The Girl Who Lived (Draco Malfoy x OC)

The Beginning

September 10th 1996

Harper stared at herself in the mirror. Her hand ghosting over the deep purple hickey on her neck, then tracing her fingers up to her cheek, then lips. All places that Jack's mouth had been. She was furious at herself for being so weak. What poor excuse for a Gryffindor she made. As soon as Jack kissed her, she didn't know what to do. Again, her brain and heart battled, both sides hollering a hurricane of madness. As she tried to make a decision, her argument melted away, Jack's lips leading her into a dream that felt much nicer.

She couldn't stand the look in his eyes, the sound of his voice breaking. Knowing her decisions was doing it to him injected her bloodstream with a shameful poison. All she wanted was to fix what she had done, to make things better and take the pain away from Jack. Before she knew it they were fistfuls into each other, moaning and kissing for hours.

Today she had bruised, plump lips and a hickey as a result.

What did this mean for her and Jack? Making out with someone into the early hours of the morning didn't quite spell out 'it's over' to them. But for Harper it was, last night was an accident. A poor lapse in her judgement. Jack caught her off-guard and pulled her into a lustful reverie she found too inviting to resist.

She raised her wand, fixing it on her hickey. "Episkey," she whispered. After some tingling, the bruise was gone.

"Harp, we're going in a minute," Hermione's voice called from their bedroom.

After some quick magic, she readied herself in the bathroom and followed the girls down to the Great Hall. They were all asleep by the time she returned last night and hadn't interrogated her yet this morning. So Harper was anticipating it on their stroll. She was also cringing at the idea of seeing Jack again. How would he react? Would he approach her like old times, hugging her from behind and planting a big kiss on her cheek? Or would he give her space, unsure himself of where they stood. She begged for the latter.

"You never explained what happened with Terry," Lavender asked as they exited the common room.

"I thought he was the guy leaving me love scrolls," Harper said, "so I flirted with him to see if it was."

"And?" Ginny questioned.

She shook her head, ginger hair swaying. "Not a chance."

"Guessing Jack got wind of that?" Ginny assumed.

"You could say that," she sighed.

Harper wasn't sure what to expose to her friends regarding her rendevouz with Jack last night. She thought about their reactions as they walked the corridor leading to the Great Hall. Hermione would be frustrated with her, preaching she was toying with his heart and making stupid decisions. Lavender would be overjoyed, she seemed to be rooting for their reconciliation. Then Ginny, well her best friend would just be supportive as always. It was always the case whenever Harper seemed to get herself into trouble or take ridiculous risks. Ginny would do her best to understand, even if she didn't, she would stand by her for the high or fall.

As they sat in their usual spot for breakfast, Harper noticed Jack remained in his area. Though he didn't leave her unacknowledged. As he raised his mug of coffee to his lips, he sent her one of his charming grins.

"Looks like he's in a better mood," Ginny commented quietly into her ear. "Did you get through to him then?"

Harper blushed as she wandlessly levitated some toast to her plate. "I calmed him down at least," she answered simply.

It wasn't until Quidditch practice that afternoon that Harper had to face Jack. He strolled confidently into the open space of the pitch, broom in hand and beaters bat over his shoulder. The self-satisfied aura didn't leave him through the entirety of their session. Every few minutes she found him ogling at her or laughing too much at a bad joke she made. He also flew too close to her for his liking and at one point blew her a kiss. She pretended not to notice and stayed focused on leading training. She even sent him for an extra lap for the sake of getting a break from him.