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A Matter of Time	By : AdaraB Category: Harry Potter AU/AR > Het - Male/Female Views: 7796 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns everything in the Harry Potter universe. I own nothing and I make no profit off of this story.

Chapter List
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Chapter 15 – Plans and Proposals

12 December

“So you’re not going to Hogsmeade today?” Harry asked.

“No, I’ve got too much studying to do before I take my O.W.L.s. I want to make sure I retain everything I possibly can.”

“But you’ve got a photographic memory. I thought once you read it, it’s ingrained in your memory forever or something?” Ron asked, bewildered at the thought of wanting to study instead of doing something fun.

“Well it does work that way, sort of. I still have to study though. It helps me to be able to organize the information better. Information is no good ingrained in your mind if you can’t find it when you need it.”

They all nodded in understanding.

“What will you do about robes for the Yule Ball?” Ginny inquired.

“I got them while Hermione and I got my school robes, although I don’t know that I’ll actually be using them.”

“What do you mean?” Hermione asked.

“Well, I haven’t got a date yet. The ball is on the twentieth and just about everyone has a date. I guess I’ve been too busy with school work for anyone to think about taking me.” She said indifferently. Of course she would like to go to the ball, but she would rather die than go alone and get requests to dance out of pity. She would finally be able to do some pleasure reading if this came to pass.

“What about Draco?” Harry asked, wanting his cousin to experience the ball. He couldn’t understand for the life of him why Draco hadn’t already asked her, the entire school knew they fancied each other. Harry thought he would have plucked up the courage to ask her out by now.

Ashleigh just shrugged. “He mentioned wanting to ask someone, but I don’t know who. I don’t know if he’s asked her yet because I haven’t seen him in the last couple of days except at meals and even then my head has been stuck in a book. I’m sure he would have mentioned it, he probably just didn’t want to interrupt my study time.”

They all just nodded at her, uncertain of what to say to that.

“Well, I’ll see you all later. Come and rescue me from my studying tonight alright?”

The four gave the affirmative, and Ashleigh left heading toward the dungeons.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Draco, I need to talk to you.”

Draco swatted his friends away and walked over to Harry.

“What is it?”

“It’s about Ashleigh.”

“What about her? Is there something the matter with her?” He asked quickly.

“No, not physically anyway.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Are you going to ask her to the ball or not?” Harry never did have a problem getting to the point.

“Oh, um.”

“You are going to ask her to the ball aren’t you?”

“Well yes. I was going to wait until after she finishes her exams though. I didn’t want to be a distraction.”

Harry let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. He really didn’t want to kill Draco for breaking his cousin’s heart; it wouldn’t be good for their newly acquired friendship.

“Well I’d get down to it soon, if I were you. She’s already under the impression that you’re taking someone else, especially since everyone else who is going already has a date.”

“What gave her that idea?”

“Apparently you did. She said you mentioned wanting to ask someone but you didn’t say who.”

“She heard that did she? I didn’t think she heard me since she didn’t question me about it.”

“Well just do it soon, she won’t say it or even show it in her emotions but she’s hurt by the fact that you didn’t ask her. She’s too Slytherin for that. You have to know that she fancies you by now right?”

“Yeah, I figured that out a while ago. I just didn’t want to do anything until she’d have more time on her hands.”

“She asked us to rescue her from studying tonight. Why don’t you do it instead and ask her? She won’t be expecting it at all.”

“Yeah, I will. And Harry?” Draco called as the other boy started to walk away. Harry turned around but didn’t say anything waiting for Draco to finish. “Thanks.”

“Any time.” Harry replied and walked away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Athena, the goddess of wisdom, was the woman in the portrait guarding Ashleigh’s rooms. They had gotten to know each other as well as a portrait and a living person could manage. So when Athena popped into the country scenic landscape beside the inside of her door waving enthusiastically, she knew Harry had come to ‘rescue’ her from studying too hard. She looked at the clock on the mantel and saw that it was only five o’clock. She thought he would have come a bit later, at least after dinner.

Ashleigh got up from her comfortable position on the couch amongst her books and opened the door to find, not Harry like she expected, but Draco.

“Hey Draco, what are you doing here?” She asked, motioning him inside.

She didn’t know why but he seemed kind of nervous about something.

“I’ve got a question for you.”

“Alright, shoot.”

“Will you go to the Yule Ball with me?” He asked quite fast.

“I thought you already had a date?” She asked with a confused look in her eyes. She was extremely happy that he had asked her but didn’t want to show it in case he revealed something as horrific as her being his second choice.

“What made you think that?”

“Well you said you were going to ask someone weeks ago. I assumed you already did.”

“You know you shouldn’t assume things about people?” He said with a smile. “I was talking about you. I was just waiting for the right time. I was going to wait until after your exams were done but that would only leave you a few days to get the things you need for the ball. So, will you go with me?” He asked once more. He was completely subdued, nervously waiting for her answer.

Draco was starting to get antsy when she remained silent and staring at him. Slowly, a smile formed on her face and she stepped forward and embraced him.

“Yes, I’d love to go to the ball with you.” She said with a smile in her voice.

“Good because I wouldn’t have let you go with anyone else.” He stated as he pulled back and looked at her. As they gazed at each other, the atmosphere in the room suddenly turned very serious. Slowly, Draco leaned down and captured her lips with his own. It was absolutely the sweetest kiss he had ever experienced.

Ashleigh was so shocked when he kissed her that she nearly fell over. She had never known a boy to kiss a girl he liked before the first date. This had to be one for the record books. She was glad he kissed her though because she was thoroughly enjoying it.

After a few breath taking moments they pulled back and grinned at each other.

“You know, when we first met I never thought there would be anything more than friendship between us.” Draco said.

“Neither did I.”

“You mean you weren’t in love with me from the go? How will I go on?” He said dramatically, falling onto one of the plush chairs with a hand to his forehead.

“I think you’ll survive.” She said laughing at his antics. As she walked by him to go back to her previous seat, Draco grabbed her around the waist and pulled her onto his lap.

“You know, I don’t think I will survive without another kiss!”

“Oh! Shall I go and get Pansy?”

“I don’t bloody well think so.” He stated indignantly, pulling her head down for another kiss.

Draco nearly exploded from the pleasure of the kiss. Their first kiss had been extremely sweet and he wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. Until that is, he found out how passionate her second kiss was. They were pulling and sucking and nibbling on each other’s lips. When Draco felt her tongue flicker on his bottom lip he thought he would pass out. Never had he had a girl make a move like that on him. Normally he was the one to step into that territory. After a few more moments of their passionate snogging, they came up for air breathing heavily.

“I think we should head up for dinner Draco.” Ashleigh couldn’t wipe the smile off of her face.

“I think that may be a good idea.” Draco replied huskily.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harry was watching for Ashleigh and Draco to enter the Great Hall. He wanted to see firsthand if the Slytherin boy had worked up enough courage to ask his cousin out. When they did finally arrive, he was not disappointed. Ashleigh and Draco entered holding hands looking very much like a couple. Ashleigh had a grin on her face the size of the United Kingdom and Draco looked very smug at the fact that he had gotten the girl. Hand in hand they walked to the Slytherin table. Ashleigh sat at her usual place and Draco, instead of sitting across from her as he had for the past two months, sat next to her.

Carefully, Harry elbowed Ginny to get her attention. She looked in the direction Harry indicated and kicked Ron under the table and he in turn looked in the direction of the Slytherin table and gently elbowed Hermione who looked to where her friend’s eyes were headed.

“Looks like he finally asked her out, and about time too. I was going to hex his bits off if he didn’t do it soon.” Harry said.

Everyone in the school could see how protective Harry had become of his newly found cousin. Hermione claimed she hadn’t seen Harry this happy since he had gotten together with Ginny, which all in all, was the complete truth. Although it still made both of them blush like mad.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Blaise and Pansy were watching the new Slytherin couple with looks of loathing from afar. They had been discussing the next phase of their plan all afternoon. Neither had foreseen the fact that Draco would actually ask Ashleigh to go to the dance with him. It had been rumored that he had asked a sixth year Ravenclaw to the dance but was never confirmed. It was now confirmed to be a lie. Blaise was seething. He now had to make adjustments to his plans.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“So you two are now a happy couple huh?”

“Yes, Harry, we are.” Ashleigh stated, blushing.

“Well it’s about time. We were getting worried.” Ron said, cowering away as Hermione slapped his arm.

“Well deserved.” Ashleigh smiled triumphantly at Ron. “Thanks Hermione.”

“Any time. If any of the boys start acting like a prat, just slap them on the arm, it always lets them know that they’re behaving like an arse.” Hermione said giving Ron a smile.

Everyone laughed at Ron’s red face.

“Ahh.” Ashleigh said, sobering. “It is nice to not feel like a fifth wheel anymore.” She snuggled closer to Draco on the overstuffed couch in her room.

“We didn’t mean to make you feel bad, Ashleigh. It’s just that we’ve always hung out together.” Harry hurriedly explained.

“I didn’t mean it like that Harry. You all were extremely accepting of me and never made me feel like a fifth wheel. It was all my own doing really. I was a bit jealous of you guys, you know? When jealousy rears its ugly head, it can make you feel things that aren’t really true.”

“There will be no continuance of jealousy I hope?” Draco asked Ashleigh.

“No, I’m pretty happy with what I have actually.”

As Draco and Ashleigh smiled at each other, the other two couples in the room smiled at each other with knowing grins.
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A Matter of Time