Your Love Is Mine For The Taking
Chapter 9
The past two weeks had passed without any event, if one didn't count the many exchanged glances between Lucius Malfoy and Vanessa. In Vanessa's opinion, the past two weeks were dragging on obscenely long. She found herself often distracted in class, either being to tired to pay attention or off in her own mind, where she felt safe and free to roam.
"You should really eat a bit more Van, you're beginning to look a bit peaky." stated Draco as he gave her face a once over. He was right, her eyes looked tired and weak just like the rest of her. She wasn't getting much sleep, her paranoia had been heightened times ten, the nightmares getting more frequent. The amount of school work they were getting was not helping her in the slightest.
Vanessa looked up from her eggs, aimlessly scooting them around her plate, “Yeah, I should. I'm just not feeling really well, haven't been sleeping right, I guess. I'm just not that hungry yet, maybe at lunch I will be.” said Vanessa, absentmindedly running a hand through her long brown hair.
She glanced back down at her eggs and wrinkled her nose, biting the corner of her mouth, ignoring the exchanging of glances between Astoria and Daphne. Vanessa pushed her plate away from her, folded her arms where the plate once was, and rested her head down on her arms.
Vanessa briefly had her eyes shut, letting her body attempt to recuperate and gain a little bit of energy. Parts of her body ached for no reason at all, it didn't help when Daphne gave the side of her ribs a good shove. "Come on doll, up you go. That's it." said Daphne as she propped Vanessa up, earning a glare from Vanessa.
"No mummy!" whined Vanessa in a child like tone. Daphne laughed as she tossed Vanessa her bag, "Come on. You can rest in Divination." said Daphne, slinging her arm around Vanessa's shoulder, Vanessa's arm around her waist.
Unfortunately, she didn't get to sleep in Divination. Trelwaney insisted on Vanessa evaluating any dreams that she may have had in the past week. She didn't want to evaluate it, she didn't want to think about it, she didn't want to talk about it.
'I just, I can't.'
Instead, Vanessa decided to make up something that would make her laugh, something she usually would have told Trelawney. She told, in vivid detail, about wild garden gnomes attacking her, kicking her with their small horned feet. Trelawney, of course, scribbled down what she was saying in an excited manner.
'Maybe today will be okay, keep acting like everything's okay. '
- - - - - - - - - -
"I swear Professor Binns makes me want to throw myself off the Astronomy Tower." grumbled Vanessa as she trotted out of the classroom, both Astoria and Daphne hot on her heels.
"Yep, Binns will make you want to do that won't he. You'd think he'd get the hint already, I mean, he is dead but he isn't stupid." muttered Astoria to Vanessa and Daphne. Daphne responded with a nod and yawn.
“That about sums him up.” laughed Astoria as she pulled open the door to their Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. The subject used to be her favorite, up until Umbridge came along, Vanessa cringed every time the woman spoke. Vanessa took her place in the desk second to the front, taking the seat on the right, as Astoria sat on her left. Daphne, of course, sitting in front of them, her books already laid out in front of her.
In groups of two and three, the class began to slowly fill, everyone chatting happily, knowing soon they would be silenced by the stomach churning 'hem hem'. By the time the bell rang for class to begin, everyone quickly noticed that Umbridge was no where to be seen.
“Where do you think she is? She's never late.” said Daphne with a slightly confused expression.
“Who cares!” both Ron and Vanessa exclaimed at the same time, they both grinned. Just as Vanessa leaned over her desk to talk more with Daphne and Astoria, the door flew open. Everyone in the room immediately fell silent, both Astoria and Vanessa muttered swear words under their breath. She knew Umbridge was bound to show up sometime, late or not. But when she turned around to catch a glimpse of Umbridge standing in the doorway she felt her body begin to radiate with heat. None other that Lucius Malfoy stood in the doorway, looking over all of the students with a haughty expression. In Vanessa's opinion, it should be illegal for him to walk into a room without a fair warning. Vanessa's eyes stayed fixated on Lucius' towering form, his long but slow strides awakening the butterflies in her stomach. Astoria nudged her softly in the side, grinning at Vanessa's far off expression. Vanessa couldn't bring herself to look away from Lucius, something about him was magnetic and enticing. She made the mistake of looking up into his glass-like eyes, her thoughts trickled out of her head as he locked her in a stare.
'Damn him...'
Lucius looked down at Vanessa, admiring the curiosity that seemed to be swimming freely in her eyes, she certainly did fascinate him. He strode past her, tightening his grip on his cane as he did so, very clearly enjoying the feeling of all the eyes locked on him in curiosity and some, fear. Boy, did he ever enjoy the superiority he felt over these teenagers.
In front of the class he stood in all his glory, his gray eyes seemed to be glimmering in almost a malicious way in the light, his long blonde hair rested flat on his chest. As he always was, he was dressed in the finest clothes as possible. "I know you all must be, terribly disappointed that Professor Umbridge is not here-" He paused to smirk down at Vanessa, who fidgeted anxiously in her seat. Astoria held a hand in front of her mouth as she quietly laughed. "but, I will be teaching you all for the remainder of the week while Professor Umbridge is away at the Ministry."
Vanessa's brows creased in confusion, how could the woman be gone when she had just gotten there two weeks prior. Vanessa watched as Lucius removed his large, expensive looking coat, resting it atop the back of his chair. He tousled his hair as he did so, brushing his hand down his front, flattening out any creases. Vanessa chuckled quietly, for some reason he looked rather adorable as he did so. Lucius' eyes perked up at the sound of laughter, his eyes softened at who the laughter's owner was.
Vanessa picked her 'Defense Against the Dark Arts: Level 5' out of her bag and flipped to the page that Lucius was instructing them to. As Vanessa began to look over the page that Lucius was beginning to lecture about, she felt Astoria nudge her again. Vanessa threw her a confused look, that was quickly answered by a note slipping into her hand.
'Enjoying this aren't you?'
Vanessa chuckled as she wrote back, 'Obviously! Do you think I'm blind?' Vanessa carefully slid it back to Astoria, who quickly scribbled back a response.
'Going to try and claim him?' Vanessa looked up at Astoria with a raised brow and pursed lips, Astoria raised her brows with a playful grin.
'Very funny, like he's interested in some fifteen year old. Come off it, I don't have a chance.' Astoria snatched the paper back so roughly she nearly knocked her books off the desk.
'What makes you think he's not interested. Have you not seen the way he looks at you. I know you aren't stupid Nessa.'
Vanessa gave an exasperated sigh, “He's far too attractive to be interested in a girl like me.”
“How many times do I have to tell you, woman? You are beautiful Van, if you weren't do you honestly think he would be staring at you the way he always does?”
Vanessa didn't exactly have a response for this. "Oh please, Astoria. It's nothing, I just admire him. I don't even think he knows I exist." Astoria rolls her eyes and flails her hands around, "He stares at you all the time, both me and Daphne have seen it. So has Draco, he even pointed it out two bloody weeks ago."
Vanessa stopped to turn her body to Astoria when she noticed just how quiet the class had gotten. Why was it so quiet? Apparently Astoria had come to the same conclusion as Vanessa, both exchanging a painful glance. They both looked up at Lucius Malfoy with guilty expressions.
Lucius glanced at the two girls with a look of bewilderment and curiosity, "What or, who should I say is the reason the two of you have been writing, and more importantly yelling in my class?" He asked in an accusing sort of manner. Astoria sat very rigid, biting her bottom lip as she did so, Vanessa slapped her hand over her face, the blush creeping over her face.
"Which one of you started it?" asked Lucius sternly, his accusing stare darting from Vanessa to Astoria. Before Astoria could open her mouth to speak, Vanessa interrupted, "I did, sir."
Lucius smirked in a pleased manner, "Well then, I believe a detention is in order Ms. Cunningham. For the remainder of this class please, attempt to keep quiet." He ended his sentence with a curt nod towards her, which completely caught her off guard. She figured he'd be more furious with her than that. Vanessa felt the blush in her cheeks grow as he gave her whole face a once over, "Yes sir, when?" she huffed in a defeated tone.
"Tonight. After dinner at, lets say, 8." He finished sharply, raising an eyebrow, as if inviting her to challenge him. Vanessa remained quiet, her eyes cast down at her book, waiting for the blush in her face to fade. The lesson carried on without a fuss or single interruption after that, Vanessa felt rather embarrassed all throughout the class.
"Great, now he hates me!" exclaimed Vanessa, throwing her hands in the air. Astoria laughed loudly, pulling Daphne and Vanessa around the corner.
"Detention, alone with him. Oh he really wants to punish you doesn't he." said Astoria with a sinister glimmer in her eyes. Daphne shook her head, a small unwanted smile creeping across her lips, “I can't believe you two.” she remarked with a small laugh.
“Were we really that loud?” questioned Vanessa.
“Were you that loud? You were practically yelling at each other.” laughed Daphne, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear. “At least something good came out of it.” she smirked at the amused expression on Vanessa's face. She was still a little confused, how could him giving her detention be a good thing?
“What are you talking about, Daph?” asked Vanessa, she laughed as Daphne rolled her eyes at her own obliviousness.
“What does a man have to do to let you know he's interested? Put the pieces together, Nessa. Detention alone, tonight.” said Astoria, lifting her brows in a suggestive manner. Vanessa screwed her face together momentarily, putting two and two together, after a short moment, it clicked.
“You don't-”
“Yes.”
“We do.” replied Astoria with a chuckle. Vanessa relaxed against the wall, a new found happiness ran through her veins, bringing a much needed smile to her face.
"You should really eat a bit more Van, you're beginning to look a bit peaky." stated Draco as he gave her face a once over. He was right, her eyes looked tired and weak just like the rest of her. She wasn't getting much sleep, her paranoia had been heightened times ten, the nightmares getting more frequent. The amount of school work they were getting was not helping her in the slightest.
Vanessa looked up from her eggs, aimlessly scooting them around her plate, “Yeah, I should. I'm just not feeling really well, haven't been sleeping right, I guess. I'm just not that hungry yet, maybe at lunch I will be.” said Vanessa, absentmindedly running a hand through her long brown hair.
She glanced back down at her eggs and wrinkled her nose, biting the corner of her mouth, ignoring the exchanging of glances between Astoria and Daphne. Vanessa pushed her plate away from her, folded her arms where the plate once was, and rested her head down on her arms.
Vanessa briefly had her eyes shut, letting her body attempt to recuperate and gain a little bit of energy. Parts of her body ached for no reason at all, it didn't help when Daphne gave the side of her ribs a good shove. "Come on doll, up you go. That's it." said Daphne as she propped Vanessa up, earning a glare from Vanessa.
"No mummy!" whined Vanessa in a child like tone. Daphne laughed as she tossed Vanessa her bag, "Come on. You can rest in Divination." said Daphne, slinging her arm around Vanessa's shoulder, Vanessa's arm around her waist.
Unfortunately, she didn't get to sleep in Divination. Trelwaney insisted on Vanessa evaluating any dreams that she may have had in the past week. She didn't want to evaluate it, she didn't want to think about it, she didn't want to talk about it.
'I just, I can't.'
Instead, Vanessa decided to make up something that would make her laugh, something she usually would have told Trelawney. She told, in vivid detail, about wild garden gnomes attacking her, kicking her with their small horned feet. Trelawney, of course, scribbled down what she was saying in an excited manner.
'Maybe today will be okay, keep acting like everything's okay. '
- - - - - - - - - -
"I swear Professor Binns makes me want to throw myself off the Astronomy Tower." grumbled Vanessa as she trotted out of the classroom, both Astoria and Daphne hot on her heels.
"Yep, Binns will make you want to do that won't he. You'd think he'd get the hint already, I mean, he is dead but he isn't stupid." muttered Astoria to Vanessa and Daphne. Daphne responded with a nod and yawn.
“That about sums him up.” laughed Astoria as she pulled open the door to their Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. The subject used to be her favorite, up until Umbridge came along, Vanessa cringed every time the woman spoke. Vanessa took her place in the desk second to the front, taking the seat on the right, as Astoria sat on her left. Daphne, of course, sitting in front of them, her books already laid out in front of her.
In groups of two and three, the class began to slowly fill, everyone chatting happily, knowing soon they would be silenced by the stomach churning 'hem hem'. By the time the bell rang for class to begin, everyone quickly noticed that Umbridge was no where to be seen.
“Where do you think she is? She's never late.” said Daphne with a slightly confused expression.
“Who cares!” both Ron and Vanessa exclaimed at the same time, they both grinned. Just as Vanessa leaned over her desk to talk more with Daphne and Astoria, the door flew open. Everyone in the room immediately fell silent, both Astoria and Vanessa muttered swear words under their breath. She knew Umbridge was bound to show up sometime, late or not. But when she turned around to catch a glimpse of Umbridge standing in the doorway she felt her body begin to radiate with heat. None other that Lucius Malfoy stood in the doorway, looking over all of the students with a haughty expression. In Vanessa's opinion, it should be illegal for him to walk into a room without a fair warning. Vanessa's eyes stayed fixated on Lucius' towering form, his long but slow strides awakening the butterflies in her stomach. Astoria nudged her softly in the side, grinning at Vanessa's far off expression. Vanessa couldn't bring herself to look away from Lucius, something about him was magnetic and enticing. She made the mistake of looking up into his glass-like eyes, her thoughts trickled out of her head as he locked her in a stare.
'Damn him...'
Lucius looked down at Vanessa, admiring the curiosity that seemed to be swimming freely in her eyes, she certainly did fascinate him. He strode past her, tightening his grip on his cane as he did so, very clearly enjoying the feeling of all the eyes locked on him in curiosity and some, fear. Boy, did he ever enjoy the superiority he felt over these teenagers.
In front of the class he stood in all his glory, his gray eyes seemed to be glimmering in almost a malicious way in the light, his long blonde hair rested flat on his chest. As he always was, he was dressed in the finest clothes as possible. "I know you all must be, terribly disappointed that Professor Umbridge is not here-" He paused to smirk down at Vanessa, who fidgeted anxiously in her seat. Astoria held a hand in front of her mouth as she quietly laughed. "but, I will be teaching you all for the remainder of the week while Professor Umbridge is away at the Ministry."
Vanessa's brows creased in confusion, how could the woman be gone when she had just gotten there two weeks prior. Vanessa watched as Lucius removed his large, expensive looking coat, resting it atop the back of his chair. He tousled his hair as he did so, brushing his hand down his front, flattening out any creases. Vanessa chuckled quietly, for some reason he looked rather adorable as he did so. Lucius' eyes perked up at the sound of laughter, his eyes softened at who the laughter's owner was.
Vanessa picked her 'Defense Against the Dark Arts: Level 5' out of her bag and flipped to the page that Lucius was instructing them to. As Vanessa began to look over the page that Lucius was beginning to lecture about, she felt Astoria nudge her again. Vanessa threw her a confused look, that was quickly answered by a note slipping into her hand.
'Enjoying this aren't you?'
Vanessa chuckled as she wrote back, 'Obviously! Do you think I'm blind?' Vanessa carefully slid it back to Astoria, who quickly scribbled back a response.
'Going to try and claim him?' Vanessa looked up at Astoria with a raised brow and pursed lips, Astoria raised her brows with a playful grin.
'Very funny, like he's interested in some fifteen year old. Come off it, I don't have a chance.' Astoria snatched the paper back so roughly she nearly knocked her books off the desk.
'What makes you think he's not interested. Have you not seen the way he looks at you. I know you aren't stupid Nessa.'
Vanessa gave an exasperated sigh, “He's far too attractive to be interested in a girl like me.”
“How many times do I have to tell you, woman? You are beautiful Van, if you weren't do you honestly think he would be staring at you the way he always does?”
Vanessa didn't exactly have a response for this. "Oh please, Astoria. It's nothing, I just admire him. I don't even think he knows I exist." Astoria rolls her eyes and flails her hands around, "He stares at you all the time, both me and Daphne have seen it. So has Draco, he even pointed it out two bloody weeks ago."
Vanessa stopped to turn her body to Astoria when she noticed just how quiet the class had gotten. Why was it so quiet? Apparently Astoria had come to the same conclusion as Vanessa, both exchanging a painful glance. They both looked up at Lucius Malfoy with guilty expressions.
Lucius glanced at the two girls with a look of bewilderment and curiosity, "What or, who should I say is the reason the two of you have been writing, and more importantly yelling in my class?" He asked in an accusing sort of manner. Astoria sat very rigid, biting her bottom lip as she did so, Vanessa slapped her hand over her face, the blush creeping over her face.
"Which one of you started it?" asked Lucius sternly, his accusing stare darting from Vanessa to Astoria. Before Astoria could open her mouth to speak, Vanessa interrupted, "I did, sir."
Lucius smirked in a pleased manner, "Well then, I believe a detention is in order Ms. Cunningham. For the remainder of this class please, attempt to keep quiet." He ended his sentence with a curt nod towards her, which completely caught her off guard. She figured he'd be more furious with her than that. Vanessa felt the blush in her cheeks grow as he gave her whole face a once over, "Yes sir, when?" she huffed in a defeated tone.
"Tonight. After dinner at, lets say, 8." He finished sharply, raising an eyebrow, as if inviting her to challenge him. Vanessa remained quiet, her eyes cast down at her book, waiting for the blush in her face to fade. The lesson carried on without a fuss or single interruption after that, Vanessa felt rather embarrassed all throughout the class.
"Great, now he hates me!" exclaimed Vanessa, throwing her hands in the air. Astoria laughed loudly, pulling Daphne and Vanessa around the corner.
"Detention, alone with him. Oh he really wants to punish you doesn't he." said Astoria with a sinister glimmer in her eyes. Daphne shook her head, a small unwanted smile creeping across her lips, “I can't believe you two.” she remarked with a small laugh.
“Were we really that loud?” questioned Vanessa.
“Were you that loud? You were practically yelling at each other.” laughed Daphne, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear. “At least something good came out of it.” she smirked at the amused expression on Vanessa's face. She was still a little confused, how could him giving her detention be a good thing?
“What are you talking about, Daph?” asked Vanessa, she laughed as Daphne rolled her eyes at her own obliviousness.
“What does a man have to do to let you know he's interested? Put the pieces together, Nessa. Detention alone, tonight.” said Astoria, lifting her brows in a suggestive manner. Vanessa screwed her face together momentarily, putting two and two together, after a short moment, it clicked.
“You don't-”
“Yes.”
“We do.” replied Astoria with a chuckle. Vanessa relaxed against the wall, a new found happiness ran through her veins, bringing a much needed smile to her face.