"glad to see all of you could find this place alright." Harry says as he strolls into the Room of Requirment
"hey, Harry, what is all this stuff?" Neville asks looking around the room at the many dark detectors and sneakascopes
"loads of Defense Against the Dark Arts equipment. hopefully we'll be able to get to all of it before the end of term." Harry answers
Harry begins to pace in front of us
"you need to understand something before we start, though. defending yourself from the dark arts has less to do with magical ability and more to do with thinking fast and a lot of luck." Harry explains to all of us "we'll be doing Expelliarmus tonight, though hopefully we can move on to other things if we have time."
"oh please. Professor Lockhart taught us that in second year!" Zacharias Smith says
"Lockhart didn't teach as much as prune himself." Ron fires back
"besides, it works. i used it against You-Know-Who last June. it saved my life." Harry comments
"right. well, lets split into pairs and give it a go." Harry says
i pair up with Luna and we begin shouting "expelliarmus!" at each other
i took Luna a few tries before she got the hang of it, but i was getting it the first try
"very good, Vanessa!" Harry says walking past me and Luna and walking towards another group of people
"nice job, Neville." Harry comments as Neville begins to be able to perform the spell
Harry walks up to the front of the group
"okay, everyone. we've done a lot today, and i've seen some great improvement. that's it for now. we'll meet back here same time next week!" Harry announces
we get into our groups of three and walk out. we have to go in separate groups so that we don't draw very much attention to us.
i sat in the Great Hall, munching on Every Flavored Beans and reading in my Divination's book.
as i flipped to the next page my left arm sleeve rose slightly revealing my carving, except it looked different. the purple veins that i had seen before in the mirror had now spread over my entire forearm.
i look at it worriedly until someone sits down next to me and i shove my sleeve back down my arm
"hey" Draco says stealing a bean from the box
"hey! those are mine!" i laugh trying to take it from him
he pops it in his mouth smirking as i roll my eyes playfully
"so the next Hogsmeade trip is on Valentine's Day." he says eating another bean
"and..." i say raising my eyebrows
"i wanted to ask if you wanted to go with me." he says smiling widely
"i'd love to go with you." i say kissing him
suddenly i feel myself being jerked away from Draco by an invisible force
"no physical contact with other students, Miss Wilde" Umbridge says giving me a little giggle before walking away
"i hate her. i hate her so much." i say glaring daggers into her back
Draco just laughs as i stand up to leave
"where are you going?" he asks scrunching his blonde eyebrows together
"the library, you're welcome to come with-" i begin
"nah I'm good" he says
i laugh "thought so" before kissing him on the cheek and exiting the Great Hall
i entered the library to find Ron, Harry and Hermione sitting at a round table near the back
"do you guys mind if i sit here with you?" i ask
"no" they all said
i nodded and sat down taking my Divination's book out
"so you're saying this weapon You-Know-Who's after is in the Department of Mysteries?" Ron asked Harry
"its got to be." Harry answered
i looked up from my book, confused.
"that's got to be what Surgis Podmore was doing in the Ministry when he was arrested." Hermione says
"probably. Mr Weasley was probably there when he was attacked, too. that must be what the Order's guarding!" Harry says
"wait guys, what are you talking about?" i ask
they stop talking and turn towards me
"okay, we'll explain." Hermione says "but you can't tell anyone."
i nod and they begin telling me about Harry's dream about Mr. Weasley, Ron's dad getting attacked by a snake. and how he thinks Voldemort's hiding something in the Ministry.
"but why the Department of Mysteries?" i ask
"it makes perfect sense. its got to be something the Ministry's been developing. something top secret." Hermione says
Harry nods as Hermione picks up the Daily Prophet
"look at this, there's been an escape from Azkaban." Hermione says
"bloody hell!" Ron exclaims
on the front page theres a picture of about 10 witches and wizards
"they're all Death Eaters!" i say
"yeah." Hermione breathes out
"Voldemort." Harry says through gritted teeth
"Vanessa." someone says in my ear "its time to get up." the voice says again
i groan and swat at the person "go away" i groan as i turn over in my bed
"you're gonna miss the carriages to Hogsmeade." the voice says
and then I'm up. i sit up quickly and realize Draco woke me up
"Draco?" i ask confused
"good morning." he says smiling
he goes to kiss me but i push him backwards
"you may wanna wait until i brush my teeth." i say laughing
"yeah, you're right" he laughs
i jump up from my bed and run to the bathroom, brush my teeth and run back out
i kiss him abruptly and take him by surprise, before i turn around and run back in the bathroom to get ready. i put on my makeup and straighten my hair. i throw on some black tights and one of Draco's Quidditch jerseys that said 'Malfoy' on the back of it. the jersey reached to about mid-thigh.
i walked out of the bathroom looking for my converse.
"i like your shirt" Draco said smirking
"and i like your face." i stood there for a second "okay, that sounded wayyyy better in my head" i laughed
he chuckled as we walked out of the dorm
"so what are we gonna be doing?" i ask Draco as we walked the streets of Hogsmeade
"its a surprise." he says smiling
"now you're just gonna have to tell me." i say cocking my eyebrow
"nope. my lips are sealed!" he says as we get closer and closer to the Shreaking Shack
"are we going in there?" i ask pointing to it
"no" he laughs
"good." i say
"what? are you scared?" he mocks
"no!" i say crossing my arms
"well, what if i told you my surprise is waiting for you in there?" he says
"it is?" i say my heart dropping to my toes
"i knew you were scared." he laughs wrapping his arms around me
"am not!" i say
"am to!" he says as he covers my eyes with his hands and begins slightly pushing me towards an unknown direction
"okay you can look now." he says
he takes his hands from my eyes
a white blanket was laid out on the green grass. on top of the blanket was a box of chocolates, chocolate covered strawberries, any kind of fruit you could imagine, red roses, and a box of some sort.
"you did all of this for me?" i ask astonished
"only the best for the best." he says wrapping his arms around me from behind and resting his chin on my shoulder
he grabbed my hand and led me over to the little picnic.
the next hour and a half was filled with laughter, talking, eating, feeding each other, and just being ourselves. its these moments like this that i truly appreciate that i have someone like Draco in my life. and that i realize i would be completely lost without him.
i took a bite of a strawberry and got a box out of my purse
"okay i have your gift." i say holding it out to him
"babe, you didn't have to get me anything." he says
"Draco, its valentines day." i laugh "now open it!" i say excitedly
he opens the mat black box to reveal a solid gold watch.
he gaped at the watch
"its amazing. thanks baby." he says kissing me on the cheek before putting it on his left wrist
"now your turn." he says
he hands me a box slightly smaller than the one i gave him
i hesitantly took it but eagerly opened it.
inside was the most beautiful necklace i had ever seen. i gasped as i picked it up out of the box (the necklace is the picture above)
"Draco..i..oh my god. this is beautiful" i say holding it up to observe it
"i thought you'd like it. its somewhat of a family heirloom." he says
"a family heirloom? why would you give it to me?" i ask
"its like a tradition." he says trying to avoid the question
"tradition?" i ask pressing the question
"the Malfoy men give it to the person they fall in love with. my grandfather gave it to my Nanny, my father gave it to my mother, and i gave it to you." he says smiling
i slammed my lips into his
"put it on for me?" i ask
he smiles and nods as i hand him the necklace
i turn around, lifting my hair as he place the necklace on my neck. he clasps the necklace on and kisses my neck
"happy Valentine's day, baby." he whispers
"happy Valentine's day." i say smiling.