Waiting around like a lost puppy, I paced the corridor before the Astronomy Tower. It was currently right after dinner; Harry, Ron, and Hermione were at the last DA Meeting before the Holiday, while I paced back and forth waiting for Draco to show up– like he said he would.
With only fifteen minutes left until curfew, I almost gave up waiting, but footsteps came up the stairs and echoed in the empty corridor. A bright smile sat on my face, but quickly fell when I saw who it was.
"I knew it," Pansy Parkinson laughed. "Especially since your little cuddle time in Cares for Magical Creatures last month, I thought you'd be the one he's sneaking around for."
"Come off it, Pansy," I rolled my eyes.
"No, I don't think I will. This is quite amusing, especially since think your little Prince Charming, Draco, will be coming to rescue you," she sniggered.
"I don't need rescuing, Pansy, I'm not you."
"Little lion wasn't to play, huh? Let's get to it," she laughed and pulled out her wand from her sleeve.
My wand lay in my nightstand, utterly useless regardless.
"I'm not going to fight you," I rolled my eyes again.
"I don't get why you're in Gryffindor, you're so weak and clearly aren't as courageous as your housemates," Pansy cackled. "Should have been a Hufflepuff like your little boyfriend—"
"Do you really need to stoop that low, Parkinson?"
"Ah, hit a nerve, huh, Harring?"
Pansy grinned at me, thinking she hit a nerve, but I wasn't as bothered as I usually would be.
"No, I just don't want you slandering his name with lies and blasphemy," I narrowed my eyes at her.
"Pansy, what are you doing?" a voice came from the end of the corridor.
Draco walked over to us, with something in his hand hidden by a napkin.
"Coming to visit your little Mudblood. Just wanted to let her know what's coming for her if she doesn't back off," she batted her eyes at him.
"Go back to the common room, you have no business here," Draco scoffed. "Leave before I report you for harassment and misuse of your title, prefect."
Pansy tsked at him and shot me an icy glare before running down the stairs and out of sight.
"You alright?" Draco asked sitting down against the railing.
"What took you so long?" I ignored his question, but followed his actions and sat down as well.
"Getting away from Crabbe and Goyle is harder than it seems, especially with all the prying questions," he rolled his eyes. "Plus, I wanted to snag a few Apple Danishes from the table for you."
"Aw, thanks," I smiled up at him and grabbed a pastry, "we only have Pumpkin ones at my table; they're not my favourite."
"Noted," Draco smiled. We sat in silence, eating out pastries in peace. As we finished them, I leaned my head on his shoulder, sighing deeply.
"What's wrong, Char?" Draco placed his arm around me and pulled me closer to him– as if it were possible.
I needed to get it off my chest. . .
"Can you keep a secret?" I asked him.
"Of course," he sat up straighter.
"No, I'm completely serious. It's extremely private and confidential," I turned to him. His eyes held wonder and fear, not knowing what I was going to tell him. "It's not anything bad," I added quickly, "but I just feel like I need to get it off my chest."
"Try me, I'm all ears," he grabbed my hands and started to fiddle with my fingers– a habit he kept since the time I yelled at him in the dungeon. "I promise to keep your secret."
"No one knows, but Dumbledore, so if I hear it from anyone else, I know it'll be you," I narrowed my eyes at him.
"Char, trust me. Not a single soul," he kissed my fingers lightly.
Over the last couple of weeks, Draco had gotten extremely affectionate towards me and I grew quite fond of it. Little kisses on my forehead or fingers, pulling me close to him, or holding my hand through our cloaks, he always felt the need to touch me.
I took a deep breath and stupidly put all of my faith into him.
"So, I'm not muggleborn," I said slowly.
Draco nodded, not understand why it was such a big deal, "okay..."
"And I'm not a half-blood, either," I continued.
Draco nodded again, listening intently as he laced our hands together.
"I was adopted, by muggles, when I was a little over a year old."
"So you technically grew up a muggle, but then found out you were a witch and went to the wizarding school in America, yeah?" Draco recalled the information Professor Dumbledore had announced to the school, on my first day at Hogwarts, last year.
"But there's more," I winced.
"Okay, continue."
"I found out who my birth parents are– this is the really important part you are never allowed to repeat. To anyone," I warned, looking around for any ghosts or poltergeists who could hear our conversation.
"I promise, Char. Never," Draco smiled.
"Dumbledore gave me my adoption papers and birth forms—"
Draco nodded in understanding.
"—and I found out I'm a pureblood..."
Draco's eyes widened slightly as he continued to listen and nodded for me to continue.
"...from the House of Gaunt—"
"Isn't that—"
"Yes," I answered quickly. Draco looked awestruck. "You can't tell anyone, Draco—"
"I already promised you, I wouldn't. Trust me," Draco pulled me close to him, letting me rest on his chest.
"There's more," I whispered. "That bloodline is on my birth mother's side. I found out who my birth father is..."
Draco hummed in response.
"Professor Snape," I breathed. From my position, I could hear Draco's heartache increase at the new information he learned.
"Charlotte," Draco paused, "does he know?"
"Yes."
"Have you spoken to him about it?"
"No."
"Do you plan on it?"
"I don't know," I looked up at Draco, who looked down at me in wonder. "I'm scared. He gave me up. Victoria Gaunt, died before giving birth to me– a-and Snape, h-he didn't want me."
My voice cracked at the last bit and Draco noticed. He leaned down and kissed me softly as if I would break if he were to apply too much pressure. He'd never kissed me before and him doing so sent a hoard of butterflies throughout my stomach.
"What was that for?" I whispered.
"To let you know that, no matter what, I want you," he smiled down at me.
We stayed like that for a little bit longer, in silence; me on his chest and his head on mine. No ghosts passed by and no sign of Filch or Mrs Norris. The moon shone in through the large window, lighting up the dark corridor.
"I reckon we get back to our common rooms. Someone is bound to come across us, in the hallway," I sighed, moving away from him.
Draco sighed, dramatically, and helped me up, "if Filch comes around, or any professors, I'll tell them I was escorting you to your room."
"And what about you? What's the reason you'd be out?" I raised a brow at him. Draco didn't have a response for me and just grabbed my hand, pulling me towards the stairs. "That's what I thought."
Walking down the dark corridor, hand in hand, Draco did escort me to the Gryffindor Tower. Just as we made it to the top landing, I stopped Draco, not allowing him to walk any further.
"Why'd we stop?" Draco looked around.
"I can't let you hear the password," I laughed. "You've got to go, bud'."
"Charlotte," Draco groaned.
"I'm safe! Time to go," I stuck my nose in the air, giving him a large smile.
"You're being silly, Char," he laughed softly. "Alright, well this is goodnight then."
I nodded and give him an awkward smile, "uh, yeah, goodnight."
"Before I go," Draco paused, "I believe you should... talk to Professor Snape... about..."
"Draco," I warned.
"It's just a suggestion," he raised his hands defensively.
"I'll think about it," I breathed. "I'll see you around, okay?"
Draco nodded curtly and turned away from me stiffly and started to walk down the steps before I called him back.
"Wait," I called after him, making him turn around. Shyly, I walked over to him, suddenly afraid to speak. "Can I have another one?"
"Another what?"
My cheeks grew hot at his question and I slowly looked up to see his face. Draco held a knowing smirk and grabbed my hands, lacing his fingers through mine.
"Draco," I whined.
"Say it," he chuckled.
"Can I have another kiss, please?" I mumbled quietly, looking at my feet.
"Sure."
Draco placed his finger under my chin, lifting my head up so I could see him. Since he was much taller than me, I had to stand on my tip-toes to reach anywhere around his head, more or less his lips. Even with me on my toes and on a step higher than him, Draco had to lean down to kiss me. He gave me another soft kiss, lingering longer than he did before, but just as gently.
"Goodnight, Charlotte," he said softly as he pulled away.
" 'Night, Draco," I smiled with a bright pink blush on my face– I didn't need to see it to know, I could feel the heat.
Walking over to the Fat Lady Portrait, I watched as Draco walk away and down to stairs towards the dungeon. Mumbling Mimbulus Mimbletonia, the portrait swung open, revealing the entrance to the Gryffindor Common Room. I had expected the common room to be empty, but it was actually occupied by Ron and Hermione who were gushing at Harry's story.
"Did you guys kiss?" asked Hermione briskly as soon as I walked into the room.
"W-what?" I stuttered.
"Not you— Harry!" Ron said dismissively. "Not that you'd have anyone to kiss, anyway."
"Yeah," I breathed walking over to Hermione who was waiting very impatiently for Harry's answer.
Harry looked from Ron's expression of mingled curiosity and hilarity to Hermione's slight frown and nodded.
"HA!"
"Who did you kiss?" I asked.
"Cho Chang," Hermione breathed.
"Oh."
Ron made a triumphant gesture with his fist and went into a raucous peal of laughter that made several timid-looking second years over beside the window jump. A reluctant grin spread over Harry's face as I watched Ron rolling around on the hearth rug. Hermione gave Ron a look of deep disgust and returned to the letter she had been writing.
"Well?" Ron said finally, looking up at Harry. "How was it?"
"Wet," he said truthfully after a moment.
Ron made a noise that might have indicated jubilation or disgust, it was hard to tell.
"Because she was crying," Harry continued heavily.
"Oh," said Ron, his smile fading slightly. "Are you that bad at kissing?"
"Dunno," said Harry, who hadn't considered this, and immediately felt rather worried. "Maybe I am."
"Of course you're not," said Hermione absently, still scribbling away at her essay.
"How do you know?" said Ron in a sharp voice.
"Because Cho spends half her time crying these days," said Hermione vaguely. "She does it at mealtimes, in the loos, all over the place."
"You'd think a bit of kissing would cheer her up," said Ron, grinning.
"Ron," said Hermione in a dignified voice, dipping the point of her quill into her inkpot, "you are the most insensitive wart I have ever had the misfortune to meet."
I sniggered at her comment, not making any indication I planned on intervening.
"What's that supposed to mean?" said Ron indignantly. "What sort of person cries while someone's kissing them?"
"Yeah," said Harry, slightly desperately, "who does?"
"Don't you understand how Cho's feeling at the moment?" she asked.
"No," said Harry and Ron together.
"Well, obviously, she's feeling very sad, because of Cedric dying. Then I expect she's feeling confused because she liked Cedric, who was her best friend, and now she likes Harry, and she can't work out who she likes best. Then she'll be feeling guilty, thinking it's an insult to Cedric's memory to be kissing Harry at all, and she'll be worrying about what her friends might say about her if she starts going out with Harry."
"I don't feel like that," I mumbled to myself.
"Why would you feel like that?" Hermione scrunched up her face in confusion.
"I—" I couldn't think of a logical reason why I would feel like that without telling the three of them that I had kissed Draco– twice. "No, reason. Just something that came out of my mouth."
"One person can't feel all that at once, they'd explode," Ron ignored Hermione's question towards me.
"Just because you've got the emotional range of a teaspoon," Hermione rolled her eyes.
"She was the one who started it," said Harry. "I wouldn't've — she just sort of came at me — and next thing she's crying all over me — I didn't know what to do —"
"You just had to be nice to her," I said bitterly. "You were, weren't you?"
"Well," said Harry, an unpleasant heat creeping up his face, "I sort of — patted her on the back a bit."
"Oh well," said Hermione distantly, after a bit of silence, "you'll have plenty of opportunities to ask her..."
"What if he doesn't want to ask her?" said Ron, who had been watching Harry with an unusually shrewd expression on his face.
"Don't be silly," said Hermione vaguely, "Harry's liked her for ages, haven't you, Harry?"
Her question rubbed me the wrong way and I found myself upset at the idea of Harry and Cho going out. Her friend was a backstabbing troll. Only seems as though she would be, too— Harry deserved better. But instead of answering, Harry decided to throw me in for a loop as well,
"So why did you come in all scarlet faced?"
"Me?"
"Where'd you come from? I thought you'd be in here, but when I came in, these two said you weren't in here when they came in," Harry asked.
"I— You guys had your D.A. stuff, so I decided to go for a walk. It was cold outside," I lied.
"You're an awful liar, has anyone ever told you that?" Hermione looked up from her essay.
"I've been told," I rolled my eyes at her.
"So, who have you been kissing?" Hermione raised her brow at me.
"Kiss— what?" I gasped at her.
Ron and Harry looked at Hermione, shocked by what she said.
"You come in all flustered, said you couldn't relate to Cho's confusion on kissing Harry versus honouring Cedric's memory, and you're lying about where you've been; who did you kiss?" Hermione pointed her quill at me.
An evil glint of knowingness flashed over her eyes. She's trying to get me to admit it.
"If I were kissing anyone, it would be my business, yeah?" I tried her. "I don't have to explain anything to you three."
Throwing a pillow at Hermione, which ended up knocking over her inkwell, I tried to run up the stairs to the dormitory before anyone could respond, but Harry quickly put two and two together.
"Charlotte!" Harry called from Ron's side. Ducking, to see them from my place on the stairs, I give Harry a questioning look. "You've just kissed Malfoy, haven't you?"
At his accusation, I almost fell back down the stairs as Hermione smirked up at me while Ron's jaw dropped. Harry nodded, taking my silence as a confirmation of my affair.
"Guys—"
"First, you befriend the enemy; then, you flirt with him; now, you're kissing him," Ron gave me a disgusted look. "Next, he's going to end up your boyfriend!"
"Ron, not this again," I descended down the stairs a bit, not wanting to go to bed upset. "Please."
"Give me a reason why we shouldn't be upset with you for having Malfoy as your boyfriend."
"Well, for one, he's not my boyfriend—"
"Yet."
"—and, to be quite honest, he's nice. Yeah, he's a git to you guys, but have you noticed over the last few weeks how he isn't teasing you as much anymore? Well— I know he still messes with you lot, but he's trying– for me. Draco is nice to me and makes me feel... wanted. And he's a good listener when it comes down to it," I smiled at the memories from tonight.
"But he's Malfoy," Ron said dramatically.
"To you, maybe, but to me, he's just Draco– not a Malfoy or a nasty Slytherin," I shrugged. "I don't want to fight you guys, or go to bed angry, so can you please just be happy that I, one of your nearest and dearest mates – friends– whatever, am happy again?"
"I haven't a problem with you being together with Malfoy," Hermione stands up from her spot on the floor.
"I don't like him, but as long as he doesn't hurt you, I s'pose," Harry nodded reluctantly. "I still think you deserve better than Malfoy, though!"
That proposition was good enough for me, I thought.
"Ron? Please?"
"I don't like him one bit," Ron huffed, "and I won't think twice of jinxing him badly if he upsets you, but as long as you're—"
I squealed, running down the rest of the stairs and gave him a hug. Ron finally stopped being a prat.
"And I'd like to let you know that Draco is not my boyfriend and probably won't be anytime soon," I added.
"How come?" Harry asked, sitting up straighter.
"I told him he has to be nicer to you guys before I could think about allowing him to be my boyfriend," I scrunch up my nose. "I told you guys, it's you above anyone else."
After our heartfelt moment, we all went off to your dormitories to go to bed. I fell asleep with a pleasant smile on my face, with no worries in the world but overall happy that my friends agreed with my actions. But my peaceful sleep promptly ended at the loud scream that echoed through the common room and to the girls' dormitory.
Harry.