Heliophilia; d.m

XLII

VIOLET

"Do you remember the day we first met?" Draco suddenly asked from behind me, his voice low but soft.

I rolled over so I could see his face, which was lit up by the afternoon sun, his eyes were clouded, and fixed on the balcony window behind me, as if his mind had already moved back to the day, almost four years ago, when his silvery eyes first met mine.
We were so young and carefree back then that it made my heart ache to remember.

The book of poems that Kristen had once given me settled neatly on the pillow as I lay on my stomach with a small sigh.

"Yes, I do remember, you and your friends stared at me so unceremoniously that it's hard to forget." I said, raising my eyebrows at him, my voice sounding mock indignant.

"Unceremoniously?" He laughed, rolling over on his stomach like I did, his bare shoulder brushing mine, "And you touched and looked at the walls like a real freak."

"I wanted to piss you off, because you were arrogant."

When I first met him, I found him pompous, narcissistic, and rude, because the way he looked at me as if I wasn't even worthy to stand next to him, the way he spoke to me with a frown on his brow, and the way he constantly, pointedly sighed next to me — it irritated me.

But now I was glad that I had once persuaded myself to get to know him better, because the way he was now made my heart warm.

"And you succeeded. You've been pissing me off every day since that day." His head rested on his arm as he bent his arm at the elbow, and there was a mocking smile on his lips.

"And you decided to repeat after me?" My head tilted slightly toward his, almost touching his forehead, and I burst out laughing as his face took on an aggrieved expression.

"So that's how you say it," Draco mumbled then, and got out of bed, turning to the door, "But what do you say now?"

"What are you—" Before I could finish what I wanted to say, Draco spun around and was back on the bed, his fingers tickling my ribs.

"I'm going to piss you off so much right now that everything else will just seem like a beautiful dream." His fingers continued to wander over my body, making me squirm and squeal loudly.

"Draco! Stop!" I managed to gasp out between a squeal and a laugh, my breath coming in short gasps.

I buried my face in the pillow, but Draco rolled me onto my back, pressing his fingers hard into my skin, his leg swung over my body, and now he was sitting on top of me, with devilish sparks in his eyes.

I tried to catch my breath after he tickled me, but when he pressed his forehead against mine, staring into my eyes, it was like I stopped breathing. We'd been together for almost four years, and for the last five months we'd been living together, alone, but he could still have that effect on me — when his nearness took my breath away and my heart beat faster.

The room fell silent, his eyes focused intently on mine, as if trying to get inside my head, his hand then lifted to my face and gently stroked my cheek, his gaze softened.

"I can't piss you off, because you love me." He whispered against my lips, and then took me by the shoulders, swapping us around so that I was now lying on his chest, my palms felt his steady heartbeat.

"You're so confident." I snorted, shaking my head, but I felt like I was melting as his hands closed around my waist, taking my breath away.

"It's true. You even dedicated poems to me."