"Shut up right now." He says, covering my mouth with his hand.
For a moment we both stare at each other, not quite sure what to do next.
My body is frozen against the wall. All I can focus on is Draco's minty breath that dances across my face.
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- DRACO'S POV:
I remember getting ready with Blaise and Théo in the dorms. I remember adjusting my tie around the collar of my freshly ironed white shirt and smoothing out the blazer I'd thrown over it. I remember arriving at the party and downing my first few shots and that's where the remembering ends. Well, almost. There's no forgetting the feeling of Diggory's cold fist making contact with the side of my face or the wild rush of pain that followed. And there's certainly no forgetting the look on Francesca's face when I stumbled back into the common room.
"Sorry, Fran." I whisper as my eyes meet hers. "I know I should've left it. This is my fault." She dismisses my apology and whisks me up the stairs to my room. Once we're in the bathroom, Francesca dabs my face with a wet flannel. I use it as an opportunity to take in every intricate detail of her face: her lips which purse a little as she focuses on cleaning me up, her cheeks that flush in the heat of the enclosed bathroom, the vein in her neck that sticks out a little more when she's been drinking. My hand instinctively brushes against Francesca's bare thigh and I hear her breath quicken very slightly.
"Thank you for this." I whisper, watching her do everything to stay focused on my bruise. Its almost as if Francesca doesn't trust herself to look at me. I don't blame her. I feel the same, but my eyes refuse to leave her direction, flickering between her eyes and her lips.
"It's fine." She replies, still not looking at me. I want her to. I want her to look at me so she can understand everything that I feel. I'm not the type to wear my heart on my sleeve but with Francesca its as if I'm transparent. Her focus slips for a second and suddenly I'm staring deep into Francesca's delicate blue eyes. Its as if I lose control of my motions and before I know it, my hand is reaching up to cup her face, I close me eyes and lean into her. Every time I kiss Francesca its different. Its the same giddy feeling, the same warmth and desire, but somehow different too. I gently press my lips into hers, allowing my hand to venture from her jaw to the back of her head.
"Draco..." Francesca whispers as she pulls away. "I'm tired of all this arguing. Can we just put it all to bed and be friends?" I pause for a moment, catching my breath. Its not what I want but its much better than what we have now. "I know you're keeping something from me but I don't care anymore. I know there's a good reason for it."
"There is." I affirm. "We would just be friends? Nothing more?"
"That's the plan." Francesca smirks, "Although we're not very good at sticking to the 'just friends' thing, are we?"
"We'll be friends then."
Its nice to have this weight off my chest. Things between Francesca and I have been pretty tumultuous this year and all I really want is to be on good terms. My only concern is that we'll get closer again and it'll become increasingly difficult to keep myself from repeating my mother's words of warning. That's a problem for future me to figure out, I decide. Once she's finished cleaning my wound, Francesca leaves. As she closes the door behind her, I get up off the bathroom floor to look in the mirror. Its a shock seeing the bruise for the first time. Its not the worst I've had but its definitely going to take more than a week or 2 to heal. I don't even remember what I said to Cedric that made him hit me like this but its probably best forgotten.
