I opened my eyes to find myself looking at a ceiling. I closed my eyes back, starting to drift off to sleep... Then sat straight up with my eyes open. Why was I in bed? The last thing I remembered was sitting in the Gondola beside Draco...
"Elle?" Draco rushed over from the other side of the room. I whipped my head to look over at him when he got to my bedside. "Are you alright?"
"I... how did I get here...?" I bit my lip. My heart was pounding.
"Do you not remember?" He questioned. This sent another wave of intense anxiety through me. I shook my head no. "You feel asleep on the Gondola. And we tried to wake you up, but you wouldn't really cooperate. So, I carried you and we Apparated back. And I got you to wake up just enough to take your Combination, and to change your clothes." I looked down to see I was in my pajamas. "Well, for the most part..." He trialed off. I rubbed my eyes and threw my legs over the side of the bed. I now saw that I only had my boxers on instead of trousers, and no night pants, as I had promised Lucius and Narcissa. Luckily, I had stayed dry.
"Oh..." I rubbed my eyes again. "Where's Gregory?"
"In the bathroom. He's about to leave for the try outs."
"This early?" I yawned.
"It's almost ten." He informed. "But yeah. He's hyped."
"I've really got to pee..." I looked at the closed door."
"He should be almost finished. He's been in there a while... Primping and building up confidence..."
"Figures." I rolled my eyes. Gregory was always kind of a spaz, but not usually over his looks. Usually over Quidditch. Which made sense, since he was trying to look nice for Quidditch.
"While you're waiting you can Floo Mum and Dad. I Flooed them last night and told them you were out, but they wanted to talk to you. And they sent Melvin." We waved his wand and the Dragon floated into my hands. I put him down on the bed.
"Oh. Okay." I got up and walked towards the fire place. I knew I had to, because the other part of the deal was that I Flooed them every night.
I grabbed my wand from the night stand and used it to light a fire before throwing some Floo Powder into the flame.
"Malfoy Manore." I clearly instructed. A moment later, I saw the face of a House Elf. He smiled.
"Oh, Little Female Master! Gumby hasn't seen Little Female Master since Little Female Master left! How is Little Female Master?"
I rolled my eyes.
"Where are Lucius and Narcissa?"
"Oh, Master and Female Master went to the Apothicary. Gumby can tell them that Little Female Master Flooed for them!"
"No, no. I'll just Floo them there." I shook my head.
"Gumby-" Before he could finish, I scattered the ashes, cutting off the conection. He was helpful, but very annoying. All House Elves were.
I waved my wand again and threw in more Powder.
"Elle, sweet heart! Did you have fun yesterday!" It was only a few seconds before Narcissa answered. I serpressed a yawn.
"Yeah, I guess. I had some good wine on the train here."
"Oh, yes. How did the train ride go? You didn't Floo us that night?"
"Sorry. There wasn't a fireplace on the train. It was good... I had some wine, like I said. And it made me sleep well... Actually, I slept very well tonight, too."
"Yes, Draco said he could barley get you up enough to take your Combination. Did you have fun yesterday?"
"Well..." I thought about it. "The Gondola should have been fun, but I fell asleep... and the resurant, well... It was crawling with Muggles." I looked back at the bathroom door to make sure that Gregory hadn't heard.
"I'm sorry to hear that, dear. But I'm glad you're enjoying yourself a little, right?"
"Yeah, I guess..."
"Would you like to speak to Lucius?"
"Uh-huh..." I pulled on a lock of my greasy, black hair. She stepped away, and a moment later Lucius was in her place.
"Goodmorning, Elle. I trust you slept well?"
"Yeah."
"All the excitment it wearing you out, isn't it?"
"I guess so." I nodded my head.
"Listen, if you get to tired, take a nap. If you've already taken one, take another. There's no reason running yourself ragged trying to have fun, because if you aren't rested, you won't have fun, anyway."
"Okay, Lucius." I pulled a little harder on my hair.
"Please stop pulling your hair." He asked. I put my hand to my side. "Gregory has try outs all day today, correct? So what are you and Draco going to do?"
"I don't know." I shrugged. Lucius thought for a moment.
"Have you taken your Combination this morning?"
"No, not yet."
"You need to. Draco, please bring her her Comination." He instructed. Behind me, Draco nodded and got it out of my suitcase before handing it to me. "Thank you." I took it then handed my husband the empty vial. "So, Draco. Do you have any plans for the two of you today?"
"Some sight seeing. I found a pamphlet last night that has directions to stuff. And it's in English." He added. "And I want to take Elle on her Gondola ride."
"That sounds great!" Lucius smiled. "How does that sound to you, Elle?" Instead of verbally answering, I nodded my head. "That's wonderful." Lucius looked behind him for a moment, then back at us. "I don't mean to rush off, but I have got to get back to work. The two of you have fun. And Elle, behave. Remember what I told you."
"Okay."
"I love you, two. Goodbye. Floo us tonight."
"Alright, bye." Draco grinned.
"Bye." I waved back, then Draco scattered the ashes. I looked down at my stomach: my bladder was so full it was hurting me. "How much longer do you think Gregory is going to be?" I questioned. I wasn't sure I could hold it much longer.
"I don't know." He shrugged. "I thought he would have been out by now." I rolled my eyes and got up, walking to the bathroom door. "What are you doing?"
"Getting him out of there." I replied, then gave the door a few hard knocks. "Gregory! Get out! I need the loo now!"
"Hold on!" He yelled back.
"No, Gregory! Let me in!" I felt anger start to creep into my checks. My face was turning warm and red. He was worse than a girl sometimes. "Gregory! Get out!"
"Okay!" The door flew open, hitting me.
"Ow!" I fisted my hand and punched Gregory in the arm as hard as I could. It didn't phase him. He rushed out of the bathroom. I could now see that he was in full Quidditch attire, all embelished with Italy's colours. I rolled my eyes before rushing into the bathroom and slamming the door. When I came back out, Gregory was scarfing down food.
"Sorry... I.... hogged the ....bathroom..." He said between bits. I sat down on the bed next to Draco.
"Okay." I looked down. My heart was still pounding from anger, and I couldn't feel it lifting any. "You're going to make yourself sick."
"No I'm... not." He took the last bite of his bagel and began chugging a cup of orange juice. I wasn't sure where any of the food came from, but I guess it didn't matter. "I've just... got to go. I want to get there early... It makes me look more dedicated." When he finished he slammed the glass down on the nightstand, then dived to grab his satchel. "Bye." He pushed past us and grabbed his broom. "See you later!" He didn't turn to look back and he ran out the door and slammed it in his haste. I jumped at the noise.
Draco and I sat in silence for a moment, just staring at the closed door. After a minute or two, Draco spoke.
"Do you want to eat some breakfast?" He asked. I turned to look at him,
"Yeah, I guess so." The anger was still racing through me.
"We can order room service. That's what Gregory did."
"Sounds good to me." I laid back on the bed, hugging Melvin to my chest. I needed to calm down. Just breath...
"What do you want?" He asked, getting the Floo Powder down.
"I don't care." I replied, although I did. I was trying to calm myself down.
"Well, okay..." He replied, then went ahead and threw the Powder the fireplace. "Yes, I would like to place an order..." He began. I tuned him out.
I needed to get my anger down. I shouldn't have been that angry, and I knew that, but I couldn't. It scared me, because I knew what it could mean. I could be going into a Manic Episode. I knew it was inevitiable, but I didn't want it ot happen here. If I got too upset, Lucius could make me go home early. I could be put back into St. Mungo's. A lot of things could happen that I didn't want to happen right now...
"Elle?" Draco broke me from my thoughts. I opened my eyes to look at him.
"Huh?"
"Are you okay? "
"Yeah, I'm just... thinking." I sat back up. He sat beside me.
"Okay. The food will be here soon. If you want to shower now, you can. Then, after we eat, we can go. I've found a lot of places we can go."
"Okay." I shrugged, and pulled myself up to go shower.
........................................................................................
Draco had planned a lot of things. That little pamphlet he had found must have had everything. First, we took the Italian Knight Bus to Tuscany, where we saw San Gimignano and Piazza del Campo. Then, we got back on the bus, and saw the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Afterward, we ate a lunch that was much nicer than our dinner the night before.He took me back to the Hotel Room to take a nap, then took me back out on the Knight Bus to Pompii. Then the Roman Colossem. And, finally, we went back to Venice.
It wasn't as enchanting as it had been at night, but it was still beautiful. Now that I could see everything in the light, the archetecture stood out unlike any building I've ever seen. The buildings were colourful and towered over the smooth water.
Draco quickly found a Gondola and got us a ride. Like the night before, he helped me into the boat, and we sat down on the bench like seat. The rower pushed the boat into the middle, and we were off.
The relaxing feeling from the night before washed over me. The rocking up and down made me feel safe. At peace.
I looked around us as we rocked by. The building seemed to mezmorize me. Some of them had decorations in the window: flowers, lacy curtains, Crosses... Lots of personal belongings that all have stories.
I was still staring at the buildings when Draco slipped his arm around me.
"What do you think?" He asked. I broke my stare of the buildings to look at him.
"Huh?"
"What do you think of all of this?" He repeated. I shook my head.
"It's just all so beautiful." I breathed. He leaned a little closer to me; close enough that I could feel his breath against my cheek.
"You look beautiful today." He replied. I blushed: I had on another one of the dresses Narcissa had packed, along with a matching sunhat.
"No..." I trailed off and pulled away from his gaze.
"Yeah." He used his hand to make me face him.
We look straight into each other's eyes for a couple moments, then he leaned in closer.
For the first time since we lost Scabior Severus, our lips touched. We kissed two or three times: all short, quick kisses that began to turn slow. He put his arms around me, and-
My anxiety spiked up.
I pushed him away from me. It took him a moment to figure out what I was doing, but when he did, he let go.
"What's wrong?" He asked. I shook my head, tears coming to my eyes.
"I... I don't know." I truthfully answered. "I just... I...." I covered my face as I began to cry. Draco put an arm around me, and put his other on my arm.
"Did I do something?"
"Yes.... no... I don't know...." I peeked at him between my fingers. I wasn't sure what all of this was about: I was enjoying it. I liked kissing my husband. Why was this happeneing?... It was getting hard to breath.
"I'm sorry. How about we just hold hands?" He asked, offering his closest hand. I slowly lowered my hands off of my face and stared at it a moment before accepting the offer. He gave my hand a small squeeze and offered a smile. I wiped my disapearing tears with my free hand.
"This is better." I informed, and looked out over the water. Draco leaned closer to me again.
"I love you." He tried. I quickly turned my head.
"I love-" I started, but the anxiety started to spike again. "You." I pushed myself to finish, then forced myself to quickly look away from him.