The Unexpected Guest
I was SO nervous!
This had never happened to me before. I was always a very confident girl, I never questioned my choice in clothes or how my hair looked, because I'd never cared what anyone thought of me before.
But now, as everyone was getting ready for the Halloween party, I was busy stressing because I didn't know what outfit to wear to the date. What did Malfoy like? What colors would he like on me? Should I put on some perfume?
And then I told myself, hold up a sec, Talia! Who cares what he likes! It shouldn't matter what you wear to him! And I was like, you're right, Talia! Just pick something you KNOW you look good in! So I picked a nice, light blue outfit, with skinny jeans (and leggings underneath, so I'd stay warm), and my super warm white jacket. When I looked at myself in the mirror, I was impressed. Yeah, that's right. I was lookin' good.
I waited until the party started, and everyone was out of the common room, to leave. As I made my way to Hogsmead, I started to get really excited. Who would've thought that MALFOY could make me feel this way? I wished I could tell someone. I wished I could tell Fred and George. And maybe I would get to, someday. But not anytime soon.
I found the path to the Shrieking Shack, and followed it until I found the turn he told me about. And when I found Malfoy, he was in this tiny little clearing under a tree that hadn't lost any of its leaves yet. His back was to me, he was wearing his usual black suit attire (which I thought he looked amazing in, by the way). There were candles everywhere, and I mean EVERYWHERE. They were hanging in the tree and surrounding the little picnic he had setup, with blankets and pillows. There was some food, some drinks which looked suspiciously like hot chocolate, and it all looked amazing. He was just lighting the last candle when I decided to say something.
"Wow, you weren't kidding." I apparently startled him, and he turned to look at me with worry in his eyes.
"Is it too much?"
"Of course not. This is beautiful!" I said to him, and walked up and threw my arms around his neck. "I can honestly say this is a pleasant surprise."
"What, you didn't think I could pull something like this off?"
"Well, can you blame me?"
"No, not really. Come on, let's get under the tree before we freeze."
"Ok. Hey, how did you do this? I mean, with the tree, and all the snow being gone under it?"
"I enchanted it a while ago so it wouldn't die when winter came. So I'd have somewhere to come and be by myself."
"Well, now that I know about it, you might have to find somewhere else to be alone."
"I don't mind being alone with you." And then we started eating. There wasn't anything much, just some fruit and crackers and stuff. The hot chocolate was amazing, and the food was delicious, which made me think of another question.
"So, how'd you get all this food?"
"Well, I got some from the kitchen at Hogwarts, and the hot chocolate I got from the Three Broomsticks."
"Ah, I see. What about the blankets and pillows and candles?"
"I can't tell you ALL of my secrets, now."
"Ok, fine! Let's start with some other questions, then. So tell me Malfoy, what do you want to be when you grow up?" I asked, like a little child. This made him laugh.
"Seriously?"
"Well, yeah!"
"Ok then. Honestly, when I was little, I wanted to be just like my father. He was so powerful, and so respected. I thought he was brilliant."
"You thought? What changed your mind?"
"When I found out what he really was."
"And that is…?"
"Not good." I could tell he didn't want to elaborate, so I didn't make him.
"Ok. Well, what do you want to be now? After Hogwarts, I mean."
"Well, not that it matters much, but what I'd really like to be is a Healer."
"Really? That's…"
"Stupid?"
"No, it's brilliant." I smiled at him. Something told me he'd never told that to anyone before. "MINE'S the one that's dumb."
"What is it?"
"Well, for the longest time I wanted to be a singer. But when I realized that that's never going to happen, it changed a bit."
"A singer? That's adorable. Why can't you? Can you sing?"
"Yes, I can sing. But I can't."
"That's confusing. You can sing, but you can't sing? How does that work?"
"Now that's a secret for another time, Mr. Malfoy."
"Ok, then. What do you want to be now?"
"Well, I'd really like to work with Fred and George at their shop for a while, but eventually I'd like to open my own book store. Or maybe a bakery. I can't decide."
"How about a bookstore bakery?"
"What an idea!" We laughed. "Hey Malfoy?"
"Yeah?"
"I kind of want to snog for a bit."
"Well hey, you don't have to tell me twice." And we snogged. It was nice. I really like to kiss. We started by just sitting and kissing, but then we started to get a little crazy. For a while, we kissed while he was above me, and then we'd switch. It went on for about fifteen minutes, until we were back in our original sitting position. And then he suddenly stiffened.
"What's up? Why'd you stop?"
"There's a huge, black dog sitting over there, watching us."
"What!" And sure enough, when I turned around, there he was. Watching us. "SNUFFLES!" I got up and ran to him. By the time I reached him, he was fully human and ready to hug.
"Hey there, Talia."
"I've missed you! Why haven't you visited us recently? What are you doing here? Are you on the run again?"
"Whoa, slow down there, speedy. I'm sorry I haven't visited recently. I'm staying here in town, so I can visit you guys. No, I'm not on the run again. You made sure of that." And he smiled at me.
"Oh come on now. It wasn't just me, Harry and Dumbledore did most of the work."
"Yes, but you had a huge part in saving my life. If you hadn't done that, it wouldn't matter whether or not they cleared my name."
"True, true." And we hugged some more.
"So, who's you're, um, friend? Why is he staring at us?" And then I remembered Malfoy. Oh man, I can't believe I forgot about my boyfriend. He he, I had a boyfriend!
"Oh, I'm sorry guys! Sirius, this is Draco Malfoy. Malfoy, this is-" But he cut me off.
"TALIA, WHY ARE YOU HUGGING SIRIUS BLACK?" He yelled. Oops.
"Well. He's one of my family's oldest friends. He's like an uncle."
"BUT, HE'S… HE'S…" Oh brother.
"Malfoy, you KNOW his name has been cleared. He was innocent the whole time. Honestly. Sorry about this, Sirius."
"Hey, no worries. I'm used to still being treated like a murderer by now."
"Ok, ok, I'm good now. Sirius Black is your friend. I got this." Malfoy said, after taking a few minutes to recover.
"That's good. And honestly, I can't believe I didn't realize you were a Malfoy." Said Sirius. Uh oh.
"Um, why is that?" I asked.
"Well, he's got the same hair as his father. And Talia? Care to tell me what you're doing with a Malfoy? I can assume Harry doesn't know, right?"
"Uh, yes. Harry doesn't know. But what Harry also doesn't know is that Malfoy is amazing, and totally not what everyone thinks. He's different." I said, and I smiled at him. He smiled back, though a little uneasy. I wonder what that was about.
"Well, I trust you. And I think if you gave him the chance, Harry would too."
"Well, considering Harry is under the impression that Malfoy is a death eater just like his father, I think I'm going to wait a while." And Malfoy looked away from us.
"Well, I think I'll let you get back to your… picnic." He looked knowingly at us, and got up to leave. "Talia, come over here a sec." I followed him a few feet away.
"What's up?"
"You realize that since your parents aren't here to do it, and I assume you're not going to tell Arthur, that I have to give him whole 'If you hurt her' speech?"
"I'd really rather you didn't. I can give it to him just fine."
"Oh, I know you can. You're totally your mother's daughter. Speaking of, have you two had sex yet?"
"Charming, dude. Yes, we had sex once. No, it SO was not my first time."
"Really? Who was it then?"
"His best friend." And with that, he fist-bumped me and then hugged me.
"You make your uncle Sirius proud." And he left me to get back to my date. But not before giving Malfoy one last hard glance.
"So. You're really good friends with Sirius Black. Any other big secrets you want to tell me?" Draco said, once I was sitting comfortably next to him again.
"No, of course not. Well, none as big as that one, anyway." Small lie.
"Ok, good." He said, jokingly.
"How about you? You have any dark, dangerous secrets that you haven't told me?"
"No. Of course not." And again, he looked away.
"Hey, you alright? You seem a little… uneasy about something." He took a little time to answer. And then he blurted it all at once.
"Do Harry and the others really think I'm a Death Eater?"
"Well, Hermione and Ron think he's nuts, but Harry does believe that. And I'm not gonna lie, I did too. But I don't think so anymore. I don't think a Death Eater would be so good at sex." I said, snuggling close to him. He chuckled.
"Well, I'm glad to know you're so confident in me."
"Hey Malfoy, we have to discuss something serious for like, five minutes. And then we can get back to what was so rudely interrupted."
"And that is?"
"It's about my friends. Now that were together, you can't just keep treating them the way you've been treating them for the last five and a half years."
"Talia, you know I wouldn't."
"I'm serious. No making fun of Ron's family, no more of that awful 'M' word toward Hermione, and you HAVE to lay off Harry. He's under a lot of stress right now, and the last thing he needs is for you to cause him more."
"Talia. I promise."
"Ok. Thank you. Now, let's finish this food and hot cocoa, and head back up to the castle. We're already out past curfew, I expect."
"You got it."
…
"Talia, you've got some explaining to do." I had gotten up to the room and fallen asleep in my bed, before anyone got back from the party. And a few hours later, I had awoken to see Hermione in her sexy witch costume (which took me MONTHS to convince her to wear), and Ginny in her sexy pirate costume, standing next to my bed with their arms folded like it was an interrogation. (polyvore (Ignore the hair colors))
"What? I got bored at the party, I couldn't find you guys, so I came up here and went to sleep."
"Oh, don't lie. We KNOW you weren't at that party; there wasn't anyone with your Siren costume." Ginny said.
"SHHH! It's a mermaid. MERMAID! And what's with all the girls wearing sexy costumes, anyway? That's a little concerning, don't you think? Me, I blame the parents-"
"TALIA! What is with you? You're lying to us, and sneaking away, and you're missing everything. What is going on?" Asked Hermione. I sighed. They were right; I have to give them something.
"Ok, ok, you guys are right. I'm sorry."
"That's ok. Just tell us what's going on, so we know you're ok." Ginny said.
"You remember the whole 'First Guy and Second Guy' situation I was in a while ago?"
"Yeah." They said together.
"Well… after I broke up with First Guy, I sort of ran into Second guy, and we… um…"
"Did you have sex?" Asked Ginny.
"Yes."
"Oh my God!" They both squealed.
"Shhh! It's not something I want all of Hogwarts to hear!"
"Well, sorry! But Tal, I thought that's why you broke up with First Guy. Because you didn't want that kind of relationship anymore." Hermione said.
"It was. And that's why after we had sex, I told him that I wouldn't be with him if that was all he wanted."
"And?" Said Ginny. They were both sitting on my bed now, leaning towards me like I was a storyteller. Well, I guess I actually was, right then.
"He stopped me and told me that he wanted to do it the slow way, if that's what it took to stay with me."
"Oh, how romantic!" Said Hermione, gushing.
"I know! And so for the past few weeks, we've been secretly meeting up, and kissing, and talking, but not having sex. And tonight, we had our first date." I said, grinning like the Cheshire Cat.
"Talia, that's amazing!" Said Ginny.
"I know. And I'm so happy with him. I think this is the happiest I've been since the night my sister died." I said. They both hugged me.
"This is so awesome. Do you love him?" Asked Ginny.
"Well… yeah, I think I do. Holy shit. I do!" I said, laughing at this realization.
"AH! Yay! Do you think he feels the same way?" Asked Hermione.
"Maybe. I think he could, but I can't be sure. I hope so. But just in case, I think I'll wait to tell him until I'm sure he does."
"I think that's a good idea." Said Ginny.
"And you're sure you won't tell us who he is?" Asked Hermione, already knowing the answer.
"Nope." They would murder me, for sure. After about ten minutes of them trying to guess who he is (amazingly, they never even tried guessing Draco Malfoy OR Blaise Zabini, but they DID guess Ron, Harry, and even Colin Creevey), we decided to get into our pajamas and go to bed.
"Oh! I can't believe I forgot to mention! During our date, Sirius showed up!"
"WHAT? You talked to Sirius, and you just FORGOT about it?" Yelled Hermione.
"Hey, leave her alone! She's in love!" Ginny shouted at her.
"Thanks, Ginny. Yeah, he's staying at the Three Broomsticks so he can spend some time with us, since he's FINALLY done with all the court stuff he's had to do."
"God, took them long enough"
"I know right?"
"So, hold up a sec. You're saying that Sirius crashed your date tonight?" Ginny asked. Duh.
"Yeah. Where have you been the last half an hour?"
"So, what you're saying is, Sirius knows who this guy is." Hermione said, catching on. Crap.
"Maybe."
"And, MAYBE, he might know who the other guy was, too." Ginny said, smiling a very evil smile. Double crap.
"Possibly."
"Interesting." Hermione said, and they shut off their lights.
"You guys, don't even think about trying anything. I already told Sirius that I don't want anyone to know."
"Oh, we wouldn't dream of it." Said Ginny.
"Ugh, whatever. I'm going to sleep."
"Goodnight!" They said together. Evil masterminds.