addiction - draco malfoy

fourty five

'wanna go on a date?' draco asked suddenly, stopping what he was doing. he had been cutting up fruit to make me a smoothie, and i was sat on the counter next to him, swinging my legs and eating the offcuts when he wasn't looking. i hoped lucius wouldn't come in, but truth me told we hadn't seen much of him since we'd arrived at the manor two days ago. he had greeted us at the door along with narcissa, hugging draco and then raising his eyebrows at me, making it obvious he hadn't expected me. we had spent about twenty minutes in the dining room, sitting around the table and talking awkwardly while we waited for the house elves to finish making my room up. after that, we'd disappeared upstairs and lucius too, seemed to have disappeared. we saw narcissa sometimes, but she didn't really bother me too much, i wasn't scared of her like i was of lucius. 'a date?' i paused, thinking back to the time when i had kissed draco. to be honest, i thought about it a lot, i had just never allowed myself to think about the possibility that something actually could come from it. i thought that after our argument in the corridor outside the great hall, any need for me to break up with cedric for draco was redundant. and maybe that was true, because i hadn't broke up with cedric for draco, but maybe i should have. 'sure' i shrugged. i reached for another piece of mango off the chopping board, grinning as draco slapped my hand away.

'come on then' draco abandoned the smoothie, emptying all of the fruit into the bin and walking out of the kitchen. 'wait draco' i called, hurrying after him 'now?'. i turned back, looking at the abandoned chopping board and the open bin. 'i would have ate that' i grumbled disdainfully.

i took less than twenty minutes to get ready, running up the stairs to change and quickly throwing my hair up in a ponytail. i skipped back down the stairs, smiling at the sight of draco waiting at the bottom. in one hand he was holding a giant wicker basket, with a checkered picnic blanket rolled up on top. 'are we going on a picnic?' i asked brightly, trying to keep the uncertainty out of my voice 'where? i didn't really see anywhere around here to go when we were in the car on the way here'.
'all will be revealed' he responded mysteriously, holding the front door open for me to walk out.

i followed him down the driveway, saying a polite hi to narcissa who was sat on a wooden chair in the front garden. 'where are we going?' i called after draco, he was a good few metres ahead of me on account of him having the longest legs known to man and me being all of 4"8. 'slow down will you' i huffed, jogging slightly to keep up with him. he slowed, grinning and holding his spare hand out for me. i took it, letting him drag me along right across the garden. 'we've passed the gate' i told him and he just laughed, grinning at me. 'i know'.

he stopped eventually in front of a tree, smiling at me grandly. 'is this where we're having our date?' i asked dubiously 'this tree? it's cute draco, but we may as well have just ate in ur room. there's not much to look at here'. it was true there wasn't. there was a small patch of grass, a neat line of other trees and a brick wall. it wasn't exactly the most scenic of places. 'look up then' he rolled his eyes, laughing. i looked up, seeing a rope ladder folded over a tree branch just above my head, attached to some kind of trap door. 'a tree house?'.
'yup' he grinned 'i begged for it when i was a kid'.
he jumped up, grabbing the ladder off the branch and letting it drop down. i elbowed him out of the way, climbing up first and emerging into the tree house above.

i looked around, eyes wide. in the corner of the room there was two bean bags, one red and one yellow. there was warm toned yellow fairy lights tacked around the walls, ending draped over a tall built in bookshelf over on one of the walls. there was a large patchwork wood in the middle of the floor and i smiled, noticing a neat N.M initial stitched in the bottom corner; and just underneath that, a rather wobbly D.M. some of the tree had started to grow in the window, which had presumably been left open for some time. the branch was coiled around the window frame, weaving its way in and out of the panes. further evidence of the window being open for a while, was the moss that had gathered on the indoor windowsill, clearly damp as a small weedish looking flower had sprouted from the bed. i guessed that he must have had this tree house a while, because in the other corner a small toybox sat, messily filled with toy cars and pirate figurines.

'like it?' draco asked, poking his head up through the trapdoor. i nodded, walking over to the bookshelf and trailing my finger along the spines.
the famous five
the secret garden
the wizard of oz
the jungle book
wind in the willows
'i didn't have you down as much of a classics reader' i commented, pulling a book off the shelf and stroking the spine. it was first edition. i whistled under my breath, carefully slotting it back in place, careful not to bend the pages. 'i'm a dark horse clearly' he grinned, flopping down on the red bean bag and placing his picnic basket next to him.

he spread the picnic blanket out on the floor in front of him, starting to unpack all the food from the basket. there was grapes, cheese, crackers, apples, oranges, bread buns, a insulated container of a pie and another of some potatoes; still hot, a freshly baked lemon cake and an array of other baked goods. my stomach rumbled loudly on cue and draco laughed, motioning for me to sit down. i did so, grabbing the vine of grapes as i went and popping one in my mouth. 'oi' draco protested, snatching them off me and putting them back in place on the blanket. i smiled, lying back on the beanbag and closing my eyes, the sudden warming my face. i remembered thinking that i could stay in this moment forever.