Brushing on some blush, I glanced at myself in the mirror. I was almost set to go. I gave myself a quick grin before grabbing my lip balm. I dabbed some on my lips and then shoved my makeup bag underneath the bed. I didn't need Hermione to see my stash and think that there was something going on with me. There was something going on with me, but I wasn't about to let her know that. 

Hopping back up, I walked out of the girls dormitory. I heard the chatter of the other Gryffindor students in the common room, and I cursed underneath my breath. I forgot that it was their weekly night of games, which meant that I'd have to sneak out sometime. Hermione, Ron, and Harry would want me to play some games with them, but I couldn't. I had a date to get to. 

The soft lamp light spilled onto the stairs as I stepped into the common room. A lot of the Gryffindor students were piled around the coffee table in the middle of the room, staring at something. A grin crossed my face. I could sneak out while they were all distracted! Silently crossing the room, I made it to the door just in the nick of time. Everyone that was around the table roared with laughter as I slipped out, not even bothering to check if someone had seen me. 

The corridor was mainly dark, giving me plenty of places to hide in case Filch and his cat made their rounds while I was out. My soft footfalls on the stone were the only noises out in the corridor. None of the ghosts were around either, which was weird. Usually, they were floating all around the castle, heckling the poor students, including me. Peeves loved to pull my strawberry blonde hair, yelling about how I should have been the Weasley's sibling. He wouldn't let me explain that I was Ron's cousin and that I was (basically) a Weasley child. 

The walk was quick, as my feet knew where they were going. The first time I walked this route, I got lost and he had to come find me. From then on, we practiced the route everyday secretly so that I would know where I was going. Just thinking about that memory made my heart jump in my chest. Oh, the things that boy could do to me. 

Stopping in front of the Slytherin common room, I did our little knock on the door. It swung open, revealing a very handsome Draco Malfoy. He wasn't in his house robes, though he would have looked just as handsome in those. 

"Y/N," he said softly. When I first started dating him, I didn't know how soft and gentle he could be. He always had this rough exterior to him, so it was a pleasant surprise to know that he could be soft. "You know you don't have to dress up for me."

My hands smoothed out the red skirt I was wearing, and I gave him a smile. "I know, but I wanted to. You know what tonight is?"

"Of course," Draco said, rolling his grey eyes. He held out his hand, so I took it. Draco pulled me into his arms, and I rested my head against his chest. The door shut softly behind me, leaving us in the small light from the candles he lit. "Happy anniversary, Y/N."

"Happy anniversary!" I said excitedly. I squeezed him tightly, making him chuckle. "I wish I could have gotten you a gift, but I didn't have time."

"I didn't get you a gift either, so we're both good." He pulled away from the hug, cupping my face with his hands. Draco had a smile on his face, his white blond hair glinting in the candle light. Leaning down, he captured my lips with his, making my knees go weak. My heart thudded against my chest and my cheeks flushed with color at his touch, and I didn't even know that the kiss was over until he said, "I wish we could do that anytime we wanted to."

My eyes flashed open as I quickly shook my head. "I don't want my friends to know about us yet."

His eyes grew dark and his face slightly hardened, but he gave me a short nod. "Whenever you're ready, Y/N."

"Thanks." I quickly kissed him before pulling him over to the couch that was set up in the Slytherin common room. I sat down on it, patting the seat next to me. He plopped down and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. I settled into his embrace and said, "I have so much to tell you." 

---

The next morning, I was sitting at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, eating my breakfast. I noticed that Hermione, Ron, and Harry weren't at the table yet, which was weird. The four of us ate our breakfast together every morning. I didn't go looking for them, though, because I was starving. 

From across the room, I heard a high pitched whistle. My head snapped up and my eyes traveled along the students until they landed on Draco. He tugged at his ear, giving me a small grin. I tugged my ear as well and then focused on my food. That was our secret signal for when he wanted me to come to the Slytherin common room at night. It was the second night in a row that week, so I was surprised that he wanted me to come again. He probably just wanted to cuddle come more. I learned that when I cuddled him and played with his hair. It was sweet. 

All at once, Hermione, Ron, and Harry sat down at the table. Hermione was beside me and the boys were in front of us, and they had matching looks of annoyance. "Malfoy is so rude," Hermione said loudly. I frowned, facing her. "He is the meanest boy here."

"What did he do this time?" I asked tiredly. I had gotten on him about being mean to my friends and I thought that he stopped, but apparently he didn't. "I can go beat him up for you guys, if you want."

"No," Harry said, his eyes lit up in glee. "We all just need to ignore him from now on. If he doesn't see us reacting to his nasty habits, then he will stop."

That was going to be harder for me. I bit my lip, staring down at my bowl of oatmeal. "Draco usually listens to me," I said, shrugging. "He'll stop if I ask him."

"Why does he listen to you and not the rest of us?" Ron asked, leaning forward. I made sure not to make my movements jerky as I stared up at him. "Is there . . . something that we don't know?"

"No!" I said quickly, probably too quickly. "No. He listens to me because I ask him nicely. Seriously, that's it."

"Then where do you sneak off to every week?" Hermione countered, her face hard. "If you are dating Malfoy, then . . . I don't know what I'd do!" Her face flushed a reddish color, which meant that she was growing angry. "Please tell me you aren't dating him."

"I'm not," I said, swallowing back my other response. "I'm not dating Draco."

Hermione nodded slowly, saying, "You aren't lying. Whenever you lie, you usually play with your hair, and you aren't now." She looked at the boys, saying, "I believe her."

"Me too," Ron said, sitting back. He piled his plate full of warm food. "Where do you go every week, then?"

"I'm struggling in my potions class, so Snape offered to help me even though he's the DADA professor," I lied, nodding. My eyes flicked over at Harry to see him frowning at his bacon. He didn't look convinced, so I said, "If any of you would want to help me with potions, then you can. I can stop going to Snape for help."

"I can help you," Harry said, finally looking up from his bacon. He gave me a short smile, saying, "I'm pretty good at it, if I do say so myself."

"Thank you." 

Soon after that, the four of us went out separate ways. I was glad that I had other classes than them. I didn't want to be questioned again about my relationship status with Draco. I hated lying to them about it, but I didn't want to lose them either. Keeping my relationship with Draco a secret was one of the hardest things I had to do, but it was necessary. My friends would disown me if they found out that I was dating their archnemesis. 

The day was over pretty fast today, which was great. I hurriedly got ready and was out the door before anyone could suspect that I was missing. My heart was racing as I quietly shut the door behind me. I leaned against the wall next to the entrance to the Gryffindor common rooms, taking a couple of deep breaths. Why couldn't I catch my breath? Was it because of my lie? Or was it something else? I couldn't be too sure, so I trudged along my route toward Draco. 

For some reason, though, my feet took me someplace else. They didn't travel along the normal path, making me frown. I learned that trusting your instincts were better than going against them, so I let my feet lead me forward. They brought me toward the Great Hall, but before I entered, they took a sharp right. I was heading toward some bathrooms, but I wasn't sure why. And then I heard the scream. 

My gait picked up until I sprinting toward the bathroom. I didn't care that it was the boys bathroom. Someone was in trouble and I had to help them. I grabbed my wand from the waistband of my skrt, holding it out in front of me. I took a few steps forward and the wand dropped from my hand, clattering to the floor. The breath was knocked out of my body as I saw my Draco laying in a puddle of water and blood. 

I raced forward and dropped to the ground, placing my hands against his wounds. "Y/N?" someone said from in front of me. My head snapped up and I saw . . . Harry? "What are you doing here?"

"I heard him scream," I said, slipping out of my cardigan. I pressed as hard as I could, tears pricking my eyes. "What did you do to him?"

"I thought he was hurting you so I taught him a lesson."

I bit back a sob and said, "Why would my boyfriend hurt me?" His frown deepened, his green eyes deep pools of pain. "You have to go get someone!"

"When did you start dating him?"

How was Harry so calm about this situation? I let out a frustrated scream, and after that, I heard Draco gurgle slightly. I glanced down at him and let out a sob. There was so much blood in the blood surrounding us. Too much blood. "Does it really matter?" I said bitterly. I looked at the door to the bathroom and was relieved to see Professor Snape running toward us. "Help him!"

Snape pushed me out of the way and lifted Draco into his arms. He flopped like a lifeless doll, making the tears come rushing out. "Harry, Y/N, you both are coming with me," Snape said, his voice the only thing that I could focus on. I didn't wait for Harry to follow Snape. 

"Y/N," I heard Draco whisper softly. I rushed to Snape's side and grabbed onto Draco's hand, wiping my tears away. He had his eyes open, but they were hazy and distant. "Y/N . . ."

"I'm here, Draco," I said, squeezing his hand. "I'm here."

"I love you." And then his eyes fluttered shut. 

Everything went fuzzy for me and suddenly we were in the infirmary. I was laying in a bed beside Draco, which was weird. Sitting up slowly, the pain in my head made me grimace. What had happened? I looked over at Draco and saw bandages wrapped around his body. His eyes were open and he was staring at me, a soft look on his face. 

"You're finally awake," he said, smiling. "I've been waiting forever."

"What happened to me?" I asked, touching my head. Once I did that, everything came rushing back. The fight between me and Harry, the blood in the water, the badly injured Draco. I wanted to jump into his arms and never let go, but I knew that would hurt him worse, so I slid out of my bed and perched on the side of his. "I passed out, didn't I?"

"Yeah," Draco said, laughing. A hurt look passed across his face, and the laughter became nonexistent. "I'm sorry you had to see me like that."

"I thought you were going to die." I gripped his hand in mine, biting back tears. "I thought I was going to lose you."

"It's going to take something worse than a silly spell cast by Potter to kill me," Draco said, grinning. "You know, he told me something weird."

"What?"

"He said he likes you and that's why he wanted to hurt me."

"Really?" I screwed my face up into a frown, shaking my head. "I've never liked him like that. And I'm obviously with you, so . . ."

"Yeah," Draco said softly. "I'm sorry that he had to find out about us that way."

"It's alright," I said, shaking my head. "I should have told my friends about you in the first place." I glanced down at his bandages and asked, "Are you going to make a full recovery?"

"Of course," he scoffed, shaking his head. "I told you, Potter cannot kill me. That's the way I do not want to go."

"Right." I laughed slightly, and then sighed. "I love you too, Draco Malfoy."

"I know," he said smugly. Using his one hand, he pulled me so that I was laying beside him on his bed. I faced him and placed my other hand on his chest. "We'll be okay, Y/N, I promise."

"I know," I said, nodding. Leaning in, I pressed my lips against his, savoring the way he felt. I didn't know what I would have done if he died. He was everything to me, and nothing could ever change that.