The Sunrise of My Heart

The next few days passed without much interesting happening. Gryffindor won the Quidditch Cup, which was awesome. I celebrated with the rest of them, staying up late and singing the modified version of Weasley Is Our King, this time praising his skills instead of insulting his blunders. Seeing as the O.W.L.s were coming up, though, I made sure to sneak back to the Slytherin common room before two in the morning.
When I crept into my bed, I heard Pansy stir. I grew very still, laying silently, hoping she would just go back to bed. Unfortunately, she had other plans.
"Are you just getting in?" she asked me, her voice laced with annoyance.
"Um..." I said. "Yeah. I was studying in the common room."
She grumbled tiredly and flopped back onto her pillows, rolling over. I gave a soft sigh of relief and closed my eyes, not actually tired, but wanting to day dream for awhile.
"Do you still like Draco?" she asked. Her voice was muffled because she wasn't facing me.
"I.... don't know," I answered after awhile. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna date him again. He's all yours."
She scoffed, sitting up again and facing me. "You're full of it," she snapped.
"Do you not want him? Because if not, you're really sending the wrong signals."
"Of course I like him," she snapped. "But he's wrapped up in you." She scowled at me.
"That's not going to be a problem. We're too different, so we have no hope of being together again."
"Right, because you're fond of being all honorably or whatever." Even in the darkness, I could tell she was sneering. "You belong with a Gryffindor, like Potter. Or the king of the pathetic himself, Godric Gryffindor." She gave a nasty little laugh.
"Don't insult Godric Gryffindor," I said.
She laughed harder. "Why not? Do you have a crush on a dead man?"
I sighed softly and got out of bed, stepping forward and aiming my wand at her. "No, but I will protect those, dead or alive, who are worthy of it. I will defend the brave, especially the fallen brave."
She eyed my wand warily, slowly reaching for her own. "And what makes Godric Gryffindor 'the fallen brave,' in your eyes?" she asked, still trying to sneer, but obviously afraid of what would happen if I attacked her.
"Don't even think about it. I'd stun you faster than you could think," I said, causing her to pull her hand away from her wand. "And I call him the fallen brave because he died trying to protect the woman he loved. If that's not bravery, then I don't know what is."
"How do you even know that? No one knows anything about the Founders, except that they founded this school."
"It's amazing what someone can learn, if they bother to try."
"Forgive me for not wasting my time studying about boring dead guys," she muttered sarcastically.
I rolled my eyes and headed for the door, not caring enough to try day dreaming anymore. My mind was restless, so I needed to go for a walk or something.
"Where are you going?" she asked, looking like she was about to pull the covers completely off and follow me.
"Go back to bed, pansy. I need to go for a walk. My head is full of thoughts right now."
"You'll get in trouble for breaking the curfew." Once again, she didn't sound upset by the thought of me getting kicked out. What a cheerful girl.
"I won't get caught, unless you rat me out. But I'm hoping you won't, because I could really use a walk to think for awhile. I think best when it's late and I'm alone. See, I talk to myself when I think. Loud and never ending."
She sighed in exasperation. "I won't rat you out. Just go on your bloody walk so I can get back to sleep!"
I grinned. "Thanks, Pansy! Sleep tight." I left the room, stepping quietly. Just as I was about to leave the common room, I heard something behind me.
"If you keep sneaking out, you're going to get expelled."
"Draco," I said, gasping. "Don't do that to me! Do you realize hiding in the dark and sneaking up on people could be considered stalking?"
He rolled his eyes. "I wasn't hiding in the dark, and I didn't sneak up on you. And I'm most definitely not stalking you."
"Okay, then what are you doing here?"
"Same as you, probably. Clearing my head."
"Well... Wanna go for a walk? I always find it helpful."
He shrugged and got up, following me out into the abandoned hallway.
"So, out of curiosity, what are you thinking about that's causing you to stay up late and creep in the dark?" I asked, walking in no decided direction.
"Nothing," he said, staring at the floor.
"Ah, so Voldie coming back, your father being a Death Eater, and what it means for you. Right?"
He looked up at me, too surprised to deny it.
I smiled and shrugged. "I'm good like that. Also, I've been wondering the same thing for awhile now, and that's not exactly an open subject that you just talk about with people. I connected the dots."
We had stopped walking for a moment, but he shoved past me, walking ahead. "That's not what I was thinking," he muttered.
I rolled my eyes, not believing him. "Fine, I'll indulge you. What were you really thinking?"
"About..." He trailed off, looking like he was trying to find a topic to mention so that I would drop the subject of Voldemort and his dad.
"Come here," I said, grabbing his hand and leading him. "I want to show you something."
"What?" he asked, sounding slightly nervous.
"Oh, don't sound so worried. It's not going to be, like, a giant tiger or something. It's cool. Trust me."
I led him to the Room of Requirements, but I didn't tell him that. Instead, I made him close his eyes while I created the room, and dragged him in while his eyes were still closed.
"Okay, open them," I said, grinning.
He opened his eyes and looked around, his eyebrows raised slightly. "What is this place?"
"Welcome to my oasis," I said. We were in a large room that looked like it was outside. There was a small, clear lake in the middle of a green field. A tiny waterfall flowed over some rocks into the lake, keeping the water moving so it never got stagnant. The whole place was bathed in a silver glow, like we were under the full moon, because the ceiling was bewitched just like the one in the Great Hall was. There were a few trees some distance from the water, each one bearing a different type of fruit. "I used to come here when I was younger. It made me feel at peace."
"What's that?" he asked, pointing to two small lumps under one of the trees.
"Towels and swimming clothes," I answered, smiling. "We're getting in the lake."
"There aren't snakes, are there?"
"Really? The Slytherin prince is afraid of snakes?" I rolled my eyes. "No, there aren't any snakes."
"I'm not afraid of snakes. But I'd rather not get bit by one."
"Sure," I said, unconvinced. "Come on, let's change so we can swim." We each grabbed our swimming clothes and hid behind a tree to change, using the thick trunks to hide our bodies. Draco, of course, was ready before I was, seeing as he just had to put on swimming trunks, whereas I had to put on a freaking bikini. Finally, I was ready, so we both went and got in the lake. It was cool, but not too cold. Just right.
"So," I said, "tell me something about you that you've never told me before."
"Why?" he asked, frowning at me.
"I mean, we might as well be in our underwear, we're wet, we're alone, and it's fun. Just tell me."
He rolled his eyes. "When I was five, I wanted a pet chimera," he said in a dull voice.
I splashed him. "No. Tell me something real."
"That was real. I honestly wanted one."
"You know what I mean, Draco. Tell me a secret."
He sighed loudly, acting as if it was a big deal. "Fine. Sometimes, your ridiculous ideas of marrying for love instead of status sound nice. For a few moments, I'll imagine what it would be like to tell my father that I'm marrying a Mudblood or something, and to actually be happy about it. But then I'll come to my senses."
"Well, it's not exactly gasp-worthy, but I'll take it," I said. I supposed to him, that was a big deal.
"Your turn," he said.
"My turn what?" I asked innocently.
He splashed me, rolling his eyes. "I told you a secret, now you tell me one."
"I told you basically everything when we were dating," I answered.
"Yes, but 'basically everything' and 'everything' aren't the same thing. There are still secrets you haven't told me. So spill."
I chewed lightly on my bottom lip, trying to think of a secret to tell him. The first one that came to mind got shoved back down because I wasn't ready to share that secret yet. Finally, I picked one. "I'm attempting to become an unregistered Animagus."
"What? Why?"
"For all kinds of illicit fun. Look, you can't tell anyone."
"Can you... do it?"
"I don't know," I answered. "I haven't tried in awhile. I could always try."
He hesitated before nodding. I stepped out of the lake and closed my eyes, concentrating on melding my body into an animal's form. I let my magic flow into the transformation, and smiled when I felt my limbs shifting. After a few moments, I opened my eyes and stared at Draco. He was staring at me with wide eyes, his mouth hanging open slightly. I looked at my reflection in the lake and saw a beautiful golden lioness staring back at me.
"That's... wicked," he said softly.
I morphed back, my skin rippling slightly, and stepped back into the lake. "Please don't tell anyone," I said. "I don't want to get registered because I don't trust the Ministry. Plus it's more fun this way."
Slowly, he nodded. "All right. I won't tell anyone."
I smiled at him and then glanced up at the ceiling, frowning when I realized the sky was turning the gray shade of early morning. "Come on, we should probably head back now." We changed back into our clothes and crept silently back to the Slytherin common room, laughing softly when we got back because we had almost been caught. Not that he would have gotten into trouble. It was just more fun to sneak and avoid running into anyone. I went to bed, waving slightly to him in farewell. When I crawled into bed, I fell asleep almost instantly, sleeping peacefully for the next few hours with a smile on my face.