I cast a Silencing Charm around my room, praying that my practice had paid off and that it worked this time. Once I was satisfied, I locked my door and sat on the bed, watching the tiny silver cup that sat in the center of my room. After a few moments, it began to shake and glow slightly, and then Draco appeared, staggering a little before regaining his balance.
"You're really here," I said, my voice barely above a breath as I stood. Draco grinned and came over, drawing me into his chest and hugging me tightly. "I told you it would work. You're too brilliant for it not to." I blushed, hiding my face in his jumper and hugging him tighter. "Happy Birthday, love." Draco murmured, and I looked up to see him gazing down at me, giving me a look that made my knees go all wobbly. "Isn't your dad home?" He said, glancing nervously towards the door and I giggled. "No, he's out. Something about an order? I don't really remember. Either way, we won't be interrupted tonight." I said, and Draco grinned.
"I got you a present." Draco said, pulling a small piece of paper out of his pocket. "I had to go talk to Muggles for this, so be proud of me." He joked as we sat on my bed. I laughed as I opened it, reading it carefully and feeling my eyes go wide. "You named a star after me?" I said in disbelief. Draco nodded, a proud smile on his face. "I did. I bet we could find it if we looked, it's a pretty clear sky tonight." I rushed over to the window, looking down at the little chart on the paper and then examining the inky black sky that was dotted with diamond-like stars. "Right...there," Draco said, coming up beside me and pointing to a tiny star next to a particularly bright one.
"It's beautiful," I said in awe, and I felt Draco's arm encircle my waist. "Not as beautiful as you. Not even close." I turned in his arms, and I didn't think, I just went with instinct. "I love you," I said softly, and Draco's eyes went wide. "What?"
I stopped for a second and then realized that this was the first time either of us had ever said the "L" word to each other. Sure, I had felt like this for a while and I had even confessed to Michael at the end of last year that I was in love with the man in my life, but I had never told this to Draco. Why? I couldn't tell you. Maybe out of fear of how he would react? Of him not returning my feelings and rejecting me?
"I love you too, Isabelle."
His words shook me to my core, and I couldn't stop the smile that spread across my face. "You do?" I said hopefully, and Draco smiled. "Yeah. I have for a while now. Just, y'know..." He trailed off. "Didn't know when to say it," I said, and he nodded. "I'm in love with you," I said softly, playing with the collar of his jumper and looking up at him shyly, blushing when his face lit up. "I am too. More than you'll ever know." Draco said, leaning down to kiss me.
It was slow and gentle at first, but the longer we kissed, the more frantic and heated it became. We began to move away from the window, and when I felt my knees hit the back of my bed, I broke the kiss. "I want something else for my birthday," I said breathlessly, and Draco raised an eyebrow. "Oh? What's that?" I took a deep breath before responding, knowing that there was no going back after this, but that this was what I wanted. "You. I want you. All of you."
Draco stared at me blankly for a few moments, and then it hit him quite suddenly. "Oh. OH! You want to-"
"Yes." I said, and a look of uncertainty crossed Draco's face. "Isabelle, don't take this the wrong way because I absolutely want to, but are you sure that you want this?" I nodded, running my hands down his chest and trying not to smirk when it got a visible reaction out of him. "I've never been surer of anything. I want you to be my first, Draco. Please." I said, and the slight begging tone to my voice was all it took to set him off.
Draco kissed me hard and allowed his hands to wander for the first time. He paused when his hands slid over my backside, eliciting a moan from me when he grabbed it firmly. This edged him a little further towards the point of no return because he pushed me gently backward, making me fall on the bed with a giggle.
I scooted myself up to the head of the bed, biting my lip when I saw Draco crawling over me, his eyes burning. "Isa, are you sure this is what you want? I don't want you to regret this later." Draco said, holding himself up with his forearms, and I could see a faint hint of biceps through the sleeves of his jumper. "I'm sure. I love you, Draco." I said, fisting my hands in the sides of his jumper. "God, I love you," Draco said, leaning down to kiss me again, trailing his lips down to my neck. "Gonna make this special. Gonna take my time." He said, and when he lifted up my shirt, I became very thankful for the Silencing Spells I had placed in my room.
-----
A few days had passed since my birthday, and my night with Draco. I knew I wouldn't be able to see him again until the school year started, but the memory of his birthday present to me was enough to get me through those last few weeks. I had heard my muggle girlfriends talk about their first times - conversations full of blushing, giggling, and innuendos about size. None of their wild, silly stories held a candle to my first time though. It was perfect.
There had been a fair amount of fumbling and blushing, and it was nothing like the things you see in movies or read about in books, but I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. Draco made all my insecurities vanish with the touch of his fingers, and sent full body shivers down my spine with a brush of his lips against mine. It was the most romantic night of my life, and I wanted nothing more than to do all of it again. And again, and again, and again...
Surprisingly, I didn't spend my last few weeks of the summer holidays at Dad's house. Mad-Eye, the real Mad-Eye, had come to our home to collect me, exchanging a few wary glances with Dad as I brought my trunk downstairs, still confused. "Everything is fine, don't worry, love. You're just going to spend the rest of the holidays with your brother. I have some things to attend to, but I'll see you at Hogwarts. Everything is okay." He said, hugging me before sending me on my way with Mad-Eye.
"We'll be using a portkey, can't apparate too well with this leg." Mad-Eye said, pointing to an old tire behind the house. I eyed it warily, remembering the Triwizard Cup last year. Mad-Eye cleared his throat gruffly and I took a deep breath, grabbing onto the tire and waiting for the all-too-familiar jerk behind my navel that would signal the beginning of our wild journey.
As I suspected, the ride was all too unpleasant as we landed on a deserted street. "Where are we?" I said, straightening up and wincing a little - I had landed on my feet, but hard. "London. Grimmauld Place. Sirius lives here." I perked up at the mention of my godfather, looking at the very ordinary Muggle homes. "Really?" I said, examining the row of townhouses, skeptical that a wizard could blend in here, especially one like Sirius. Mad-Eye raised his wand and the homes began to move apart, but the Muggles didn't notice a thing. I gasped as another home began to expand from the middle, almost out of thin air.
"How?" I said, staring at the house as we walked towards the front steps. Number 12, Grimmauld Place. We stepped inside, and almost immediately after Mad-Eye yelled "we're back", a blur of bushy brown hair crashed into me in a bone-breaking hug. "Hi, Hermione," I said laughing, hugging her back.
"We thought for sure you'd beat Harry here! I've been wondering where you've been for days!" Hermione said quickly, helping me grab my trunk to bring upstairs. "Is he already here?" I asked as we set it down in a room with two beds, one already clearly occupied by Hermione. "Yes, they're in a room down the hall. Come on, I know Harry will be dying to see you." She said, leading me to an adjacent bedroom.
We opened the door and saw Ron and Harry sitting on their beds, heads bent in conversation. They both looked up at the sound of the door, and their faces brightened when they saw me standing there. "Hey, you!" Harry said cheerfully, getting up to hug me. "We were wondering when you'd finally be along!" Ron said, hugging me once Harry released me.
"I guess they were a little behind on the transportation. At least I'm here now!" I joked. I noticed Harry looking at me strangely, and I cocked an eyebrow at him. "What, is there something on my face?" I asked, and Harry shook his head. "No, you just look...different. I can't describe it." Harry said, and I tilted my head a little in confusion. "I noticed it too. You're almost glowing, Isabelle." Hermione chimed in, and I began to flush a little, remembering what my friends had said about the "glow". "I've just been spending more time outdoors, it's just a tan, guys," I said, brushing them off casually and starting to head downstairs, desperate to end the conversation.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione soon followed and we walked into the kitchen, and I was surprised to find it full of people. It seemed that the whole Weasley family was there, and some other adults as well, including Professor Lupin, Mad-Eye, and some who I didn't recognize at all. The most important man, however, was standing near the back, observing it all.
"Sirius!" I gasped, running to him with a huge smile on my face. He laughed and pulled me into a hug, holding me tightly. "I missed you so much!" I said, clinging onto him a little. It had been so long since I had gotten to see him - his escape from Hogwarts was our last physical meeting. "It's good to have you here, Isabelle." He said, loosening his hold on me.
We all sat down at the table as soon as Mrs. Weasley announced that dinner was ready, and the conversation soon shifted from the food to the latest news from Professor Lupin. "An army?" I said in disbelief. "Voldemort is building an army. For what?" Lupin looked at me seriously, and for a moment I felt like I was back in the DADA classroom. "To bring the Wizarding World as we know it back under his regime of fear. And The Daily Prophet refuses to believe it, no surprise there." He said bitterly, tossing a paper onto the table.
Harry took it and I leaned in closer, my blood boiling when I read the title. There was a large photo of Harry from the Triwizard Tournament last year with the flashing title "THE BOY WHO LIES?" stamped across the top. I snatched it from Harry, folding it up and setting it on the table. "Don't pay it any mind. The Prophet has been trash lately, anyway." I said, and the table talk shifted back to Voldemort's army, and the Order of the Phoenix building their own army. "The Order? That thing our parents were in?" I said, looking at the adults. "Could you really take on Voldemort?" I said skeptically, and Sirius smirked. "We did it once, we'll do it again. And with Harry's help-"
"He's just a boy!" Mrs. Weasley interrupted, coming over and snatching the Prophet away from Harry, who had picked it up again. "You say much more and you may as well induct him into the Order straight away." She chastised harshly until Harry spoke up. "No! I want to join! If Voldemort's building an army, then I want to fight!" He said firmly, and I nodded in agreement. "Me too. I won't hide from him. I'm not scared of Voldemort." Sirius smiled softly at us, and I had a feeling that he had heard this all before, from two people who looked just like us.
-----
"Did you really mean all of that at dinner?"
Harry looked up at the sound of my voice, and he furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "Yeah, of course, I did. Why?" He asked, and I came over to sit on his bed. "It's just...I lied. I am afraid. Mum and Dad died fighting this battle. I want to honor them and be just as brave as they were, but I don't want to die, Harry." I said, my voice shaking a little.
Harry pulled me into a hug, leaning his head on mine. "None of this is easy, or safe. But it's the right thing to do. We can't let Voldemort continue his reign of terror across the country, and even across the world. We owe it to our fellow witches and wizards to keep them safe if we can." Harry said, and I became more reassured with every word he said. "I just hope we're doing the right thing." I trailed off, staring out the window.
(A/n: AHH, Order of the Phoenix!! I am in TOTAL shock that this book was released 14 YEARS AGO. June 21, 2003. That's so wild. All crazy revelations aside, thank you so much for reading my lovelies! I hope you loved this chapter, esp the little bit of teasing at the beginning - if you did, make sure you add this story to your library/reading list so you can get notified every time I update (Mondays and Wednesdays)! Also, feel free to check out my other works, all listed on my profile! Love y'all!! H x )