Tainted love
by Chevie
It's the beginning of fifth year at Hogwarts for Draco Malfoy. As he stepped up the Hogwarts express, he made a face at the thought of Harry Potter. Sweeping his robes back, he threw himself down onto a seat in the compartment usually occupied by him and his friends, Crabbe and Goyle. Suddenly, Draco stood up and a sly smile spread across his pale face. He straightened his robes; smoothed back his silver-blond hair and said, "let's go have some fun."
The three of them walked down the corridor and approached the compartment usually occupied by Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Draco smoothed back his hair once more before sliding the door open. But what greeted the Slytherin's smug face was not the usual three people. Instead, it was a beautiful girl with straight brown hair and golden brown skin. Upon the noise, she had turned her attention to the door, which now stood a blushing blonde. As Draco noticed the girl, he felt his pale face burning red and needles piercing his body as the brown haired girl watched him with her ice blue eyes. The girl seated inside smiled but Draco didn't smile back. Instead, he blushed even more. The grey-eyed Slytherin staggered backwards into Crabbe, unable to tear his still grey eyes off the girl. Finally, finding his nerves, he swept his black robes and headed back to his own boot. Throughout the rest of the journey, Draco's mind was full of the girl's long, straight brown hair, piercing blue eyes and smile, which had made him felt queasy. Just imagining these, was enough to make the blonde blush.
***
When the Hogwarts express slowed down, Draco picked up his luggage and set off towards the carriages with Crabbe and Goyle. He expected to see the girl he met earlier at the crowd gathering around Hagrid, but she was nowhere in sight. So he focused on the journey to the Hogwarts castle.
One by one, the carriages carrying students stopped meters away from the front entrance to the Hogwarts castle. When Draco got out of the carriage, he came face to face with Harry.
"Hello, scarhead," said the Slytherin with a smirk, returning to his normal self.
Harry opened his mouth to reply but was interrupted by Ron, who poked his head out from behind.
"Hello, ferret." Then he added, "the amazing bouncing ferret."
Upon hearing his least favourite word, Draco's face flushed with annoyance and shot back, "Oh, hello, weasel." He paused. "And mudblood."
As Ron was protective over Hermione, who was a muggle-born, he took out his wand from his robes and shouted, "rictusempra!"
But the pale blonde was too quick for him. "Finite incantatem! Furnunculus!" Ron screamed as boils appeared on his wand arm.
"Let me at him!" yelled Ron as Hermione performs a counter-curse while holding him back.
***
Draco took his place at the Slytherin table and looked past the Hufflepuffs at the Gryffindors. He saw Harry conversing with his pathetic friends and wanted to shout a taunt at him when someone at the entrance caught his eye - the new girl he met on the train now with Professor McGonagall by her side. Once again, the teenager with neatly combed silver-blond hair couldn't take his eyes off the girl.
His still grey eyes followed the girl onto the teacher's table where Dumbledore was raising his hand as a signal for silence. Draco snapped back into reality but kept his eyes glued to the girl.
"Welcome back to Hogwarts, students." Dumbledore paused to smile at his budding wizards.
"I have a few announcements to make. First of all, the forbidden forest will be off limits to the students as usual. Second, we'll be having a new Defence Against Dark Arts teacher because Professor Moody has decided he needs a rest." He looked at his students knowingly through his half-moon glasses.
"And lastly, I would like to introduce to you a new transferred student."
Everyone clapped. When the noise died down, the new student stepped forward and introduced herself.
"I'm Chelsea Keegan. Formerly from Wellox Wizarding School and I'm a fifth year."
Then Professor McGonagall spoke before the students started clapping again.
"Miss Keegan will be joining Gryffindor house after being sorted earlier at the office."
She smiled as Chelsea joined the hooting and cheering table at the side of the hall. When Chelsea took her seat next to Harry, the eagerly watching blonde from the other end was clutching his fist so hard his knuckles turned white.
***
It's double potions for the Slytherins and Gryffindors. As Malfoy was one of Snape's few favourite students and excels in potions due to his family, the blonde Slytherin was in advantage to impressing the queen of his heart.
Draco and his fellow Slytherins arrived early and eventually heard voices from the corridor, which means that the Gryffindors has arrived. The pale teenager has never looked forward to seeing the Gryffindors in his life until now, all because of one person.
Draco waited anxiously for Chelsea and was even saving a seat for her although he knows Slytherins and Gryffindors never sit together. When Chelsea stepped into the room and met the pair of grey eyes with her ice blue ones, the slytherin found himself unable to move and was burning red as Chelsea smiled amusedly at him. His still grey eyes had followed her till she sat down next to... Harry Potter. The pale blonde's eyes came into focus when he realized Harry was conversing with Chelsea.
He clutched his fist tightly and muttered, "if looks could kill, you would be dead by now, Potter."
***
It's dinner time and both Slytherin and Gryffindor has met their new Defence Against Dark Arts teacher. Both groups of students didn't like him.
"Professor Lione was so unreasonable!"
"He took away 50 points from Gryffindor for dropping my quill."
"Lione is crazy. He yelled at me for tying my hair."
"Well, he took away 100 points from Slytherin for screeching my chair. And it's the end of class when it happened!"
"Can you believe he threw the quill at me for looking at the cupboard?!" exclaimed Ron rolling his eyes, which made Harry and Hermione laugh.
Silently Draco had sensed a different thing about Lione. He sensed that he was at Hogwarts for more than replacing Moody. In fact, he sensed death.
Must be one of bloody Potter's friends again. thought the Slytherin irritably.
***
Six months had passed and Malfoy always looks forward to double potions with the Gryffindors. The blonde has succeeded in impressing Chelsea because she had once asked him for help with her potions homework. That time was memorable of course, alone in Snape's dungeon with the girl of his dreams.
Until Harry turned up, that's it.
Until Harry Potter appeared to take Chelsea to see Professor McGonagall.
I hate Potter. I hate that bloody scarhead. thought Draco bitterly.
Then one night during dinner, the Gryffindor table buzzed with confusion. The Slytherin who was sitting between Crabbe and Goyle looked over at Harry and his still grey eyes fell onto the empty seat next to Harry. A curious expression dawned on his face.
Suddenly, Dumbledore stood up and cleared his throat as a signal for silence.
"My dear students, something has happened and I would like to give you some instructions. Please listen carefully." He paused at the anxious faces looking up at him.
"Our new transfer student is missing. But I hope none of you will attempt to find her on your own..." He trailed off and looked at a certain someone at the Gryffindor table before he continued. "...because the faculty still doesn't know what has happened to Miss Keegan. The instruction is, none of you should be staying out of your dormitories after 9 o'clock and go everywhere with a friend. May dinner begin."
Draco didn't touch his food and neither did most Gryffindors.
Later that night as Draco walked past the Defence Against Dark Arts classroom to the dungeon, he overheard a private conversation of Professor Lione and someone.
"Good job, Lione. All you are to do later is yell for help after I leave," said a cold, hoarse voice, which sent chills down the Slytherin's spine.
"Now," ordered the unfamiliar voice and Lione started yelling for help. Malfoy quickly went down to the dungeon to replace the ingredients for Snape. But all the while, the pale blonde's mind was on the conversation he just overheard and Chelsea.
When he reemerged from the dungeon, a crowd of professors was already outside Lione's office and ushering students who were walking past to go back to their dormitories. The pale Slytherin hid behind a stone statue and listened.
"...was killed by one of the Death Eaters." He heard Snape told another professor and his mouth tasted bitter.
Who got killed? Potter? Draco thought hopefully.
"Reducio!" he whispered and cast it on himself. After he shrunk, he made his way between the large feet to see who the victim was. What he saw made him regret. Chelsea Keegan was lying on the ground with widely opened green eyes. She was killed by avada kedarva.
I'm going to kill that bloody Voldemort. thought Draco fiercely, feeling blood boiling inside him.
***
The next day, the pale Slytherin approached Harry after Potions class.
"Potter, can I speak to you for a moment?" he asked.
"Sure." replied Harry casually while waving Ron and Hermione to go back without him.
"I need you help." Malfoy paused. "Not that I really need it but..."
"I get the idea. What is it?" Harry asked impatiently.
You're not that important you know, Potter. thought the pale blonde irritably.
"I need you to help me kill Voldemort. With me, I mean." Draco said with a serious expression.
Harry snorted.
"What? Are you kidding me? You, a death-eater child, going to kill Voldemort? No way!" The Gryffindor exclaimed in disbelief.
"I'm serious." Malfoy replied coldly and walked off when he realized that Harry does not believe him.
***
"Stand still, Crabbe! You too, Goyle!" shouted the pale Slytherin.
Both Crabbe and Goyle moaned when Draco raised his wand at them from the other side of the Slytherin common room.
"Stupefy!" He bellowed and Crabbe collapsed at the other side of the room.
"Locomotor mortis!" He bellowed again, this time at Goyle and he fell heavily on the green carpet.
Feeling satisfied with his improvement, the pale blonde walked over to his fellow Slytherins and reversed his spells.
"You never practice your spells. Not on us anyway," complained Crabbe.
"What are you up to?" questioned Goyle.
"Nothing. Just felt like casting some spells," lied Draco, heading back to his dormitory.
***
After days of practice on Crabbe and Goyle, the silver-blonde felt that he was ready for Voldemort.
"And so you have to be really careful when you handle it." explains Professor Sprout.
It was Herbology with the Gryffindors.
When Malfoy met Harry's eyes earlier as he was making way to the greenhouse, he burned his grey eyes into those green ones.
He was still furious at how the Gryffindor responded the other day.
Getting the idea, Harry approached Draco at the entrance to the Great Hall.
"How are you going to find Voldemort?" asked the teen with messy black hair.
"I just know." The blonde paused. "I'm a death-eater child. You forgot that?" He added sarcastically.
"Right... But still..." Harry looked around uncomfortably.
"Anyway, if you want to come along, meet me at the lake tonight at thirteen o'clock," said Malfoy, making his way to his next class.
The Gryffindor stood alone at the entrance. His green gaze following the pale Slytherin's shadow.
***
The silver-blonde wrapped himself around the green and silver scarf and made his way quietly out of the Slytherin tower.
Cowardy scarhead. thought Draco when he reached the lake and found himself alone.
"Serp..." muttered the grey-eyed teen but stopped when he heard someone whispering his name.
"Who's there? Show yourself," said Malfoy with his wand out.
"It's me, Harry Potter," replied Harry, pulling off his invisiblity cloak.
"Oh. Why are you here?" asked the pale blonde, trying hard to look disgusted.
"Quit acting. Are we going to look for him or not?" snapped the Gryffindor impatiently.
"Yes," replied Draco darkly. "Serpensortia!"
A long silver snake slid out of the end of the Slytherin's wand.
"Where is Voldemort?" the silver-blonde asked the snake.
"Follow me..." replied the snake as it started towards to forest.
"Malfoy... Y... You're a parseltongue?" stammered a surprised Harry.
"Yes, so?" answered Malfoy, following the snake.
What the hell? And he accused me of being the heir of Slytherin in our second year when we duelled. thought the frowning Gryffindor.
Suddenly, the pale Slytherin stopped in his tracks with his left hand holding out, stopping Harry.
"Quiet, Potter," ordered Draco in a whisper as he used his other hand to push away some leaves.
Harry, being the taller one, tip-toed to looked over the blonde's head and commented, "you dyed your hair, didn't you?"
"Shut up or I'll hex you," threatened the grey-eyed teen.
"Yeah, right, with Voldemort around?" laughed Harry.
"He will kill you first if he has a choice," the Slytherin said quietly, glacing up at the Gryffindor. "On the count of three and we'll run towards him and curse him," he continued seriously.
"One, two, three!" counted Malfoy and Harry together and they ran into the clearing towards the dark figure with their wands out.
"Stupefy! Petrificus totalus!" yelled the pale blonde.
"Expelliarmus! Furnunculus!" yelled the raven-haired teen.
But Voldemort was too fast for them.
"Finite incantatem. Avada kedavra."
The night was filled with a horrifying scream.
Harry watched in horror as the silver-blonde collapsed instantly with his dead grey eyes staring up at him.
"It's not worth it to betray Lord Voldemort. Now, it's your turn, Harry Potter." The dark figure let out a hoarse laughter.
"Prior incantatem!" shouted Harry when Voldemort bellowed, "Avada kedavra!"
This time, the night was filled with a loud blast.
Harry squatted down with his hands over his head, protecting himself.
When the smoke cleared, Harry looked around nervously and realized that Voldemort has vanished. The only thing in the clearing was Draco Malfoy's ice-cold body.
The
End
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