Twenty-Three

Peeking out from underneath her lashes, the Higurashi girl felt her face heat a little when she noticed the way the boy sitting nearby was watching her from the corner of his eye. She quickly returned her gaze to the book she had brought with her, tightening her fingers around the edges and trying to focus on the spell she had been trying to master for the last couple weeks. The way her heart started a furious beat in her chest did little to help her study, however, and she found herself sneaking another glance over the book to see whether or not he had finally returned his attention to the apple he had placed in the cabinet in front of him some time ago.

It was just so hard to believe that she was actually sitting next to the Malfoy heir in comfortable silence. They had been a shining example of the rivalry that separated Gryfindor and Slytherin for years, unable to even walk down the same corridor without one of them spitting out an insult or two. The knowledge that they were alone together, eyes burning with something that suggested much more with each passing glance, was new and terrifying all at the same time.

Foresight could not have prepared her for the way her heart picked up each time she caught his eye when moving between classes. It could not have foreseen the feeling that exploded from deep within her stomach every time he found the opportunity to pull them away from prying eyes to hide amongst the treasures hidden within the Room of Requirement. Nor had it warned her about the newfound fear that gripped her when he refused to answer any questions about his summer, claiming that it was better if she did not know.

She would have laughed at anyone if they had told her she would find herself afraid for Draco Malfoy's life a year ago. That she would be asking the boy himself what had happened that had left him disheveled and limping? What was so important, and yet so dangerous, about a cabinet in the Room of Requirement that the Slytherin felt the need to try and protect her from it? That he often… often…

Heat spreading across her cheeks with the thought, Kagome shook it away as quickly as she could. It was almost unbelievable that they would be… that they would be… something more like her vision suggested again and again, but… she wanted to know.

No, that was not quite right.

She needed to know, because she wanted to protect him, too. Throwing herself into textbooks and practicing every spell until she could barely stay awake any longer would mean nothing if she did not know what it was that she was trying to protect him from. Healing incantations and spells were useful under most given circumstances, but it was not every day that someone chose to use Dark magic within the boy's toilet. It would be helpful if she knew—

"Eh?" Startled by the book slipping from her grasp suddenly, the Gryffindor girl felt her blush darken at the way the Malfoy heir raised his eyebrow when she bumped her head lightly against the stack of books behind her. The smirk that blossomed on his face only made her scowl, though she still scooted over a bit when he moved to sit beside her. "Did it work?"

Draco only shrugged, his face twisting into a defeated scowl of his own at the question. He sank back into the pile behind them, flipping the page of her book back and forth lightly as he skimmed the outlined text and enchanted demonstration. "You've been flicking the end of your wand in the wrong direction," he mumbled lightly, holding the book back out for her when she made an attempt to snatch it from him. "It's a wonder you've even gotten that spell to somewhat work when you haven't been using the correct wand movement."

"What? No, you're just looking at it," Kagome tried to defend herself, watching the little diagram swish across the side of the page, and felt her voice trail off, "...wrong." His smirk returned in an instant, and she looked away from him with a huff when she felt the first telltale stirrings of the veil being brushed aside when she caught his burning gray gaze. She often forgot that his marks were second only to Hermione Granger, but that did not mean he had to be so damn smug about it. Then again, she supposed that she should thank him anyway. He was right, after all. It was a wonder that she had been getting the correct, although the slightest, results from the spell if she had been performing the tiny, tail end flick in the wrong direction each time. Even a small error could mean the difference between stitching a deep laceration or simply making it worse, as the book warned time and again. "...thanks."

The Slytherin did not even bother to reply to her quietly mumbled gratitude, as he twisted a long section of hair between his fingers and simply watched her. She blinked rapidly underneath his stare, feeling that bright, hopeful future she had fallen into time and again attempt to open up before her, before she glanced away and returned to muttering her own spell underneath her breath. Her grip tightened on her wand, though, as she felt the future begin to overwhelm the now with her lack of focus.

"What do you see when you look at me?" he asked softly.

Ripped away from the veil by the sound of his voice, the Higurashi girl felt her lip tug upward at the corner. How long had she been running away from that vision? That she had been denying it? That she had hit him the last time he had asked her that same question, and yet… now… "I see you," she whispered. "I see us."

As she looked back at him, his eyebrow lifted in question, obviously wanting more.

"It's so warm." She honestly did not know how else to describe it. "You're always there, and when you're not, all I have to do is turn around and you're right behind me. Like you're waiting for me in the future. Sometimes it… it, well…"

The Malfoy heir smirked at the blush that spread across her face again. He tugged on her hair until she was staring up at him again with those big, blue eyes of hers. "You almost make it sound like I should be jealous of myself." At her look of confusion, he added, "I apparently always have your attention… in the future."

"I… I… um," she bit her lip.

He chuckled lightly, as his hand drifted to mingle amongst the hairs at the back of her head. Her book hit the floor when he pulled her toward him, and his smirk widened at the faint little gasp of surprise she released the moment she fell neatly into his lap. "Now," he leaned in close to her, "what did I tell you about falling all over me, Higurashi?"

"D-Draco…" her heart picked up the tempo immediately.

The look on the Slytherin's face suggested he was about to say something smart before he closed those last few inches, but a sound from the nearby cabinet snapped his head up to stare at the magical item. His gray eyes narrowed, though it was with a gentle brush of his fingers across her cheek that he pulled himself away from his Gryffindor companion to rise and approach the cabinet as the faint sound drifted into silence. He paused with his hand on the handle, glancing back at her, before he finally pulled it open.

Still attempting to still her rapidly beating heart, Kagome gasped quietly at the bite taken out of the once pristine apple Draco lifted up for them both to see. Her eyes widened, a million questions she wanted to ask him beginning to filter through her brain, and felt them all come to a screeching halt at the fear and worry that crossed his face when he turned to really look at her. "Draco?" she asked. "What does that mean? What happened? Where did it go?"

All he said in return, however, was a faint, "Tomorrow."

Note: I wanted to upload this yesterday for Draco's birthday, but got sidetracked by something I wanted to draw. Hah! -KibaSin