Cares and Kisses

At one ride, while we were waiting in line—with a bunch of little kids and their parents I might add—a group of teenage girls got off and pointed at us, giggling. We both pretended to ignore them but could still hear what they were saying.

“Look at that guy. He’s so hot!” one girl gushed in a bubbly voice.

“Who? The blonde one?” her friend asked.

“No, the other hot guy over there. Yes the blonde one!” the bubbly girl practically yelled.

“Do you think that girl next to him is his girlfriend?” a third voice asked, sounding jealous.

“No way! Look how cold they’re being with each other! I bet she’s his sister, and their parents made him accompany her.” I blushed, not wanting to listen but also not able to help myself from listening with a horrified fascination.

“Yeah I suppose. And even if they are going out, their relationship must not be going so well. I could probably help with that.” I could just picture the third girl grinning deviously. I winced: even Muggles didn’t think we could go out. I risked a glance at Draco and was surprised to see his expression contorted with disgust and hatred. I was pleased but curious.

“What’s up with you? I thought you’d love the attention.”

“From Muggles? I would never associate myself with such filth; besides they should admire me. Looks, wealth, power. More than they will ever have,” he sneered.

I slapped him.

Don’t get me wrong, I was glad that he wasn’t attracted to them. But I was sad and disappointed at his reasons.

We got on the ride wordlessly, and got off just as silently. When we looked around the carnival we realized we only had one more ride: Cupid’s Hearts.

Red. The thing was a giant, hulking, bright red. It consisted of a circle of heart-shaped cages with wheels in the middle that we could turn to make the cages spin.

“Oh no, we are not going on that,” Draco said, planting his feet in a refusal to move.

“Oh yes we are,” I growled, tugging on his arm to get him to move. “After what you said earlier you owe me.” In all honesty I absolutely did not want to ride “Cupid’s Hearts.” It looked corny, dizzying, and very awkward. But my urge to punish Draco was stronger. Barely.

“Fine. But not a word of this gets out to anyone.” I nodded; I had no problem with that. Telling someone would be admitting that I rode it too.

Once we were strapped in the cages and the ride started, I tried spinning the wheel. I was kind of successful, though I spun it really slowly and was quickly tired. Draco helped out soon enough, giving it a few spins hard enough to keep us spinning for a while. Which left us with time to just look at each other.

We were spinning so fast that the rest of the world was a huge blur. The only solid thing was Draco. Everything else was a mirage of lights and colors, but Draco remained steady, stable.

I wondered if this was the point of the ride, if this is what love was like. The world could be crazy, confusing, and filled with uncertainty, but that one person would always be there to keep you anchored. Something that made sense and that you could always depend on. Perhaps it was dizzying and hard sometimes, but with that one person everything would be worth it and it would all be okay.

I was way over thinking the ride. I shook my head to clear my thoughts before meeting eyes with Draco again. I had no idea if Draco shared any of my thoughts or what he was thinking, but when I looked into his eyes, all I could see was longing.

Eventually the cage stopped spinning and the ride came to a stop. We didn’t move for a moment, but then we unbuckled ourselves and exited the cage. Since we had played the games and gone on all the rides, we just wandered over to the stage where local bands had been playing all afternoon. The sun was setting, and the second-to-last band was just finishing up. The stage was at the base of a huge hill that Draco and I walked to the very top of. I laid down and watched the sun slowly sink behind the horizon while letting the music fill my ears. Draco sat down next to me, and it wasn’t until the sun went down completely and the last band started playing that he spoke.

“Kaia, I’m going to tell you some things. Please don’t interrupt or say anything about what I say.” He glanced down at me and I nodded. “I can’t say much, and I probably shouldn’t be telling you any of this, but I think you deserve to know some of it.” He sighed. “I’m working on a dangerous mission right now for the Dark Lord, and it’s taking a while. A lot longer than I thought it would, so it’s really stressful. My mother has been terrified for me, especially because of what happened at the Ministry last year. The Dark Lord is furious with our entire family. I can’t openly sympathize with Muggles, mudbloods, blood traitors, or anyone else the Dark Lord hates because it could be deadly for my family. If it was with anyone but you, I would be killed if any of his supporters found out I came here. Snape has been keeping a close eye on me, so he knows of my continued failures. I just wish they would all leave me alone.” Draco sounded so close to tears, and my heart ached for him. I pulled him down so he was lying next to me and wrapped my arms around him.

“Oh Draco… I’m here. I’ll always be here.” What else could I say? I wanted to take away his pain so bad.

Draco rolled so that he was leaning over me. His hand gently stroked my cheek as he stared into my eyes. “Do you promise? Always?” Good Lord his eyes were beautiful. Grayish blue and piercing.

“Of course,” I breathed. He leaned down the last couple inches and kissed me. Unlike most of our kisses which were filled with heat and lust, this one, while still being passionate, had a certain tenderness about it. His body was so close, but he still held his body carefully above mine. His free hand cupped my face before gently trailing down my neck. I gripped his body to me, trying to instill the truth of my promise in him with my touch.

Draco finally pulled back when the first fireworks started. He didn’t look at them but continued to gaze at me.

“I love you. Through all these years I’ve loved you. Will you please be my girlfriend?” My breath caught as I stared back at him.

“I-I…”

“You could help me, make me better.” Tears started to fill my eyes, and I looked past him at the colorful fireworks.

Boom. Boom. Boom. It was the sound of my heart and the fireworks; I couldn’t tell which was louder in my ears. Draco had offered up the apple of temptation to me. What girl could resist trying to save the person she loved? Of course I loved him. And I wanted to believe I could help him, save him. I looked back into his hopeful eyes, and I couldn’t resist.

“Yes.” With that word I started crying and pulled him down next to me so I could cry into his shoulder. “Yes, and together we will fix everything.”