"Alice, stop moving! I'm almost done," Hermione shouted at me.
Pouting, I crossed my arms and closed my eyes as she continued to comb and pull at my hair. Today was Slughorn's Christmas party and tomorrow we leave for Christmas break. I'm ecstatic. I haven't heard from my father yet but I know he would never bail on me, not after he promised. And one thing about my father is he never breaks his promises.
"Okay, I'm done," I sighed happily at her words. "Now for your makeup."
"No!" I whined.
"Quit it! Do you want Malfoy to find you looking like a dead zombie?"
"No," I paused and smirked. "And zombies are already dead, so the term dead zombie is a double negative," I laughed as Hermione huffed, indignantly.
An hour ago, Ginny helped Hermione with her hair and make-up before leaving with her boyfriend Dean. Now after Hermione finishes with my make-up, I'll just slip into my dress and go with her and...
"Hermy, who are you going with to the party?" I asked as she dabbed at my nose with powder.
"Well umm," she sighed. “I’m going with Cormac."
My eyes opened wide. "Cormac! Eww he's disgusting. He's been hitting on me since I let my hair down."
"I know," Hermione groaned. "But I figured that it would bother Ron the most, if I went with Cormac. And even though he's not going to be there, he's still going to hear about it."
I nodded, understanding. "You’re right."
"I'm finished!" she exclaimed. "Now go put on your dress and shoes."
I nodded and went over to her bed and picked up the ocean blue dress that went perfectly with my sapphire eyes. It was long and silky. It has a slit on the one side of my thigh all the way to the ground, giving it an edge without me losing my sense of propriety.
After slipping the dress on and putting on the heels to match. I glanced at the mirror and was shocked to see the spitting image of my mother in the mirror. Hermione had curled my hair and pinned up the top half. I turned to Hermione only to find her starting at me with admiration.
"You look beautiful, Alice."
"Thank you," I smiled. "As do you." And I meant it. Hermione looked incredible gorgeous tonight and Ron better start appreciating her.
She nodded with a smile and we walked down to the common room to look for Cormac. Unfortunately, we found him waiting for us on the couch. He was surrounded by fourth years as he regaled them with false Quidditch injuries and stories of that nature.
Upon hearing our heels, he turned and we were pleased to see his mouth drop in shock. I turned my gaze shyly, looking over at the roaring fireplace. But before I could blink, Hermione grabbed my arm, linked it with her and we walked out of the common room with Cormac trailing behind us. I giggled as he tried to make conversation with her but she just waved him off.
Soon we arrived at the Christmas party and I detached myself from Hermione to go get us some pumpkin juice. But when I turned around she was gone. I looked around confused until I felt something tug at my leg. I looked down and stifled a giggle at Hermione, who was hiding under the table cloth. She brought her finger up to her lips and I nodded.
Cormac approached me soon after that. "Have you seen Hermione?" I just shook my head and he sighed. "You're not going to talk to me, are you?" I shook my head with a smile and he sighed deeply before leaving.
"The coast is clear, Hermy!" I whisper yelled and I saw her dash from under the table to a curtain nearby. I laughed loudly after that.
Then I turned and began my search for Draco. The party had started an hour ago but he still hasn't arrived. From the corner of my eye I saw Blaise, Draco's best friend with Pansy. I contemplated on whether or not to ask them. For goodness sakes, I'm a Gryffindor! I thought encouragingly. And before I could process anything, my legs moved me towards them and soon I was in front of them. At first Pansy looked at me with envy and confusion and then it seemed to click.
"Kingsley?" she asked, shocked.
I nodded sheepishly. "Hello, Pansy," I paused. "Blaise. Have any of you seen Draco?"
Blaise shook his head. But Pansy spoke. "Nope haven't seen him all day. But wow Alice, you look.....nice." She struggled to get it out and I smiled warmly at her.
"Thank you, as do you," I paused and looked towards the exit. "I'm going to go look for him. If you guys see him can you please tell him that I went to my room." They nodded and I left.
The halls were dark and scary at night. I gulped as I hurriedly made my way through the corridor trying to be a quiet as possible but it was nearly impossible seeing as my heels kept clacking against the cement floor. I continued my journey up to the seventh floor. I was on the sixth when I felt someone roughly grab my arm and throw me into a vacant classroom. I whimpered at the face of my attacker. Why does he always follow me? Why me?
"You look ravishing tonight, my dear." Adrian smirked, evilly.
"Please don't hurt me," I pleaded.
"Hurt you?" he faked confusion. "Why would I hurt something so precious?" He then smirked and pulled me up. I could smell the firewhiskey from his breath and it sent chills up my spine. Before I knew it, his fist collided with my cheek and I flew backwards into a mirror, shattering it in the process. I let out a screeching cry as a shard of glass cut into my skin. Tears flowed down my face as I pulled the glass out of my inner thigh. Adrian just laughed at my pain.
"Oh now I remember. You rejected me," he glared. "And if there's one thing you should learn is that I always get what I want." He bent down and kissed my neck. I pulled back but it only angered him more. Soon he was trying to pry my legs open but I just struggled against him.
"Stop it! Please." I sobbed but it only seemed to arouse him even more. He finally got them open and he smirked. He went to take off my panties when someone yelled, 'Stupefy.' I crawled my way to the wall as the person approached me. They touched my shoulder and I cringed.
"It's me, Alice."
I looked up in shock. "Pansy?"
She nodded sadly before helping me up. Now I was barefoot seeing as my heels were lost during the struggle. She placed her hand on my back and guided me towards the Slytherin dungeons. Once we made it to the empty common room, I fell on the floor and began to sobbed uncontrollably. Pansy just kneeled down next to me and held me. Surprisingly, it was comforting to have her here with me. Then I remembered Draco's word. 'Pansy's not bad she's just proud.'
"I've got you." She soothed while running her fingers through my tangled hair. "He won't hurt you and I've already sent Blaise after Draco."
I sat up a bit. "D-Draco? W-Where is h-he?"
"I'm not sure. He was brought into the party a few minutes after you left by Filch. Apparently he was caught on the seventh floor when he wasn't supposed to be there. Once I realized that you were still looking for him I set out to find you. And when I heard your screams, I ran as fast as I could. And that's when I saw Adrian on top of you trying to..." she trailed off.
"But he didn't,” I sobbed a bit at the thought. "Thanks to you."
She smiled kindly at me. Then we turn to the door when he heard footsteps running towards the common room. Moments later Draco ran in with Blaise behind him. They both stopped dead in their tracks when they saw us. Draco walked slowly over to me before bending down to my level. He reached for my bruised cheek but I moved back and hid in Pansy's shoulder.
I heard him let out a growl. "What happened to her?" Draco demanded, angry.
"I got your patronus but you didn't say much." Blaise added.
"I know," She sighed and looked down at me for permission. I nodded. "I found Adrian trying to rape her," she said bluntly.
"WHAT!" Draco yelled and I jumped into his arms to hold him back. "I'll kill him!"
"Relax, Draco. I'm fine. Pansy got to me in time." I went to smile but grimaced. Draco's eyes turned murderous. He was going to do something bad because of me. I wrapped my arms around his neck and began to cry again. I didn't want Draco to get in trouble, let alone commit murder.
Draco's eyes softened as he held me. We didn't speak; he just rubbed my back soothingly. Then we heard people coming back from the Christmas party so he just picked me up and took me upstairs to his room. He led me over to the bed and sat me down gently. I let out an involuntary cry because of my injured thigh.
"What's wrong?" Draco asked frantically.
I pulled up my dress and showed him my inner left thigh. It was severely punctured and bleeding profusely. Draco eyes were pain stricken.
"Let me take you to the hospital wing," he said, well more like demanded but I shook my head. "Why not!" he yelled, harshly.
I let a few tears fall. "I-I don't want them to ask me what happened." I dropped my head in shame. "I just want it all to stop." I cried into my hands.
Draco remained silent. He stood up wordlessly and went into his bathroom. Moments later he came out with a damp cloth, bandages and some alcohol. He bent down and lifted my dress up again. I drew back at his touch. He looked hurt.
"Alice." He gently took my bruised up face in his hands. "I would never hurt you." I nodded weakly but adverted my eyes. He turned my face to him. "Alice, I care about you and I'm letting you know now that Adrian is going to pay." I went to protest but he cut me off. "That or I tell your father and I bet that if he finds out, Adrian is facing time."
I shook my head. "No, don't tell my father."
"Okay, as long as I get to do whatever I want to him."
I nodded, "Fine."
"Good," he paused. "Now lift up your dress so I can heal your wounds."
I did as I was told. Draco soaked the cloth with alcohol and began to dab at my wound. I hissed in pain but I didn't protest. He took this into account and press on my skin even gentler than before. When he was done cleaning it, he wrapped it up neatly. He then proceeded to clean up my face with a damp cloth and then he pointed his wand at my face and muttered something that made my bruise go away. I still felt the pain but at least my appearance is back to normal.
"Are you going to take me back to my room?" I asked, after a moment of silence.
"No," I raised an eyebrow at him. "You'll stay here and don't worry I'll just sleep on the couch."
"Draco you don't have to do that," I frowned.
"I want to." He raised his hand and caressed my cheek. Then his face turned dark. "Why did you leave the party unescorted?"
I winced at his tone. "I-I got worried when you didn't show up so I went to look for you. But I ran into Adrian on the way there."
"How could you have been so foolish Alice? And why didn't you use your wand?" he asked angry.
"I-I left it in Hermione’s room."
"Why?" he demanded angrier.
"I thought you would protect me," I said sadly. Draco eyes softened immensely and they held a puddle of guilt. "Why did you ditch me?" I asked sadly, not angry at all.
"I didn't ditch you, Alice," he countered. "I just lost track of time and when I went to go down, Filch caught me and told me that I needed an invitation. I told him I was with you but when we got to the party, you had already left."
"Sorry," I apologized. "I shouldn't have been so impatient."
"Alice," he smiled. "You have nothing to be sorry for. I'm the one who was late, if I would have gotten there on time like we planned none of this would have happened."
"I guess," Then I smiled, weakly. "Pansy saved me. I thought she hated me but she didn't. Draco I think I made a new friend."
He chuckled. "Out of everything that has happened tonight that's what you’re thinking of." I nodded, sheepishly and his grabbed my hand, entangling it with his. "I'm in debt with Pansy now, because if anything would have happened to you, if he would have..." he sighed.
"But he didn't. Now let's please not talk about it. Please!" I begged and he nodded. "Draco?"
"Yes."
"Can I please borrow a shirt?" He nodded and went over to his bureau to get me one. I smiled when he threw me a blue shirt. He knows I love blue.
He left the room so I could change. I stood up with some difficulty and slipped out of my dress. I wobbled over to the mirror and saw that my hair was a mess. I ran my finger threw it and got it to look decent. And since I was only in my underwear, I could see all of the bruises that were forming on my waist and thighs. I sighed, sadly when I saw a large scratch on my back. It would scar if I didn't heal it.
"Draco!" I called and he must have thought that I was calling him back in because he just walked out of the bathroom. I turned to tell him to go back but it was already too late. He saw me and his eyes almost popped out of their sockets. He must have be in some sort of trance because he did not move. I got self-conscious so I wrapped my arms around my middle.
"Draco!" I yelled and he snapped out of it and blushed. "What are you doing?"
"I- You- Why did you call me if you weren't ready?" His face was red. He tried desperately to focus on my face and not my half-naked body.
"I was going to ask you for your wand so I could heal my back." I paused as he went to hand it to me. "No, you do it." He looked confused. I sighed. "You're not my boyfriend so there's no reason for me to be shy. And you already saw me so there's no point in hiding, it's not like it's anything worth looking at."
"Worth looking at? Alice, look at yourself." He pointed at my reflection. "You’re beyond gorgeous."
"Maybe, now heal." I demanded with no authority in my voice.
He laughed, "Yes, ma'am."
Draco walked up behind me and held one side of my bare waist so I wouldn't move. I felt him press the wand at my wound and then I felt my skin re-stitch itself. I let out a soft whimper and grabbed onto the desk in front of me. Once he was done. I let out a breath; I didn't even realized I was holding.
"There," He paused as I turned around. "You should probably put some clothes on now."
I nodded but then I got an idea. I smirked and leaned into him causing his breathing to hitch.
"Wouldn't you rather me be like this?" I pouted as I ran a finger down his chest.
"I-ahh-but-I mean," He stuttered and I lost it. I began to laugh uncontrollably and he groaned. "Tease!"
I laughed even harder. "That's your punishment for leaving me."
"We'll if that was my punishment then I should be a bad boy more often," he winked.
I rolled my eyes and put on the over sized shirt. "I'm so small,” I pouted. I then screamed when Draco ran up behind me and picked me up.
"You're not small, you're fun size."
I giggled, "I'm not a toy, now put me down."
He chuckled but did as I asked. He laid me down on the soft cloud-like bed and wrapped his green covers over me. He went to leave but I grabbed his hand and held him back.
"Stay." He looked confused. "Please, I-I'm still scared. Just for tonight."
He smiled softly and kissed me lightly. "I promise, that never again will someone hurt you. I don't care who it is. I'll protect you." He spoke more to himself than to me.
"Okay." I said as he changed into his sleeping attire and climbed into bed with me. He wrapped his arm around my waist gently and pulled me into his chest. I turned in his arms and stared up at him. "I'm going to miss you when I leave tomorrow." I pouted, sadly.
"As am I. It's going to be very lonely here without you."
"I know and don't forget to eat, because lately you've been skipping your meals Draco, you look thinner than when we first became friends so please take care of yourself and get some sleep," I ordered.
He chuckled. "Okay, mom. I will."
"You better!" He smiled and kissed my forehead as I nuzzled into his warm chest. Soon I was engulfed but a deep sleep. That was the first night I ever dreamt of marrying Draco. It excited and scared me. What if he doesn't feel the same? What if his family issues over power his feelings for me? I sighed. Only time will tell.