The corner of Draco's mouth slightly raised as he reached out, for her to place her hand on his palm so that he could take her away from Adrian. Josephine stood disoriented and opened her eyes wide.
Adrian's curious eyes flickered on her face as he was impatiently waiting for her to reply, but she didn't have the slightest idea of what to do. She wished to let Adrian finish his sentence to know what he wanted to say. Maybe he was about to ask her to dance and she would accept this time, but she also wanted to take Draco's offer.
They were both gentle and lovely, she didn't want to be rude, "Well..." Josephine stammered, faltering about what to say before turning to Adrian, "What were you saying?"
Draco's smile fell at her question. She only had to say yes, he hadn't done it with no one else.
Adrian politely smiled, "Nothing." He muttered as he shook his head, "Go dance with Malfoy." He nodded towards the dance floor.
"Are you sure?" He nodded, "Alright." Josephine smiled, "Let's go then." She placed her hand on Draco's and waved to Adrian. Before turning and walking away, the blond looked daggers at Adrian as he stared at him, his daring eyes.
"What were you doing with him?" Draco immediately questioned as they marched.
"I only said hi." Josephine naively answered. As soon as their feet touched the dance floor, a slow dance started. Draco puffed and rolled his eyes, "Do you prefer a more lively dance?" She chuckled, "We can wait, if you-"
"No, it's fine."
She was better than Pansy and Astoria to him.
They stood before one another staring at each other's eyes, awkward in that situation. That would be the first time they touched, and it would be weird. Josephine took the initiative, "Do you know how slow dance works?" She took a little step closer to him.
"Of course."
"And are you sure you want to do it with a dirty, freckled mudblood?" Her eyebrow raised.
Draco rolled his eyes, a little sneer grew on his lips as his hands rested on her waist - the tips of his fingers could touch her back, "I could make an expection." He lowly muttered as she placed her arms on his shoulders, intertwined her fingers at the back of his head. And they started swinging slowly, looking at each other.
"Adrian." Theodore caught his attention, "Where is Jo?"
"Guess..." Adrian whispered, tilting his head towards the dance floor. Theodore's gaze immediately landed on his best friend dancing with Draco.
"What the hell-" He snarled, shocked, opening his eyes wide, "Didn't you ask her to dance?"
"I was about to do it." He brought the glass on his lips, "But I was cut off."
"So you let her go with him?" Theodore raised his arms with incredulity.
"I don't want to have problems with Malfoy. He pissed me off, but it doesn't matter. When they'll end, I'll ask her." Adrian smoothly answered.
"Since when you're so peaceful?" Theodore frowned because Adrian was one of the people less placid he knew, of course after Draco.
"I don't want her to have a bad idea about me." Adrian bitterly sighed.
"It'll be hard with Malfoy."
"It means I'll have to work hard." Theodore slowly nodded, "You sure there's nothing between them?" Adrian's head tilted towards Draco and Josephine.
"What?" Theodore opened his eyes wide at his question, "No, no, you're getting it wrong. They're just friends, don't worry. Jo is only too kind." He reassured.
"Even better." He said, relieved.
"Do you fear me, Jòsephine?" Draco mumbled, his curious tone as his eyebrow raised.
"No, why?" She shook her head.
"Come closer, then."
His hold unexpectedely tightened around her waist and pulled her body closer to him, causing the tips of their noses to almost touch. Josephine's breaths were taken away for a second at his doings and startled, "So, why did you ask me to dance? Honestly, I didn't expect it."
Draco certainly couldn't say that he wanted to take her away from Pucey, "I needed you to save me from Greengrass." He told the first excuse he could think.
Josephine frowned, "What did she do?"
"She told me she wanted me to be her date, and was about to ask me to dance."
"You didn't accepted because of Blaise?" She muttered, understandingly.
Draco puffed as he shrugged, "I just don't care about her."
"For sure! Astoria is lovely and, especially, purblood." She winked.
"I prefer to endure your company instead."
Josephine opened her eyes wide with astonishment, "Draco Lucius Malfoy rejected an invite from a pretty pureblood? You're scaring me."
"She's not pretty, she's okay." He corrected her words.
She rolled her eyes, "I'll never understand your tastes."
"It suffices that she's good-looking." He claimed.
"You narrowed it down." Josephine said, causing him to chuckle, "But, you liked Pepè."
Draco looked up as he thought about it, "Yeah...I could've done something with her." He admitted with a little sneer.
"Maybe you didn't lose your chance." She encouraged him.
The blond shrugged, "Why should I be happy with one when I can have the whole Hogwarts?"
Josephine bursted into laughing, "Damn, Malfoy, give me some of your self-confidence."
Draco joined her laughing, "When you want." Suddenly, Josephine turned to be serious as her eyes flickered all over the room, and he frowned, "What?"
"I'm looking for Pansy. You should go back to her."
All of a sudden, Draco remembered of her existence and tried and find a way for her to not worry, "Oh yeah...I saw her walking out with a stupid Ravenclaw."
Josephine looked at him in a confused way, "Are you sure?"
"I accepted to invite Pansy only because I owned you a favour." He shrugged as she slowly nodded, "Jòsephine?" He whispered her name, causing her blue eyes to meet his, "What if we go somewhere else?"
"Where you want to go, sir?"
"You decide, but let's go away." He mumbled, tenderly looking into her eyes.
"Mh..." Her teeth slightly bited her lower lip, "What about my bedroom?"
A smile grew on Draco's lips, "Sounds great."
__
"Bizet, I've got company." Josephine yelled as soon as she stepped into the room.
"Salazar, how nutty can you be? Talking to a stupid cat." Draco mocked as he followed her.
"I'm very nutty, I even talk to a stupid snake." She mocked back as she took off her shoes to throw them in the corner.
Draco rolled his eyes, "Can I took off my shoes?" Josephine nodded as she took off her necklace.
A meow was heard as Bizet crawled out of the bathroom, "Hello, little one." She stroke its soft hairs and picked it up, "I brought a new friend."
Friend?
"Say hi to Don Freezer." She walked over Draco as her hand grabbed the little paw of the cat and moved it as if Bizet was waving.
The blond frowned, "Yes, you're crazy." He merely stated before his body threw itself on her bed.
"How boring." She scoffed as she took a seat at the end of her bed in front of Draco, Bizet resting on her crossed legs.
"Still, the boring boy is your friend." He grinned.
"Also the crazy girl is your friend." Her eyebrow raised.
"I never said that." He shook his head, his hoarse voice.
"Then why you asked me to get away from the ball?"
Draco shrugged, "I was only bored to death, don't go to your head."
Josephine chuckled, "Nah, I don't go to my head. At the end, you only rushed to me after you rejected a decent pureblood." She mocked.
Draco imperceptibly smiled and lowered his gaze as if he was defeated, "You always know how to make me powerless...it's a talent."
"At least I can be proud of something - I can corner Draco Malfoy."
"And you're so good at that." He slowly nodded.
Josephine slightly chuckled as she turned serious, "Tell me something about you, Draco."
The blond boringly puffed, "There's not so much to know about me."
"Come on, talk to me, I'm curious."
At her words Draco's bewildered eyes flickered on hers, "No one has never been interested in me." He confessed by lowly whispering.
Josephine smiled, comforting him, "First time for everything."
The corner of Draco's mouth slightly drew and he took a deep breath, "Well..." His hand scartched the back of his head as he was thinking of what to say, "I was born on the fifth of June-"
"I already knew it, Gemini."
"I think so." He shrugged, "I can't don't understand a thing about astrology, it's bullshit for me." He sighed as laid down with his arms behind his head.
"Personally, I don't believe in horoscope, but I think that astrology somehow influences us." She said.
"Then tell me the features of my sign, let's see." He defiantly looked at her, but curiously at the same time.
"Well, from what I know Gemini has double face, but not in a fake way. They can show two different sides of themselves and choose which one they want to be."
Draco's head slowly turned to her and stared at her. No emotion in his face, despite he stood more than amazed. What she said impressed him, he didn't expect her to describe him so well only thanks to his birthday.
"Am I right?" Josephine asked as she spotted his shock.
Draco sighed and looked away, peering the ceiling and scratched his nose. He didn't fell comfortable in talking to her, he never did it with nobody before. He's used to keep everything he felt hidden, and this situation was wuite awkward to him.
Josephine never took her eyes off him as she was waiting. She wished him to talk to her and vent. She wanted to know him, and wished him to let her do it with all her heart.
"I've been raised in a specific way by my father, who had been teaching me how to be like him. I strive for being like him to not let him down, because he get disappointed quite easily. I thought that I would be perfect if I behaved and thought just like he does, but now I'm older and I understand that's not who I am. I'm learning to know myself and new things that I used to totally ignor, but I don't feel guilty for this. The important thing is that I'm not a failure to him and I don't dishonor my surname, and I'm fine with this."
Josephine didn't speak as her sorry, interested eyes looked at him, "Can I say what I think?" She asked and he nodded, "You're not like your father."
Draco's gaze landed on her, his eyes slightly wide opened as he sat down.
"If you show the person you really are when you're with me, I guarantee you're even better than him. I don't know Lucius, but if he's close to the person you were last year, I can imagine it." She shortly chuckled, "You've changed a lot...at least, towards me."
A little smile slowly grew on Draco's lips, "I don't know what I was thinking when I accepted our truce."
"But you did it, are you satisfied with it?"
Was he?
"Are you?" Draco spun the question, didn't want to answer first.
"Yes. If you weren't likable, you wouldn't be here with me."
It was exactly what he wanted to hear. The corner of Draco's mouth drew a little as his eyes pierced hers, "Me too."
A huge smile uncousciously arised on Josephine's lips as she fastly blinked, "I'm not that bad as you thought, then." Her head tilted, trying to manage to get more nice things.
Draco rolled his eyes, "Maybe, I was wrong...again."
"What a pain, Don! Don't be so Freezer and tell me that you feel good with me and that I'm likable." She uttered after her patience ran out.
Draco bursted out laughing due to her unexpected twitch, and nervously scratched his cheeck, "I really have to?" He complained.
"You must learn to open up."
The blond threw his head back and puffed, "Yes, you're right. I feel good with you and you're likable, happy now?"
"So I'm your friend?" She deeper digged.
"No, if you go on like this." He mumbled, looking at her.
"How touchy." She mumbled, lowering her head.
Draco stared at Josephine lovely petting her cat, and wondered when she was going to trust him enough to tell him about her parents. He desired it so much. He grew attracted to her every day and needed to satisfy his curiosity.
"Jòsephine?" He caught her attention, causing her gaze to lift up and look at him, "Did I..." He saw her eyes naively inspecting him, and didn't find the courage to ask, "Did I hurt you?"
At his question Josephine didn't feel angry nor disappointed. On the contrary, she was so glad he asked. It meant he cared about it and maybe he also felt sorry for it, "Why are you asking?" She frowned.
"I have the feeling that you don't trust me." He whispered, sincerity dripped from his tongue. His low and sorry voice.
Josephine took a deep breath and looked down as she kept on petting Bizet, "Draco, I'm not sure that you realize..." She started talking, lowly, "For two years you'd been insulting me and calling me mudblood. Each time you did it, it felt like you were about to throw up. It made me feel disgusting. At the beginning, it used to hurt me because I didn't grasp why you behaved like that. I thought I did something wrong and unforgivable. I remember that I used to try so hard and understand what I had done, but I never realized it. Over time my worry and suffering from being insulted decreased, and I realized I did nothing wrong. You were the only one who thought that because-" She blocked, swallowing the lump in her throat.
"Because your parents are muggles." Draco ended the sentence for her.
Josephine slightly smiled and nodded, "Exactly...You did a lot of mistakes, Draco. At the beginning, I didn't know whether to accept the truce, but then I agreed because something inside me told me I would do the right thing by giving you the chance of getting to know me and being forgiven. As I said to Teddy, I was sure you weren't like you proved to be, and I hoped so. It was hard to accept the truce because your last straw broke the camel's back."
Draco understood what she was talking about, and slowly nodded as his gaze lowered.
"I want to trust you."
His head suddenly jerked and looked at her as if she said the greatest words in the whole world.
"There's something about me, very personal, which I'd like to talk to you, but I think I need time. It's not easy for me, it's something pretty thorny." She kindly confessed. Draco nodded again and stood quite, "But I promise, you'll know everything. I only ask you to wait for a while."
Draco slightly smiled as he shook his head, "I'm not going anywhere, Jòsephine." He said - his soft and honest tone.
She smiled back, "I hope so. Don't make me regret it, please."
"That's not my plan." He shook his head again as he didn't stop smiling.
Josephine reached out, "Friends?"
Draco stood confused at first, but then he gently shook her hand as they looked at each other's eyes, "Friends."
The two started chatting, joking and laughing on Josephine's bed for hours, untill both began to feel exhaustion taking over them, and Draco decided to go back to his bedroom.
"We should do it again." Josephine said.
"Definetely." Draco replied as he headed to the door. His hand closed arount the knob before he turned around, "So..." He mumbled, awkwardly.
"So..." Josephine crossed her arms.
"See you tomorrow." Draco said as he opened the door.
"Yes, see you tomorrow." She nodded and turned the back to him.
Before the boy closed the door, his head popped into the room again, "By the way..." He waited for speaking so that Josephine listened to him, "You're not bad with your hair straightened."
Her brow lifted with amazement, "You mean that I'm pretty." She stated.
Draco wrinkled his nose, "I mean you look good both wavy and straight haired, you should alternate."
Josephine rolled her eyes, "Mh, I'll think about it..." She looked at him and smiled, "Now go, Don." She waved, encouraging him to close the door.
"Oh, you're kicking me off...I'll make a note of this." He pointed an accusing finger to her.
She chuckled, "Good night, Draco."
Draco grinned, "Good night, Josephine."