All I Ask Of You (Sequel to "The Point Of No Return (Draco Malfoy)"

Chapter Nine

“I’m not learning anything from Professor Umbridge.” I complained to Draco later that night. We sat together at the astronomy tower again. This time I wore warmer clothes.

            “It’s about time someone put these fools in their place.” He muttered. I crossed my arms.

            “We won’t be able to defend ourselves if she continues to teach us like this.” I tried. He shook his head.

            “I can’t believe I’m stuck in this pathetic excuse for a school.”

            I stayed silent. How could he hate Hogwarts so much? It was such a fascinating place to me. Before last year, I had no idea things this amazing could exist, but they do.

            I turned my body to lie on my stomach, holding myself up with my elbows. I swished my wand around in my hand, mumbling whatever words came to mind.

            “Lumos.” I said softly. A bright light glowed from the end of my wand and I waved my hand around, watching the light move with it.

            “This is the first spell you taught me… remember?” I asked him.

            He sighed. “I remember.”                      

            “Do you remember when you taught me to disarm my opponent? I thought I was going to kill you.” I giggled, but his face was still disconnected.

            “Or that time we got detention together? And then you…” I drifted off, avoiding an awkward moment.

            “Yes, I remember what I did.” I looked at him and small smirk crossed his face. Victory was mine.

            “Will you tell me something?” I asked. He nodded. “Why did you leave?” I asked softly.

            The smirk faded and was replaced by a look of pain, maybe even physical pain.

            “My life is very complicated…” He answered. I could tell he didn’t want to talk about it and I didn’t press any further on the topic.

            “So what are you doing now?” I tried. He stayed silent for a moment.

            “I just want you to know it wasn’t easy. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Sometimes I think I’m making it through, and then there’re nights that seem to never end.” He said quietly.

            I didn’t know what to say. I never thought it was hard for him. I thought he did it because he didn’t want to be around me. I thought he did it because he was selfish and only cared about himself.

            “I did it to protect you, Natalie.” He added.

            The light on my wand had been long gone and I let it fall from my hands. I sat up, looking him in the eyes. The usual, cold look was gone. Instead was a soft, warming color with flecks of gold. I could lose myself in those eyes forever.

            But I could hear my name being called and it pulled me straight out of my trance. “Natalie!” I heard again. I recognized Lucinda’s voice and shot up, running to the stairs. I looked over the railing and called her name.

            Aly was standing next to her. Lucinda raised her hands, obviously confused.

            “We didn’t know where you were!” Lucinda said.

            “I woke up and you weren’t there!” Aly added. “Are you coming to bed?” I hesitated before answering her. If I went now, Draco could be upset with me. If I didn’t, my friends could be.

            “Not yet, I think I’m going to sit up here a little longer.” I said. Aly and Lucinda looked at each other and then me.

            “Okay, we’re going to bed. Don’t be too long.” Lucinda answered. I sighed as they turned and made their way back down the stairs. I watched them until I couldn’t hear their footsteps any longer.

            “That was close.” I said and turned on my heel. Draco caught my wrists in his hands, standing directly behind me. His heavy breathing told me he was nervous, and he usually wasn’t.

            His eyes fixed on mine and my heart began to race. I could feel my lip begin to tremble and tiny, nervous bumps rose on my skin. His lips parted slightly and came closer and closer to mine.

            Then I heard my name again. “Natalie?” I immediately turned and ran for the stairs, leaving Draco behind. My feet moved so quick, I didn’t know I could run so fast down a flight of stairs.

            “Natalie? What in bloody hell are you doing?” Kay asked. I stopped to catch my breath. “Aly came to my room and said you were gone. We’ve been looking everywhere for you!” She exclaimed in annoyance.

            “I know, her and Lucinda were here a few minutes ago. I told them I’d be right down and they said that was fine.”

            She crossed her arms and turned to go back to her room. “Barmy gits.” She muttered. From my year spent in Scotland, I had learned many insults. In her case, she had said “idiotic, ignorant person”.

            I rolled my eyes and followed her down the stairs and back to the Slytherin common room. We snuck silently through the hallways and parted out separate ways when we passed her and Lucinda’s room.

            I opened my door quietly, careful not to wake Aly. But she wasn’t there. I didn’t know where she and Lucinda had gone after leaving the Astronomy Tower, but at that point I couldn’t care less.

            Draco Malfoy was going to kiss me. He was going to press his lips to mine and give in to the chemistry between us. Just the thought that he wanted it too drove me insane. I wanted to cry. Not because I was feeling sorry for myself for not kissing Draco, but because I had tried so hard to push away my feelings for him and forget about them.

            All I could do was hope that he wouldn’t forget about me; that he wouldn’t wake up tomorrow and regret meeting me; and that he would decide that nothing was going to stand in the way of him and me.