Fire & Ice - A Draco Malfoy fanfiction

Chapter 46 - It doesn't do well with happiness

You cannot start healing when you're pretending that you're not hurt.

- Unknown

"Happy birthday to me", I whispered as I blew out the candle, stuck in a little piece of Honeydukes toffee that I had smuggled home in my trunk. The smoke circled to the ceiling and then it was gone.

It was midnight, the fourteenth of August had just begun, my birthday.

But it was a sad birthday this year. Normally we'd have dinner with the family and some relatives would come to visit. Maybe they still would, but that wasn't what was missing. I didn't feel loved.

My father and I weren't very close, but he'd always come home a little sooner on my birthday, bearing more gifts than the age I had become.

And now he wouldn't come home at all.

But that my dad wasn't here was not what made this day so sad. It was the fact that Draco wasn't.

I knew why he couldn't come, it was far too dangerous, but I missed him. I hadn't seen him or heard from him in two weeks and since my mother barely spoke to me, I felt so incredibly lonely. I tried to cheer myself up with the thought of Daphne and Tracey's gifts and letters arriving tomorrow, but not even that seemed to work.

Even though a birthday was just another day of the year, it made me feel more lonely than ever. I felt like I was alone on the planet and there was no one there to support me.

Maybe I could invite Daphne over some time in the next few weeks. I knew that Tracey wouldn't be allowed over anymore because of her blood-status and it saddened me. She was my best friend too, maybe had been even more of a best friend this past year than Daphne had been.

But it just couldn't be right now.

I walked to the window, looking at the stars scattered in the sky. Somewhere in the north was Draco, the constellation. Somewhere over there, he was thinking about me.

"I figured you'd still be awake."

I turned around abruptly, grabbing my wand and pointing it at the speaker.

And there he was in the light of the moon, Draco Malfoy.

"What are you doing here?" I whispered, my voice still caught in the back of my throat. I was dreaming. Draco wasn't here, he couldn't be. It was far too dangerous.

But then I felt his hand on my arm and when I looked up, he was still there.

"Happy birthday, Ellie", he said, a sad smile on his lips. He was here, he really was here.

"Oh Merlin, Draco." I threw myself in his arms, hugging him as if I only had a second. I wanted to memorize him and how it felt to hug him. My body ached for his touch and I felt lightheaded when I caught his scent again.

"What are you doing here? It's too dangerous", I said as I reluctantly pulled away. I needed to see him, his silver eyes and his light skin and his soft lips.

"My mother is covering for me. They think I'm at Borgin and Burkes, sorting some things out after hours."

I barely understood anything he said as I could only focus on his lips. So I did what I hadn't been able to do for a month. I kissed him.

I felt like my whole body was on fire as his hands snaked around my waist like they always used to do. I felt him smile slightly in the kiss, pulling me impossibly closer, lightly tugging on my bottom lip.