Rue is still avoiding me, but there's no way she can ignore me during detention tonight. I'm hoping that she will forgive me after Professor Snape makes us miserable. Maybe she'll understand that it wasn't my fault.
After I finish eating, I make my way to Professor Snape's dungeon. My bag is slumped over my shoulder unenthusiastically, portraying my exact mood. When I arrive, I see Professor Snape and Draco talking at his desk.
"Nice of you to join us, Ms. Walker. I was beginning to think you took another dip in the lake. It is too early for your liking, of course," Professor Snape drawls, a sickened expression on his face. "You and Malfoy will be cleaning every cauldron until I can see my own reflection."
Professor Snape waves his wand and two buckets of cleaning supplies levitate toward the large desk in front of him. "I have other obligations, but I trust Malfoy will assure you're doing your best." He stands and leaves the room, his cloak whipping behind him as the door closes.
"Where are Rue and Marcus - I thought they also had detention?"
Draco pulls out a chair and sits down, emptying the bucket of cleaning supplies and sorting them. "You're lucky Professor Snape likes me. This is nothing compared to what your little friends have to do."
I take the seat across from him and mimic his setup. "Besides, aren't you dying to have alone time with me?" Draco smirks, but his eyes stay on the task in front of us.
"Can I ask you a question?"
Draco's eyes find mine but I look away, too nervous to look into them. "What did you see last night, in the lake? What was chasing us?"
I begin to scrub the first cauldron as I await his answer. I had been too worried about my friends to think about what happened in the water, so now is the perfect opportunity to know.
"Merpeople don't like magic."
We set our now clean cauldrons aside and begin with two more. I didn't see anything in the water; I only felt the ripples of the merpeople chasing us. "Do you think they'll remember me?" I ask, too nervous to look at him again.
"Unlikely. Professor Dumbledore has probably told them about the task. Yet it wouldn't surprise me if he decided to surprise them as he's surprised you."
We sit in silence for a moment, both of us scouring the cauldrons of whatever ingredients have stained them. After cleaning four more each I check the clock on the wall. We still have many more to go, and I don't want to stay too late. Hopefully Rue and I will return at the same time.
"Are you that eager to leave me?" Draco asks, a small hint of sarcasm in his voice. When I look at him, his eyes are hyper-focused on the stain in front of him but his eyebrows are knitted together in worry.
"This isn't my idea of an ideal date," I respond, smiling at my reflection as I set aside another accomplished cauldron.
Draco raises his eyebrow. "And what is your idea of an ideal date, Valentine?"
I shrug in response. I've never really thought about dates; I've only thought about school, my family, and friends. "You know, you have a boyfriend now that can take you on this ideal date of yours."
We look at each other and smile. Draco isn't smirking as he usually does; he has a genuine smile on his face as he looks at me. Gosh, my heart could explode with how he looks right now. My eyes focus on his lips as they turn into a wide smile. Does he always look at me like this?
Before I know it, we're both leaning over the table slowly. Our lips meet and tingles spread throughout my body, starting from my lips and shooting through every inch of my being. We pull away, both of us still smiling widely.
I look back at the cauldron I'm cleaning and pick my sponge up again. I can feel Draco's eyes on me - I can also feel how red my face is currently. "Please stop looking at me, I'm too shy," I say. It comes out as more of a squeak. Draco laughs and begins to clean again. After another moment of silence, I'm relieved to see that we each only have to clean one more.
"I'd like to spend the night with you," I abruptly say. We're both startled by my sudden outburst. I can't believe I said that out loud - I was thinking about it but did not want to utter those words. "Oh, I'm sorry, I... I didn't mean to speak. Forget I said anything."
I try to hide in my cauldron to avoid looking at him. I wish there was a spell that could reverse time and punch me in the face before I spoke. "That's your ideal date?" Draco asks. Great, now I'm forced to speak. Part of me was hoping he didn't hear a word.
"I don't mean it in an inappropriate way! Can we please forget I said anything? It's not even realistic! Your father doesn't even like us being together, there's nowhere in Hogwarts that it can actually happen in, and it just came out the wrong way. I don't even know what happened, I opened my mouth and that came out. I think I need to sleep. Or die, one of the two."
Draco laughs and pulls the cauldron away from me, exposing me to his gaze. He looks too cocky now; I shouldn't have said anything. "And if I find a place for this ideal date of yours?"
I stare at him with wide eyes. "I mean, I guess... wouldn't we get in loads of trouble?"
"Let me worry about everything. You just focus on getting yourself through this next task."