Eve

            The next day during Care of Magical Creatures, Draco pulled me to the side and asked me to meet him later in the common room.

            We were attempting to feed the fire-breathing salamanders Hagrid had gotten from Mullingar, and I was working with Draco and Crabbe. While Crabbe was chasing after one that had tried to wander off into the ForbiddenForest, Draco turned to me and asked in a low voice, "Will you meet me in the common room tonight once everyone's asleep?"

            Despite myself, despite everything he'd already confessed to me, I still looked at him a bit unsurely. Didn't he know that all I could hear was Zabini's voice asking me that exact same question?

            He sighed when he saw my expression and added quietly, "I just want to talk, relax. I'm not anything like Zabini."

            "I know you're not," I said, and this time I honestly believed it. Crabbe was heading back over to us, so I gave a small smile and told Draco, "Yeah. Okay."

            "It'll be fun," Draco grinned. "We'll hang out."

            I laughed at his expression, rolling my eyes and trying my hardest not to punch his shoulder playfully. When Crabbe finally reached us and set the salamander down, I was still blushing a little.

            I wasn't entirely sure how to act around Draco now, but I had a feeling that he didn't have a clue either. And maybe that would make this a bit easier, since neither of us had any idea what we were doing.

            So that night, I laid in bed until it was well past eleven and Millicent's snores were filling the tiny dormitory as usual. I rolled out of bed with nervous butterflies in my stomach, tossing back the sheets and quietly tugging my sneakers on. It was chilly from the cold winter air, so I pulled a thick sweatshirt over my head before tip-toeing downstairs.

            Draco was already seated in front of the fire when I reached the common room, and he looked over at me as I came down the stairs. He grinned a bit sleepily, and this time, I returned it without a second thought.

            "I almost fell asleep waiting for you," Draco said as I came around the side of the couch and sat beside him. I wasn't sure how close I should sit next to him, so I carefully placed myself about half a foot away.

            Worrying if this was okay, I looked over at him and immediately relaxed when he smiled. "This is weird," he said, leaning back against the cushions. "We've never sat on the same couch before."

            "It's a whole new world," I agreed. "I had to wait for Millicent to start snoring before I could leave."

            Draco laughed out loud at this, exclaiming, "She snores?"

            "Very loudly, actually."

            "I'd like to say I'm surprised," Draco said, "but I'm really not."

            I shook my head and laughed, glancing over at him in the dim lighting of the common room. The green light from the flames in front of us cast a glow on Draco's face as he leaned forward a bit, looking right back at me with a relaxed expression on his face. He turned in the couch to face me better, putting his right elbow up on the back and saying, "So tell me about Beaubaxtons. Is it anything like this place?"

            "Not really," I said, and launched into an explanation about my old school. I told him about how the dormitories were, what the classes had been like, and how it had been playing Quidditch against the neighboring schools.

            "Do you miss it?" Draco asked, watching me intensely—and that's what assured me that he really did want to know.

            I thought for a moment, then answered slowly, "No. I mean, when I first got to Hogwarts I wished I was back there instead. But now it isn't so bad here. And besides, most of the girls at Beaubaxtons were terrible."

            "Yeah, I've heard most of them were bitches," Draco mused, then quickly glanced at me to see if I was offended.

            But I was laughing, because he was right. "No, it's true. They were all awful there, I won't lie."

            Draco grinned and asked, "How's it living with your aunt? You get along okay?"

            "Yeah, we get along great," I told him, smiling widely now that I was thinking about it. As I began to tell him about how it was living with my aunt and her work, I noticed that Draco's eyes kept flicking down to look at my lips as they moved.

            When I told him that my aunt's work kept her away from home a lot, he asked me what she did for a living.

            "She's an Auror," I said easily, then paused as I realized that was the first time I'd ever told anyone that. I hadn't had any close friends back at Beaubaxtons, and it had never come up with Neville or Ginny. Then I remembered who I was talking to, and I looked over at him carefully to see his expression.

            I expected Draco to be rolling his eyes or scoffing at me—after all, his parents were the kind of people my aunt was after. But instead, he just looked at me without blinking and said instantly, "That must be tough for you. It's a dangerous job."

            "Yeah, I guess," I said, feeling my cheeks flush under his gaze. I hadn't been expecting him to say anything close to that. "But I mean, she likes it, so I'm happy for her."

            "That's good," he smiled, and I suddenly didn't know what else to say. Draco wouldn't look away from me as we both sat there in silence for a moment, and then he blurted, "I really want to kiss you."

            My eyes widened, and I almost asked him if I had heard correctly. I stared at Draco as he looked down at me, the green glow of the fireplace lighting up half his face against the warm darkness of the common room. My hands suddenly became very interesting as I mumbled, "Oh, um..."

            "Should I have just gone for it?" he asked, forcing a smile and trying to pretend he wasn't hurt that I hadn't automatically agreed. "Given you less time to think about it?"

            I could feel myself blushing fiercely as I began awkwardly, "No, I—"

            "Is this about Zabini?" Draco asked, and I finally glanced up to see that his eyes were growing dark. "I swear, Eve, I'm not—"

            "That's not it," I interrupted quickly, worried he was going to threaten to beat up Blaise again. Before I could talk myself out of it, I squeezed my eyes shut and said quickly, "I've never kissed anyone before."

            When I opened my eyes again, Draco was laughing. I glared at him as he tipped his head back and really laughed, choking out, "You've—you've never had your first kiss?"

            My cheeks flamed, but before I could get a word out, Draco was laughing, "Wow, I never would have thought—I mean, you're fifteen already—"

            I stood then, the embarrassment burning my cheeks, but I was hoping it would go unnoticed under this dim lighting. Draco finally looked up at me as he realized I was upset, but the smirk was still on his lips as he started to get up, saying, "Come on, Eve—"

            I pushed him back against the couch, hard. Draco looked up in shock as he began, "What—?"

            "Screw you," I said fiercely, then turned and started for the girls' dormitories. I was up the stairs before Draco could call after me.

            He was supposed to understand, I thought, angrily shaking my head as I reached my dormitory. Just when I'd thought he was going to finally act different around me, he had to go right back to his usual attitude. As I crawled into bed, angry tears pricking at the backs of my eyes, I wondered why I had even bothered.

~*~

            I got up early the next morning and headed down to the Great Hall before anyone else in Slytherin was awake, only because I wanted to avoid running into Draco in the common room. I didn't have Potions today, and I wanted to put off seeing him again for as long as possible until Care of Magical Creatures.

            I ate breakfast alone at the Slytherin table in the Great Hall, but I couldn't keep much down anyway. I waited until more students began to fill the tables before getting up again and starting for Transfiguration.

            Taking my time down to McGonagall's classroom, I walked slowly and took the long route there. By the time I finally turned into the right hallway, most of the students were already heading inside.

            I was starting for the doorway when someone grabbed my arm from behind, and I turned in annoyance to see that it was Draco.

            Damn it.

            "What do you want?" I sighed angrily, trying to pull my arm out of his grip as he tugged me away from the doorway.

            "Just hang on a minute, will you?" he said, finally letting go of me once we were away from the crowds of students. "I need to talk to you."

            "Really?" I said icily, debating whether or not to stomp on his foot and head inside the Transfiguration classroom anyways. I decided against it, crossing my arms instead and looking up at him through narrowed eyes. "Get on with it, then."

            "Listen," Draco began exasperatedly, running one hand through his bleach blonde hair. "About last night...I'm sorry, okay?"

            When all I did was watch him in a cold silence, he sighed and continued, "I didn't mean to laugh, I just—look, I know it doesn't seem like it, but I'm really trying here. I really am. I want to be good to you, because—because you don't deserve it when I act like a dick around you."

            "You're right," I said, biting the inside of my cheek and standing up for myself for the first time in a long while. "I don't deserve it."

            "You don't. But I'm going to try," Draco said firmly, looking down at me with an intense gaze. "I'll never be good enough, but I'm going to try."

            Most of the students were now inside the classroom, and I knew that if I waited much longer I was going to be late. But I looked up at Draco and said slowly, "Okay."

            "Listen, about what happened," Draco began quickly, knowing he didn't have much time. "About how you said you'd never kissed anyone before—"

            "What about it?" I interrupted, annoyed that he was already bringing it up again.

            He was inches away from me now as he said, "I shouldn't have laughed. Because—because I've never kissed anyone that I've actually cared about."

            And then he grabbed both sides of my face and pressed his lips to mine.

            As he kissed me, hard, I felt a tree of electricity take over my stomach, growing up across my chest and taking my breath away. Fire raced through my veins from the heat of his lips against mine, and it suddenly felt as though I was flying.

            When he finally pulled away, my knees could barely hold me upright. I blinked up at him as though I didn't know what had just happened, and it seemed as though the entire hallway was spinning.

            "You, Eve," Draco said, still holding my face in his hands. He sounded almost angry with himself as he told me, "I care about you."

                And then the bell rang and he was gone, leaving nothing but his taste on my lips.