Save Yourself

Save Yourself - Chapter Seven


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It was in fourth year that our relationship finally started moving; The beginning of our fourth year was much like our third, between Draco and I. The similarities ended there, however – the Tri-Wizard tournament had come to Hogwarts, and with it came the first honest threat I felt.

A Veela by the name of Fleur Delacour.

Even the first time I noticed her, standing in the front of the Great Hall with her Headmistress, readily accepting the challenge of becoming Beauxbaton’s Champion, I felt an incredible wave of jealousy spread across my body as I watched Draco stare up at her hungrily. My only comfort was knowing she was three years older – never would she even consider a relationship with him.

I avoided the silver-haired girl as much as possible during the eight months she stayed at Hogwarts. The closest I had come to being near her was at the Yule Ball –

Oh, God. The Yule Ball.

Perhaps it wouldn’t have been so bad if Mother hadn’t sent me the most horrible, frilly, pink dress robes she could find; I’m sure, somewhere in her pea-sized brain, she figured the large price tag on it must have meant it was a treasure. She was wrong on that one, though.

Can you believe I actually fainted when I saw it for the first time?

Ok, I’ll admit it wasn’t a real faint – I did get very dizzy suddenly however, and I did fall back onto my bed, much to my dorm mates’ amusement. The robes were my first hint towards how absolutely awful the night was going to be.

I spent hours getting ready that Christmas, trying desperately to try to distract everyone from my hideous dress robes by making myself as beautiful as I could; makeup was applied, hair was done, push-up bras were snapped on, and – to my horror – notes on safe sex were dispersed through the Slytherin dorms by Head Boy that year. He insisted on lecturing us thoroughly, making sure none of us turned up pregnant a month afterwards; there was absolutely nothing worse than a disgraced and pregnant Slytherin, especially one who became that way during a one-night-stand. It just didn’t happen.

I met Draco down in the Common Rooms at the time we had decided on, slowly descending the stairs with what I hoped was the grace of a Parkinson. Zachary had graduated after my first year, so I no longer had anyone else to look up to within the dorms; I rather liked it, to be honest.

As I looked at Draco for the first time that night, I suppressed the urge to both swoon and laugh at the same time. His dress robes were undoubtedly the most expensive his Mother could get her hands on, but God were they awful looking on him. The high neck simply didn’t fit his personality in the least, just as the pink frills I wore clashed with the sarcastic, dark person I hoped I had matured into.

He made a face when he noticed my odd expression, “Don’t you dare laugh.”

I shook my head, taking his arm with my left, “I won’t, as long as you promise not to.”

He sighed, “Aren’t we supposed to be powerful?”

I shrugged, stepping with him out the door of the Common Room and into the dank dungeons, “I suppose.”

”Then why the hell are we stuck with these awful robes?”

I smirked, “If we start making an issue out of it, Draco, other people will as well. I’m sure we’re not nearly as bad off as some others; just keep the price of this… black… thing in mind. It should keep you happy for a while.”

He sighed, bringing the back of his hand to massage my neck gently, which was a curious display of affection for him.

”As long as Weasley’s suffering, I haven’t a problem with it.”

I grinned and reached up to kiss his cheek, “That’s my boy.”

We reached the Great Hall a few minutes early, both of us rather nervous as we stepped into the swarming crowd. I noticed Draco immediately searched the crowds for Ron Weasley, his eyes sweeping the top of heads for the shock of red hair he so adamantly insulted on a daily basis.

”Good,” he whispered to me, “He’s wearing those awful robes his Mum bought him – second hand, maybe even third or fourth hand – If he wasn’t such an idiot, I’d almost feel sorry for the guy.”

Before I had a chance to reply, McGonagall announced the Ball was about to begin. I winced as I saw what she was wearing, suddenly not so angry with the robes I had been assigned to.

Cedric Diggory and Cho Chang walked by us with Fleur and a boy I didn’t recognize, followed by Viktor Krum and a girl I was absolutely floored to see holding onto his arm.

Hermione Granger.

After everything I had said to her, every time I had insulted her with the ease that was expected of me, the worthless Mudblood wench had gotten one of the most sought-after boys in the building.

It was so unfair, I couldn’t even mutter an insult her way.

Dinner was fairly uneventful; I could feel Millicent and Blaise’s eyes upon me as I stayed silent, allowing Draco to speak with his friends. I had no reason to talk to him – he had invited me to the ball with him just for the sake of him not going alone.

When the champions stood up to start the dance, I once again noticed Draco’s eyes following Fleur as she stepped onto the dance floor, the handsome bloke she had in tow absolutely stupefied.

I nudged Draco, making him snap back into reality and take his mind off of the Veela. He sighed and put one long, skinny arm around my waist, pulling me close to him.

When that particular dance ended, Draco led me out onto the dance floor and carefully placed his hands on my waist – which was when I realized just how horrible a dancer he really was.

”Haven’t you ever danced before?” I asked his quietly, as not to embarrass him.

He shook his head, “Never cared to.”

I cocked my head slightly, curious, “Why are you now?”

He shrugged, “You want to, don’t you?”

”Yes,” I replied, “But I don’t want to force you into anything you don’t want to do.”

Ha, take THAT, Draco!

”I’m willing as long as you are,” he answered, his hand sliding up to my side, “I’ll dance all night if you want to.”

I was instantly wary of his offer, knowing he’d expect something in return. We continued dancing through the night, however, without incident – he never once leaned over to kiss me.

To be honest, while the dancing was fun in a way, it was a very boring night. I only spoke with Draco – even then, it was just a few minutes worth of conversation total. He spent most of his time gazing at Fleur Delacour, his steel eyes following her every movement. After a half hour of this, I gave up trying to get his attention and simply focused on dancing, not saying a word to him the rest of the dance.

When the dance ended, I heard many people groan; I, however, was quite content with ending it there. Draco was no longer paying a bit of attention to me and, to be honest, I wasn’t used to being ignored. We walked back to the Slytherin Common Room in silence, Draco speaking the password for the slab of stone to admit us.

”Thank you,” he said quietly, looking at me for the first time in over three hours, “For coming with me.”

I blinked, startled to hear his voice directed towards me. I gave him a small smile, however, and nodded, “You’re welcome.”

He nodded towards the staircase leading towards his dorms, “You’re welcome to come up.”

Since when was he polite about the whole thing?

I shook my head gently, feeling my curls brush up against my cheek, “No, not tonight.”

He nodded respectfully, “Ok, I can deal with that.”

With a small smile he leaned over and kissed me gently – quite out of character for him, really – and wrapped his arms around my shoulders in an embrace.

”Goodnight, love,” he whispered, kissing my cheek once more and then releasing me.

”Goodnight,” I replied, smiling once more and turning around to go up the stairs leading to my dorm in a slight daze. Draco had been nice – too nice, and he didn’t want anything in return. Something was definitely wrong with the situation.

When I reached the top of the stairs, I opened the door quietly, wincing as it squeaked.

”Who’s out there?” Blaise called from behind her curtains, her voice slightly muffled.

”It’s just me,” I replied half-heartedly, still distracted by Draco’s behavior.

”Get the hell out of here!” she yelled, “I’m in the middle of something!”

I snorted, moving over to her bed, “What the hell could you be busy with that you’d kick me out?”

”It’s none of your damn business,” she growled.

I rolled my eyes and pulled back the curtain, “Give me a br—“

I stopped in mid-sentence, too shocked to speak. On the bed was a partially-covered Blaise, laying on top of a boy I recognized to be Seamus Finnigan, one of Harry Potter’s friends.

With a shocked squeak, I quickly tugged the curtains back into place and fled the room, slamming the door as I left. It wasn’t so much Blaise having sex that surprised me – it was the fact she was doing so with a Gryffindor.

I ran down the stairs as quickly as I could into the almost abandoned Common Room, kicking off my shoes as I went. I took no notice of anyone who was in there, I was too set on finding my armchair and collapsing into it.

I was stopped before I reached it though, by a pair of hands grabbing my shoulders to steady my stance. I turned around, fully prepared to yell at the person who dared to touch me, when I caught site of who it was.

All in all, I wasn’t too surprised when I found Draco starring at me, his eyes questioning me silently.

”I just got kicked out of my dorm,” I said harshly, “Blaise doesn’t want anyone knowing she’s fucking a Gryffindor.”

With that, Draco’s eyes widened and he snorted, the smile I had seen just minutes before reappearing on his lips.

”I suppose she’ll just have to pay the price for it tomorrow then, won’t she?” he smirked, taking my shoes I held in my right hand and guiding me up towards his staircase. “Come on – I promise we won’t have to do anything. I just want to make sure you’ve got a bed to sleep in.”

My eyes widened; never mind the fact he wanted me to go upstairs to his dorms with him on the one night he would have expected me to sleep with him, but his personality had done a complete turn-about in six hours. He wasn’t the sarcastic, cruel, manipulative Malfoy I had known for almost four years now – he was almost nice, and dare I say caring?

I allowed him to guide me up the stairs to his dorm, where Crabbe and Goyle were mercifully sleeping soundly. He released my arm, leaving me standing there gazing around while he went to his trunk and shifted through it for a moment, finally producing a huge shirt. He held it out to me and I took it, slightly confused.

”Unless you’re willing to go back into your dorm, I suggest you put that on. I’ll turn around.”

I nodded silently as he turned around to shift back through his trunk. I reached around my back to undo the buttons that held part of my robes together, taking a few moments to realize I wasn’t able to reach them.

I cringed, turning around to face Draco’s back, “Err, Draco?”

”Yes?” he asked, careful not to turn around.

”I’m sorry, but could you help me with this?” I asked timidly, automatically reaching behind my back to try the buttons again.

He turned around slowly and nodded, walking behind me to where my hands were.

”All of them?” he asked.

”Please,” I answered, closing my eyes as his cool hands slid over my neck and down to where the first button lay. He slowly undid all of them, running a finger down my spine as he finished.

”Thank you,” I said quietly. He nodded and turned around once more as I slid out of my dress and into the large shirt which came down to my knees. I reached underneath it and undid the clasp to my rather uncomfortable push-up bra and untangled it from my body, dropping it on top of the frilly robe.

”Finished,” I announced. “Thanks.”

Draco nodded, turning around and motioning for me to go over to his bed while he changed out of his black robes as well. I did so, perching myself backwards on his bed so I was facing the wall instead of him.

He finished in a matter of seconds and carefully climbed in next behind me, pulling the heavy comforter back and allowing me to climb under it first.

”Thanks,” I said for what I was sure to be the hundredth time that evening as he pulled the blankets over him as well. After a moment of adjusting, I rolled over to the very edge of the bed and faced away from him as he pulled the curtains around the bed closed. He lay at least a foot away from me as I slowly fell asleep, too tired to even register the fact I was in his bed.

Just as I was falling asleep, I felt him roll over close to me, his arm wrapping around my waist. He was careful not to press up against me too much as he ran his fingers gently through my hair.

I kept my eyes closed tight as he kissed my neck, his lips less than an inch away from my ear. I could feel his hot breath on my neck, and I shuddered to think of what we could get away with like this.

I was almost asleep once again as he nuzzled me gently, almost as if he was afraid to wake me – he was sure I was asleep. I felt his breath by my ear once more, and in the darkness of the dorm, he spoke.

”I love you.”