Say It Again

Draco knew he was dreaming. It was easy to tell, really. He was happy. Consequently, he must be dreaming.

The dream wasn’t anything fantastic. He was simply sitting at the edge of the lake, sun overhead, talking to her. She sat beside him, hand in his, with her blue eyes sparkling and blonde hair gleaming in the afternoon light. The dream felt more like a memory, and it might have been if things had happened differently the year before.

Ellie tilted her head back, her long hair spilling over her shoulders. Draco found himself draw to looking at the sensual curve of her mouth, the plushness of her lips. So distracted was he by her mere nearness, that he couldn’t have said what the topic of conversation was.

She smiled knowingly. Lifting one hand, she pressed her fingertips to his left cheek bone, directing his gaze to her eye.

“Draco, are you listening?” her voice was musical. He realized then that they were the only two on the castle grounds. There was no sound except her voice and the gentle lapping of the lake.

“Of course I’m listening,” he replied with a guilty grin.

Ellie laughed brightly, moving her fingers to his chin and drawing Draco’s face up to hers. “You’re lucky I love you,” she teased before closing her eyes and pressing her lips against his.

Draco kept his silver eyes open, drinking in the way she looked. The primrose pink that flushed her milky white cheeks. Her quiet sigh as they kissed that caused her warm breath puffing enticingly across his skin. The curl to her perfectly black eyelashes.

A pang when through him, pushing him to kiss Ellie fiercely. He realized that he wanted to stay with her in this dream. He wanted to count the number of her eyelashes, he wanted the time to trace every inch of her skin.

“Draco,” she gasped as he pulled her to the ground with him.

He wrapped both arms around her back, then proceeded to draw off her shirt. Ellie was quick to divest him of his as well, her fingers flying nimbly over the many buttons of his shirt. Once free, they smiled foolishly, young and in love.

Ellie’s hands snaked down to his pants, rubbing against him, tugging at the waist line. “Ellie,” Draco growled, rolling her onto her back, the grass luscious beneath them.

“I love you.” Her blue eyes shone with desire, her blonde hair splayed out over the green, green grass.

Draco seized both of her wrists, pinning them above her head. And that was when he saw it snaking down from her elbow. A mark as black as night.

“No!” Draco shouted, jerking himself awake. He sat straight up in bed, head in his hands. A fine sheen of sweat covered him, leaving him cold and clammy after the passion that had been coursing through him moments before.

The dream left a bitter taste in his mouth, the happiness it created replaced by a hollowness as vast as the ocean. Why was he couldn’t stop thinking about her? She wasn’t special. And yet when he closed his eyes, he only prayed to see her.

Draco vigorously rubbed his face, trying to rid himself of the dream’s imprint. If only he had succeeded last year. If only he had convinced her . . .