Always - Welcome to the Wizarding World

Part 33

It was the final day of my first year at Hogwarts and I was exhausted, to say the least. Everything was packed and ready to go onto the train. Noctem had been retrieved from the Owlery and put back in her cage. Everything was ready to go, except me. I felt like if I left here, I would be leaving Cedric behind. I knew it was a silly thought because I knew he would always be with me, but Cedric died here. Not only that, he loved this place. If he had the opportunity to spend eternity anywhere, I knew he would choose Hogwarts. I had to remember, I'm coming back . Within a matter of weeks, I would be with him again. 

I had been searching for Zarah all day and now that we had to board the train, I really needed to find her. I rushed down into the entrance hall, laden with bags, to look for her and there she was, sat on the steps with Blaise, her hand in his. I crept up behind them, both of them far too engrossed in one another to notice.

"And you promise you'll write to me every day?"

"I promise, Blaise, how many times?" I cleared my throat loudly and they both jumped apart from me suddenly. Blaise stood up from the step and kissed Zarah's hand. 

"I have to get my trunk. See you on the train" he said, walking back down to the dungeons.

"See you!" Zarah called after him. I smiled at her, happy that she had found love.  She deserved it. I perched next to her on the marble step.

"You two seem very close!" I teased. She nodded bashfully, dragging her foot across the floor dreamily.

"I love him, Ray. So much, like how you loved..." She stopped and I hung my head solemnly. I had been trying so hard to keep him out of my mind. "Sorry, I keep forgetting". I shook my head at her, forgiving, and patted her arm.

"Don't worry, so do I". 

We stood up, bags in hand and made our way down to the train along with the others hordes of students, loading our bags and then beginning to search for a free compartment. We had walked past hundreds of full compartments when we had reached the very last carriage and I felt a hand grab my t-shirt, pulling me inside a compartment. Before I even saw who it was, I knew.

"Draco, you need to stop doing that! I'm going to hurt myself!" I joked. He grinned slyly at me, his hair falling in eyes. Zarah walked into the compartment too, seating herself in the space next to Blaise. They both threw themselves onto each other and started making out fiercely. Draco and I cringed and turned away, hiding our faces and chuckling at them. Then, I heard the train whistle loudly and I felt the roll of the wheels beneath me. We set off back to London. Before we had got five miles into the journey, Draco leaned in close to me to whisper something.

"I need to tell you something, Ray. Something important" he murmured. I giggled nervously at his severity. 

"Go on, then" I replied in hushed tones. He glanced over at Zarah and Blaise, who were deep in conversation, and shook his head at me. 

"In private". I nodded and slid the compartment door open, both of us slipping through it, going unnoticed by the other two. Draco led me along the carriage until we reached the section that joins two carriages together. There was no one in the corridors of the carriage anyway, but I guessed that he wanted us to be close. We were very close indeed, the gap between the carriages was so tiny that our chests were touching, Draco's chin almost resting on my head. 

"So, what is it that you wanted to tell me?" I asked. Draco took a deep breath and then gazed deeply into my eyes, the emerald jewels dazzling me just like they have always done.

"Radia, before I met you, I thought I didn't have the capacity to care for anyone other than myself and my mother". I smiled nervously, my heart beating fast. I could predict what he was about to say, what I was hoping he would say. But I daren't interrupt him. I wanted to hear it from his lips. 

"The first time I saw you at the Quidditch World Cup, I was ridiculously captivated by you and that utter awe has stuck with me since that moment. When I saw you again on the train, I knew that I couldn't let this opportunity pass me by. My friends all suspected that I had feelings for you, saying they could "see a change in me" and they were right. You've brought out the very best in me, Ray. I know that I will never meet another girl like you again and I know it hasn't been long since Cedric..., but I'm just going to go for it because I'll regret it if I don't". Draco reached his hand up and put it against my cheek. "Radia, I think I'm in love with you". 

My heart leaped with happiness, I was filled with warmth, I felt like I would melt. I had been longing to hear those words and I felt such sweet release that he had finally said it. He grinned contently at me and guided my face towards his, our lips colliding, a sensation I had been longing to relive since Christmas Day. God, was it worth the wait! Sparks exploded inside me and a fire ignited in my heart. I yearned for this euphoric moment between us to last forever. His hands ran softly through my hair, making my entire body tingle. I never realized until now just how much I loved him. I was completely and utterly in love with him; I loved him so much. All this time, This was what real, true, sincere love felt like. 

"I love you too, Draco" I whispered, gripping his hair in my fingers. He chuckled throatily.

"Thank God" he murmured deeply in my ear, kissing me again. His illustrious taste of peppermint tingled on my lips and I wanted so badly to taste him again, but I knew we had to go back to our compartment some time. I placed my hand firmly on his shoulder, pushing him back and he looked disappointed, pouting at me sweetly. 

"To be continued. But, for now, we should get back. They'll be wondering where we are". He nodded regretfully and I led him back to our compartment. We sat as close as we could without making our recent burst of passion obvious to the other two in our compartment. That confirmation that we loved each other was sustained by our conjoined hands, our frequent secret glances and the taste of his lips had that had remained on mine. I knew now that I needed nothing else, as long as he was alive.