No Where Else To Go

Chapter 7

The response to the newspaper was much better than I had hoped for. Already there have been five light families claim neutrality. None of the victims are willing to speak with him without their new guardians present, which has required a lot of scheduled meetings with the goblins. Dumbledore's patience is already waring thin, and it's only the first article. Wait until they get to the one that describes what he did to Tom and me.

It's been two months now, and things with Draco are going great now that we are out of the awkward new relationship stage, which only lasted about a week before we realized nothing had to change. I'm just worried that maybe he's not my soulmate. I really care about him, and even if he's not my soulmate, and therefore not immoral, I will protect him, as well as the others. I can't let anyone else die because of me.

"Stop that."

"Stop what?" I ask my boyfriend.

"Plotting. Your face will get stuck like that if you're not careful."

"I must make sure nothing goes wrong. Not all of you are immortal. One wrong move could get someone killed."

"He won't find out."

"You don't know that."

"Perhaps not, but I have faith in you. We all do. I just don't understand why you do not."

"It's not that simple."

"It never is unless we make it so."

"How do we do that?"

"By distracting you."

"And how exactly do you propose we do that?"

"Let's ditch."

"Have you gone mad? Dumbledore's already watching me like a hawk. He would notice if the both of us disappeared."

"No. He would be too focused on you to notice me. Even if he does, it's only one day. You can say you were doing research, and I will say that my gorgeous boyfriend needed me desperately."

I laugh as he wiggles his eyebrows.

"Dad would kill us."

"No he wouldn't. You can't die, and he won't kill me because he knows you would never ever forgive him. Besides, we've been together for two months now, and we still haven't gone on our first date."

I bite my lip, knowing he's right and that I'm going to give in anyway.

"What would we do?"

He grins at me, shrinks our brooms, and, without a word, pulls me out of the spare room in my father's quarters where we sleep on nights I need a break from the emotions. Dad waves us goodbye and goes back to his book. I am led to the womping willow, where we sneak out to the shrieking shack.

"First thing first, drop the glamour. Good. Next, you still need to be eating properly. I was thinking we could have breakfast at Pam's. We can floo there from Rosmerta's."

"I'm beginning to get the feeling that you've been planning this."

"Whatever gave you that impression my dear?" He questions with a smirk.

I can only laugh in response.

After breakfast, he takes out our brooms, unshrinks them, and tosses mine to me. With a grin, he takes off at top speed. Catching on, I fly after him, catching up easily with my superior quidditch skills. For a while, we race around, not talking, just flying with the cool wind in our hair and no responsibilities, if only just for a moment.

When we finally land, my hair is everywhere, and my cheeks ache from smiling. Draco is in a similar state, and suddenly, my racing pulse has nothing to do with the adrenaline from the flight.