Just Happiness │D. Malfoy ✔

chapter ten

It was a Hogsmead weekend and Pierre had come over to the Hufflepuff table during breakfast and asked me to come along with him and his friends to the small village. I declined as usual, but thanked him for the offer. 

I was hoping I could spend some time with Draco, while the castle was relatively empty. Just as I was walking through the quiet halls to get back to my dorm Draco approached out of nowhere. For a second I got scared and thought it might be Theodore, but when he pulled me in for an unexpected hug I knew it was Draco. There was always the signature smell of forest when Draco was around.

His arms went around my back and he rested his head in the crook of my neck. In return I wrapped my arms around him. He smelled so nice and it made me feel safe and warm. As my head was resting on his blazer clad chest I could feel his chest vibrating as he started talking.

"I'm sorry for scaring you. It wasn't my intention", I hummed in response, to comfortable to move even a muscle.

"Do you possibly want to go to Hogsmeade with me today? Only if you want to, of course." He pulled away slightly to look down at me. As I nodded my head a big grin took over his face. 

"Great! I was worried you mightn't want to go with me, in public. Not many people like me and I don't want people thinking less of you if you're seen with me." He looked sheepish, but I could tell it bothered him. He was sensitive when it came to other peoples opinion about him. I worry that his father may be responsible for that.

"Of course I don't mind being seen with you, Draco. You are one of the most wonderful people I know. It would be an honor to be seen with you, Okay? Don't let others opinion of you bring you down, because they don't matter." I look into his expressive silvery eyes and give him a reassuring smile.

"I could kiss you right know." It's barely above a whisper, but since we're standing so close I easily hear it.

I swallow harshly and feel like taking a step back. Getting a flashback to that Wednesday after Transfiguration. Draco isn't like that, Tara. He would never do that. At least not unless you asked. 

I'm not quite sure what to say to him. I don't want to disappoint him, but I'm not sure I want to kiss him in the halls of Hogwarts were anyone could see us. I like my privacy.

So, as a compromise I tap my cheek. And pull a small nervous smile. He gives me a grin and kisses my cheek. I feel my face go red, but I ignore it. Draco so close makes me feel like nothing is real, not even the unnatural blood circulation to my face.

______

We were walking down the busy streets of Hogsmeade and quite a few people were looking down at our joined hands. Or my mitten and his glove. It felt strange to be watched, but being outside and with Draco definitely helped. I hadn't seen Pierre or his friends, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to. Pierre was not the problem, it was his friends more so. They didn't like me much, and I was scared they might hate Draco even more if they saw him with me. The Gryffindors hated Draco, and I didn't want them to have other reasons to hate him, that being me. 

"Speak of the devil and he shall appear." I muttered under my breath as I saw Pierre and his gang walking down the road. They were two girls and three guys including Pierre. I attempted to diverge from the flow of the people walking down the main road, to try and avoid them seeing us, but to no avail. Pierre had spotted me, and was waving me over like a maniac. I looked away before he could notice I had seen him.

Draco gave me a slight nudge with our joined hands. I looked up at him and he gestured in Pierre's direction. "Denauve is desperately trying to get your attention, in dare I say, a very uncivilized manner." I couldn't help but grin at Draco's way of speaking. It was so posh.  I loved it.

"It was hard to miss." I say, not to enthusiastic. We cross the road and walk up to Pierre and his friends.

"Tara!" Pierre says while engulfing me in a hug. I think they might have stopped in the Three Broomsticks before this, that would at least explain Pierre's enthusiastic mood. I hug him back though, after letting go of Draco's hand. His friends stare at our just separated hands and I can't help but hope they don't comment on anything. 

"Draco." Pierre nods in Draco's direction and he gives a curt nod back. "These are my friends. Michelle and Holly. Grayson with the curls and Jack with the glasses." He points at each in turn, "-and guys, this is Draco, and Tara who you already know." Pierre's friends nod at us, not a smile in sight. Awkwardness surrounds us like a blanket suffocating me. I don't know what to do with myself and decide we've had enough meet and greets for today.

"Well, Draco and I'll be off now, it was nice seeing you guys again." I give Pierre a small smile and then we're out of there. Draco seems to have no protests and we're far from the group of Gryffindors in no time.

"Quite the talkative bunch weren't they? Could hardly get a word in edge-ways." Draco says, a goofy grin on his face. I let out a small chuckle at Draco's comment.

"Hardly. As you can see they don't fancy me much."

"Well, I fancy you, so that place's taken." Draco looks down at, a small blush on his cheeks.

I stopped in my tracks, comprehending the serious words he had just uttered, granted he was very nonchalant about it. I looked up into his beautiful eyes, my own ones wide.

"You- you actually like me?" I was totally baffled.

"Of course I do! You're amazing, Tara."

The happiness that filled my heart was tremendous. Someone liked me! Someone fancied me. Me, Tara Atrio. A boring, shy, Hufflepuff. And that someone was Draco Malfoy!

"I like you too, Draco"

_________

The moment she said she liked me back was phenomenal. I hadn't felt so happy in a long time, if not ever. She was such a kind and beautiful person inside and out, and she liked me of all people in the world. I felt honored.

I'd asked her if she wanted to meet me at the Astronomy Tower to look at the stars later that night. I know how she loved the night sky and how much she had wanted to see the stars from the Astronomy Tower at night. She just didn't dare go alone at night time. So we agreed I'd meet her in front of her common room and from there we would walk up together. It surprised me at first that she wanted to break the rules and wander the school at night. I had never imagined her being into that. She made me question how no one had asked her out a long time ago.

"You- you want to go up the Astronomy tower at night, after curfew? Does my little law obeying Hufflepuff want to break the rules?"

"I am well aware it's against the rules, Draco. And yes I really want to. You only live once, you know. Imagine the thrill from breaking the rules, it would be so fun, a little scary, but fun!" She let out a big sigh with an exited smile on her face.

"And now I have someone to do that with! Oh, imagine! We could run through the halls! Running through halls is one of the most underrated things there is! Especially at night. You know when you're at a hotel and the floor is carpeted and you run down them, when no one is around. For some reason you feel like Usain Bolt! It's the best feeling, Draco. We have to try it." 

I had no idea who Usain Bolt was and hardly knew the concept of a hotel, but I was not about to interrupt her happy moment with useless questions. 

She mentioned though, a saying I was not familiar with : "you only live once". I had never heard of a saying like that, it must be something her father introduced to her, him being a muggleborn. The  saying stuck with me because it was so incredibly true. You do only live once, and you have to make the best of that life. You have to do everything you want to do and more. Don't do what others want from you. Do what YOU want and work for what YOU believe in. Why should I ruin my one and only life for Voldemort by doing his biding? I had to do something. Anything that had something to do with what I  believe in.