Dancing with Danger

twelve

"You kissed her?" Goyle, along with some of the other Slytherins, howled with laughter.

Over the constant roars of laughter and the fists banging the table, I hardly noticed Eliza's hands slowly snaking down my body as she rests her head on my shoulder.

"Morning, Liza," I said softly as I leaned my head back into her. The table went oddly quiet. A sudden cackle came from behind my right ear. Pansy? I thought. "Shit! Get off of me!" I yelled at her and pushed her off my shoulders with half strength. I wasn't in the mood for serious injuries this early in the morning.

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"Rogers!" I yelled, catching up to Eliza effortlessly as she stormed up the staircase.

"No, Malfoy. You've done enough," she said shakily, her voice cracking with every word.

She must've saw it. I could see her cheeks flushed with red and tears streaming down her face. This was all my fault I thought. I was the reason the face that greets everyone with a smile, or rather a type of sneer, was now covered in streaks of runny eye makeup and stained with tears. I did this.

I sprinted after her, catching my breath along the way once or twice. The footsteps slowly faded into nothing but a memory as I gazed down a long, empty hallway.

half an hour later...

"She's got to come down sometime, she can't hide forever," I murmured. I heard the soft footsteps of someone coming down the stairs. It turned out to be an exhausted looking first year from Ravenclaw. "Scram!" More footsteps followed. "You heard me, go! Get out!"

"What the hell did you just say to me?" Eliza's angry tone echoed through the entrance hall.

"That wasn't for y-" my heart plummeted when I saw her. "Is that a Gryffindor tie?"

"Malfoy, I can explain," she pleaded.

"Save it," I whispered and set off towards the common room.

meanwhile...

Shit I thought to myself while taking off the Gryffindor tie that was messily placed around my neck and shoving it into my crossbody bag I had swung across my shoulder.

By the time Potions came around, Malfoy had seemed to hold his emotions back enough to sneer at me and my tear stained face, mascara still smeared a bit under my eyes. I didn't even pay attention to whatever Snape was telling us. A dash of this and three of these. A dash of what, I have no clue.

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"Eliza!" Andrew stumbled after Kate and I as we left Potions and headed towards the common room. "I've been meaning to find you all day! You never let me finish what I was saying this morning, I can sort of read lips sometimes, and—"

"Great, a talent. One of many you have apparently," I scoffed. "Sorry about that- it's just not really been...." my voice trialed off as I looked into the crowds ahead of me.

"Anyway, Draco didn't say 'Pansy' when she was being all affectionate with him," he began still out of breath,"he said your name, Eliza. He thought it was you! That's why he was acting like that!"

"And you actually think that's what happened," Kate said while shooting Andrew a nasty look.

"Trust me," he said while putting an arm around Kate and I as we walked.

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"Look who's decided to join the party," Pansy mocked as I flung open the door to our dormitory.

"Shut up," I snarled. "I have business to attend to."

I strode down the black, rickety spiral staircase back into the soft, green glow of the common room.

"Hey," I said quietly and took a seat down beside Draco, who was sitting on the couch with his hands interlocked with one another, looking at the ground. There was an awkward sort of silence. "I'm sorry about earlier, it's really not what you think."

"That's what they all say," he aggressively stated.

"No, really. I mean it. The only reason I was wearing a Gryffindor tie was bec—" I paused as he suddenly stood up from the couch and towered over me.

"Was because you were with that slimeball, Gary," he snarled.

"Garrett," I hissed.

"Same difference, ok! Whatever the hell his name is! Am I not good enough for you, Eliza? Did you really have a backup from Gryffindor?!" his hands were placed on either side of my head, there was no escape.

"I was the one who had a backup?! What about Pansy? I saw you two this morning, don't act like you don't know! And Garrett is not a backup, he's a better friend than any of your little goons will ever be!" I yelled while tilting my head up just enough to look him in his cold, grey eyes.

"Listen," he sighed,"Pansy was trying to hit on me, alright. And to be fair, I didn't think it was her."

"Bullshit!" I said through gritted teeth as I pushed his tall, slim figure off of me and ran back up to my room, slamming the door behind me.

I threw my old, tattered brown leather bag onto the chair that was placed beside my four poster. Pansy's voice muffled in the background, there was only one thing that stood out to me.

"That little brat said your name this morning, I can't believe he didn't even know it was me! All these years I've spent hitting on him and the one move he makes isn't for me!"

Malfoy was right. I was the one who was in the wrong for once. I lay awake, the strips of moonlight illuminating the tears glistening off the hand I had wiped my face with.

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As the days went on, I had things to keep my mind off of Malfoy. Quidditch season started up, and with November drawing nearer and nearer, our first game would be any day now.

After a brutal Quidditch practice one rainy night, I starred down the long, wooden tables all the Houses ate dinner on to see Malfoy downheartedly twirling his fork in his hands.

"I've got to make this right," I mumbled and sprang up from my seat beside Kate and across from Andrew. "Malfoy, a word?"

He stood up from the table and I grabbed his hand, leading him into an abandoned corridor somewhere on the second floor.

"What do you want?" he snarled.

"For you to hear me out," I began, tears forming again in my eyes. "I'm sorry I never believed you."

"Oh, come here," Draco whispered as the tears began to fall from my cheeks. "But don't you even expect me to be like this every time you fuck up." He mumbled while pulling me into his tight grip.

"Don't start shit with me now, Malfoy. We've done enough of that this week," I said in between wiping tears from my face and trying to breathe without hyperventilating.

"Half of it was your fault," he said, placing a hand on the side of my rosy colored face.

"That means half of it was yours too," I snapped back, kissing him lightly and passing portrait after portrait as I drifted down the stairs to go back and join Andrew and Kate.