What the Room Requires

Chapter Fifteen

            His gaze caught fire.

            “You’re going to lie to me? Really?” His expression closed and he leaned back. “Good to know. I’ve been honest with you about everything you’ve asked me while we’ve been stuck in this God-forsaken pit, and you’re going to lie to me about whether you want to marry the ginger bean pole.” He turned and walked away from me.

            “Marry…What? What?” I roared, storming after him. “Who said anything about marrying him?”

            “You don’t have to,” he shot back, not turning.

            “What does that mean?” I demanded, racing up beside him.

            “I’m not blind, Granger, nor am I deaf,” he growled, still walking. “You just turned three shades of red—your face gave away just as much as your lying did.”

            “I am not lying,” I insisted, enraged. “I care for Ron, yes—just as much as I care for Harry.”

            “I watched that tryout. Cormac Mclaggen should have been Gryffindor’s keeper,” Draco stated. “He has more athletic ability in his little finger than Weaselby has in his whole body.”

            “That is not true,” I shouted, losing control of my voice. “And besides, Cormac is a vile, loathsome—Don’t call Ron that!”

            “You’re positively batty, Granger,” Draco spun around to face me. “Listen to yourself—you’ve gone mad.”

            “I have not—”

            “Then stop lying to me,” he gritted, leaning in close to my face. “It’s insulting. Tell me the truth. Tell me whether or not you like him, and stop treating me like I don’t know what’s going on here.”

            I froze, my throat locked, and my heart hammered so hard I thought it would break my ribs. But Draco did not move, and his blue eyes pierced right through me.

            “Yes,” I breathed. Then I swallowed and looked away. “Yes, I like him, all right?”

            Draco didn’t say anything. When I glanced back at him, he blinked, lifted his eyebrows in dark indifference and glanced down.

“Does he know?”

I shifted, then wrapped my arms around myself.

“Well, I…No. I don’t think so.”

Draco met my eyes.

“I know you haven’t got the nerve to come out and tell him anything—but if he hasn’t noticed, he’s more daft than I realized.”