𝐮𝐧𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 | 𝐝.𝐦

𝟖𝟔

Kaimana Valencia | April 1997

"Come sit on my lap, darling." Draco patted his lap, sitting in front of her on the bed. "I just want to hold you." He was leaning against the headboard.

Kaimana blinked at him with a mouthful of cheese. "Now?" she blurted, quickly chewing her food

He nodded, putting his arms out for her. He crossed his legs by the ankles, and she had told him shoes off the bed.

"But my cheese?" Her brows pinched together, gesturing at the food tray next to her on the bed.

"I just want to hold you, and then you can continue to eat, okay?" His voice softened, gentle in her ears. "I'll even get you grapes. Cheese and grapes are lovely together."

She stuffed another cube of cheese in her mouth and grabbed more cubes in her hand before ditching the food tray. She crawled to him and straddled him, plucking a cheese cube from her palm and feeding it to him.

"Your mum has the fancy kind of cheese," she said, plopping another cube in her mouth, "Very... delectable."

He smiled, amused. His hands circled around her waist to tug her closer until their lower stomachs touched. He leaned in and dropped a chaste kiss on her mouth before her forehead.

"What's the need for wanting me to sit on your lap?" she asked, curious. "You usually sit on my lap. Did you choose to be the pants of the relationship today?" She was kidding, maybe.

"We barely get to do things like this," he said grimly, "You know, like cuddle and just snuggle together like a normal couple." He pulled her in all the way once she finished her cheese. His well-defined arms tightly gripped her body, hugging her into him.

She rested her head against his chest, her arms sealing around his neck. She shifted upwards on his lap, so she was closer to him. "I know," she said softly. "Because we're not normal—the situation we're in is not normal."

One of his hands slipped beneath her shirt. "Once this is all over, I'm going to be with you every second of every day at Hogwarts," he murmured into her hair, his fingers tracing up and down on her bare back. "I'm going to show you off and kiss you and hug you and eat meals with you and Zaiyah—we won't have to be a secret."

She suppressed a shudder at his electric touch. "So you admit we're a secret?" She tried to make his mood lighten.

And she smiled when he chuckled gently. "I suppose we are a secret," he admitted, kissing her head ardently. "But it's all for a good reason. You understand that, right?" His same hand lowered to one of her bum cheeks, giving it a light slap before just holding her cheek in his palm. He kept his other arm across her back to hold her against him.

"I know. I understand," she whispered, tilting her head to meet his eyes. She leaned forward and kissed his lips. "I can't wait until we can be us in front of everyone—not just behind closed doors."

"I'll second that." He grinned, his loving eyes lighting up with joy. "I'm going to kiss you before and after classes. I'm going to hold your hand when we walk to classes, during classes, and to meals, and basically everywhere. I'm going to hug you whenever I feel like a hug—which is very often since we happened. I'm going to feed Zaiyah when we eat dinners, lunch, and breakfast. You and I could cuddle on the couches in the library and common rooms. We can see each other without the sneaking around. We can do homework together wherever we want with Zaiyah with us."

She was smiling as she listened to his little rant. "We can be us," she whispered, her lips grazing his. Her chest was flooding with warmth.

He smiled sweetly and nodded. "We can be us." His was voice soothing.