domitilla peyton

We reached the common room, both of us exhausted and out of breath from the long walk.
It was completely empty, and candles placed on the tables flickered softly in the dark.

I immediately rushed over to the crackling fireplace, kneeling down and hovering my frozen hands above the flames. The warmth seeped satisfyingly against my skin, and I sighed deeply, thawing my fingers.

'This is what heaven feels like.' I inhaled the hotness, breathing it all in.

Draco giggled, as he unwrapped himself from his corduroy. He took off his grey hoodie, revealing a black t-shirt underneath.

I gestured my hand for him, 'Come sit down, it's so nice.'

He walked over, and set himself beside me, hovering his palms over the fire as well. He took a deep breath in, smiling.
Then, he stood back up, lending his hand out,

'We need to sleep.'

I rolled my eyes, taking his hand, and getting up.
He pulled me in, so my arms were wrapped round his waist, and his were wrapped round mine.

'Goodnight, dummy.' he whispered, kissing me softly on the lips.
The reflection of warmth flickered across his face, giving an alluring shadow.
He looked perfect in that moment. Just perfect.

I gave a grateful smile, resting my chin on his chest,

'Goodnight, dummy.' I mumbled, before pulling away, tiptoeing quietly back to my dorm, careful not to wake anyone. I heard Daphne was a light sleeper.

The door creaked loudly as I entered my room. I cringed at the noise, and sneaked my way in, realising then that I still had Draco's puffer coat in my arms. I hung it by the door, and lied down on my bed, in a big starfish position. I didn't want to go to sleep, everything was buzzing in my mind.

After about 30 minutes of staring blindly at the ceiling, I decided to get up, and looked around my room. It needed some decorating.

I went over to my box of things my mother had sent from home, and found a package of fairy lights at the bottom. Where would I put this? It would look nice above my bed, I thought.
I unwrapped the package, and they spilled out over me. They were small dainty lights which dimmed a soft white when I turned it on.
I got on top of my bed, balancing on the soft mattress, and hung them from one side of the wall, to the other. It glowed beautifully around my room, and blanketed the ceiling like glistening stars. It didn't feel so empty now, with the lights giving me company.

I went over to my dresser, and took out my collection of nail polishes. I loved painting my nails, it felt therapeutic and calming. There was always something about it that made nights better, like a sleepover or getting ready for a party type vibe.
I went for a pistachio green, coating my fingertips in the light polish. I blew onto them, and waited impatiently for my nails to dry.

Then, I went over back to the box to put my package away, when I saw a shiny piece of paper in the corner. I picked it up, holding it up to a candle to inspect it.
My heart melted.
It was a photo of me and Draco in year 2. We were sitting under the summer sun, both of us had a carton of apple juice in our hands, and we were sipping onto them, while giggling together, our smiles wide against the warmth.

I remembered it perfectly, like it was yesterday.

How right after that picture was taken, a wasp flew onto my hand, and stung me. I cried, of course, and Draco ran inside the infirmary, coming back out minutes later, and bandaged me up in plasters.

I wondered if he remembered.

I held the picture to my chest and smiled.

I hoped he remembered.

I brought it to my dresser, and carefully taped it to my wall, with all the other pictures of friends and memories.

I shuffled under the thick blankets, snuggling and hugging tight onto my pillows.
Soon, sleep hit me, and I found myself lost in deep imagination.

-

I woke up to the harsh shaking of my shoulders.
A firm pair of hands grip onto me, and quickly, I jumped out of my dreams.
I blinked hard, then saw Draco, towering over my face.
Then I realised. He was in my room.

I let out a short scream, quickly scrambling up, and shielding my body with my blankets.
He stood beside my bed, smiling sheepishly as he also noticed how it was quite weird he was in a girl's room.

'What are you doing in here?' I whisper-shrieked, suddenly very self conscious of my morning hair. I combed through it roughly with my fingers.
I looked over at my clock, seeing it was 05:00am. What was he doing being up so early? And why was he in my room?

He gave a cheeky grin,
'I want to go see the sunrise with you.' he tried to peel back the blankets off me, but I gripped on tight, shaking my head profusely.

He crossed his arms and pouted,

'Come on. It'll be fun. Pretty please.'

I groaned, closing my eyes tiredly from the lack of sleep,
'I'm too sleepy to move.' I flailed my arms about limply, acting dead.
Opening one eye, I peeked to see that he was still stood there, staring at me.

'You can go on my back.' he mumbled.

My eyes flapped open,
'What?'

'I can carry you.'

I snorted a little,
'You're going to give me a piggy back ride?'

He flustered,
'If you want.'

I giggled, finally giving in.
I lifted my arms up for him.
He grinned, before picking me up effortlessly, letting me rest on his back. My arms hooked round his shoulders, and he held onto the back of my thighs steadily.
Then he walked me out the dorms.

The castle was dead silent, for it was so early in the morning, and I was certain we were going to be caught.

'You should carry me to class like this every day.' I chortled.

He scowled,
'I will drop you, Domi.'

We both burst into quiet chuckles, as he kept on carrying me all the way to the courtyard, until he set me down on the cool grass.

I looked around me, the sky began to illuminate, and coral clouds sailed delicately above the pale sunrise. Rays of soft light reflected off little morning dew drops, which were trickling down the petals of dinky daisies. It felt like we were floating in the horizon.

I sighed, inhaling the dawn breeze.
Draco sat alongside me, legs crossed. He took in the atmosphere, before facing me, beaming a smile.

'Can I braid your hair?' he asked softly.

It was like time had never passed, that we were still little versions of ourselves, sipping onto cartons of apple juice, and talking about the tiny things in life, like nothing else mattered.

I nodded, shuffling to lie down, my head resting on his lap.
He started gathering my hair, parting them into sections, then intertwining his fingers skilfully along them. It was a known fact that I was a better plaiter, but he still gave attempts.
He paused for a moment,

'How do you do a milkmaid braid again?'

I smiled against his lap,
'You have to divide this section, and split it into three smaller pieces. Here-'

I tried adjusting my hair, but he stopped me, swatting my hand away.

'No, no. I got it.' he smirked.
I rolled my eyes, and giggled, letting him continue. He was so gentle, so careful. I could tell he was really concentrating, as he became silent, his only focus was on my hair.
A squirrel leapt from a large oak tree, and started scuttling around the grass, digging out holes of dirt. We both watched it.

He sniffed through the raw breeze,

'How's your father?' he asked softly.

'He's doing good, I guess.'

'When are you seeing him again?'

'Not until the winter holidays. Hogwarts is too far to travel for autumn. He's busy a lot now.'

He paused, kissing me lightly on the top of my head,

'Do you miss your mum?'

I felt my chest heave in the thought of her. I exhaled, gazing up at the honey kissed sky, and took it all in; the curves of the clouds, the way the autumn leaves danced in sync to the wind. There were two branches above us. One came from a different tree, but it reached all the way out and met with the other branch. They linked together, like when you're holding hands. It reminds me of Draco and I.

'Everyday.'

He stopped for a second, then massaged my shoulders comfortingly. He turned my face up so I looked at him, and planted small kisses on my nose, cheeks and forehead. I beamed a warm smile, causing him to grin back.

I turned back round so he could continue my hair,

'What do you want to be when you're older?'

He thought about this for a moment, 'Dead.'

My eyes shot up and glared at him worriedly. He snickered, tapping my nose with his finger,

'Kidding.' he paused, looking back down at my hair, 'I haven't really thought about it. I can't imagine life when I grow up. Maybe I'll work at the ministry. But I'm still young, so I might change my mind.'

'Do you miss it?' I asked.

'Miss what?'

'Childhood.'

'What about it?'

'The things we used to do as children. Like how we never really cared for things, like we do now.' I said.

He lingered in thought, then continued to braid my hair again,

'I guess.'

'I miss it.'

'I never...really had one.'

I looked up to face him curiously,
'What do you mean?'

'Well, I never did anything with my parents, really. I never had those classic board games, or tea sets that other kids had. They were always busy, with meetings and other things I didn't understand. I still don't understand. Why they never had time for me. My father now, he still looks at me like I'm not worthy enough of a son. Maybe I'm not. But I still worked so hard to impress him, so that one day, he might look at me as something more.'

My heart throbbed. He looked so hurt, like bringing up those memories reminded him of a sad, lonely boy who once never had a childhood.
I knew Draco was never someone to speak so much about his feelings. I'd been friends with him long enough to understand.
He speaks through touch, that's what he does. He'll hug you, play with your hair. That's how he communicates love.
He puts a hard front on, but there's a soft spot inside him, somewhere. I know it.
He just needs love.
I cupped my hand round his cheek, rubbing my thumb gently across. His eyes pained, like he was going to cry. I felt like crying as well.

'You're a good boy, Draco.' I whispered.

He smiled sadly, before reaching for my hair again,
'I never told anyone this before.'

He kissed me gently on my cheek,
'You're a good listener.'

AHH literally crying -
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