Good 'N Bad

Chapter : 17 New Year's Eve

'But Uncle Sev, its not fair! Its New Year's Eve! You can't not be here!' I said exasperated. Uncle Sev said he had to go on some urgent business and therefore would not be able to join us. 'I have been planning something special for ages now, long before Christmas, and everything is arranged!'

'I'm sorry, but I have to go. Anyway you'll have Draco, and invite Alfred too, if he's willing.' I glared at Draco who was leaning back in his chair, his arms over his head, smirking at me.

'Alfred can't come, you know that. He has plans with his mother, he said so just last night.' By now I was getting pretty curious as to whether or not Uncle Sev actually had any urgent work or not.

'Hmm, maybe he did. So that means you will have to adjust with Draco then', and with that he left the table, Malfoy still smirking at me.

'So, what have you planned Greene? I hope its not anything too boring.'

'It may not be that entertaining for you, I will say that, since it is a muggle activity. So don't say I didn't warn you', and I walked out of the kitchen before he could deny his coming with me. I really wanted to go, and if it meant being stuck with Malfoy for the rest of the evening, so be it.

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----------|Draco's POV|----------

'Don't remove your blindfold', she said. Yes, I was standing by the door, blindfolded, and had no idea what she was upto. For all I knew, I could be pushed over a cliff. But I had seen the glow in her eyes, and I couldn't deny anything she wanted me to do after that. But I admit, a part of me was worried, and a part of me wanted to do it for her. Muggle activity! What kind of activity was it that made her act so weird. Guess I was going to find out.

We were going to apparate, because I did not want to travel by those muggle trains. Ava had packed a small picnic hamper, and I was waiting patiently, well kind of. No sooner did I feel her arm grab mine tightly than we had apparated. I could feel grass under my feet, and it was kind of warm. I heard a squeal of delight from beside me, and my curiousity was aroused.

I removed my blindfold and I was surprised at what I saw. People were standing in pairs, lighting huge paper lanterns. There was a lake beside the plain of grass we were standing on. I turned to look at Ava, who, to my surprise, had suddenly vanished. I looked for her among the crowds of people and finally found her near a counter which sold the lanterns.

Just as I made my way to her, she came back holding a package. 'They only have one left. But that's okay. Come on, we have to find a spot', and before I could say a word, she dragged me to the other end, where it was less crowded, and stationed ourselves. Ava soon made herself busy, while I just sat there and watched her, amused at how much she knew about it.

She opened the package and inside it were a few candles, a matchbox and a compressed piece of paper, which when unfolded, would form the shape of the lantern. She took three candles, lighted and placed them on a long candle-stick which was fixed near the spot we had chosen. She then got to unfolding the lantern carefully, so as not to tear it and lay it flat on the ground. She then produced a marker from her pocket and looked up at me. Her eyes sparkled in delight, and I was thankful that she couldn't see the blush that was forming on my cheeks against the light.

'Okay, now what we've got to do is to write something on it. Like a message or some people just write their names on it. After that, we hold it above the fire and wait for it to get filled, which may take some time. And then, when its almost midnight, we let it go. So, what shall we write on it?'

I couldn't help but chuckle at her enthusiasm, she looked so adorable.
'Why don't we write our house names? And then sign our own names', I suggested.

'Good idea, and no one will know what it means', she said excitedly and wrote "Gryffindor" on the top of the lantern, signing her name below it. Then she handed it to me and got up to relight the candles which were extinguished. I wrote "Slytherin" and my name above and without her noticing, added a heart between the two names.

I then carefully held it up, and we positioned it above the flame of the candles, her eyes dancing all around the other lit lanterns.

'Where did you get this idea from?' I asked curiously.

'I read it from a book Alfred had gifted me for my birthday, and since then I've wanted to see it for myself. I inquired about it everywhere and finally found this place. Isn't it lovely?'

'Yeah, it is', I said, referring more to her than the lanterns. Our lantern was almost full, I saw her glance at her wristwatch, 'Ten minutes to midnight and a new year. Malfoy, have you decided how you're gonna start this new year? I don't see why us being death eaters should get in the way of us having fun. Heck, it gives us all the more reason to seize every moment. Don't you think so?'

All I could do was nod, I couldn't trust myself to speak anymore. All I could think about was how beautiful she looked and how much I wanted to hold her. The countdown started,

10... 9... 8... 7... 6... 5... 4... 3... 2... 1...

And we let it go. It flew high in the air, getting lost among the hundreds of lanterns floating along with it. But I wasn't looking at them, I couldn't take my eyes off Ava, she was looking up, her eyes reflecting the numerous lanterns floating, like the lake. Then she looked at me, her mouth spread in a wide smile, that's when I couldn't take it any longer. I pulled her to me and kissed her, wrapping my arms around her waist. Her lips were so soft and I loved the way she smelled. I pulled her more closer to me, her arms around my neck.

I slowed down, panting a little, 'Happy New Year Greene'.

'Happy New Year Malfoy'.

----------|Ava's POV|----------

We then sat down in our spot and unpacked the hamper. I took out two glasses and poured out some firewhiskey. The lanterns were far up in the sky, but still glimmering. Draco sat across me,

'What shall we toast to?' He asked.

After thinking for a few moments, I said, 'We'll toast to surviving this year. There are hard times coming, for both of us, and it will not be a pretty sight to watch.'

'And that no matter what comes, we'll always be together', he added. We clinked our glasses and downed the first glass. I refilled them and unpacked some sandwiches from the hamper. After a lot of drinking and talking we decided to go back home. I made sure that we had picked up all the scraps and we apparated.

The house was quiet, there was nobody home, except Wilkins. We slowly made our way upstairs, carefully avoiding the two steps that creaked, because it sounded too loud in the silence.

'Thank you so much for coming with me Draco. It really means a lot. Goodnight', and with that I got in and closed the door, before he could make a move. I knew it was wrong, but we would be going back to school in a few days, and we couldn't continue this. It needed to stop, even though I didn't want it to. I could not risk jeopardizing my friendship with Harry, Ron and Hermione, since they... well, you could say I needed to take refuge under them for as long as I could. And being with Draco won't help.

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Uncle Sev appeared in the afternoon looking vexed, and called Draco into his room. The next few days, I did not see much of Draco, he was always with Uncle Sev in his room, and came down only for food. He looked more and more irritated each time I saw him. The only company I had was of Alfred's, and he wasn't present that much. Soon it was the last day of the holidays, and Draco was still not seen. I made up my mind and barged into Uncle Sev's room to see Draco's face in his hands and Uncle Sev towering over him.

'What is going on here? You both have been in this room for the last few days and I haven't said anything about it. But this is the last day of the holidays Uncle Sev..... let him go.' When Draco looked up, I noticed he had been crying.

'Very well', said Uncle Sev, 'but remember all that I've told you, Draco.' Draco gave a slight nod and left the room, without as much of a glance at me. I guess I deserved it, after that wonderful night, I just slammed the door to his face.

Sighing, I went to finish my packing and spent the rest of the day just staring at the ceiling of my room.

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