tied that one as well, and sat back to examine her handiwork. 'Ow do you feel now?' she demanded.
'Like a giftwrapped birthday present.'
She gave him a sharp look. He had rather thought that once she was done with the bandages, she might get off his lap. But she didn?t seem inclined to do so. Hmm.
'I meant thank you,' he corrected himself, pulling his shirt down.
'I suppose you did.' She put down the knife she had been holding, but didn?t take her other hand off his side. 'I think you do appreciate what other people do for you, in your own unappreciative way.'
'You make it sound like people are constantly doing things for me,' he said, nettled.
'Aren?t they?' She looked up at him with wide eyes. 'You really don?t know, do you?'
'Don?t know what?'
She reached out and put a hand under his chin, tilting up his face; no one had done that to him since he had been a little boy. She gazed down at him, the torchlight reflecting like cloud light off her porcelain skin. He was beginning to feel extremely dizzy and lightheaded, probably from the heavy sweet fragrance that clung to her hair and hands. Or, possibly, it was the blood loss. He rather hoped it was the blood loss.
She leaned forward, and the sweet scent around her hair intensified.
Her arms slid around his neck, sending a sharp bolt of heat up his spine. She tilted her head down and kissed him lightly on the mouth before moving to plant a row of butterfly kisses along the side of his neck.
He knew it wasn?t on to snog one girl and think about another, but he couldn?t help thinking of Hermione, and the urgency of kissing her in the wardrobe, that feeling that if he didn?t kiss her at that exact moment, he might die. And kissing Ginny, which was like suddenly being in sunlight after a long time of being closed up in the dark. In contrast, Fleur was kissing him as if she were trying to find out something about him. Although what exactly she could find out about him by sticking her tongue in his ear was unclear.
He tightened his grip on her arms, and with not a little reluctance, pushed her away. 'Fleur,' he said warningly. 'Boom. Remember?'
She smiled a secretive sort of smile. He stared at her. Her cheeks were flushed, but she was looking at him as dispassionately as if he were something in a petri dish; it was unnerving.
'You seem….different than you did before,' she announced.
Draco was taken aback. 'Different how? Besides taller and better-looking, of course.'
'Draco….is there someone you love?'
'Someone I love?' The question jarred him slightly, and he was beginning to feel silly sitting there with her hand under his shirt, although having her gaze up at him with huge, admiring eyes was not entirely terrible. 'Well, I suppose so.'
'Who?'
'Me,' he said firmly.
'I mean someone you would die to protect. Someone you couldn't live without.'
'Other than me?'
'Yes,' she said.
'Not the way you're thinking of it,' Draco said carefully, 'no.'
'Well,' said Fleur. 'Maybe there should be.'
'Ahem.' A voice spoke out of the shadows. Draco turned his head and saw that Harry had returned, and was looking at them with his eyebrows raised. Draco grinned to himself, realizing how it must look, Fleur plastered against him, her hands up under his shirt. Not that it was any of Harrys business, but the look on his face, mingled amusement and exasperation, was pretty funny. 'Ahem,'
Harry said again. 'Sorry to interrupt the gropefest, people, but I got the door open.'
'Really?' Draco drawled, not moving. Fleur didn?t move either.
'Yes well lets not all run up and thank me or anything,' snapped Harry, looking miffed.
'Thanks,' said Draco. 'Now go away and come back in ten minutes.'
Harry looked disgusted. 'Okay, remember when you were Draco Malfoy, back before you were Don Juan? And you said, and I quote
'we have to get out of here as quickly as possible?? That was you, wasn?t it?'
'Calm down Potter, I?m just kidding,' grinned Draco, detaching himself from Fleur and standing up. Fleur dropped her hands, a bit reluctantly. She bent to retrieve her knife and moved off gracefully down the corridor, and now that she had sliced off the bottom portion of her robe Draco could see a lot more of her legs, which wasn?t necessarily a completely bad thing -
'Earth to Malfoy,' said Harry, waving a hand in front of his face.
Draco raised an eyebrow at him. 'Go ahead, stare at her. Take a big steamy gawk. Right. Now, perhaps we might get going?'
'You know, shes actually..kind of a special girl.'
'Yeah,' grinned Harry. 'Especially her-'
Draco clapped a hand over his mouth. 'Thats enough out of you.'
I said especially her -
'I 'can 'ear you!' sang out Fleur from down the corridor. 'I 'can 'ear you, 'Arry Potter!'
Draco took his hand off Harrys mouth, smirking.