A Serpent's Heart

Chapter 7. Slughorn's Party.

As I had expected, Draco loved to accompany me to Slughorn's party. He wouldn't miss an opportunity to show off, whether it was his expensive clothing, his witty jokes or a pretty girl. Friday night, he awaited me at the entrance of the Ravenclaw Tower. He was dressed to the nines in his dark green corduroy suit, white silk shirt and bow tie. I was wearing a black velvet dress with a prodigiously soft fur stole. Draco immediately held out his hand to stroke the fur.

We elegantly strode to the room Slugorn had managed to confiscate for his party. Luna and Harry were already there. Luna approached me and said: "Have you become each other's official party partners or something like that?"

I was going to agree with Luna, but Draco quickly said: "I suppose we just like each other." I blushed and smiled at him. He smiled back. A genuine, loving smile. The fact that he so straightforwardly said he liked me made me feel so special.

It wasn't a particularly exciting party. There were house elves going around with snacks and drinks and Slughorn talked to all the guests about their ambitions and dreams. As I had expected, there were zero Hufflepuffs. A highlight of the evening was when Slughorn, feeling particularly delighted, opened a bottle of firewhisky to raise the festive mood. This was a highly appreciated feat by all the guests. Slughorn made a toast to his "promising pupils" and their "glorious careers".

Draco and I took our whisky and sat down on a couch in the corner of the room. "Do you have any holiday plans?" I asked.

Draco almost choked on his whisky. "Term isn't over yet," he said.

"There are only a few weeks left  till the holidays," I stated.

"Do you have plans?" Draco asked.

"I'm going to France for a week," I replied.

"That's nice."

"I thought... Maybe you'd like to do something together this summer?" I asked, encouraged by the firewhisky. I had no idea if Draco liked me enough to spend time with me outside of school.

Draco looked at me enthusiastically, however, and answered: "I'd love to! Did you have anything specific in mind? We could go to London?"

"Gee, I didn't expect you to react so enthusiastically!" I laughed.

"But I love to spend time with you!" Draco proclaimed. There was a twinkle in his grey blue eyes. We were sitting so close to each other that our legs brushed against each other. The soft fabric of his trousers on my skin. 

I rested my head on Draco's shoulder. He put his arm around me. Someone topped up everyone's glasses. "Anyone in the mood for a slow dance?" professor Slughorn announced, and he smiled at me and Draco. I immediately rose with excitement. "Get up, Draco!"

Draco got up and Slughorn turned on the music. Fortunately we were not the only ones who started dancing: Ron, Hermione and a few others collected in the middle of the room as well.

Dancing with Draco was just like it had been at the Spring Ball, but better, because this time I was less nervous. I had wrapped my arms around Draco's neck and he had his around my waist. His touch gave me butterflies.

I saw Luna was trying to convince Harry to dance as well, but he refused. Luna did not seem to mind and pretended to dance with an invisible dance partner. When Draco saw this he almost cried with laughter. I guided him away from the dancefloor because I thought it was rude, but it did look ridiculous... I admired Luna for her carefree attitude, though.

When the party was nearly over (read: when Slughorn was too drunk to speak sensibly and the guests were visibly bored), Draco escorted me out of the room. We were half walking, half snogging, which wasn't easy, so Draco paused and gently pushed me against a wall. Before he could kiss me, however, I stumbled backwards. Behind me a door had opened. A door that hadn't been there before.

"The room of requirement?" I asked, surprised.

"Well, it must have opened for a reason, let's go in!" Draco suggested.

I stared at the large couch loaded with pillows and drapes. Draco smiled at me naughtily.

"Did you by any chance wish for a place like this?" I asked him suspiciously.

"Not exactly," he said. "But maybe my subconsciousness did."

"Sure, blame your subconsciousness." I playfully poked him. Draco touched my cheek and stared deeply into my eyes. He wasn't smiling anymore, he looked serious. He looked irresistible.

He basically pushed me on the couch and bent over me, kissing me passionately. His lips moved to my neck, which made me moan softly. I threw off the fur stole and Draco wriggled out of his jacket, breathing heavily. I kicked off my shoes and swung my legs on the couch. Draco mesmerizingly stroked my legs with his fingers, all the way up to my thighs. I unbuttoned his shirt and he made it easier by snatching off his bow tie and flinging it through the room. Slowly, he took it off, revealing his perfect body. My gaze fell from his pale hair, that sensually hung in his face, to his pale blue eyes that were looking at me excitedly, to his abs, until I noticed a blemish on his arm. I grabbed his wrist and took a closer look: it was the Dark Mark. I froze. I knew his father was a Death Eater, but I had never expected him to choose that path as well. Apparently I had misjudged him.

"You have the Dark Mark!" I yelled, backing away from him. Draco opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. "I'm sorry Draco, but I don't think this is the right moment." I said disdainfully. I quickly stepped into my shoes, picked my stole off the floor and hurried to the door. "Wait, let me explain," Draco called. I did not want to listen.

I ran to the end of the corridor. Draco came after me, tucking his shirt into his trousers. I stepped on the stairs. Before Draco could step on the stairs, however, the staircase started moving. I looked over my shoulder, slightly terrified of him. There he stood, by a deep cliff where the stairs had been seconds ago. He looked at me sadly. "Keira, let me explain!" he called again. I did not bother to reply. I looked away because I did not want him to see me crying.

"Keira, I thought you'd understand..."