Secret Admirer

Chapter five- the day before the ball...

Draco felt his stomach doing flip flops and tying in knots as the hours drew him closer to revealing to Laura that he was her admirer. Of course Laura had no idea because Draco was very good at hiding things like this, but he was now also worried that Laura wouldn't feel the same way. That feeling haunted him all week, but being a Malfoy that was another emotion he could hide.

He sat down at his usual seat in Advanced Charms next to Orli who seemed to have an injured fist. Draco looked over at Dean and saw that he was clutching his stomach. It appeared that they had ended up fighting again over Jessica. Draco smirked and looked down at chapter seven in his Charms book just in time to see words forming on his parchment of notes.

Draco, I figured it out! -Laura

Draco's heart stopped for a single second, she knew? How could he have been so obvious?

Laura, Figured what out? -Draco

My secret admirer!

Really? Who?

Seamus, I'm almost sure of it...

Draco heaved a sigh of relief, she didn't know after all. He raised his head to look at the blackboard just in time to see a flash of blue light streak past his face. Dean threw a curse at Orli and once again they were fighting. It was quite amusing to Draco though because only Orli could properly duel. He stood up to stop Orli from throwing another curse when it got way out of hand. Draco pulled Orli's wand out of his hand and pushed him back in his chair while Professor Flitwick stopped Dean's shoes from tap dancing on his head. Draco tried not to laugh, he helped stop this after all but to see Dean swatting at his own head and hitting it numerous time was way too funny not to laugh. After that, the rest of his day wasn't too eventful aside from watching Potter trip and roll down the stairs and try to walk it off.

At dinner that night, the entire hall was buzzing about tomorrow night. Draco on the other hand was more nervous than excited. He could barely swallow his soup that was in front of him. What if Laura didn't want him? What if she got upset? What if she ran away when she saw that it was him? These thoughts clouded Draco's mind, making him stare at his napkin hoping that Laura was not looking at that point.

That night as Draco was getting ready for bed, a small owl fly into his room. It was Laura's owl, Kerry. He slipped the letter off its claw and closed the door after he'd flown off. He recognized the violet scribble as Laura's as he opened the letter, it was quite short.

Draco, meet me in the Charms Corridor at midnight. -Laura

Draco folded the note back up and glanced at his watch, 11:57. He ran out of his room, down the hall and out of the common room. His feet pulled him out of the dungeons, up four flights of stairs, three hallways and finally to the charms corridor. Laura was already there, leaning against the wall.

"Run much?" she laughed.

"Not really, what'd you want to meet for?"

"To talk."

"About what?" Draco asked as he slid down next to her, leaning his head back against the cold stone wall.

"You."

"Me? Why me?"

"You're different, there's something going on that you're not telling me."

"How do you know?"

"I can feel it, you've lost your composure at certain times and it threw me for a loop." Laura sighed, "What's going on?"

"Nothings going on, just been thinking a lot lately I guess."

"About what?"

"Nothing," Draco replied almost to quickly. Laura raised an eyebrow at him, disbelieving there was nothing wrong. Draco just stood up to leave because he felt like there was no point to this conversation until Laura pulled a letter from her robes. She put it into Draco's hands and turned away, Draco opened the letter that was not in Laura's handwriting but writing that he could not recognize.

"What is this?" Draco looked up at Laura who could not bring her eyes up from the floor.

"It's from my parents, could you just read it?" she said as she leaned back up against the wall. Draco unfolded the parchment and saw scarlet ink scribbled all down the page.

Daughter,

It has been awhile since we have spoken due to you being at school but we want to know why. Our family has not been like this in ages, the communication has failed between us all and it is not your fault it is mine. I will claim the responsibility for this because of what your father had planned since the day you were born. Believe me, the same thing happened to me with my father and it is all for the best. I assure you that you will come to find that this arrangement will be very suitable for your future and that he will provide security for you. When you come home for Christmas, you will get to meet him. An arranged marriage is something you would come to understand as being a very important event for a family of our status. Please do not be mad at us for it, its only for the best.

Now I also understand that you have become very good friends with Lucious Malfoy's son and I must press upon you that this is not a very good idea. Though we are the same status, our families do not belong together. I am not saying that mister Malfoy is like his father but we do not know that for sure. Terrible things can happen if Lucious were to find out about his son hanging out with you. I hope you will respect my wishes for you to stay away from the Malfoys, as much as humanly possible. I do not want you to be hurt in the end, so please understand what I have told you and realize what could happen to us. This is a demand, not a request.

Sincerely,

Mother

Draco had no idea what to say, they were forbidden. He dropped the letter to the floor and leaned against the wall next to Laura, not wanting to believe what he had just read. Laura looked as though she was battling with her will not to burst into tears. Draco put a comforting arm around his best friend and pulled her close. Then he felt it, Laura began to shake with uncontrollable tears. It was awhile before either spoke, Laura eventually gained control of her voice and spoke quietly.

"What do you think of me now? Now that I lost control of myself?" she silently sobbed.

"I think no less of you, nothing would ever change my opinion of you." Draco said as he held her tight to him. "It takes a strong woman to show emotion like yours."

"What of the letter? What my mother said?"

"I think that no one can ever tell me not to be what I am to you, not even your mother. I will always be here, unless you tell me yourself that you no longer want me around." Draco said as he closed his eyes, breathing in as much of her as he could. No one was going to stop him from being in her life.

"Draco I don't know what I'd do without you."

"I don't know either, I think I'd go crazy."

"Yeah me too." Laura laughed quietly. She held him even tighter, never wanting to let go. "There's something else Draco."

Draco lifted his head gently, asking what it was. Laura pulled herself up to look into his eyes to tell him what was on her mind.

"I do not want an arranged marriage." She whispered. Draco felt his heart drop momentarily, he thought she was going to tell him something completely different. Laura felt him tense up a bit and asked what was wrong. Draco wanted to tell her his feelings but now was not the right time, he had to wait until the ball. But now he felt as if he couldn't go through with it.

"Nothing, I just need to think about a few things that's all." Draco said as he gave her another hug. They began to walk towards Laura's dormitory slowly, feeling the weariness of night fall upon them. Draco hugged Laura once more before she went into the portrait of the Fat Lady. He waited for it to shut until he walked away toward his own dorm. He didn't even reach five feet when Laura called out to him, making him turn around quickly. She ran up to him and hugged him tight, thanking him for being so wonderful. He felt his lips brush his cheek for a moment before she let go.

"I'm here for you, and always will be. Goodnight Laura." Draco smiled and walked away to his dungeon. The farther away he got, his smile began to fade away. He didn't not know if he could reveal himself to Laura as her secret admirer. Deciding to get some sleep, he figure out what to do when he woke up.