The Great Hall had suddenly gone dead-quiet as everyone simply stared in astonishment. Were Draco Malfoy, big bad Slytherin, and Maria Cleaver, reserved and studious goody-goody, kissing? Every student’s bulging eyes were glued to the pair, all of them wondering collectively what in the world was happening.
"I think they’ve had enough shock for today…" Draco whispered under his breath to Maria’s ear, a soft smile in his voice, right after they had broken the kiss.
Maria looked around and, somehow, felt observed. Her cheeks rapidly imitated two huge red-hot tomatoes as she became conscious of their position; not only were they still literally tangled up in each other’s arms, but students had actually climbed on the tables to get a better view, forming a flawless circle around them. Subtle. Very Subtle.
Fortunately for the pair, at this precise moment, the teachers who had been out walked back into the room, Dumbledore at their head. He was about to bellow "SILENCE!" but found it unnecessary since everyone was already peculiarly silent. He made his way to the other end of the room and mounted the modest platform where the teachers’ table stood as heads slowly turned in his direction. Maria, grabbing her chance, darted in the opposite direction, dragging Draco behind by his sleeve. They listened, from the very back of the room, to Dumbledore’s speech, hands twined, hearts rushing, breathing still ragged, skin feverishly hot. It was a challenge to focus on the Headmaster’s words. He confirmed that the men had indeed been Death Eaters, accompanied by Dementors. He quickly reassured them however, that everyone was fine – or at least going to be. He finished off by stating that, considering the circumstances, Hogsmeade visits would probably be banned and that he would advise the students again when the rules would be decisive. Prefects were then asked to escort their houses to their respective dormitories. Maria, still a bright shade of red in the face, and Draco very ungracefully parted, both somehow eager to disappear from the crowd’s avid eye.
They hurriedly led the students in a highly uncomfortable and awkward silence. Maria was only too happy to finally reach her comfortable bed; although, she couldn’t find sleep. Thoughts of what had happened that day kept her awake. This time, she let her mind wander on its own, not trying to block anything out; it simply felt too good. She knew it would hurt her later; that the pain would be worse, but the momentary bliss was impossible to resist. She thought of Draco, of his soft yet powerful touch, of how it still burned on her lips. She thought of the fireworks that had set off in the pit of her stomach, of that indescribable feeling that seemed to crawl underneath her skin whenever they touched. She had never felt so alive in her entire life; and somehow, it was all because of a boy named Draco Malfoy.
On his side, Draco, amid the terrible events that had occurred, was in heaven. He remembered the way Maria’s hands had instinctively found the back of his neck, running through his hair, messing it up. He remembered how his breath had caught in his throat - it was still uneven. He remembered her addictive scent and the thought sent pleasant shivers down his spine… and heart. The hole was filled. The wounds were scared. He wanted to hold her, he wanted to kiss her again and see her breathtaking smile. He had never experienced this feeling before, nothing even remotely close to it, and did it feel awesome. Forget the silly butterflies, these were real life fireworks taking flight and exploding inside of him.
Once the students were in their dormitories and that Maria and Draco were out of sight, what had been a very silent crowd suddenly became very agitated and talkative. Everybody, naturally, had his own point of view on the newly disclosed couple; although it was found most of them tended to defend Maria. People just couldn’t imagine how she possibly could have brought herself to do that - her spotless reputation sticking to her - so they blamed Malfoy. Some were convinced she had acted under the effects of a love potion, others, more dramatic, were certain that Malfoy had imperiused her. In brief, no one was left indifferent. Also, the fact that they had just been attacked by half a dozen of Death Eaters only created more drama and disturbance. However, this last event they had just witnessed was as troubling; not to say even more. In short, all the Slytherins wanted to beat Malfoy up to a pulp; meanwhile, Pansy had her own plans on poisoning Maria’s pumpkin juice and brewing a love potion for Draco’s. The Gryffindors mostly thought ‘How could she?’ while the Hufflepuffs were left wondering ‘What the …?’ Hermione was thinking ‘Oh no’ since she had somehow seen this coming. Cho was, for perhaps the first time, left speechless as Davies just couldn’t believe she had left him for, well, him. As a matter of fact, everyone was left with a common questioning: why him? For all Davies knew, he was, of course, better; but then again, that was just for all he knew.
At first, the Ravenclaws (and everybody else) avoided Maria, but soon they started questioning her motives. She was after all a decent, respected, head-on-her-shoulders student; she must have a good explanation behind it, or maybe even an excuse - everybody makes mistakes sometimes. So, timidly, they started very tactfully asking her questions.
This was a rather radical change for Maria; she was used to being a bit ignored and had always been a more erased student. People usually only knew her because of her excellent grades and most of the time came to her for academic help. However, she was definitely not used to commanding the kind of attention she was now receiving. Whenever people stopped to stare at her, whispered in their friend’s ear while she had her back turned, asked her annoying questions or simply made tactless comments, she just couldn’t wait for time to pass and for people to get over it. She was one of the rare people who, in these circumstances, could say to Harry Potter ‘I understand how you feel’ and actually mean it.
For the first week or so, she and Draco stayed low – to the point of non-existence – hoping it would calm things down. However, they both soon realized that whatever they did, the gossips wouldn’t stop; and that they would never stop neither, for as long as one little student remembered. Since it was, unfortunately, impossible for them to erase everybody’s memory, they had no choice but to face the facts: they would never be left alone. Well, maybe with the exception of Friday nights.
On her way to meet Draco at their usual spot, Maria was already blushing. It would be the first time they would actually get to speak to each other since, well, the ‘incident’. She was anxious to see him, but didn’t quite know what to expect or how to handle it. She had given up trying to forget him, regardless of all the sensible reasons that begged her to. Was it so aberrant to feel this way about him, even though he was a Death Eater?
"I don’t know about you but it’s been a pretty wild week."
She was suddenly cut off from her thoughts and turned around to see Draco's lean form appear out of the darkness behind her. He approached her cautiously: he didn’t know how she felt about it all, so he tried his best to avoid awkwardness.
"It’s been harsh, probably less than yours. Still, the worst threat I got was Pansy trying to poison me, so I’ve been watching my pumpkin juice," she recounted with a touch of sarcasm.
Draco laughed cautiously, still a little tense, before saying:
"The worst thing I had were death threats from Slytherins for dating a mudblood."
He frowned expectantly: the word ‘dating’ was a disguised test. However, Maria was oblivious to it and, not knowing if she should be concerned or laugh, redirected the subject. He had passed the test.
"I think it’s about time someone tells you that, well, I’m not a muggleborn to put it nicely."
"Really? So you’re a…" Draco started excitedly, his greyish-blue eyes glistening.
"Half-blood."
"Oh."
Maria laughed at his reaction. Teasing him, she continued:
"Don’t worry, our children will still be three quarters pureblood."
Draco, suddenly not at all laughing, bore a surprised yet innocent look. He had definitely passed the test.
"You want to have children with me?" he said, hardly believing it as he spoke, a small smirk tugging at his mouth's corner.
Maria blushed.
"Don’t tell me you’ve already picked out names!" he cried out loud making fun of the situation. He was suddenly in a very, very good mood.
"Well," she started uncomfortably, "I do like Anthony for a boy…"
"At least that’s better than Pansy: she wanted to name him Jr. or Scorpius."
Maria burst into laughter and Draco smiled at her - a genuine one. He reached out for her hand and she gladly held his; this test was getting ridiculously easy, Draco thought. Neither of them could stop smiling as their blood pumped frantically through their veins, spreading a giddy warmth. An easy-going, comfortable atmosphere settled between them as they walked through the fast asleep castle. Suddenly, something occurred to Maria:
"So, what are we going to do?"
"Mmmm?" Draco asked, interrupted in this blissful moment of having Maria by his side.
"The rumors, I mean, we can’t hide forever."
Draco paused to think, a smile playing along the corners of his lips. She still wanted him, and that sole thought's power was ridiculous. He was taking some time so she added:
"But that’s considering you still want to be with me."
Hearing this, he frowned suddenly and couldn't help but protest:
"Bloody hell Maria, after all this you can’t really be expecting me to just leave now."
Maria looked up into his lively eyes. The corner of her mouth curled up, but Draco looked away.
"Actually, I should be the one asking you that," he said with his head turned the opposite way.
"What do you mean?" she asked, troubled, her wide eyes searching him for the answer.
"It’s just," he seemed at a loss for words, "before the holidays, you know, when we…"
As he mentioned this, Maria remembered, not too pleasantly, everything that had happen what seemed like so long ago but truly was only two weeks ago. Draco took a deep breath, carefully setting his ego down before diving head first.
"I was stupid, and over the past few weeks I realized just how much you were doing for me. I’ve been selfish - and terribly wrong – I’m sorry. I promise you, no more waiting around... if you’ll still have me," he finally finished off.
Maria smiled peacefully; somehow, even though everything was a mess, she felt as if nothing could have been more perfect as she gazed into his silvery eyes.