Wonder // Draco Malfoy

62. New Room

Marcus turns my hand gently to allow the ring to glitter under the hundreds of candles in the great hall. Draco is currently sneering at poor first years and I'm eating with Rue and Marcus at the Hufflepuff table. "And he said love, right? Like the full word?" Rue asks. Her mouth is full of sweet potatoes as she hurriedly asks. I've already told them everything about what happened on the train and Rue is beside herself. "At this rate, he'll propose before we graduate."

I reclaim my hand so I can continue to eat. "Rue, it would be insane for him to propose while we're still at Hogwarts. We've never directly mentioned marriage, either. It's just you two fantasizing about it." Marcus snorts and shares a look with Rue. "Oh gosh, you're already planning the wedding, aren't you?"

"We figured we needed our little Valentine ready," Marcus replies. "Last year showed me how fleeting life is. Why not fill the empty slots with planning our best friends wedding?"

"You do realize I'm still a teenager, right? I'm barely fifteen," I say. "Why can't you focus on your own wedding?"

Rue blushes at my question. I've never heard them speak about marriage, or life after Hogwarts at all, for that matter. Besides Marcus sharing that he wants to own a shop of sorts, he's never fully shared what his plans are. The idea of the three of us being grown and living our own lives scares me. Will we still be this close after we graduate? I don't want to think about it.

Once we finish our meals, I join them in their walk to the common room. Pansy found me just as I left the train to tell me to wait by the portrait near the girls dorms in Hufflepuff, where Draco will find me. He seemed too embarrassed to find me after his slip up, and I'm not sure how he'll act once we see each other again tonight.

"And this is where he said he'll meet you?" Rue asks. We've stopped by the portrait outside of the entrance to the girls rooms. My luggage is stacked neatly next to us and Martin seems to have already found our new bedroom. I couldn't find him once we got to our room, but Draco has him trained somehow so I'm sure he's already curled up on the bed in Slytherin.

The portrait begins to shake and Rue and I take a step away. A moment later, it opens like a door and Draco's pale, blond head appears from within. He quickly grabs my bags, mutters a goodbye to Rue, and helps me into the portrait hole. It's dark and smells old. The only light is from Draco's wand, though I can see old torches covered in cobwebs. "Who do you think made this?" I ask. My voice is only a whisper as if other people could overhear.

"I haven't the slightest idea," Draco replies. He whispers a spell at the brick wall in front of us and hinges squeak. The door opens slightly and Draco gently opens it. We're in the hallway leading to the Slytherin dorms. Light is seen on one end and I can hear voices - the Slytherin common room. We walk the opposite direction and go past the doors for the boys and girls rooms into a darker part of the hallway.

There are two doors; one directly on our right and another further down on the left. There's some sort of portrait near that one, but it's too dark and too far for me to see it. Draco taps his wand three times on the doorknob to the door near us and it opens quietly.

I'm amazed at the inside. There's a large bed with a deep brown frame. A soft mattress is covered with green and silver blankets and pillows. There's a desk and a wardrobe that match the wood on the bed. A large, circular green rug is under the bed, partially covering the newly-waxed floor. A door with a silver frame is opposite of the bed, and the door is slightly open.

"I didn't know prefects got their own rooms," I say as I set my bags on the bed. Martin trots from inside what I'm guessing is the bathroom and jumps on the bed. His orange forehead shoves against my hand so I'm forced to pet him.