Pearls and Fire whisky | A Harry James Potter love story

022

We were sitting at the Slytherin table for breakfast the next morning, and while everyone else of my group of friends were severely hangover, I felt amazing, still giddy from last night's kiss.

I kept looking at the Gryffindor table, but Harry hadn't shown up yet.

"Zara, may I have a moment with you?" I looked up to see Neville standing behind me.

My friends hadn't been very energetic this morning, but they all sat up straight at the sight of Neville at our table, asking to speak with me. Even I was a little taken back, staring at him with my toast in my hand.

"Yes, of course," I tell him, putting my toast on my plate and getting up. There could only be two reasons why Neville would want to speak with me, so it as either about Harry or about the plant I had asked him about for the poisonous potion.

I could feel all eyes on Neville and me as we walked out of the great hall. It must've been a weird view, as it wasn't very common to see a Gryffindor and Slytherin student hang out together, and especially not Neville and me. I really appreciated his courage to come up to me while I was surrounded by my Slytherin friends, Draco included. He wasn't the shy, scared boy he had been in the earlier years, and I loved that for him.

"Were you still interested in buying some more exotic plants?" he asks me as we are standing outside the great hall. "Because the seller will be at Hogsmeade this afternoon. He owled me yesterday that he had some business in the area, so If you still need something I could introduce you to him."

"Neville, that would be amazing!" I exclaim happily. I was planning on going during our winter break, but as my plans had changed and I was expected to spend my break at Malfoy manor I hadn't been sure I would be able to visit his shop. I had already finished to potion, the only ingredients that were missing were the beans of the abrus precatorius.

"He is very private, as some of the products he sells aren't exactly, well, legal. Not that I buy those items of course-" he stops talking and scratches his head, giving me an awkward smile.

"It's fine Neville, I'm glad you thought of me. Do you want to meet up at Hogsmeade?"

"Shall we meet at Dogsweed and Deathcap at three?"

"Perfect, I'll see you there," I smile.

"Okay, great. I'll see you then," he says, giving me a little wave and walking back into the great hall. As I want to walk back in again as well, I notice Harry walking down the stairs with Hermione. Her hair was put up in a rather messy bun, her eyes still puffy, the expression on her face still incredibly sad looking.

However a small smile grew on her lips when she noticed me, nudging Harry who had seemed deep in thought. He looked up right away as she said something, his eyes finding mine. I bit my lip, suddenly feeling very nervous. As they were getting closer, I didn't know what to do. Should I pretend to ignore them? Do I stand still and wait for them? Is it okay to speak to them? There were a lot of students walking in and out the great hall, a lot of eyes surrounding us.

"Good morning Zara," Hermione said softly as they stopped in front of me.

"Good morning. Are you feeling a little better?" I ask her, although it was quite obvious she didn't feel good, it felt rude not to ask her.

"Not really, but I will be okay," she smiles. "I will make up an excuse for you Harry, but don't stay away too long, okay?" she says as she turns to Harry, who had just been staring at me. He just nods, not looking away from me.

"I really want to kiss you again," is the first thing he says as Hermione walks away, a playful smile on his lips.

"Well, good morning to you too," I grin.

He laughs; "I'm sorry, but it's been all I could think about this morning."

I look around us, seeing if there is a place we could hide, when I notice the tall and broad statue Harry had pulled me behind a few weeks ago, and nod at him to follow me, which he does with the biggest smirk on his face.

The second we are hidden away, his lips touch mine. His hands finding my hips again, his grip however a lot tighter than last night, which I didn't mind at all. His kiss seemed a lot more needy, which made me very happy, as he seemed to want me as badly as I want him.

When he pulls away, he sighs softly, one of his hands moving up to stroke the side of my cheek.

"I want to take you out on a proper date, if that's okay with you?"

"I would love that."

I take the two strands that are attached to the dark blue hoodie he was wearing, playing with them.

"Harry, I do have a question for you," I say, my voice trembling ever so slightly. I wanted to ask him about Draco, because I knew we had to discuss it at some point, especially now that he has officially asked me out. But I was afraid. We had a really nice thing going on now, and the last thing I wanted to do now was changing anything about that.

"What is it?" he asks, still stroking my cheek. His expression was a little more serious now, his eyebrows furrowing, probably picking up at my anxiety.

"I just wondered why you never asked me about my engagement to Draco," I mumble, avoiding eye contact, keeping my instead on the strings that I was playing with.

"I heard about it, of course. But I assumed it was arranged, Hermione told me it was very common with families like yours. I knew you and Malfoy were friends, so it didn't make sense to me that over a course of six weeks you would've suddenly fallen so deeply in love you decided to get engaged," he chuckles.

"But doesn't it bother you?" I ask him, dropping the strings and looking up at him.

"It does, I have been thinking about it constantly actually. Every time I see the two of you together, or see that ring around your finger. It bothers me a lot."

I put my hand on which I am wearing my engagement ring behind my back, suddenly very aware on the piece of jewelry around my finger.

"Why did you never say something?"

Harry pulls back my hand, taking it in his and squeezing it.

"What bothers me is that you are forced to marry someone at such a young age, and that you have absolutely no say in the matter. I tried to come up with possible explanations for it, but none seem logical to me- I- I just know that I would be in your situation, I would feel like I'm suffocating. Like you are being caged in," he rattles on.

I felt a tear rolling over my cheek, because this was the first time someone seemed to understand that that was exactly how I was feeling. While all of our friends knew Draco and I didn't want any of this, they got excited whenever the wedding was mentioned. They all seemed fine with it, and while it may be something we all knew would be our fate, that didn't mean that when the moment actually arrived, you would have peace with it.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to- I'm sorry-"

I shake my head, more tears forming in my eyes.

"No, it's okay. You are right, I do feel like I am suffocating. I feel like I am losing my damn mind. I just- I don't know what to do," I stammer. "But I want you to know that I don't love him, not like that at least. And that I really, really like you. I want to go on dates with you, and hold your hand. I want to be able to cheer you on during your quidditch games, and I want to kiss you all the time. And I really need you to know that," I continue as I wipe away the tears staining my cheeks.

Harry kisses me again, a soft, short kiss this time. But it was sweet, and it calmed me down.

"I want that as well, I really do. But we can't, can we? Not openly."

I shake my head. No, we couldn't. We would never be able to. 

Sooooooooo, a few more chapters until things will be getting a bit more dark and serious. I am really looking forward to writing Zara's stay at Malfoy manor during winter break, since I have a lot of ideas for it. It is really going to change the tone of the book for which I am very excited, and I hope you will like it as well <3