I’d like Asphyxiated to review again, please.
Chapter 3
First Date
“Alanna!” Madame Rosmerta yelled as she saw the back of her daughter going out the door. “Get back here right now!”
Alanna grimaced, and slowly turned around to trudge back to her mother’s side. Darn, I was sure just leaving would work. Of course, maybe not, since it didn’t the LAST time I tried it, she thought wryly.
“Yes, Mum?” she asked innocently.
Her mother frowned. “Where do you think you were going?”
“Nowhere,” Alanna said, shrugging and carefully keeping her pretty face blank. “I am off now, you know.”
Her mother sighed. “I know that,” she said, smoothing her dress. “But I would still like to know if you’re going to disappear suddenly.”
Alanna sighed and thought fast. “Fine, I’ll tell you. Since I haven’t been home in a while, I thought I’d…walk around and look at everything. Is that a problem?” She propped her hands on her hips and stared into her mother’s green eyes.
Madame Rosmerta found her daughter’s unblinking stare quite unnerving. She averted her eyes, and wound a tendril of blonde hair around her finger, thinking.
Well, she can’t get into too much trouble, Madame finally decided after some serious thought. Dropping the hair, she looked back at her daughter, who was impatiently checking her watch.
“Fine. You can go. But be back by six, and I don’t mean six ten or six fifteen or six oh five. I mean six. And don’t talk to strangers. If it starts getting dark, come back IMMEDIATELY. Do you understand me?”
Alanna rolled her eyes. “Yes, Mum,” she said irritably. “Can I go now?”
Her mother sighed and shook her head. “Yes, go. Remember what I said.”
Alanna smiled and ran out the door. “Bye!” she called over her shoulder. The door slammed and she was gone.
Hopefully, she comes back without trouble, Madame thought as she turned back to her customers, smiling.
Alanna darted around the corner once she got out the door. She hid in the alley beside the building and waited for Draco to show. She drew back into shadows whenever anyone walked by so they wouldn’t see her.
I don’t know what Mum would do if she found out I was meeting a guy, Alanna thought as she waited, shivering a little. Probably disown me or something.
Finally she heard the sound of footsteps and the swish of a cloak. She drew back into the shadows until she heard Draco whisper, “Alanna? Are you here?”
She smiled and crept up behind him. She whispered in his ear, “Boo!”
He jumped about a foot, then whirled around. She giggled and said, “Hi. You ready?”
He shook his head at her. “Once my heart slides back down to its proper place, I’ll be ready.”
“Sorry about that,” she laughed. He smiled and they set off.
“So where do you want to go?” he asked.
“Well, do you think anyone’s up at the Shrieking Shack?” she asked in a meaningful way. His eyes widened.
“I don’t think so,” he said, smirking that trademark Malfoy smirk. “Let’s go.”
“Ok,” she said, taking his hand. “Let’s go.”
Once up there, he draped his arm around her shoulders. She grinned and snuggled closer to him. They stood in silence for a while, just looking at the scenery. It actually didn’t look too bad, as it was bathed in sunlight.
“It’s prettier than I remembered,” Alanna whispered. Draco tightened his arm around her shoulders.
“Yeah,” he said softly. “It’s really nice up here in the summer.”
“Oh, so you’ve come up here with other girls?” she asked, a mock look of hurt on her face, and hit him lightly on the arm.
He looked confused, and began to stammer. “Wha-what? No, I mean, yeah, but…” He looked at the ground.
Alanna began to laugh. “Don’t worry, Draco,” she said softly. “I really don’t care.” She smiled up at him. “Really.”
They stared into each other’s eyes for a few moments. Just as Draco leaned in toward her, and she closed her eyes, his watch alarm started beeping wildly.
Alanna gritted her teeth and opened her eyes. Draco was just pushing his sleeve back down from checking his watch.
His grey eyes stared into her big blue eyes with an apologetic look. She forced herself to smile and take his hand to walk back down to the village.
“It’s okay, Draco, really,” Alanna said for the fifth time as they walked back toward the village. He had been apologizing profusely the whole time. His alarm had meant that it was time to head back.
“But, I didn’t want to spoil our date or anything,” he said hurriedly. “I’m really sorry and-“
At this point, Alanna pulled him into the alley beside her mother’s establishment, went up on tiptoe and pressed her full mouth to his. She felt a hot passion shoot through her veins and she was sure he’d felt it too. He kissed her back, his lips surprisingly soft.
“It’s really okay. We can pick it up again later,” she whispered when they had parted, still feeling the burn through her. He smiled and kissed her again. She felt the same feeling and she was sure he felt it this time, too.
“Is there any way you can meet me at the front gate of Hogwarts tomorrow night at ten o’clock?” he whispered into her ear.
Alanna nodded and grinned. “I’ll make it, don’t worry. Ten o’clock tomorrow then.” They kissed again, but this time it was fleeting. Then, with a swish of his cloak, he was gone.
She leaned against the wall for support and smiled dreamily, running over her afternoon in her mind. It had been wonderful “ her first good date in a long time.
She checked her watch and gasped. It was now six ten, and her mother had told her not to be late. She rushed to the back door, and peeked through the window. There was no one in the kitchen. She carefully pushed the heavy door open and slipped inside.
Alanna ran lightly into the hallway. As she stopped and checked the darkness around her for people, a voice came out of the darkness.
“Where have you been?” asked her mother sharply, a light in her hand as she carried a tray of used dishes to the kitchen. “I told you to be back at six on the dot, not six ten. It is now six fifteen.”
Alanna gulped, and ran over dozens of possible excuses, each one more unlikely than the last. She finally decided to go with the simplest one she knew and that had always worked before.
“Well, I was in Zonko’s, and I was looking at some things. Suddenly, the time just flew by, and I found it was already five forty five. I rushed back as quickly as I could,” she added lamely.
Madame Rosmerta shook her head sadly. “Alanna, you have used that excuse on me many a time “ too many times. I seriously doubt that. Please go to your room “ no supper, and I’ll deal with you tomorrow.”
Alanna looked at her mother with pleading eyes. Mum always seems to fall for that, she thought hopefully.
Madame Rosmerta sighed. “Alanna, you’ve been gone too long. That doesn’t work anymore. Go to your room “ NOW.” Her voice was like ice, and Alanna knew it wasn’t going to melt anytime soon.
Alanna turned and trudged toward the staircase. She stepped up onto the first steps, but stopped when she heard her mother’s voice again.
“Believe me, Alanna, you will stop this. I will let it go no further. I will not put up with you again. You got expelled from school and you ran away, all because you don’t listen to your elders. You will now, or else.”
Alanna would have dearly loved to say Or else what? But she knew that now was not the time. Her mother was furious, and when her mother was furious, you listened to her.
Unless you’re me, and decide not to listen to her, and get expelled, and then she hates you. I am so dead, Alanna thought glumly as she trudged up the rest of her stairs and into her room. Why can’t I ever just listen and obey, instead of arguing with her and disobeying?
She flopped down on her bed, and stared at the ceiling. A small smile played at the corners of her mouth. She flipped on her stomach and propped her chin in her hands.
I can afford to not listen to her this one last time, she thought as she pictured Draco’s carelessly styled blonde hair, his gray eyes, and the feeling that shot through her when they kissed. I don’t think I’ll be able to let this one go.