Cold

Pansy seemed to find my outfit amusing. I had on a long sleeve babydoll nightgown with the absolute softest ruffled neckline. On my feet I wore fuzzy ballet house slippers. It was my most favorite ensemble for lounging as it was so soft and loose. How else would I power through late night studying?

“Care to indulge me as to why you are laughing?” I raised an eyebrow and pursed my lips, throwing my hair into a plait as she pulled on a dark green Slytherin sweater.

“You’ve just got a bit of character is all,” she giggled, popping her feet into fuzzy slipper boots.

Just then, Millicent and Daphne stormed in the room, followed by several of the other sixth years. As soon as she spotted me, Daphne made a beeline our way with a face far too excited to be up to any good. She spoke lowly but animatedly so only the four of us could hear, “Oh my God, Draco did the weirdest thing after you left. So Goyle said that you were pretty but before he could even go on Draco cut him off and was all, ‘She’d never go for you so stop dreaming’ and then Crabbe joked, ‘Who would she go for then? She’s too good for you’ and that’s kind of a daring thing to say to a Malfoy,” (I blushed as she spoke), “And we all expected Draco to have some snarky comeback but all he did was look down and say, ‘I’m sure she is’ which is super out-of-character for him and –”

“Okay, Daph. Take a breath. We get it, Draco is might have a thing for Victoire,” Pansy said, holding up a hand as if to tame her rambling friend.

“Might? He totally wants her!”

When Pansy joked earlier it was oddly flattering, but to hear another person confirm her suspicions that Draco was just as interested by me as I was with him, I felt a bit embarrassed. Pansy saw this. “Ok, just meet us out there,” she stated, grabbing my wrist gently and tugging me away from them and to the hall. “Sorry about that. Daphne is such a twat sometimes.”

“Do you think he really said that? I don’t want anyone to feel inferior to me—”

“Daphne is a big fan of rumors, but she doesn’t start gossip in our circle. It sure is an odd thing for him to say, but I can’t see why she would lie. Besides, who wouldn’t be interested in a new girl? I immediately pounced to make you my friend, after all. He’s just admiring you from afar. Don’t let all of this freak you out.”

The truth is, I wasn’t as much freaked out by it all as I was utterly curious. Daphne seemed to think it was me alone that affected the way he acted earlier, but the pensive look on Pansy’s face and my mental reason told me that I was merely an agitator to something already festering within him. As flattering as that may be, if he was as bold as they said he was the entrance of some French girl into his life wouldn’t nearly dull him as much as it might appear. I was just a flicker in the embers beside a raging fire. There was something more and already I was finding evidence towards my case.

When we entered the common room, I instantly spotted Draco’s white blonde hair as he lounged, rather sexily I may add, on a leather sofa. I noticed that he was the only one in the room who hadn’t changed out of the uniform. I suppose it wasn’t particularly uncomfortable, but given that it was almost basic instinct for the rest of us, he set himself apart quite distinctly. I made casual note that he’d only rolled up his right sleeve and not his left. Small details, yes, but I found him wildly attractive at this point already and everything about him was magnified.

Feeling bold, I headed over to sit beside him on the sofa. If everyone else could see something brewing between us, then I really had no reason to hide it. Perhaps I was just an ember, but I’ve never been one to shy from a flame. Suddenly, however, I became a full on wildfire when a giggle erupted behind me and I felt two hands push me forward into him. Fortunately I caught myself, but not lacking the emotional injury of ending up with my breasts in his face.

“Daphne!” I heard Pansy cry.

“What? I’m just inspiring some healthy bonding!”

I apologized profusely and tried to stand up, but as I turned around, his hands grabbed my hips and brought me back down on his lap. "I don't mind."

His voice in my ear made me want to shiver, but I fought it off. It'd be so embarrassing if I was just shaking at his words. "Are you sure? I can move-"

"You're warm. It can get cold in the dungeons," he said, but it was more of a purr, and slowly slid his hands further around my hips.

“What’d I miss?” Blaise chuckled as he entered eyeing Draco and I, closely followed by Crabbe and Goyle. They headed to fill up the last of the seats on the couches. “I see we’re all getting friendly.”

Draco spoke then and I could hear the smirk in his voice. “What, Blaise, were you looking to sit here instead?”

“Keep dreaming, rich boy."

"As if I would prefer your bony arse over that of an exotic Frenchwoman," he retorted, making me giggle.

I flipped my head and locked with his gray-blue eyes, armed and ready with a sassy response. To say that the butterflies in my stomach were having a field day would be an understatement. I was just awfully good at faking confidence. "And perhaps this French derrière would prefer to sit with Blaise. Think of that, rich boy?" At this, Blaise hooted in agreement, making me raise a brow playfully.

The others snickered as Draco tightened his grip around my waist and shot a hand to brace my thigh as if I might run away. "But that's not up for question. You're keeping me warm remember?"

"Oh shut it, Malfoy. You love the cold," Millicent dramatically stated.

"I do, because I love the feeling of getting warm again." I'd be deaf not to hear the sexual innuendo in his statement. Considering I knew about the extent of his sex life, it was both a little funny and even more so flattering that he was breaking his norm to flirt with me. He had not yet removed his hand from my thigh and I was hyperaware of the tingling it caused.

"Aren't you in just the cheeriest mood, Draco? How come?" Pansy poked him from where she sat beside us with a quick wink at me.

He lifted his brows cockily and slapped on that smirk/frown he seemed to so often have. "Got Potter pretty good earlier." My ears perked up at the mention of the famous wizard, reminding myself of what Rooney and Gus had told me about the rivalry. It felt weird to think that I was in the lap of Harry Potter's enemy; I suddenly felt important. Perhaps not on the good side, but I wasn’t one to assume Draco was really all that bad either. Petty grudges didn’t equal evilness. Now, Draco’s father being in Azkaban told another side of it… "Petrified him so he couldn't do a thing."

"What'd you do to him? He looked all right when he came in for supper!" Daphne spoke.

"That's because Looney Lovegood found him and fixed him up. Unfortunate, too. The little rodent was listening in on us on the train so I taught him a lesson and broke his nose."

"You broke his nose!?" I couldn't contain my shock. Perhaps he was a bit rougher than I had imagined.

"Would've done more if I'd had the time," the disgust he felt for Harry dripped from his words. "Had to catch a carriage."

My brain clicked, "So that was why you got off the train so late!"

"Oh you saw that, did you?” he cocked one brow, “I promise not to tell if you don't."

On top of the fact that I was just as much a sucker for the bad boys as the next girl, the steely gaze he shot me had me saying deal quicker than he could say please.

"So you're from Beauxbatons?" Millicent asked, lightly changing the subject.

"Oui, c'est vrai." I chuckled, cozying myself into Draco.

"Ooh, say something else!" Goyle insisted.

"Er, d'accord. J'habité en France depuis j'étais très ans. Mes parents rencontraient en Belgique. Er, j'ai les yeux verte. Je préfère le color rouge et ma deuxième prénom est Margeaux."

"Wow..." Blaise’s eyes were wide. "What did that all mean?"

"It was all pretty dumb--" I began but was cut off by Draco.

"She lived in France since she was three because her parents met and lived in Belgium originally. She has green eyes. Her favorite color is red and her middle name is Margeaux."

"Well, it didn't sound that simple at all," Millicent spoke.

"Wait, you can speak French?" I flipped my head and gawked at him.

"What language doesn't he speak?" Pansy laughed.

"I don't know Swahili," he provided, but burst into chuckles right after. "I really only know a few and I'm not even fluent, but I can mostly understand French, German, Russian and Italian, and I guess Spanish because it's so similar."

"How do you know them all?"

Before he could answer my question, Goyle spoke up, "Ol' Malfoy's parents keep him learning year round. All shut in and shit."

"Better than being an idiot like some people," he fired back. I couldn't tell if he was being serious or not. Either way, Goyle laughed and chucked an empty chocolate frog box at Draco. With perfect precision, his hand flew up and caught it just inches from it hitting my face. “Gregory Goyle, you should know better than to throw something at a Seeker.”

After that, the conversation turned to Quidditch before shifting to classes and teachers. I listened carefully in order to soak up all the intel I could to prepare myself for my first official day. Though as much as I tried, my thoughts were soon muddled when I felt a finger begin to draw slow circles on my thigh. Good grief, this boy lit something in me. I bit my lip in spite of myself when his finger crept up just a little higher. Embarrassingly, I met Pansy’s eye just after she’d seen what he was doing. She bit back her grin and whipped her short, dark hair when she looked away. I rolled my eyes at her with a smile, but inside I was beyond grateful to have made such a fast friend.

If this was just the first night here, this year was going to be fantastic.