Descendants of Magic

CHAPTER XXXVIII. - UNSTEADY FOUNDATIONS

I don't know what possessed me to do it but a part of me wanted to kiss Draco, to know how it feels, but after I peeled off myself from him and saw his expression, it felt wrong for some reason. Maybe I was just his childhood crush and he has no feelings for me anymore, and that's the reason he hasn't reacted in any way. I started to drop my hands which were pressed against his chest in order to support me on my toes and before a single "I'm sorry" left my mouth, my ears tingled upon hearing the low whisper that said I shouldn't dare to apologize, and my lips got sealed shut by warmth. The same warm presence that pressed me closer to his body and hugged me tight with his arms. Draco used his hand to hold me in place by putting it on my upper back, traveling slightly up to tangle his fingers in my hair. With his cold fingertips he gripped my chin to make me look up, his hand shifted to my face, resting his palm against my cheek.

The whole world seemed to disappear, or maybe we got teleported to somewhere where it's just the two of us. The loud chatter in the hallway was muffled and all I want is to get devoured by this warmth. Unfortunately I also need to breathe, so I tapped on Draco's chest slightly to let him know. He gave me a one last peck before separating from me, but keeping his hand on my cheek, brushing my lips with his thumb while staring straight into my eyes. It's the first time I saw Draco's eyes this close and the golden shimmer reminded me of honey being poured into my tea, making the taste in my mouth turn sweet.

Lost in his gaze, I felt strangely peaceful that people could be saying the meanest rumors about me and I wouldn't care, but we got interrupted by a familiar voice yelling at us, calling our names. As Nix got closer to us, his voice volume lowered and also his speech slowed down as he is telling us to hurry up or we will be late. I only twisted my head to look at Nix, so when Draco caressed my cheek, I turned back to watch him. He smiled at me and all the guilt from thinking that he doesn't like me anymore disappeared. Draco bent over to pick up my backpack that somehow fell off as we kissed and he tossed it over his shoulder to carry it for me. He took my right hand into his and interlocked our fingers, then started to walk away, making me pivot on the spot. I only noticed Nix's ooh as he pressed fingers against his mouth and pointed at us. After that my mind went blank and I had to fight tears that wanted to escape my eyes which were stuck staring at another person. Another type of guilt made my throat tighten as I watched Mr. Hale look at me with a weird, hurt expression, then simply averting his gaze from me and continuing to walk away.

We got into the combat grounds in no time. Nix ran off all giggling and I trailed with Draco next to my side. Arriving to the main crossroad of the combat ground area, I could hear the conversation Nix is having with Reilly. He kept looking smug and teasing Reilly about something, which she didn't like and she kept asking what the hell is he so excited about. Nix only nodded with his head at us, calling us that. Reilly is standing with her arms crossed in front of her chest, all annoyed at Nix but she turned around and saw me walking in with Draco. Her eyes saw me first and she smiled, then her gaze dropped on my hand which is tangled with Draco's, and with that, her jaw dropped too.

Reilly: What the hell is this supposed to be?

Draco: Exactly how it looks like.

If they'ev had such powers, there would be sparks of fire blasting between Draco and Reilly right now. I get that she might feel protective about me, since I didn't really have good experiences with people in my life, or men for that matter, but she should know Draco by now. Well, we haven't even said anything official about what we are now, but I guess that should be obvious after what happened in the hallway.

I shielded Draco with my own body and tried to stop Reilly from fighting him, but I got called by Professor Radock to get into the usual grounds and warm up. He also summoned the whole group, Draco, Reilly and Nix included. I started walking away with Nix but Reilly asked Draco to stay behind and talk. It felt like a bad idea to leave those two alone but Nix dragged me away while trying to calm me down, saying that everything will be fine. He exaggerated every word, especially the fineee part.