WHERE RED MEETS WHITE

𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗻𝗲

A few songs later, a slow song played and Alexei pulled me close to dance with him. We were off to the side of the dance floor, quite far from the rest of the students. I put my hands on his chest and swayed to the music.

His hands were back on my waist and I didn't seem to mind too much considering we were attending the dance as friends. While we were dancing, we were talking more about his life at Durmstrang and his family.

Alexei's smile wiped off his face and I turned back to see what was bothering him. My eyes landed on Malfoy storming towards us, leaving a very angry Pansy Parkinson alone. This was not going to end well.

"Get your hands off of her," Malfoy snarled and tried to remove Alexei's hands off my waist.

Around us, people started to stare. Scarlett and Dean looked as if they would step in at any moment I needed them. With one look, I told them to stand down. It was just Malfoy, I could handle him.

"Malfoy, you're causing a scene. What are you doing?" I muttered. He never answered me and I studied his face. He looked so mad, like he was about to burst any second. I watched his hands clench into fists as he continued to try and take Alexei's hands off of me.

Alexei's hands remained on my waist, "What are you? Her boyfriend?"

Malfoy was about to respond when I broke out of Alexei'a grasp to grab Malfoy by the ear, "No, he most certainly is not! I'll be right back, Alexei, stay here."

Still holding Malfoy firmly by the ear, I started to make my way out of the Great Hall. As we were leaving, I saw Ron and Harry sulking alone on some chairs behind the dance floor.

"Oi! What's going on?" Ron yelled when we passed him.

"Don't worry about it," I responded and walked out the hall. There were way too many couples outside kissing, one of them being Gia and Cedric, who stopped as soon as they saw me. Gia sent me a concerned look but I waved her off and continued dragging Malfoy.

Unfortunately, there was a less happy sight on the staircase outside the Great Hall. Hermione was balling her eyes out.

"Hermione!" I called out, still keeping my hand on Malfoy. "Is everything alright?"

She shook her head, "Ronald spoiled everything!"

I glanced between her and Malfoy before saying, "I'll be back in a few minutes. I need to deal with Malfoy. Wait here for me, okay?"

She nodded silently so I walked out into the courtyard of the school.

It was snowing wildly outside but I managed to find a undercover section in the courtyard.

"Can you finally let me go?" Malfoy grumbled. "My ear hurts!"

After pinching his ear one last time, I decided to release my hold on him and stared at him, "Malfoy, honestly, what is going on with you?"

"You look nice," Malfoy ignored my question and looked at my dress.

"Nice?" I replied sarcastically. "Thanks."

He cursed under his breath, "I don't mean nice... I just can't find the words to describe how breathtakingly beautiful you look right now."

His words warmed my heart and I blushed immediately, "What are you on about, Malfoy?"

I looked at him in the moonlight. Taking in what he was wearing, black velvet dress robes and a high collar. He looked very attractive. The snow falling fast behind him made him look even more attractive.

"I have something to say," he lowered his voice.

"Get on with it then," I encouraged him. "It's freezing and I want to get back to the dance."

Malfoy opened his mouth to respond but then closed it. He repeated his several times until I put my hands on my hips and gave him a bored look.

His hands flew to his head in frustration and he grabbed onto his hair, "I've been trying for so long to try to explain to you what I've been feeling with no success but when I saw you walk down those stairs tonight, it just felt like everything fell into place. Do you know what I'm saying?"

"I don't, Malfoy," I cleared my throat awkwardly. "Is that all you had to say? Alexei's waiting for me."

I added silently that Hermione was also waiting for me. There was so many other places I needed to be right now, as opposed to being here facing Malfoy.

Malfoy scowled, "Right, Alexei."

His expression turned serious suddenly, "You shouldn't be with Alexei tonight."

"Why not?" My eyebrows furrowed.

"Because you should be with me," Malfoy blurted out and I stared at him bewildered. "I-I mean I want to be with you. I want to be with you and I'm going mental seeing you with all these other blokes. You should be with me, not them. I don't know what it is about you, Weasley but everything feels right when I'm around you. I wish you'd see me in the same light and not just as a bloke who says horrible things about your family and your friends. I want to get to know each other better because you truly seem like a person worth getting to know. I hate myself for upsetting you and I regret when I humiliated you in the Great Hall. Just give me a chance to redeem myself, that's all I'm asking."

His words meant so much to me. I was so overwhelmed with what he just said and all the thoughts running through my mind. I don't know what possibly came over me but I leapt forward and kissed him.

The kiss was short as Malfoy didn't register what was happening. I broke the kiss and toyed with my fingers awkwardly.

"That was... wow, I was not expecting that," Malfoy grinned.

"What were you expecting?" I looked up into his eyes.

His grin remained on his face, "I thought you were going to slap me."

"I thought about it," I joked. "But I thought, why not give you a chance to speak?"

"I appreciate it."

I took a step back from Malfoy, "It's going to take me some time to get past the things you've done to the people I love most, so for now we can just be friends."

Malfoy nodded repeatedly, "I can work with that. You will not regret this."

"I better not," I sighed and fixed my dress. Malfoy didn't look like he had anything to say so I figured it was time for me to go comfort Hermione before joining Alexei at the dance again.

I turned on my heel to walk back in the direction of the dance when I felt Malfoy grab onto my arm and spin me back to face him.

Our bodies were touching and I stared at him, eyes wide. Without saying anything, he leaned down and kissed me passionately.

We held onto the kiss for a while and when I tried to leave, Malfoy pulled me in even closer.

When we finally broke apart, after what felt like minutes, Malfoy's eyes were glued to mine.

"I do mean it," He said softly. "You look beautiful tonight."

I rolled my eyes playfully. There was nothing left to say but my head was spinning. Malfoy broke our eye-contact and left me standing without another word.

I sat on a bench nearby and tried to control my breathing. I tried to process everything that happened tonight. I kissed Malfoy, again. Now we're friends. I no longer hate him, even though I don't think I ever truly did. He wants to make up for everything. I can't possibly let anyone know. They wouldn't understand.

"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL JUST HAPPENED?" A voice yelled and my face paled. I turned my head to see the shocked faces of Scarlett and Gia.