led her down a mercurial path. Then they were on a main sidewalk again. The two of them kept running whichever way they could, anything to lose their chasers. Somehow, they ended up back at Victoria Memorial but that didn't stop Draco. He kept running with Ziva all the way into the Tube where they hopped on a train to King's Cross. At the correct station, they got off and went up to the main level to catch a train to the outskirts of the city. The two of them plopped down on the seats.

Both were heaving from their long run; Malfoy gave a breathy laugh as the train moved forward. Ziva gave one in return and soon, the two were in hysterics.

"I think that was one of the best times I've ever had," he said sincerely (and in between laughs).

"Well it's not every day you get chased by people who want to kill you," Ziva retorted good-naturedly.

"Listen, during the school year, we really need to find ways to see each other."

"I'm quite good with the Disillusionment Charm," she remarked. "I could conceal myself and sneak down to a designated meeting place."

"I'll learn it and when I do, I'll send you an owl with a place and time to meet me. We'll do it late at night when everyone else is asleep. The trophy room would be a good place."

"I'm looking forward to it."

The two fell silent and watched the outside world go by. Ziva, meanwhile, became aware that Draco was still holding her hand. Maybe he had forgotten he was holding it? They had been running away from Death Eaters which would make almost anyone forget what they were doing.

She pulled out her purse, also trying to discreetly slip her hand out of Malfoy's. They weren't like that with each other. They were friends, nothing more. Most likely never would be anything but friends. Draco didn't react when she pulled her hand away.

She had actually really needed something from her purse but forgot what it was so she put her purse back. When the train came to a stop, Draco stayed on the train but gave Ziva a quick, tight hug.

"I'll give you word as soon as I can," he promised.

She smiled. "Make it soon."

There you go! Third chapter! Hope you're enjoying it so far! Please review!