Tainted Love

Starsweeper XXI

DRACO

Draco knew her by her hair like he always did. Especially when they were dancing.

Well - he wasn't dancing anymore. He had let Iris drag him out for a couple of minutes then retired to the bar. She found her joy in dancing and he found his in a glass of whiskey and watching her.

They were at the Black Unicorn, out with Iris's friends. Tracey and Sebastian, anyway. Theodore was off having dinner with Daphne.

Tracey and Sebastian were with Iris in one of the sections to Draco's left. He could spot them easily every time he looked over. Iris's hair was a beacon, shiny curls. If he couldn't find her hair he would find Tracey's dress. It was so pink that it barely changed color when the lights strobed. Almost reflective.

I love you, she had told him. So casually. He wondered whether she had been thinking about saying it for a while or whether the words had just slipped out when he carded his fingers through her hair.

It could be either. Iris was often instinctual. He used to watch it in the way her eyes would light up with anger. It was not her decision to be angry, not something she thought about. It was just something she felt, something she was. Something she had to act on.

Was loving him an instinct, then? Had she become a person who loved him just that night? Did she think anything of telling him - did she think anything of him not returning the words?

She let things build sometimes, though. Sadness. Guilt. She hadn't told him how she really felt about him for months in the fall. Afraid of his rejection, perhaps, or afraid of her own feelings. Maybe she had loved him for a while, then.

"Draco," she said, and he turned to see that she was standing behind him, a drink in her hand and hair in her face. She smiled. He wanted to grab her wrist but she was too far away, just slightly.

He nodded at her, a soft nod. She nodded back. Mocking him a little bit.

"Want to go for a smoke?" She asked. "I can't get between those two." She gestured back at the section she had come from. Draco glanced over and caught Tracey's dress easily. Sebastian had her in the air, spinning her around.

He got up from his seat, following Iris as she weaved through the crowd. He wanted to grab her wrist again, pull her behind him. He liked when she followed him, when she looked up at him like she wasn't sure what he was thinking.

They leaned against the side of the building, casually watching people walking on the street while Draco lit a cigarette from the pack in his pocket.

"You want your own?" He asked "Or can we share?"

"Um..." she trailed off beside him. She was bad at making decisions and didn't care who knew it. "We can share."

Iris smiled as she took the cigarette. Already looking at him when he turned to her. He kept watching as she pulled it to her mouth and took a drag, eyes closed, face trained towards the road.

She was not the type of beautiful that he had ever known before. She coughed as the smoke left her mouth, then laughed at herself, a small laugh.

"Good one," Draco said. She offered the cigarette back to him.

"Yeah, thanks," she shrugged. "One of my best."

And she kept looking at him, her eyes not quite as big as usual. She wasn't confused, then. She didn't wonder anything. She was calm and pleased with herself.

"Are you going to watch me smoke?" He asked.

"Why not? You just watched me."

Draco nodded. Fair enough. As far as people go, Iris seemed very special. Only some people are special. Draco had been set up for it - he had the look, the house, the legacy - but he had failed and now he was just like everyone else, or worse.