My Enigmatic Enemy

The days flitted past quicker than I liked. December, January, February. I couldn’t believe March was upon us until I saw it on the calendar in the room that Draco had thought up for the Room of Requirement, for just the two of us. My breath had caught in my throat for just a split second, and I realized that, whether I liked it or not, something would probably come to take Draco away from me soon. He was all I had right now, the only one I could go to for comfort, and soon he might be leaving me.

I had shaken that thought off at first, but then the feeling came back again and again and I would go off on my own to visit Selena.

On these little excursions, I gained some insight into what the founders had really been like, and what Mortimer Slytherin had really been to Selena. It was much like what Draco was to me, I realized as I chatted with Selena. Mortimer had been her life. They had loved each other - secretly, because their fathers were starting to get in little arguments - and then when Salazaar had found out, he’d given Mortimer that locket to give to Selena, and Mortimer had never known that it was cursed.

“You’re like us,” Selena said to me one day, “You love each other, and you’d be ostracized if anyone found out…so you’re keeping it quiet and you’re afraid all the while that he will disappear from your arms if you make the wrong move. I’ve been there before. I know it’s not a fun feeling, but you’ll get through it, and you’ll be better off than me. You’ll live out your life, and eventually you will be together.”

Whenever my doubts surfaced, those lines would come back in some form. Selena assured me again and again that it was not meant for us to be as ill-fated as she and Mortimer had been. I still couldn’t help but think that even if we weren’t AS ill-fated as they, we still wouldn’t end up together. I knew, however, that I would never lose the deep feelings I held for him. Right now, Draco was my life. I lived for him…I’d die for him. I could only hope he felt the same, even thought it was almost a given by the raw emotion I saw in his eyes when they met mine.

Soon, the snow melted completely, and everyone went outside a lot. I received a note one morning that said to meet Draco at midnight by the tree on the far side of the lake with a broom. I knew which one it was, without anyone explaining further.

“Good night, Ami,” Katie said as I walked to the dorm. I could only hope all the other girls would follow my example and come up to sleep and be in a deep enough sleep by midnight that no one else would know about me leaving.

“Good night,” I said softly. I’ve been doing my best to be more silent, so as to keep mine and Draco’s secret for as long as I can.

“Don’t let the bedbugs bite!” Another girl called up the steps, and I forced a chuckle loud enough for her to hear.

Midnight. I heard birds chirping and the hooting of owls, but all else was silent. The soft breathing of the girls let me know that they were pretty soundly asleep, so I crept up, still fully clothed, and stepped to our open window. With a deep breath, I took my broomstick - I really don’t know why I own one, when I hardly use it - and sat on the sill. I maneuvered the broom out in front of me, then let myself fall. I caught myself in the air and flew into the night, across the Black Lake with the shimmering reflection of stars gazing up at me.

It was exhilarating to be in the air, but I wasn’t one to play Quidditch. I was too slight, and too timid.

I came in to land next to the shining white-blonde head that had called me out here so late. I saw the glimmer of his smile in the moonlight as he swept me into his arms and said happily, “You made it!”

“I wouldn’t miss this for the world,” I murmured honestly, snuggling into his warm embrace, placing my ear on his chest so as to hear his heartbeat.

“I’m glad,” he whispered in my ear. He pulled from the embrace and took my hand. He also picked up my broom and hid it in a bush by the tree. He took his own Nimbus 2001 in his hand and said to me, “Let’s go for a ride together.”

“I’d like that.”

“I thought you would.”

He gently pressed his lips to my forehead, and we mounted his broom. We soared up into the air, across the Black Lake, over the Forbidden Forest, and around the tallest turrets of the castle - Gryffindor Tower, Ravenclaw Tower, and the Astronomy Tower.