Mine

[64]

I stared at my own reflection in the mirror, anxiety building within my chest. I was ready for mine and Draco's date – dressed, makeup done, shoes on – but I still felt anxious. I messed with my hair, flattening down the top of it to press to my scalp as I fretted over my appearance. I needed to just take a deep breath and somehow calm my nerves.

But then, before that could happen, the doorbell sounded throughout my home. Shit.

I found myself running down the stairs in an attempt to reach the door before my mother or father could get to it.

"I got it!" I exclaimed as soon as I saw my mother just steps away from the front door. She seemed taken aback by my outburst and the way that I was rushing towards the door. "Sorry, I just, I got it." I said, huffing out a breath as I slowed my pace and messed with my hair once again.

"You look nice." My mother said as her eyes scanned over me briefly.

"Thanks. See you later!" I said, flashing my mother a quick smile before she could say anything more. I was quick to throw open the front door, jump outside, and slam it behind me.

"You alright?" I looked up at the sound of Draco's voice, my cheeks blushing a deeper shade of red than they already were from my frantic rush towards the door.

"Oh, uh, yeah." I said, forcing out a chuckle as I looked up at him. I sucked in a deep breath, letting it out slowly through my nose. "Hi."

"Hi." Draco said, his eyebrow raised in amusement. "You look great."

"Thank you." I said, taking a moment to look him over. He was dressed in his usual black suit get up, his platinum blonde hair combed nicely. "So do you."

"Shall we then?" Draco asked, holding his hand out for me to take.

I just nodded, giving him a small smile as I took his hand. And just like that, we were disapparating away from my home.

Once my feet had settled on solid ground, I took in my surroundings. We were right in the center of wizarding London, restaurants and shops lining the streets around us.

"I made a reservation for us at an Italian restaurant. Is that alright?" Draco asked, his expression suddenly turning into one of nervousness as he looked at me.

"Perfect." I said with a nod. In that moment I realized that we didn't so much as know what types of restaurants one another would prefer to attend for a date because we had never done this – the whole formal dating bit.

Draco and I were seated at what one could describe as a cozy table for two. I had never been to this restaurant before, but it was nice. The atmosphere was dark, mainly lit with candles at each table along with dimly lit floating lanterns scattered throughout the restaurant.

Draco caught my attention with the clearing of his throat, my eyes snapping before me to land on him. "How was work today?" He asked, fidgeting with his napkin as he settled it down on his lap.

"It was fine." I said, giving him a small smile. I mentally cursed myself, wishing that I could just let go of this weird-nervous tension that I felt. Why couldn't I just be myself?

"Do you like what you do?" He asked.

"I – well, yes, it's fine, but I think I'm ready to move on from being someone's assistant. I sort of took the position because my parents were pushing me to stop hiding away at home and this one woman was going on maternity leave, so I just shadowed her until she was on leave and then I took her position." I cut myself off quickly, well as quickly as I realized I was rambling on. "Anyway," I said pointedly, rolling my shoulders back and sitting up straight, "I think I want to be apart of the Ministry of Mysteries or maybe even part of the Wizengamot."