A/N: not going to lie this was one of my favorite chapters to write :) hope you enjoy it!
Xoxo
KS
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It was the first night Adelaide and Draco were going to start the legilimancy training. Draco was a nervous wreck. He absolutely hated showing any form of emotion and the thought of her being in his mind made him feel panicked. He knew she promised not to snoop around, but what if she found out about the night Philip had tried to curse the Weasley twin or even worse, the love potion ordeal.
"I'm sorry Addie, but I can't do the training..I'm sorry, I just can't" he began fumbling, his heart starting to race. He loosened his tie as he stood up from the couch and began pacing across the Common Room.
She had no idea why he was so nervous about her placing a dream in his head. She promised she wouldn't look at any of his thoughts, maybe he thought she'd accidentally see something he didn't want her to. Probably about the obliviate incident and the love potion incident from two years ago. She was of course furious with him when it first happened, but since she had gotten closer to Draco and a substantial amount of time had passed, she rationalized that Draco couldn't have possibly said no to her brothers if they demanded it. Not to mention Draco made the Unbreakable Vow not to tell her about it.
"Draco, sit." she calmly stated, patting the seat next to her. He nervously glanced at the seat and up at her before sitting down, still nervously twisting his rings. She placed her hand on his knee and looked at him affectionately, "Talk to me. What are you nervous about?"
His nervous expression was replaced by a forced scowl, "I'm not nervous. I just don't want to do this anymore." He looked away, staring around the empty Common Room. She took the opportunity to move closer to him, ensuring he could feel her pressing gaze. He eventually turned back to her, looking at her warm brown eyes that melted his heart slightly.
"Draco, I know you well enough. You can't lie to me." He exhaled loudly, "I just..I don't know..What if I think about something stupid and you see it and-," she put her finger against his mouth so he'd stop talking.
"I promised you I won't go snooping. I'm perfectly capable of locking all the doors and only placing the dream in your head. You'll see everything I'm seeing the whole time. If you want I can even show you how to section off a part of your mind so I can only enter there." she smiled up at him and was excited seeing his eyes finally relax and the tension in his shoulders release, "Ok fine."
"Alright now just lay down and fall asleep."
He looked at her questionably, "You want me to fall asleep right here? Right now?" she slowly nodded at him like it was a stupid question. "While you're watching me?"
Adelaide shoved him playfully, "Don't make it sound creepy. I'll place a sleeping spell if you want, it'll be faster." the nervousness began to rise in his throat again as he removed his jacket and laid down on the couch.
His heart was pounding out of his chest and when she delicately whispered the incantation for the sleeping charm. He instantly felt himself falling asleep. As he opened his eyes, he found himself on the Ministry's atrium floor. He quickly scrambled to his feet looking around. The large fountain was eery in the dark and it felt strange being the only person there. He then found himself moving automatically towards the lift, his dress shoes echoing across the marbled floor. He clearly saw himself press the "level 9" button and his vision went slightly dark until he found himself staring into an incredibly dark, tiled hallway.
He walked curiously to the end, beginning to feel slightly uneasy. He naturally walked up to a random door, opening it and finding himself in a dark room that had rows and rows and rows of shelves with crystal balls in it. He had no idea where he was, but his vision went dark again until an image of a crystal ball flashed with Harry's name on a tag. He specifically noticed the row number 97 that reflected off of the little light that was in the room.
He heard something behind him that startled him, he instinctively tried to withdraw from the dream, but as he did so, the room slowly melted away into dark smoke until he found himself sitting at his dining room table surrounded by Death Eaters, his parents, himself, and Voldemort at the end. His heart began racing as the Dark Lord yelled at him for failing a task, but as the snake began making its way towards him, he felt himself being ripped backwards and he snapped awake to see Adelaide's eyes filled with horror. His chest rose and fell harshly, his heart beating erratically and a bit of perspiration beginning to gather on his brow.
"I'm so sorry Draco, I-I don't know what happened at the end. Are you ok?" tears began to gather in her eyes as she waited for his response. For some reason as she was walking through the dream in Draco's mind, she accidentally opened a passage in her mind that Draco must've slipped into. He happened to stumble into one of her nightmares and thankfully she caught it in time before he could see any further.
"Hey, hey it's ok. I'm fine. Don't cry, seriously I'm fine." he brought her into a hug, but Adelaide felt awful as she could hear his heart pounding against his chest. Her nightmare was undoubtedly a fear of his as well.
As he held her, stroking her hair softly, he finally slowed his breath and heart down. "So, the dream was very very clear. I saw the floor I needed to go to, the room with all the shelves, and the shelf number. That's good. Potter will have to be more stupid than he is to not get the point. At the end, I heard a noise and when I went to withdraw from the dream I somehow ended up in your..your dream."
She nodded her head, still feeling terrible about him seeing her nightmare. "I-I just have to remember when I'm p-placing the dream, I have to place an occlumency barrier to make sure he can't come through." Draco softly grabbed her shaking hands and looked into her eyes, "That sounds like a good plan..I think we should wrap up for tonight. I don't want to push it too much too soon." he gave her a weak smile which she returned, grateful because she wasn't sure if she could give it a go again after seeing her nightmare again.
They sat curled up together on the couch in silence, staring at the green fire. Adelaide was still pretty shaken up from the nightmare and Draco didn't want to leave her alone, so neither of them moved from their spot. Adelaide's eyelids grew heavy and she gently drifted off to sleep.
She found herself in the Malfoy's library. The fireplace was lit and warm, the smell of parchment and leather bound covers filled the air. She felt entirely relaxed and comfortable, she looked over towards the window to see Draco curled up reading a book on the chair beside a window, it was pouring outside which she knew Draco loved rainy days. She curiously browsed the different books on the shelves, softly dragging her finger across the soft leather spines. The fire light caught the golden ink on one book that was labeled "The Tales of Beedle the Bard" she smiled as she gently took it off the shelf and opened it. All of her childhood favorites were in there, she gravitated towards one story, The Wizard and the Hopping Pot. She preferred The Fountain of Fair Fortune, but she continued to happily read the story. Once she had finished she saw Draco looking towards her by the window, "That was my favorite story when I was little..Father never really liked me to read it, but mum would read it to me when he was gone for work."
She sweetly smiled at him, softly closing the book and placing it back on the book shelf where she had found it. She sat beside Draco on the small couch, staring out into the night sky from the large glass window.
She looked at him, the light of the moon illuminating his beautiful skin. "Are you putting this dream in my head Draco?" she laughed lightly. He smiled, still looking out the window, "I may or may not have read up on dream legilimancy and practiced it for you."
She could feel her heart flutter and she thought, No one has ever done something like that for me. He smiled and lightly blushed, she realized since he was in her head he probably knew what she was thinking. She smacked his arm, "Hey! No snooping like you said." he laughed, raising his hands in innocence, "I didn't! I can just hear your narrative a bit." but his laughing and blushing totally gave him away. She shook her head, "How did you even get into my head anyways? I keep a tight occlumency barrier up."
He glared at her, "Oh trust me, it wasn't easy. Apparently you have a tiny little corner open, but it's closed off to everything else. I couldn't see your memories if I wanted to." she realized he had accessed Philip's tiny little communication window, he must've spent ages trying to find it. She had to admit she was impressed.
They sat there in the library, staring out at the rainy sky, enjoying the warmth from the fire. Soon the dream grew blurry and dark as she assumed Draco had fallen asleep.
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Adelaide was jolted awake by the clanking of what sounded like porcelain. She saw Blaise sitting opposite of her on the other couch with a teacup in one hand and the Daily Prophet in the other. She soon realized that she was lying down completely on top of Draco with his arms wrapped around her.
Draco slowly stirred and jumped practically five feet in the air seeing Blaise smiling like a fool. "I'd ask how you slept, but by the looks of it you were quite cozy." he raised his eyebrows, slowly taking a sip from his tea.
"Oh, piss off Blaise." Draco growled straightening his shirt and running his fingers through his hair. Adelaide fired back, she could feel her face turning bright red, "How long were you sitting there anyways?"
"Oh..Not long. I just made a cup of tea" he raised his cup, "and I might have taken a few pictures, read the Daily Prophet, finished my Potions essay, drew my constellation map for Astronomy, and a few other things."
Draco stood up quickly pointing an angry finger in his face, "Very funny Blaise, but if you say a word" Blaise laughed, "Calm down Draco, my lips are sealed...Does this mean you two are together together?" he flashed a wink at Adelaide before getting up, dropping an enchanted polaroid picture of her and Draco on her lap. Her face at this point was bright red as she quickly pocketed the picture before Draco could see. Draco quickly shot back, "How about you mind your own business for once and get out." Blaise was relishing in making Draco embarrassed, but he didn't want to push his luck, so he smoothly made his way out of the Common Room.
Draco sat awkwardly at the end of the sofa, not looking at her. She broke the silence, "Tales of Beedle the Bard. Very cute." he let out a nervous chuckle, "I'm glad. Sorry I accidentally fell asleep."
She looked at him, smiling softly, "Don't apologize, I didn't mind." he quickly looked away, trying to hide his blushing. It was rare for her to see him so bashful and embarrassed like this, it was kind of cute.
Draco on the other hand was severely struggling with his feelings for Adelaide. He'd been with several girls before, but none of them he really liked, they were mostly products of his boredom. Adelaide was so much different. He had loved her for the longest time and now that she was beginning to like him back and seeming to be getting over Sebestyen, he was patiently waiting for her to catch up with his feelings. He couldn't let on how much he cared for her because it would seem as though it were too much too soon and he was terrified of losing her.
They sat there in an awkward silence before Adelaide chirped, "We should probably get ready for class." Draco quickly got up, "Yes..yes you're right." he cleared his throat before awkwardly pausing, looking at her for a few moments, and turning to the boys dormitory.
Adelaide couldn't help but giggle at his flustered state. It was simply adorable.