Emerald Waters

Chapter nine: The Malfoys

The following day, after our Library debut, Draco and I had plans to meet in the Great Hall for breakfast. When we walked in together it seemed that every head had turned to gaze at us. I tried not to look in their direction as Draco had his hand on my back and guided me to sit at the very end of the Gryffindor table. We figured my house table was safer than his and by sitting at the end, we hoped it would create less chaos. He sat close next to me and passed me a muffin, pumpkin juice, and scooped some eggs onto my plate.

"Thanks" I murmured, while I picked up my fork and played with my eggs on the plate. "Eat, darling" Draco said, giving me an empathetic look. I sighed and took a forkful of eggs to my mouth. Draco grabbed a few things for himself and began eating. He took a bite of a granny smith apple and I watched his every move. How could someone be this beautiful? He saw me out of the corner of his eye and flashed a brilliant smile at me. I felt like I was burning from the inside out. He looked down at his apple and then handed it to me for a bite. I shook my head. I dont know how he could be this calm, but it made me feel a little less on edge.

As we sat quietly, a swarm of owls came swooping over our heads. It was mail time. I didnt expect anything so I kept eating and took a sip of my pumpkin juice. Just then, Draco had an owl land directly to his right with a letter placed in its beak. "Bloody hell" he whispered, gritting his teeth. He took the letter from the owls beak and tightened his lip into the thinest line. "Whats wrong?" I asked quietly. "This is my parent's owl" he almost whispered. I could sense the anxiety creeping over him. I put my hand on his hand "its okay, maybe they're just checking in". "HA" he snorted, "they already know." My heart sank.

Draco opened the letter and read it quickly and then crumbled it up and put it in his pocket. He put his hands over his eyes and then ran them back through his blonde hair. He straightened up his shoulders and took a big deep breath. I stared at him waiting for him to say something. "Looks like we're going Malfoy Manor Friday night for dinner" he said with a tone of pure agitation.

I stared at him in complete horror. "We're going where?" My voice was trembling. He looked at me and put both hands on either side of my face "dont worry" he said calmly, "This might not be the worst thing, actually."

"But- but.." I was stuttering to get the words out. He placed a quick kiss on my lips and let his hands fall from my face into my hands. "Its going to be okay." He said half smiling.