| Girl on Fire |

56

TIME JUMP: 2 and ½ MONTHS

VERONICA MALFOY

It's been exactly 2 and a half months since my "attempt". Now every night, I meet Potter at the Astronomy Tower. We talk about my life, and his. Sometimes we talk about the war and sometimes we don't. It reminds me of when I first started falling in love with Matheo. But this is different.

I will never love Harry Potter.

"Hey Veronica-" Harry said. I was sitting in my usual spot as I watched him walk up the stairs. He smiled at me and I smiled back. "How are you?" I asked. He shrugged. "Fine, I missed you today." he said. " I missed you too." I said. He sat next to me and kissed me gently on the cheek. Everytime I feel his lips on me, I have to remember what happens if I screw this up. If I can't pull this off, we're dead and there's nothing anyone,not even Mattheo, can do for us.
My life and the lives of everyone I love ride on my ability to keep Potters attention by being his slut.
It's that simple.

We talked for a while until eventually he was quiet. "What's wrong?" I asked. He looked at me and chuckled to himself. "You'll think I'm crazy," he said. I furrowed my brow. "I'm a death eater who's falling in love with Harry Potter, nothing seems crazy anymore." I said. He smiled and blushed. "You're in love with me?" he asked. I shrugged and looked away shyly. "I think so. I'm not good with feelings. Nobody's ever loved me before and I don't know, I just thought maybe you- or if you liked- I don't know-" I stammered. "Veronica-" he said, cutting me off. I looked at him nervously. "I think I'm in love with you too." he said. I smiled and he leaned in to kiss me on the lips. He pulled me closer and I ran my hands through his hair. He laid me back and conjured a blanket and pillows. He formed a little makeshift bed and kissed me again. Then he climbed on top of me as he started to undo the buttons on my blouse. I pulled off his shirt and his belt. He dragged his hand up my inner thigh and never broke the kiss. He slowly began to pump his fingers in and out and I moaned softly. "Fuck Veronica, you are so amazing." he said. I just moaned a response and he looked at me for confirmation. "It's ok, please. I want to, with you." I said softly. He smiled and nodded. Then pulled down his jeans and he pulled off my underwear. He lined himself up and sunk into me. I gripped his shoulders and he kissed down my neck. I felt my eyes water as I remembered who this was. I thought about Mattheo and a tear slipped down my cheek. "Are you alright?" he asked. I forced a smile and nodded. "Keep going, it feels so good." I said. I wasn't lying. He was good. He was great actually.
But he wasn't him.

He wasn't Mattheo.

Once he finished he pulled out and I performed a cleaning charm on both of us as we got dressed. Then we laid together with our hands intertwined. "What were you going to say earlier?" I asked. "Oh yeah, you can say no and I won't be upset ok?" he said. I propped myself up on my elbows and looked at him. "What is it?" I asked. "I don't want to hide anymore. I don't want to keep us a secret." he said. My eyes widened. "Really?" I said, faking shock and excitement. "I know how people will react but I don't care. I love you and you love me. That's all that matters right?" he said. I kissed him and nodded. "What about Granger and Weasley?" I asked.
"They know I've been seeing someone but-" he started. "They don't know it's me." I said. He nodded sheepishly. "I understand. I'm not exactly anyone's first choice." I said. He smiled. "Your my first choice." he said. I wish he would stop being nice. I can't feel remorse. It just makes this harder. I supposed to not care. I know what I'm doing and why. So why do I feel bad for knowing I will break his heart. I'm supposed to be evil. Why couldn't my body just accept the god damn dark magic?

I smiled and nodded. "Thank you. But are you sure, you don't have to do this." I said.
"They'll be mad but not forever. It'll be ok." he said. "Are you sure? I don't want you to jeopardize your friendships for me." I said with concern. That's a lie. That's exactly what I want. If you are focused on your own life crashing and burning, you can leave my brothers alone. "It'll be ok, I swear. Do you trust me?" he asked. I smiled. "Of course." I said. You just shouldn't be trusting me. "When should we tell people?" I asked. "Tomorrow. I was thinking I could walk you to breakfast and we could sit together." he said. I laughed. "You really wanna make a spectacle, don't you?" I said. He laughed too. "Go big or go home, right?" he said. I nodded. "Right." I said.

The next morning, Harry was standing outside in the hallway when I walked out. I smiled and he held out his hand. "Ready?" he asked. "As I'll ever be." I said. Then we started walking down the hallway. People stared at us with absolutely no remorse. "Just so you know, when Draco sees this, he won't be happy," I said. Harry smirked at me. "I'm counting on it." he said. I just laughed.

In all fairness, all my friends already knew what was going to happen and I told them what to do.

Like I said, everything goes according to plan.