New Vinyl (A Draco Malfoy Story)

VII

Fogginess clouded the mind that night and didn't clear out much by the follow morning. I arrived late to Potions after a detour to Gunhilda to pick up my clothes. As expected, Snape overlooked me slipping in at the back, bulging bag in tow with yesterday's ensemble.

"Where were you last night?" Celine asked.

"Just needed some alone time." Now more than ever, I appreciated the effect my constant disappearing over the years had on others, allowing for the most nondescript of explanations for my whereabouts to go undisputed by Celine, an otherwise highly obtrusive gossip monger of a girl.

The lesson dragged more so than usual. Unable to focus on even the slightest task, Celine took over most of the work. Thankfully, another characteristic not entirely out of the ordinary for me. I'd come down already, yet the morning felt like a sludge of memories and emotions to wade through from the night before. Longing for my pen to feel as good in between my fingers as it would have a few hours ago, for the world to feel as good, for me to have a reason to smile wider than my face permitted. All of that seemed impossible now.

Celine got up to copy instructions down from the board at the front, leaving me to my doodles. Only then did a paper crane glide down onto the desk in front of me. Unfolding the delicate wings, careful not to tear it, the following message scrawled out across the page:

Still thinking about that kiss...

I rolled my eyes and wrote a concise response below, refolded and sent the bird away back to its creator.

Of course you are. Perv.

Draco smirked down at the unfolded note, but I focused back down onto my own parchment at the risk of making eye contact. I thought of me and Blondie's kiss myself still, the reckless abandon and the events that transpired afterward. Draco got me back to the common room, despite my penchant for wandering off route to touch random objects and people setting us back every few feet. I remembered his patience, his protective grip on my arm. Though I enjoyed his touch, it became clear he meant it only as a guide. Up until the staircase to the girls' dormitories, that is. Only a moment's hesitation from him suggested it, as I snaked my arms around him and held onto him. He rubbed my arms up and down slowly, and even as I reflected on it in the dungeon classroom, Celine going on about some Slytherin gossip dribble I missed out on, the goosebumps returned beneath the ghost of memory; thank goodness it was cold down there. Then, falling into bed still tingling all over, the other girls asleep and snoring around me, I eyed Celine for any indication that she'd been awake. But she spoke of an altercation with Pansy and Blaise at dinner, concentrated solely on the grinding of frog legs. I tightened my crossed legs in silent discomfort, my innermost thoughts taking me back to the temptation to feel a little bit more before the feeling was gone for good, my hand moving freely beneath the sheets. At one point, Draco's face came to mind during the act. But Blondie had also. As did the thrashing guitarist, the lights, the feeling of everything that night.

I glanced toward Draco, who leaned against his station and chatted with Blaise, already finished with the assignment. The more I attempted to justify the thought of him during the act, the more deluded I felt. I had thought of other things at certain points, sure. But I knew the point that mattered most came last. And when he came, I came.

Still thinking about that kiss...

It had been a good one. Hot breath, tongues stroking one another gently. Had he thought about it in the dark cover of night as I had? Possibly at the same moment, even...? Blood rushed through my body, my face burning hot at the thought.

"Are you okay?" Celine asked.

"Fine," I said. Unconvinced myself, I added, "Cramps." She gave my knee a sympathetic squeeze, the contact reminiscent of the contact from the night before. Of Blondie touching my arm. Draco's hands on my waist.

"Time's up. Turn in your vials at the front and clean your stations," Snape said, not bothered to look up from the copy of the Daily Prophet opened on his desk as he addressed us. Celine poured the potion into the vial, and I realized I hadn't even caught the name of it in all that time.

Celine respected my periods of withdrawal from other humans, and took extra care to pack her things and leave me to escape after Potions alone. In the busy corridors in between classes, I did my best to avoid green robes. Mostly because I sought a blue robe; one that I found outside the library, no surprise there.

Aimee fiddled with her bag, trying to get her many library books to fit nicely in a way that wouldn't bend the corners, something she despised more than anything else. "Aimee," I said. She stopped fiddling, in shock that I had sought her out. Only now that she stood before me, I hadn't the slightest clue what to say to her.

"Hi," she said. A pleasantness remained in her tone, one I could not understand for all the things I'd done to her. It became clear to me that I could never be the type of person she was. Words failed me, and I reached out and wrapped her up in my arms.

"Thank you," I whispered.

Her chin rubbed against my shoulder, a sing song melody meeting my ear. "And we came together again in the end." The line drifted airily, drawn out and soulful. Our favorite to sing together at the back of the choir room, laying on the hard ground and passing the same licorice wand back and forth, hidden away from Pansy and the other girls. So young back then. I let go of her, tears welled up in my eyes. "I'll always be there for you, Imogene," she said. Too much for me, I left her without another word, practically running to class for the first time in my life.