American Royalty at Hogwarts

Chapter 13: Do you promise?

Third-Person PoV:

Cedella stared up at the sky as she lay sprawled on the grass near the Great Lake, the clouds passed on by overhead as the last few rays of warm sunlight of the September sun broke through the gloominess, signalling that it was likely to rain soon. She took in a deep breath as the scent of grass and the earth filled her nostrils, she exhaled and closed her eyes just focusing on the smells around her.

"-ella."

She absentmindedly played with Draco's hair, he laid his head on her stomach when the three of them came down for some alone time after dinner, her fingers toyed with his hair: plaiting it, twisting it, undoing it, and curling the platinum locks around her fingers. His hair was soft and silky and his scalp warm as she continued to run her fingers through it, the process almost comforting.

"-della!"

A smile rose on her lips, letting her body relax, fully sinking in and becoming one with the ground beneath her. The strands of grass tickled her cheeks and stroked the bare soles of her feet, she scrunched her toes up and hoisted them up closer to her body. The wind tousled her hair slightly and ran a chill down her body. It invaded her ears and whistled her eardrums, she winced it was too loud, droplets of water began to drizzle from the dome of grey above, it made her feel cold she didn't like it, the air dampened and a musk spread throughout the air, she didn't like the smell this time, it stank, Draco felt too heavy on her stomach, his skin too warm and seeping-

"Cedella!"

The witch sat up suddenly and gasped out, panting as she drew in deep breaths, her eyes were frantic, pupils constricted to small dots, they darted around till they landed on Blaise's concerned gaze. She held her stare with him and gave a bright smile. "You said my name?"

"Sensory overload?" Draco asked, sitting up from where Cedella had knocked him off her lap, brushing out the dirt that had settled into his hair and detangling his locks. She sent him an apologetic look, the blond shrugged and pressed a kiss to her hand.

"I did, asking if you knew what the last ingredient for the Draught of Peace was, would've asked Drake but he was asleep." He placed his quill back in its case and rolled his parchment up, he placed them both back into his bag and shifted closer to her. "You okay though?" She shrugged and laid back down again, folding her hands and placing them on her stomach. Her legs stretched out, artic eyes looking at the clouds again.

"It's 7 drops of Hellebore. Would you like to head back inside? I'm pretty sure the House-Elves wouldn't mind making us some latte." Draco leaned on his hand and looked down at her. Her lips twitched into a smirk.

"That does sound nice, reminds me of our first date. Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop." Cedella sat up and pulled on her socks and slid on her shoes, standing up and brushing off the grass and dirt that resided on her skirt and cloak.

"We paid the employees to let no one but us, didn't we?" Blaise picked up his bag, slinging it over one shoulder, and stretched his back.

"You can't deny it was rather pleasant. It was quiet and it was just us." Draco started towards the castle, his partners trailing after him, Blaise slung an arm around both of their shoulders and grinned down at the two of them.

"Boy am I glad to have the two of you. This would've seemed like a dream last year." He chuckled.

"Mmmm, it's a shame that father will find out soon, no doubt that the other Slytherin's have fed it back to him through the grapevine." Draco's lips thinned into a line, his eyes distant and gazing off into the distance, an inner fear shone deep within the icy grey windows. Cedella and Blaise exchanged looks and focused on Draco.