Harry Potter and the Heir of Slytherin

Something had changed between us. I don't necessarily know what it was that had caused this change, or even what this change was. Even so, I could tell that there was some kind of shift in the strange relationship I had with Selene.

Nor do I know whose end this change come from. Did it come from me? Or did it come from Selene? I didn't know. Strangely enough, the fact that I could not figure this out didn't bother me as much as I thought it would. As much I thought it should.

The two of us just finished watching the movie Bram Stocker's Dracula about half an hour ago, and now we were sitting at a small open air cafe eating sandwiches and drinking tea and a cappuccino respectively.

I must confess, during the entire time we were in that theater, my focus had not been on the movie, but on the girl next to me. Not long after the movie had started, Selene had decided to lace her fingers with mine in a way similar to how Lisa sometimes holds my hand. Of course the feelings I got were different than what I felt when doing that with Lisa, which probably contributed to my inability to pay attention to the movie.

There were other instances that kept me from focusing on the movie as well, like when I went to grab a handful of popcorn and her other hand would just so happen to be there to touch mine, or when I leaned over to take a sip of coke and Selene would be conveniently drinking from the other straw at the same time and our noses would be practically touching. Small moments like that, that drove me to distraction and kept me from truly focusing on the movie.

Were it not for the fact that I have eidetic memory, I am one hundred percent positive I would have never remembered anything that happened in the movie. As it was, I did know, but only because my mind refuses to let me not know and remember something that happens within my presence that I can see or hear.

Again, it was strange, but where once her antics might have bothered me, or simply been something I humored her with because I just couldn't bring myself to care anymore, this time I found myself somewhat enjoying her actions. It was like a little game between us. She would try to see if she could crack through my facade, while I would try to keep myself from allowing her to break me out of my carefully constructed mask. It was an enjoyable game, even if I didn't truly understand why we were playing it or why it was enjoyable.

When the movie ended, we left, which brought us to where we were now, sitting down, enjoying a lunch in Paris.

"Are you rubbing your foot against my leg?" I asked incredulously as the girl in front of me gave a coy smile.

"Perhaps."

My eye twitched. That was definitely her foot rubbing against my pant leg.

"Why are you rubbing your foot against my leg?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

I sighed.

"Of course you don't."

"Have you enjoyed your birthday so far?"

"I have, surprisingly," I admitted. It wasn't as hard an admittance as it might have once been. The truth was I had a surprising amount of fun today.

It was so strange since before I couldn't be in the same room as this girl without feeling completely confused and inadequate, two emotions I never enjoyed feeling at the best of times and hated feeling when they were combined like that.

"Surprisingly?" Selene raised a delicate eyebrow. "Don't tell me you didn't think you'd enjoy yourself with me? I might cry."

"Oh please," I shot back. I was surprised I actually could talk back. Not only because the foot she had taken to rubbing against me was distracting, which I believed she was doing on purpose for that very reason, but also because I simply wasn't the type to talk back. "You're not fooling anyone, least of all me."

"Hmm... it seems you're beginning to learn," Selene gave me an approving smile. It was a smile that turned coy a second later. "And now that we have had a chance to enjoy your birthday together, I believe it is time for me to give you you're birthday gift."

"Ah..." I suddenly felt very uncomfortable. Selene had already done quite a bit for me; taking me out to the movies, keeping me from driving myself to exhaustion because I was too stubborn to give up on something without a push (yes, even I could admit when I was doing something stupid), teaching me what she knew of Vampire Culture. I didn't feel comfortable receiving a gift when I had already, admittedly, received more than I first realized. "You don't have to."

"No one ever has to," Selene countered. "They do so because they want to. Just like I want to give you a gift."

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