after dusk - draco malfoy

xv. | fifteen

THE SCHOOL YEAR WAS ONLY A month from being over and I had barely seen Dominique around the school at all. Estelle and Antoinette had been coming to Hogsmeade a lot more with me, sometimes I would be with Draco and his friends, other times I would be with Stella, Poppy, and Tommy. Either way, we'd always bump into the twins and their never-ending banter, which the girls took a liking to.

I had managed to stay on top of all my work, not letting the fact the Triwizard Tournament was on let my grade drop. I was nearly the top of every single class I took, which was surprising to me as I was always the bottom of them all at Beauxbatons. Draco, however, became too involved in the tournament and the excitement of it all, falling behind in a few classes.

We always sat at the Black Lake, where I would help him get on top of his work. A few days before the final task, we were sat by the Black Lake and I began drawing my mother as I thought she was beautiful and the perfect model to draw. I didn't have any work left so I drew to keep me occupied while Draco was working.

However, he kept getting distracted by me drawing so in the end, I had to put them away and help him focus. "I don't understand this whole Hex-deflection," Draco complained, nearly throwing his pen on the ground in a huff. "Moody is such a bad teacher."

I let out a laugh as I picked up his book and handed him his parchment back. "You're only saying that because he transformed you into a ferret," I told him to which he pulled a mocking face at me. "It's simple," I said, beginning to explain the topic.

It took me a while but in the end, he got the hang of it and was able to finish his essay. We still had a lot of time before we were due back up at the castle so he pulled me into his arms and we stayed there for a little while longer, just talking about everything and nothing.

After about forty-five minutes, we fell into silence, just listening to the lake lapping over the pebble in front of us. The cool breeze felt extraordinary on my skin during the heat of the late afternoon. I could feel myself dozing off until Draco spoke. "I've been wondering if in the summer you would like to come to stay with us for a week or two," he mentioned.

I looked up at him and smiled. "What and meet your parents?" I asked him, feeling happy that he wanted to introduce me to them. He nodded his head at me before catching me off guard and placing a long kiss on my lips.

I began thinking back to the end of the summer when I had seen Draco's father at the World Cup. He seemed very intimidating and from what he had said about the Weasley's, very judgemental. Draco must've been able to sense something was wrong as he furrowed his brows at me. I exhaled sharply and sat up, no longer resting on Draco. "What if they don't like me?" I questioned him, getting worried.

He scoffed, pulling me back into his arms and squeezing me tight against the side of his body. Just in pure instinct, I wrapped my arms around him, not wanting to let him go. "You're perfect, they've not got anything to dislike," he assures me, pecking my forehead. "And in the unlike event that they don't, we can just run away together."

I let out a soft laugh and shook my head at him. He knitted his brows together at my reaction. "You're being serious?" I questioned, quite surprised. "Draco, we're fifteen, we can't just run away."

He tilted his head to the side and nodded it slightly. "Touché," he agreed, realising the reality of things. A smile quickly made its way back on his lips before squeezing me tight. "We would just have to live a Romeo and Juliet romance until we're old enough then."

My eyes widened at the thought and I shook my head quickly. His smile dropped again and he furrowed his brows. "You have read Romeo and Juliet, haven't you?" I asked him, double checking we were on the same page. He reluctantly shook his head. "It ends in sacrificial suicide," I laughed.