Final chapter! :)

Sometimes she catches him staring…no watching. He hardly ever stares at her; he'd never be so reckless; it's just that there are times when his eyes move of their own accord to land on her. It could be a stray lock of hair catching the sunlight, an animated gesture of her hand while she speaks, an elegant flick of her wand in the Charms classroom. All she had to do was move and his eyes would subsequently follow, as if afraid of missing a single shift of her body.

She reacts the way she does every single time. Her eyes widen ever so slightly, nostrils flaring delicately and then her eyes flit back to whatever she's doing. A moment later she moves, discreetly trying to catch his eye again but by the time she does it, he's already looking elsewhere. He tries to appear stoic, as if his passing gaze was just that, a passing gaze. But he knows she's smart enough to decipher that absentminded, passing gazes do not occur so frequently. He knows she's dying to confront him about it all, the note, the accidental-on-purpose brushing past in the corridors, the staring, but she's still too hesitant to approach him directly. He hasn't made it easy for her either, what with his cruel taunts and childish name-calling. But he wishes she would view it as the pretence that it was, and actually see him for what he is now.

He hasn't insulted her since ages…well, five entire weeks to be precise but honestly, even thinking about it leaves a bad taste in his mouth now. He's out of ideas to make her understand, not like he was brimming with those in the first place, so he looks at her, mentally willing her to look up, take notice and realize. She doesn't.

He follows her out like he does every day after their last class, when she separates from her friends to meet Krum in the library. He doesn't want to, but he can't resist the temptation of watching her when she's not constantly on her guard. He resents Krum for it, for how free she becomes in his company, but he also knows that they're not an item.

He moves behind the shelf a dozen feet away from where they're seated, near enough to be watching without getting noticed, yet too far to actually hear what they're speaking. He watches her smile, watches her pat his arm and talk like she never talks to anyone. Still, there's no sign of the blush that he'd witnessed on that day. No scintillating spark in her demeanour. There's no chemistry, no zap.

It dawns on him suddenly. She's found an actual friend in Krum.

He watches him closely, now. There's that subtle glint in his eyes, but he can sense that it's harmless. They make a pretty picture, almost scholarly, enclosed between the shelves of a library, discussing ideas and events and just talking. And it's like he's floating above the clouds from the sheer relief of it all. He's so happy that he traipses off to the Potions sections and reads an entire book without a break.

By the time he's finished with it, he looks up to find her sitting across the table, staring at him. And it's a different sensation altogether, to feel her burning gaze on him instead of the other way round. She looks down instantly, before thinking better of it and timidly meeting his eyes again. He sees it now. That redness pooling slowly over her cheeks.

"You're so confusing." She says.

He cocks his head to the side. "How so?"

It's all the encouragement that she needs.

"I…I know what you're all about, Malfoy. I could say that this is some new trick of yours and that you're just trying to play with my head but somehow I think that you've got a better explanation. So why are you suddenly like this?"

He finds himself smiling. So typical of her to lay all her cards out in one go.

"Not suddenly." is all that he says.

He knows that it's not much of an explanation, and that she deserves better than that, but he still counts on her intelligence to unravel the words that he cannot speak. Not just yet.

She blushes some more.

"Okay. So, it's not sudden. But you have to tell me why. You can't expect me to believe that you've had an apparent change of heart and just conveniently after the Yule Ball. It seems as if you saw me in a different light altogether and were…attracted to that. Is that it?"

He laughs before he can stop himself.

By the time his laughter subsides, she's looking extremely embarrassed.

"This was a bad idea." She mutters and then she's pushing off from her chair, but he moves quickly and comes to stand just in front of her. She anticipated this, which is why she doesn't immediately move away.

He brushes the hair out of her face, she freezes when his fingers come in contact with her skin. It's all ablaze with heat. Or maybe it's just him.

She looks up into his eyes, and he can fully see that spark in hers. He leans in to mirror her movement.

"Your idea was alright." He whispers. "But mine's better."

He captures her lips with his own, relishing the taste and the texture, and though it couldn't have been more than a few seconds before she starts responding, it feels like hours to him. She's sweet, inexperienced and shy. So is he.

They've moved closer now, she's clutching his robes and he's holding onto her waist. She disengages from his mouth but he's not willing to let go of her just yet, so he trails kisses down her cheeks and just behind her ear.

When he finally moves away, she's smiling.

"You're something else, Draco Malfoy." She says.

"To you, I'd rather just be Draco."

The End.

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