After the two Professors had left, the rest of us sat in silence for a while. I took the time to study my mate. I hadn't noticed it before, but he had changed over the summer. Almost as much as I had, but as opposed to me, although I hate to admit it, he had changed to the better. He now stood at an impressive 6'2", his shoulders were broad and his muscles well-defined. He still hadn't changed into his school robes and his Muggle attire was impeccable, the black dress pants clinging in all the right places and the white shirt hugging his chest. His pale skin showcased a finely chiselled, handsome face, and his eyes seemed to shine with an inner glow. With his silvery hair hanging in his eyes, there was no way around it, Draco Malfoy was stunning. Incredibly so. The only bad thing I could find about his transformation was the fact that he was surely too big to continue to play seeker. A shame really, he'd been the only real competition I'd ever had.Suddenly I was brought out of my musings by the Parkinson girl. She was standing in front of me, blocking my view of Malfoy. How rude. "Hello, my name is Pansy Parkinson," she said, holding out her hand. I hesitated for a slight second, before deciding that with Malfoy as my mate, I would need all the allies I could get.
"Harry Potter," I shook her hand and flashed her a lopsided grin. "Pleased to meet you," Now, that wasn't entirely true, I had met her a thousand times before and it had never been pleasant, but hey, what's a little white lie on the big scale of things? And if we were starting over, we might as well do it properly.
"Harry Potter?" she exclaimed with fake surprise. "Surely not the Harry Potter?" I had to give it to her, the girl could act.
"The very one," I nodded, playing along for her sake.
"Oh, what a surprise! I insist you call me Pansy. After all, we're as good as familywhat with you bonding with my Drakey pooh." I couldn't help myself, I had to laugh. I mean honestly, Drakey pooh? It was hilarious!
"Then you must call me Harry," I said after finally managing to cease my laugher.
"Oh, we must have tea!" She cried, clasping her hands together. That did it. I fell over in fits of laughter again. The mere idea of Harry Potter having tea with Pansy Parkinson was so absurd it was almost believable. And just for that, I really had to have tea with her. Just to see the look on everybody's faces when I told them.
"Indeed we must!" I exclaimed, also clasping my hands together. "How is this Saturday for you? Around two?"
"Why don't we make that two thirty? Yes? Fabulous, I will meet you outside the Slytherin entrance, hmmm?"
"It's a date," I said and we both toppled over in laughter over the absurdity of the situation.
Suddenly we were interrupted by someone growling loudly next to us. Turning around, I found myself face to face with Malfoy. "Pansy, darling," he said in a dangerous tone. "You are not making dates with my mate, are you?"
Pansy shook her head. "No, Draco. We're just having tea. Just tea."
Malfoy's eyes were steely and I could have sworn his nails had gotten longer. "Good, because I wouldn't want anyone stealing my mate, now would I?" He looked about ready to attack anyone who came in his way.
"Of course not, Dray!" exclaimed Pansy, unconsciously backing away from the jealous Veela. Being the chivalrous Gryffindor I was, the sight of a damsel in distress made me jump right into the conversation.
"Malfoy, calm down, I said I'm not going to refuse the bond, so I'm not about to date anyone else." Malfoys attention suddenly turned to me and I found myself backed up against a wall. I barely resisted the urge to gulp.
"Are you sure?" hissed the Veela, his hand reaching up to slowly trail the length of my throat.
"Positive," I answered, my voice breaking. Having a jealous Malfoy tracing my neck was doing weird things to my lower anatomy. If I hadn't known better, I would have said I was turned on.
"Good," he said then placed a chaste kiss on the corner of my mouth before turning around and stalking out of the room. I had to take back my previous statement, I wasturned on. Damn.
Pansy sent me a knowing look before heading for the door as well. "Are you coming, Harry?" she asked. "Wouldn't want to miss the feast." Not trusting myself to speak, I nodded and followed her out.
When we reached the Great Hall, everyone was already seated. It was halfway into the sorting, and I took the chance of sneaking in just as 'Deville, Wilhelmina' was sorted into Slytherin. The moment I sat down I was ambushed by Ron and Hermione.
"How did it go?"
"What happened?"
"What did Dumbledore want?"
"Was Malfoy there?"
"What did he want?"
"What took you so long?"
Getting a tsk noise and an angry glare from Professor McGonagall, the two of them suppressed their questioning somewhat. It gave me the time to actually answer them. "Good, not much, talk, yes, I don't know, I was talking to Pansy."
I could see Hermione was rewinding back to the questions to see what I had answered, but Ron looked plainly confused. I decided to help him out and tell everything that had happened.
" – and then he kissed me and walked out, and me and Pansy followed him." I ended, looking expectantly at my friends.
"He kissed you?" hissed Ron, trying very hard to keep the volume down. He wasn't doing a very good job.
"What, is it so hard to believe that someone would kiss me?" I was mildly affronted. The idea of me not being kissable was absurd. To your information, I was the most kissable guy in school, courtesy of my newly acquired pouted, pink lips. This girly look was thankfully good for something.
"Harry, I don't think that's what Ron meant. Try something more along the lines of Malfoy kissed you!" That was when it fully hit me. Malfoy had kissed me. Malfoy hadkissed me! My eyes turned very wide and I think I might have blushed. It was the curse of my complexion, easy blushing. And now I didn't have a tan to hide it either. Damn transformation.
"He kissed me!" I said, sounding surprised and, dare I admit it, slightly dreamy.
Hermione squealed.
Ron choked.
Seamus joined the conversation. "Who kissed who?"
"Malfoy kissed Harry!" gushed Hermione, sounding, for once, extremely girly.
"WHAT!" yelled Seamus, suddenly finding himself on the receiving end of one of McGonagall's death glares. "Sorry Professor," he muttered, then turned back to Hermione. "What?"
And then Hermione proceeded to tell Seamus the whole story, complete with girly appearances, Veela, chosen mates and the whole rest of the ordeal. I shut out her voice. It was a nifty little trick I learnt back in our fifth year, in the months before our OWL exams. You'll probably believe me when I say it saved my life.
I looked over to the Slytherin table, and for a minute my eyes locked with Malfoy's. We just looked at each other for a minute, and then he gave me a smile and turned his attention back to the sorting. I sat gaping at him. He had smiled at me. Not a smirk, not a sneer, but a real smile. A dazzling smile. A beautiful smile. And it was meant for me and me alone.
As 'Stapleton, Archie' was sorted into Hufflepuff, I felt a fuzzy feeling in my chest. And I knew, with the certainty of someone who has been hanging too much around Trelawney, that it didn't bode well for my resolve to take things slow with Malfoy. Damn his pretty smile to all hells.