It Can't Be... Can It?

When Aura woke up the next morning, she was in Draco’s arms. Even after what had happened last night, for the moment she felt safe and maybe even loved. She slipped out of Draco’s grasp and headed for the shower. As she lathered her hair in apple scented shampoo, she began to think. Her relationship with George had been great, yes, but she wasn’t sure that they would have lasted. She was comfortable with him, and loved being around him, but she knew she didn’t love him. That was why, even in anger, it had been so easy to say what she had said. They never had a disagreement, never said an unkind word to each other. George had never brought up sex until the night they had actually done it, and Aura thought she would like to have talked about it some. Yes, George had chased away the pain of her parents’ death, but the pain was always gone when she kept herself busy. The pain was gone when she was with Draco and- wait… gone when she was with Draco… No. She couldn’t let herself think that way. She loved that Draco had been there for her last night, and she wanted to get back to being his friend. But that was all.

She stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around her before going back to her room. Draco was awake when she returned. He didn’t even cast a second look in her direction when she entered; he was too used to seeing her in a towel. When she got dressed, she approached Draco.

“Thank you…” she said and sat on the bed beside him.

“For what?” He said and looked up into her blue eyes. This was a mistake because now he couldn’t look away.

“For being there for me last night.”

“No problem,” he tried to say, but no words came out.

She was only inches from him. If he just leaned a little he could press his lips to hers. As he leaned towards her she stood up and paced to her desk. He fell with his face to the mattress. He let out a quiet groan and sat up.

“I’m sorry, Draco. I’m sorry about the past few months. I’ve ignored you and been mean. I know we’ve never been good friends, but we’ve never treated each other like that. I’m really sorry,” Aura rambled.

“I haven’t made any effort to be nice either, though. Don’t worry about it,” Draco said.

He had been mad at Aura for months about the way she treated him. He had sworn that if she apologized he wouldn’t forgive her, but it seemed that he had no resolve when it came to this girl.

He was beating himself up in his mind when he suddenly felt something hit him. He looked down to find Aura with her arms wrapped tightly around his waist and her face pressed against his bare chest. He smiled in spite of himself and put his arms around her.
He rested his cheek against her head and breathed in her scent. It felt so right having her here in his arms. They stood there like that for what seemed forever. She didn’t have the strength to pull away from him, and he didn’t have the strength to push her away. Eventually she looked up at him and reminded him that they had class. He quickly dressed and walked with her to breakfast.



Before they got to the table, Hermione ran up and pulled her away from Draco.

“What’s going on?” She asked.

“With?”

Hermione looked pointedly at Draco.

“Oh. Nothing. We’re friends again,” Aura replied.

“Oh. Well, you’ll never believe what happened last night.”

“What?”

“About an hour after I got back to the Gryffindor common room, we heard someone outside yelling for George. He went out to see who it was and it was Malfoy.”

Aura gave Hermione an odd look.

“He told George that you deserved nothing he had said to you and that you are the kindest, smartest, and most amazing girl in the world,” Hermione said excitedly.

“He… he said that?” Aura asked quietly.

Hermione nodded and when back to her table. Aura joined Draco and asked him about what he had said.

“Yes, I said that.”

“Why would you defend me?”

“Because I meant what I said,” he said and Aura smiled.

“But Draco…”

“Listen to me. You may have been with George, but I do care about you. You didn’t deserve what George said and did, and, while I didn’t like you dating him, he made you happy. You are all those things I said you were,” Draco got up and started to walk off, thinking that if he had to get her back with George just to see her smile again he would.

He turned around and faced her again, “Tell me one thing, Aura. Was he everything you ever wanted?”

Aura shook her head no and he turned to go to class. She watched him leave and said quietly under her breath, “But you are.”