Battle Scars {Draco Malfoy}

Chapter Forty Nine

Clara had her elbow resting on the table in Herbology, her head propped up in her hand as she tried to focus on the lesson at hand that Professor Sprout was discussing, but she found it increasingly hard. Especially with Draco sitting beside her with his hand resting on her leg. Goosebumps had long cascaded down her legs from the sensation of his thumb rubbing back forth on her thigh. He hadn't said anything to her the entire morning, but was more affectionate in his body language than he had ever been.

There was obviously something on his mind that he wanted to talk about but with classes, it seemed the two of them were going to have to wait. Clara assumed it had to do with plans after Hogwarts, as the end of the year seemed to draw closer and closer without the two of them realizing and without making any plans fr what would happen after graduation it seemed the two were nervous. Clara wasn't sure what her parents were going to say about the matter, she had informed both of them in a letter that she was dating someone, but she hadn't disclosed the name.

She figured if she had given the name that her parents were going to flip out. Everyone knew who the Malfoy family  was and certainly her parents were among those people. They were going to panic as soon as they heard the name and she didn't want to put Draco through any of that.

Draco peeked out of the corner of his eye , stealing a glance at Clara who was writing down her notes neatly, seemingly focused on the Herbology lesson. He hadn't heard a word since Professor Sprout had started speaking since the beginning of class. He couldn't bring himself to focus. The only thing that could keep him calm was running his hand back and forth on her leg. He was going to bring up the idea of meeting his parents after the graduation, but he wondered if she wanted him to meet her parents first.

He wondered if her parents even knew about him.

His parents certainly didn't know about Clara, but it was because he wasn't sure how they were going to react.

He didn't want anyone to be mean to Clara, and if his parents didn't like her, there was a very high probability that she would be met with hostile reactions. Clara had a very kind and soft demeanor, one that Draco wasn't so familiar with. His mother was the nicer one of his parents, but to keep appearances, she hadn't been the warmest a mother could be during the later years. His Aunt Bellatrix often said everyone was too soft on Draco that he need more responsibilities as he grew older.

He shuddered thinking of his deranged and devoted aunt.

Clara turned her head to face him as she felt him shake. 

"Are you alright?" she mouthed to him. 

"Yes." he replied quietly with a nod of his head.

The two were desperately waiting for class to end so they could finally speak and as soon  Professor Sprout dismissed them an hour later, Draco took a hold of Clara's hand and led her outside of the greenhouse.

"Are you sure you're alright, Dr-" she didn't get a chance to say anything else as Draco pulled her into him and brought her into a kiss. She let out a slight squeak in surprise before she felt Draco take a gently grip of some of her hair.

A minute later, he abruptly pulled away leaving the two breathless for a moment.

"Well, that's one way of saying hello." she said first as she looked at him with a smile.

"Sorry..I ...just...I've been wanting to do that all class."

"I'm not complaining. But I was going to ask if you're alright? You haven't said much today."

"I have something to say I'm just not sure how to say it."

"You can just blurt it out." Clara told him.

He gave her a small grin. "Hogwarts is ending soon."

"Jumping right into it..."

"And..and...well, I guess it's all about what happens with us after here....what do you want to do?" he asked her.

"That was definitely blurting it out." Clara said taking a deep breath. "But I've been wanting to talk to you about this as well. Do you..do you want to go sit down somewhere and talk?"

"Sure."

The two sat in the grass and for a moment they were quiet as they weren't sure who should start.

"My parents know about you , but they don't...know about you." Clara admitted to him right off the bat.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, they know I'm dating a boy in Slytherin but they don't know your name."

"You left that part out?"

She nodded with a guilty expression. "I'm sorry, Draco, I just...I didn't want to spring it on them..I wanted to introduce you in person..."

"No, I'm not upset!" he told her quickly. "I understand..you're better than me...my parents don't know."

"Do you think they'll be angry?"

"I honestly have no idea how they're going to react Clara and that's why I'm so bloody nervous about all of this."

She leaned into him. " It's going to be okay, Draco. Even if your parents don't like me, I'm not going to hold that against you and if my parents don't like you...I'm not going to hold that against you. I like to think I know who you are, and just because some people might think they know who I am and think they know who you are...well we know better, don't we?"

"It's just going to be a pain going around if our parents don't get along with this idea..." Draco said.

"What are you getting at?" Clara asked.

"Uh..."