the girl with all of the choices

t h i r t y - s i x

5200 words

january second- returning to hogwarts, circa 1996.

The sun was shining brightly when I opened my eyes. I wanted to relish in it as much as I could, but I soon remembered why I couldn't.

January second.

We go back to Hogwarts today.

Part of me wanted to go back to school. I wanted to see my friends, and of course, Hogwarts was my home.

But another part of me wanted to stay. I had a terrible feeling that once we went back to school, Draco and I wouldn't be the same. Everything was perfect in this little pocket of the world that we had been inhabiting. No judgement, no outside opinions. Just us.

Not anymore.

I lifted my head off of the pillow to see the clock. 9:17 am. We still had to pack, eat breakfast, get ready, and get to King's Cross before 10:30. We had to get up or we would be late.

I tried to slowly sit up, but Draco's arms were around my waist. He wrapped them tighter around me as I moved, pulling me back down into the bed.

"Draco comes on," I said quietly. "We have to get up or we'll be late."

He grumbled and pulled me back towards him tighter so that my back was against his chest.

"Draco, let me go." He didn't move. "It's after 9, we have to get up now."

He kissed my neck lazily, groaning into my skin. "I don't want to go back," he complained, resting his head in my hair.

"We have to," I insisted.

"No, we don't."

"Come on, Draco. Please just let me go. You can stay in bed for a few more minutes but I need to get ready now," I said, placing my hands on top of his to try to free myself.

"But you're so warm," he whined in a sing-song voice that resembled that of a child trying to barter with their parent.

"You can use the blankets to keep warm," I said, putting all of my energy into pulling his hands off of me. Merlin, he's really strong. I finally was able to get them off of me for long enough to sneak out of bed. "Ha! Didn't know you were that strong," I smirked down at him.

He quickly lunged over to my side of the bed, reaching for my wrist, but I was too fast.

"I thought seekers were supposed to be fast?" I teased.

"I thought girlfriends were supposed to like staying in their boyfriends' arms," he sneered at me.

"You know I would if I could," I said, starting to get ready.

He grumbled again and then rolled over so he was laying on his stomach.

"Come on, Draco. You have to pack all of your things."

"I don't want to leave," he whined into the mattress. "Everything is going to get complicated when we go back. There are too many people. If we stay here, everything stays perfect."

I abandoned my task and walked over to him, sitting on the edge of the bed so I could still escape if he tried to pull me back in. I ran my fingers through his hair, trying to reassure him any way I could, but he had a point. Still, it wasn't realistic to think we could stay here.

"Everything is going to be fine," I mused. "We will be fine. And if something does go wrong, we will always have this holiday to think back on. Nobody can take that away from us. Okay?" I ruffled his hair teasingly. "You really do have to get up though. Mum will kill us if we're late."