The Story of Venice Evans

A Sky Full of Stars

Draco held out his hand, and signalled for Venice to take it. She did, and put her other on his shoulder while he put his other on her waist. They swayed along with the music, and waltzed around the room with the other people. Every few seconds, Draco would see other guys his age (cousins, family friends and what not) take looks at Venice. Every time they would, he would grip Venice's waist a little tighter and pull her closer. He also shot them a dirty look, as to say 'Look at your own girlfriends, you idiots!' (he didn't say this out loud, of course). Draco never really thought about if he could call Venice his girlfriend. He didn't know what the etiquette was to that sort of thing. He shrugged the idea off his shoulders and got back to focussing on his dancing with Venice. A high note in the song approached, and Draco gripped Venice's waist and spun her in the air. He took a few more steps, and let go of her hand and spun her under his arm. Then, he held her behind her back and dipped her down, and touched her nose with his. She giggled as they stood back upright. His aunt, Bellatrix, was approaching with her 'date' and winked at Draco when Venice wasn't looking. Bellatrix spun off, and out of sight with her companion. The slow song stopped, and a faster paced one continued. "Evans, do you want a drink?" Draco asked Venice. "Yeah, I supposed so," she said with a smile. Draco went off to the drink table to get a couple drinks for them.

Venice took a seat at one of the tables that was off to the side of the room. She examined all the people dancing, and wondered what kind of relation they had to the Malfoys. Then, a girl with long brown hair came up to the table Venice was sitting at, and sat down. "Hi, Venice, I'm Starletta, the daughter of one of Lucius's friends. I just thought I'd come and say hi, my date has gone to get something to eat," the girl said. "Hi, it's nice to meet you. Draco has gone to get drinks as well, so I'd thought I'd sit down for a bit, I'm getting a little sore in this dress!" Venice said, laughing. Starletta laughed too. "Haha, I can relate to that. My dress is an absolute pain! I think it's a bit too tight in the corset area, mum must've pulled a bit too hard on the lace," she said. "I'm a Gryffindor, by the way. I'm going into sixth year, so I think that should be exciting," Starletta went on. "That's interesting, a lot of my friends are Gryffindors!" Venice said. A tall guy with light brown hair came up to the table, and sat beside Starletta. "Hi, Venice! I'm Jamie Collins, by the way," he said, sticking his hand out. Venice shook it. 'Boy, did he have a strong grip', Venice thought. "I've heard so much about you at school. That Imperius curse you set on Moody? I heard about that, and it sounded wicked!" Jamie said, sounding an awful lot like Ron. "He's a Ravenclaw, you see," Starletta said. Venice laughed. "I ought to think that we're the only ones who aren't in Slytherin. I can't imagine a Hufflepuff being here, I mean this is the Malfoys, right?" Starletta continued. They all laughed. Then Venice noticed Draco wandering around, obviously searching for her. "Draco!" Venice called. He looked over and saw where they were sitting, and he sat down. "Hey, guys," Draco said to Jamie and Starletta. Draco passed Venice a glass filled with a purple liquid. She took a sip, and never thought she had tasted something more sweet in her life. Yet, it was one of the most delicious things she had tasted, and took another sip. "So, what are your guy's plans for the summer?" Jamie asked them. "Not too sure, Collins. I'm hoping she'll let me teach her how to fly," Draco said to Jamie. "Wait wait wait, you've never flown before? Like on a broom?" Jamie said, surprised. Venice shook her head with a grin on her face. "Don't worry, I've only flown once. Complete disaster! These guys just don't want to tell you about the negatives. The first time I tried, I crashed right into a tree. Took my sister about half an hour to get my bloody shirt un-caught from a branch!" Starletta explained, laughing at the last bit. Venice laughed too. "Seems like something I'd do," she said. " I promise it's not that bad!" Jamie said. "Yeah, once you get the hang of it, it's the greatest. We can play Quidditch! Do you know how long I've been waiting for somebody to play Quidditch with me? Ages! Absolute ages!" Draco said to Venice. "You know, you guys should come over sometime this summer. I think it would be fun," Venice said. "Yeah, Jamie. Come on, you still haven't beat me yet in the race!" Draco agreed. "I'm sure we could come, right Stars?" Jamie said, turning to Starletta. "Of course!" She agreed. "Perfect," said Venice. A new song started, and Jamie said to Starletta, "Shall we dance?" "Yes, of course," she replied. "Talk to you guys soon!" Jamie and Starletta said in unison, walking away from the table.

"They seemed nice," Venice said to Draco. "Yeah, they're not too bad. Some of the other people in here are a bit annoying though, especially some of the bratty cousins I have," Draco said, laughing. "Do you want to go onto the roof?" Draco asked suddenly, after about a 2 minute pause. "The roof? Are we even allowed up there?" Venice asked him. "Of course! I go up there all the time, and my parents know. I promise, it's totally safe." He said, pulling her up with his hand. He whisked her off into one of the corridors on the main floor, so people wouldn't notice them going up the stairs in the entrance hall. They climbed a deserted set of stairs, then another, then one more. "Alright, Evans, just one more staircase and we're there!" Draco called, looking back at Venice, who was trying to catch her breath. "Are you- you- trying to ki- kill me?" She said, panting. She trudged after Draco on the last set of stairs (the 4th set, precisely). He opened a door at the top, to reveal a dark sky covered in twinkling stars. They could even see the clusters and clouds of stars, forming one of the arms of the Milky Way. Venice had always been fond of stars, and tilted her head all the way back to see the full panoramic view. Draco walked over to a shelf to pull out a blanket. "I always keep a few up here, you know," he said, laying it on the ground. Venice walked over to the blanket, and dropped to her knees, still looking up. Then, she leant back and stretched out her body on the blanket. Laying on her back, she had a perfect view of the stars. Draco came to lay beside her. He tilted his head to see hers. How could she lay down and stare at something as intricate as the sky, and look so beautiful? He reached out his hand to find hers, and intertwined his fingers with hers.

They lay there in silence for about 15 minutes, when they heard the faint voice of Mrs. Malfoy saying "Goodnight! Make sure to come back sometime soon!" from the front roundabout. Then they heard the sound if many cars pulling away, and the cracks of people apparating. "Draco, I think we should go back downstairs," Venice said quietly to Draco. They both got up, and Draco went to put the blanket back on the rack. They held hands all the way down to the balcony facing down on the entrance hall. They got a last glimpse of the final people, about to leave. Starletta and Jamie looked up and saw them, and waved. Venice and Draco waved back. "See you soon!" The two called, then left the manor. Mr. Malfoy came strolling from behind Venice and Draco, and said, "You two should go back to your rooms, I think a good nights sleep will do you good. Venice, you've had a long day, I would think that you must be tired," They walked toward the corridor that led them to their rooms, and paused once again before entering. "When we're all changed and in our pajamas, can we open up the wall?" Venice asked, with a puppy eyed type face. "I suppose so, Evans," Malfoy said, smirking.

Venice put on her lilac-purple silk pajamas, and went to brush her teeth in her personal bathroom (another feature of the grand Manor!). Draco went to go put on his dark grey silk pajamas, and do the same. Venice took the clip out of her hair, and put back into the little wooden box that Mrs. Malfoy had set on her dresser. "Draco, can I open the wall now?" Venice asked, smiling on the other side. "Alright, I guess so," Draco said. With a flick of Venice's sleek black wand, the wall disappeared, and she saw Draco standing right where the wall had once been. Venice tossed her wand back onto her bed, and ran toward Draco. She flung herself into his arms, and felt an over-joyous amount of energy overtake her body. "Shall we put on a bit of music?" Draco asked. "Why yes, of course! What a lovely idea," Venice agreed. With a swish of Malfoy's wand, a light tune started playing out of nowhere. Venice then noticed a small stereo lying on one of Draco's decorative tables. "Shall we dance?" He asked, putting out both of his hands. Venice took them at once, and they started swaying with the music like they had a few hours back. Draco felt a wave of adrenaline rush down the inside of his chest. It felt like there was a monster, purring gently inside of him. He didn't know how to make it stop, and suddenly, he felt the urge to, to-

Venice leaned in and kissed Draco full on the lips. Draco grabbed her by the waist and hoisted her in the air, still kissing her gently. Venice put her arms around his neck and started kissing him more passionately. The monster in Draco's chest purred even more, and his desire for Venice grew more and more. Draco thought about all the times before he had almost kissed her. All those times didn't even compare to now. He put her back on the ground, and put his arms behind her back and pulled her in closer. Venice pulled away slowly after a good 2 minutes of snogging, and giggled silently. "Come on, Evans, I think it's time for bed." Draco said, walking to his bed and retrieving his wand. He flicked it, and the music stopped. Draco went to lay down in his bed, and Venice came and snuggled in between his arms. Draco took his wand once more, and waved it to turn the lights off. "I really like you, Draco," Venice whispered. "I really like you too, Evans." He responded, and started stroking the hair out of Venice's eyes until they both fell asleep.