(1) 𝐍𝐄𝐏𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐇𝐄 | d. m

Chapter eleven

Draco

September

When I returned to Hogwarts after the summer holidays, I thought I would be able to distract myself from whatever was going on in my life. Oh how wrong I was.

During the summer break, I had been Apparating and Disapparating back and forth between Malfoy Manor and Borgin and Burke's, where one of the cabinets stood. Borgin refused to help me at first, but I managed to change his mind by showing him the branded tattoo upon my arm. I told him that if he refused to help us, Fenrir Greyback, another Death Eater, would attack him. I think it's safe to say, that he cooperated fast enough.

I spent whatever time I had practicing and perfecting my non verbal jinx casting. Bellatrix helped me with my Occlumency, and soon enough, I was able to cast the Protean Charm, in order to communicate with Madame Rosmerta, who I had under the Imperius Curse. This was my moment, and I wasn't going to let anyone get in the way of completing the task I had been given. No matter how badly I wanted to escape my fate.

I had been spending so much time trying to figure out the best way to execute my mission, that nothing else seemed to matter anymore.

***

When school started again in September, I completely neglected to show up for Quidditch practice and one evening, I was forced to sit through detention with no other than Delaney Ross.

"Well, this is going to be great fun", she said, as we were polishing the old House cups. It was late, all too quiet, and the only real light we had came from the moon and our respective wands. Hers seemed to shine even more brightly than mine. I could sense her frustration as she was breathing heavily.

It stayed quiet for sometime, making the already confusing tension between us even more awkward. Finally, she opened her mouth to speak again.

"How are you holding up?". Her words confused me. Why was she asking how I was doing, when I had been nothing but cruel to her.

"What do you mean?", I said, curving my eyebrow and focusing my attention more on her than the cup in my hand.

"I mean, you seemed to be struggling pretty bad in class the other day". She chuckled, proud of her comment. I knew very well what she was referring to and had no intention of discussing it. Still, I said: "Yeah, some nutjob decided it was fun to cast a Levicorpus jinx on me". I smiled, but tried to hide the redness surfacing on my cheeks.

"Oh, are you telling me you didn't love being overpowered by a girl?", she was now switching her focus to a dark blue, rugged looking notebook. Her irises began to enlarge as she traced her finger upon its label.

"Adele Harrington". She paused, stared confusingly at the book in her hand, seemingly surprised by the name.

"Who is she?", I finally said, curious to know why she was acting more strangely than normal.

"My mother. Harrington was her maiden name". She kept her gaze upon it, not even looking at me while she spoke. "I had no idea she even went to Hogwarts".

"Well you are going to be more surprised by this then. Look". In the corner of my eye, in the middle of a old dusty bookshelf, stood a brass cup. It stood behind glass. "Seems your mother was more than just a student here". I handed her the cup, all the while looking into her emerald eyes that seemed to magnify with shock.

"I can't believe this. My mom... a Seeker". The cup seemed to shine in her hand, revealing the engraved name. She seemed proud by the new found information, and I don't think I had ever seen her so happy. I had forgotten how her presence made me feel; calm and - safe. When I was around her, everything seemed possibly, despite whatever dark shit was going on in my life.

"Now that you know that your mom was quite the athlete, don't you think it's time that you took more part in school activities? Unless you think all hundred of the extra courses you took last semester was enough?", I grinned, letting go of whatever predisposition to sound exasperated I had had.

She looked back at me, finally acknowledging that I was hung over her, looking at the cup. She smiled back, and that's when I made what would have been either the worst or best decision of my life.

I kissed her. It was a kiss that would remain on your lips for a long time after its done. It was warm and her lips tasted of green apples, a taste I had grown quite familiar with over the years. At first, she didn't hesitate to kiss me back, and it was powerful and passionate. Everything seemed to make sense in that moment, and all I could focus on was her, the softness of her lips and the warmth radiating from her body. It wasn't until it started to pour down outside, that our bodies separated.

"What was that for?", she said, smiling, but in a visibel state of confusion. Her eyes seemed to glisten in the wand light and I touched her hand gently, not wanting to scare her off again.

"I don't know. I guess I just wanted to do that.... And to shut you up a little bit", I chuckled and to my surprise, she responded by putting her other hand on top of mine, moving closer. As our eyes locked once more, she placed another gentle kiss on my lips. "Are you sure about this?". Her words caught me off guard at first, forcing me to think hard about what I was doing, and it took everything in me not to pull her in once more. Instead I just whispered:

"No... But that's what makes it so romantic". I couldn't believe my own words, a part of me feeling ridiculous and embarrassed, another part highly affected by the moment. The fact that I had kissed the one person I was meant to despise, made my heart feel like a broken down car being jump started. Everything was confusing and odd.... Yet, it also felt good —right.

***

Delaney

I could not, for the life of me, figure out why THE Draco Malfoy, the once rude and narcissistic daddy's boy, would ever kiss me. Of course, we had had that moment at the Manor, but he had made it completely clear that he wanted nothing to do with me. That I was disgusting and ugly.

I guess that Levicorpus jinx really did a number in him.

After having stood so close to him, taking in his warmth and scent, I realized that detention hours had ended long ago. We had stood there, quietly, for so long that we completely lost track of time. The morning person in me, struggled to understand that it was already 10 pm and I was still out of bed.

"Well, I guess I should go to bed then", I said, interrupting the silence. I was still smiling from ear to ear, a part of me hoping that this feeling would last at least until morning. How on earth, I would ever manage to fall asleep, I had no idea.

"Sure thing, Ross", said Draco, all the while keeping his intense grey eyes on mine. He was also smiling, but in a way only he could. I guess he still wanted to somehow maintain some of his normal demeanour. Still, something had changed within him, I could feel it.

And he wasn't the only one who was changing.