Roommates

15. The First Date

Hermione's POV

I stood in front of the mirror nervously picking at my hair. I had it pulled to the side in a French-turned fishtail braid that complimented my off the shoulder red dress.

Am I dressed up enough? Would he be expecting something more formal? Finally I just took a deep breath and decided that if he wanted something better he'd just have to tell me. I stepped into my silver studded heels and walked out of my bedroom.

Draco stood up the second he saw me enter the room.
"Wow Mione.. you look beautiful," He whispered.

I blushed. "Why are you whispering?" I said quietly.

Draco just chuckled. "You almost made me speechless."

"Almost?" I asked and walked over to him.

"Well if that dress had been any shorter I probably would've been quite speechless." He smirked.

I popped him on the shoulder.

"Shall we go?" He asked.

I nodded my head and took his arm. Within seconds we were spinning away.

We arrived at our mystery location and I took a second before opening my eyes. I could hear water moving in the distance, and the sound of waves crashing against the shore to my left. The smell of saltwater lingered in the air.

I opened my eyes and was immediately taken aback by the most beautiful sight I'd ever been witness to. We were in a cove, obviously somewhere in the Bahamas as the water was a bright blue. It seemed like there was a natural wall of rocks surrounding the whole cove, and at the far end was a waterfall. The sunset had a gorgeous purple hue making everything look all the more fairytale like.

"Do you like it?" Draco asked, smiling down at me.

"Oh Draco.. it's beautiful!" I exclaimed. "But where are we going to eat?"

Draco laughed,"Turn around love."

Behind us I noticed a large crescent shaped cave. It wasn't dark however, as there were candles floating all along the inside. In the center was a small table and 2 chairs. We walked over to it and sat down.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"This is the only natural place of its kind. A long time ago a meteor crashed into a small island, and exploded into many pieces. The indent created that little beach in front of us, and the rocks you see outlining the cove are the remains of the meteor." He explained.

"Well if this is the island, then how is there a waterfall coming over the rocks?"

"Technically right now we're under the island, or what's left of it. The ocean is taking the island back, and the water that's covering it is falling over the rocks. Pretty soon this place won't exist anymore." He said patiently.

"That's so interesting!" I gushed. Just then my stomach started growling. How embarrassing!

Draco only laughed again. "I take it you're hungry?"

"Starving."

Draco snapped his fingers three times, a very short man with a long grey beard appeared holding a large tray of food.

"You called sir?" He asked in a thick Italian accent.

"Yes Mr Roswell, my date and I are ready for dinner." Draco said kindly.

The man - Mr Roswell I presume - sat the tray in front of us, and I saw that it was laden with food; all Italian. My mouth watered at the sight of it.

"Thank you sir." I said. He bowed at both of us and with a snap of his fingers he was gone again.

Draco and I filled our plates with the delicious food and began to eat. We must've sat there for hours just talking and laughing like we'd known each other our whole lives. I guess we sorta did know each other but certainly not very well. After a while the conversation died out and we sat in silence, just observing each other and the beautiful scene surrounding us.

Draco stood up and held out his arm,"Walk with me?"

I wrapped my arm around his and we left our little cave. The sun had set already, so we walked along the beach under the cover of a thousand shiny stars. It was nice, the two of us walking, silent except for the sound of the ocean. Very romantic. Eventually Draco stopped walking and pointed up to the sky.

"Do you see that little group of stars right there?" He asked. I followed his finger and saw a small constellation, that looked to be a very simplistic dragon.

"Yes," I answered.

"That's the constellation that I was named after. Draco." He said, still looking up at the sky.

I didn't say anything, just watched him standing there. The way the moonlight shined off his pale hair and skin was beautiful, like a work of art. After a few moments he turned and looked at me, and I saw a deep thoughtfulness in those stormy grey eyes of his.

"Would you like to sit?" He asked, but before I could answer he took off his suit jacket and laid it over the sand revealing a short sleeved grey button up.

We sat down on his jacket and as he looked into the ocean I looked at him. I traced every feature of him with my eyes, really taking him in for the first time. Of course that's when I saw it, the mark. It was faded on his left forearm, mostly grey and unmoving.

"Does it frighten you?" He whispered. I tore my eyes away from the mark to look up into his face. There he wore a look of disgust, not towards me but to himself.

Without thought I took out my wand and removed the concealment charm I had on my scar. Mudblood.  The hideous thing that has tormented me ever since I received it. Although tonight, it didn't feel quite so ugly.

Draco watched with wide eyes as I grabbed his left arm and pressed my lips onto the mark that had haunted him for so long.

"Our scars do not define us," I whispered.

After a moment, Draco grabbed my arm and kissed my scar. He then pulled me into a hug, one that felt almost desperate.

It was there that I fell asleep, wrapped up in Draco Malfoy's arms, under the stars, on a beach that was fading away.