Wake Me up When My Story Ends

Nine long, intense rounds later, Alexa only managed to scrape a couple more wins including when she roughly shoved Draco off his broom. Nothing rivals a Gryffindor’s passion after all.

Landing on the ground, Draco dismounted his broom, returning the snitch to the box. Alexa followed him down, curious as to what he planned to do next.

Securing the snitch in its position, Draco looked over to Alexa and widely smirked, his previous agenda to avoid seeing her seemingly forgotten, “You play about as well as the rest of the Gryffindor team.”

“Thanks,” Alexa beamed, ignorantly catching her breath while leaning on her broom. Quidditch took a lot more out of her than had she had expected.

“That was an insult,” Draco snorted while Alexa scoffed, surprised that she hadn’t recognized it in the first place. The fact that she didn’t notice it made him worry; maybe she was becoming soft for him. That wouldn’t do at all. Even though his parents had told him to behave with her and all, only due to their camaraderie with her own parents, perhaps he should make his true opinions clearer, “Then again, I’ve never seen Potter nose dive into the ground.”

Alexa rolled her eyes and walked over to Draco, outwardly mocking him, “Then again, I’ve never seen you beat Harry either.”

Draco glared at Alexa, mercifully able to ignore her cutely flushed cheeks and vibrant eyes through his irritation, “Anyone with a brain knows that Slytherin is far superior to Gryffindor.”

“Ouch, I guess Crabbe and Goyle didn’t make the cut,” Alexa said, sardonically smiling at the simmering Malfoy. His blood was boiling hot enough to heat the both of them.

“Speaks the pathe-“

“Draco…” Alexa cut off Draco’s callous words, kneeling down beside him. Their arms were pressed against each other as she retrieved the Quaffle from the box. Draco looked the other way, any other way, to avoid seeing them so close together. Their heads were mere inches apart after all, “Can we just put this Gryffindor versus Slytherin animosity behind us for one week? It’ll make this break a lot better for the both of us.”

When Alexa didn’t leave, Draco knew he had to turn and face her. Unwillingly, he matched eyes with her pure, watchful, light blue ones. Her hat pressed her fair hair against her forehead, hiding her raised eyebrows. He ignored his racing heart, trying to disregard Alexa chewing her lower lip so closely to him. These damn hormones will be the death of him.

Alexa just then noticed the proximity between the two of them, her relaxed body growing stiff and unmoving. Her mind cried out to back away but her body didn’t obey. She was frozen in this position, only able to stare into Draco’s pale eyes.

Magnetically, both of their heads crept closer together while they were rendered immobile. Alexa couldn’t help but to notice how smooth Draco’s skin looked and how long his eyelashes were. It wasn’t until Draco’s hot breath washed over her face that she was able to pull away, falling backwards onto the snow.

Draco abruptly stood as well, his heart loudly pounding within him. His emotions were flying everywhere, from confusion to worry to fear. What had just happened?

Regrouping herself, Alexa rose off her behind as well, tightly gripping the Quaffle in between her hands. Nervously backing away from Draco, she uneasily nodded towards him, desperate to fill the unnerving silence, “So, er, like I was saying… We should ignore our houses’ hatred and try to- try to move on?”

Even Alexa was unsure of her words now, stumbling over them and doubting them as well. Maybe forgetting their enmity wasn’t the brightest idea…

Draco was skeptical as well, doubtful that he could neglect her revolting red and gold colors even if he wanted to. Then again, a mere minute ago he had forgotten them completely so he couldn’t place much confidence in that theory.

Draco reluctantly brought his gaze back to Alexa, examining her troubled appearance. Whether he liked it or not, she wasn’t like all of the other Gryffindors. Hell, she didn’t even want to be one to begin with. Additionally, her family has had an amicable history with the Malfoys and the Dark Lord. Doesn’t that give him some leniency…?

No, Draco resolved, shaking off those thoughts as quickly as they had come, A Gryffindor is a Gryffindor.

Unable to express his thoughts, most likely due to his uncertainty, Draco remained silent until Alexa broke the tension once more, “… Let’s throw the Quaffle around.”

Gratefully returning to the sky, Draco was able to maintain a vast distance between Alexa and him due to his throwing arm. While she struggled to return the passes, he refused to give her any pointers or near her any further. After all, Draco hadn’t promised his mother that he would speak to her the whole day.

The distance cleared still his mind and the quiet activity sufficiently entertained the both of them. The two didn’t even notice the sun dip over the horizon until the stars took over the sky.

“Whoa,” Alexa paused in awe during the game, completely missing Draco’s pass. Her eyes that had only flitted north for a moment were now locked there. She flung her head upwards to the sky, drinking in the beautiful sight. The full moon seemed so close…

“Where are you going?” Draco yelled, resting his feet back on the ground while watching Alexa. She had been floating higher and higher, nearly in line with the milky moon. Alexa snapped out of her stupor, looking down at Draco who seemed like a small ant from her position.

Making a steep dive down, even Draco gulped as she pulled out of it at the last second. She wasn’t experienced enough to be pulling stunts like that and she knew it. Her inherent Gryffindor traits occasionally shone through this way, in this case her negligence of basic rules and common sense.

Seizing her broom as soon as she landed, Draco stalked off to retrieve the fallen Quaffle. Alexa couldn’t keep the giggle from her lips, her adrenaline still lingering from the plunge. A few hours ago, words had become a taboo, but hurling the Quaffle back and forth released most of their stresses.

Alexa stretched her sore arms, running up behind Draco to grab the other side of the Quidditch box. Using unprecedented teamwork to carry the box over to the shed felt strange but not necessarily in a bad way. Alexa followed Draco into the shed, solemnly watching him store away the brooms.

Maybe, if I was in Slytherin… we could have been friends, Alexa considered, frowning slightly at the troublesome boy.

The day had been reasonably fun for the both of them, especially since both had only been expecting to suffer through the entire break with each other.

Draco courteously held the door open for Alexa who returned into the wintry setting.

Snowflakes had begun falling from the nearly invisible clouds, refreezing Alexa past her numbed point. While it undeniably looked picturesque with the stars raining ornate snowflakes over the forest landscape, pain always comes with beauty.

Draco finished locking up the shed, turning to see Alexa furiously shivering a few steps ahead of him. Her exposed fingers were nearly blue.

Sighing, Draco shed his warm, fur coat and put it around Alexa’s shoulders knowing that she would refuse it if he simply offered. While the frigid air immediately began attacking Draco’s balmy back, he ignored the bitter stinging.

Alexa, engulfed in an unfamiliar heat, also took notice of her heavier shoulders. Looking down at her body, she saw Draco’s fur coat draped around herself. Abrutply turning, she took it off and held it out so Draco would take it back, figuring that he must be freezing without it.

Draco wasn’t behind her anymore and she spun, finally eyeing him far ahead of her, nearing the manor. Scurrying after him, she tried to offer the coat back but Draco disregarded her, “No, wear it or you’ll catch hypothermia.”

Alexa stubbornly refused to wear it so Draco stopped and exasperatedly turned to her, snatching the coat from her hands and dressing her himself. She could only watch him with wide eyes, utterly bewildered by his gentleman-like act.

The large sleeves went past Alexa’s hands, reheating them immediately. Feeling her hands sting when the blood returned to them, she thankfully smiled up at Draco’s indifferent face. He continued walking to the manor, hands buried deep within his pockets.

Keeping in stride with him, Alexa glued her eyes embarrassedly on the ground. While the sky was inviting, her foreign feelings were overwhelming. Above all, she felt the need to clear the untouched air between them, “Draco…”

Draco didn’t say anything, silently brooding within himself. His eyes were locked on the lit up manor, knowing his mother must be waiting for them. Though he tried to disregard any interest, his ears were keen, listening to Alexa’s soft words.

“I’m sorry about what you saw last night... I don’t even know what happened to me, I-I just broke down. It was stupid and I’m really sorry you were there.“

“Forget about it,” Draco quickly replied moreover to himself than to her, stalking off ahead of her to the back door of the manor, leaving a confused Alexa in his wake.