Touch Starved

She Clearly isn't interested

The night was finally whining down, people had started their way back to Hogsmeade to their Inn rooms. You stood with Ginny, Hermione, Luna, and Cho in the corner of the room. Talking feverishly about what Draco had said earlier, and they all heard.

"So he hasn't said it before?" Cho asked, she was so curious about all of this. How much he has changed and what he was now.

"No, I thought he'd might a couple times, but it never came out" you shrugged, that was the truth. There had been moments in fits of passion where the words almost crawled their way up out of him and out into the world. You blushed thinking of some of those moments. Nights when he embraced you, staring at you for long moments. "I don't want to push him." you peered over at him, standing with a few Slytherins and Harry in the middle of the room, "I can't make him love me if he's not ready"

"But he did say it," Hermione reminded you

"Yes, but maybe it was not in that way? I don't know. Out of all the times, I thought he would say it. It wasn't like that. In front of everyone" He seemed deep in conversation, you wondered was they were all talking about. Before long Harry and Draco stood alone there, The boy who had no choice and the boy who lived. Matured and grown in all ways, how the world has changed around them. Enemies made friends.

-----

Draco began rolling up his sleeves, exposing the dark patch of skin where the dark mark had lived. Harry looked at it, he couldn't help but grin.

"Did it happen right away? " Harry asked, speaking of the mark being gone.

"Yeah, I think so. I didn't notice until the next morning. Though it left his shadow on me." he touched the skin of the arm.

---

You had had a few drinks at this point, as did everyone else. The girls whispered between themselves, secrets of their love lives roaming free with the permission alcohol seemed to give him. You heard things that night about both Ron and Harry you don't know if you could ever forget. You caught yourselves laughing deeply at something Hermione had said, your face flushed red.

"Hermione!" you looked at her in shock, the laughing rolling around inside you.

'What? it's true!" she said, holding her sides as she laughed.

"I will never look at Ron ever again" you looked at the ground, eyes wide.

"I love him so much" Hermione gushed, her flesh pink either from laughing or from the alcohol, now you couldn't tell. Ginny shook her head, hearing some things about her brother she wished she never had, but she shared her own story.

"I love him" she stared at Harry. Your heart melts as you watch your now friends staring at their husbands.

"I am going to get some air. Okay?" you said to the girls as they nod, chatting carefully to themselves. You walked your way through the small side door, sneaking up a stairwell to a balcony you found once on accident your first year while roaming the halls. You stood in the moonlight, looking down over the old remains of Hagrid's hut, you shivered at the thought of the story Draco had told you. How Bellatrix on their way out had set it aflame. The rolling forest sat before you, you imagined a young and frightened Draco running through its trees after not being able to kill Dumbledore himself. You felt sadness as you thought about the fear he had, thinking that, that night might have been his last. You giggled to yourself as you tried to imagine Hermione punching Draco at the tall rocks that stood still close to the castle. You almost wished you could have seen it. While lost in thought you heard footsteps coming up the stairs behind you.

"How did you find me Draco?" You assumed it was him, hoping he was coming to ravish you. You turned, the stairwell only being lit by the moon. Around the corner, someone stepped, but it wasn't Draco. Instead, Neville stood there, his shirt buttons had been undone and his tie hung loosely around his neck.

"Oh, Neville" you spoke, standing with your back to the railing.

"y/n" he spoke, his voice rough. He looked weak, brittle. You resisted the urge again to hold him. How he kept saying your name gave you goosebumps and stood fast against the moonlight giving you away.

"Neville...I" you spoke, you didn't know what to even say.

"I love you" he stood there, the moonlight shining down on him like a spotlight. Your head was spinning.

"Wait, Neville. No, you don't you don't even know me" you shook your head at him, what was he talking about? Had he been drinking?

"I do know you. I know how like your tea, I know how you write poetry but refuse to let anyone read it. I know that you favor the shape of the crescent moon. I know how your skin smells like Teatree and the sun. How you sing, the sound of your voice." he was walking close to you, his hand reaching out for you.

"Neville, please stop" your heart ached, how he remembered so much about you made you feel like you were shrinking. He was standing now with his body pressed to you, his hand rests gently on your cheek.

"Can I kiss you?" he asked because taking a kiss from you without your permission was something he never wanted to do. You leaned away from him, say no, say no, why couldn't you say no? He leaned down, his lips almost to yours before you reached up pressing his chest.

"She clearly isn't interested" A voice came from behind Neville, the figure stood in the darkness.

"Draco" You breathed, you snuck your way under Neville's arm which was leaning on the railing behind you. You rushed to Draco's side.

"I think it's best if you don't talk to y/n anymore. Ok, Longbottom?" Draco spoke, taking a step towards Neville. Who said nothing,

"Let's just go Draco" you pulled his arm back towards the stairs.

"You hear me?" Draco spoke to Neville again, ignoring you.

"I hear you Malfoy" Neville responded, not turning to face you. He seemed stuck in place. You managed to pull Draco away. Down the stairs back to the Great Hall, which was nearly empty. Harry and his whole group just stood near the grand hall door.

"Draco" you whispered to him, he was quiet the whole way down the stairs, was he mad at you? You hadn't done anything wrong. Had you? He just pulled you along with him. To the group.

"Hey y/n we were looking for you! Looks like he found ya. Let's go we're all going to catch a carriage to The Three Broomsticks and have a bite to eat before bed." It was late into the night, but the restaurant was always open at TTBS. Draco held your hand softly but didn't look at you. He was silent back the whole way to Hogsmeade. What was going through his mind? You panicked.

Before long you all sat at a table, everyone was tired and ready for bed. But not before you could eat. As you all sat, eating quickly, talking quietly Neville came in.

"Neville!" Ginny called to him "come sit with us" she waved for him. He looked at the table first at you than at Draco before not saying a word and heading upstairs. The rest of the table looked at you confused. You were ready for a beratement of questions. But before they could Draco stood.

"We should go to bed y/n, we have a long day tomorrow. Thank you again for inviting us, Harry. We had a really nice time" he shook Harry's hand, then Ron's. The looks at the table watched us closely.

"Good night" you nodded to Ginny and Hermione who nodded back at you, concern on their faces.

No words were exchanged between the two of you as you got to the room. You felt your body threatening to shake. What was he thinking? What does he think happened? What was going to happen? You couldn't breathe.