Little Bird

Chapter Thirty-Two

Eve

            When I woke up the next morning, I was tangled in Draco's arms with my head resting against his chest. I tilted my head up sleepily to look at him, and I saw that he hadn't noticed I was awake; Draco was sitting up with his head leaning against the headboard, his right hand skimming over my shoulder absentmindedly as he looked out the window beside us with slightly swollen eyes. In that moment, I didn't remember what had happened, and so my lips turned up into a small smile.

            But then I remembered.

            The smile disappeared in an instant and I closed my eyes for half a second, the images of the Dark Lord standing in front of me burned into the backs of my eyelids—as though I would never be able to forget them. I could still hear him speaking to me, like his cold voice was stuck inside my ears even after I had slept.

            "Evelyn Hawkings...I must say, I'm disappointed..."

            I opened my eyes again and shifted against Draco, tucking my arms under my chin so I was still lying on his chest. He finally blinked and looked away from the window, tilting his head forward slightly so he could look down at me. Draco exhaled quietly and, his face mere inches from mine, whispered, "Hey."

            "Morning," I replied softly, my voice cracking and sounding so strained that it was barely detectable.

            And then for a long time, we just stared at each other. I looked into his pale grey eyes without saying anything, seeing the red rim around his irises and his swollen lids. My eyes traveled down the smooth length of his nose, fixing my gaze on his lips—seeing how they were parted slightly, his breath escaping out into the air soundlessly. I lifted my head up then and pressed my lips to his, kissing him for a few seconds longer than usual. When I pulled away again and opened my eyes, Draco had leaned forward slightly as though he hadn't wanted me to stop.
            Instead of saying anything right away, he reached over with one hand and brushed away a few strands of hair that had fallen in front of my eyes, his fingertips skimming over my forehead and making my cheeks turn slightly pink. His palm was warm against my cheek as he said quietly, "I love you."

            I held his hand against my cheek and said without even having to think, "Love you, too."

            And saying it in that moment, I could see that it meant much more to Draco than it usually did.

            We probably would have stayed that way for a lot longer, just looking at each other, if my stomach hadn't suddenly growled loudly.

            But it finally made the two of us smile for the first time in what felt like ages, and Draco grinned down at me and asked, "Are you hungry?"

            "Apparently," I told him, rolling my eyes and sitting up. "Sorry. I didn't eat dinner."

            "Oh," Draco replied a bit guiltily, sitting up as well and swinging his legs off the bed. He stood and moved towards his wardrobe to find a clean shirt, while I pulled my hair up into a bun to get it off my face. Draco was rummaging around inside with his back to me as he said over his shoulder, "We can go down and eat. My parents probably aren't home."

            "Okay," I said, not knowing what else to say. I decided not to ask where else his parents could be—I wasn't entirely sure I wanted to know. Instead, I sat on his bed with my legs crossed, rubbing my bare arms a bit from the chilly morning air.