Ha ha, the Slytherin strikes yet again! This is part one of…I think it was six or seven parts. Not quite chapters, really, but not different fics, either. Draco and Harry musings and whatnot, with a bit of Ron thrown in for variety. I finished this one a few months ago, just never got around to typing it up. Anyone interested in seeing the rest?

This is the beginning of my 'Not Quite Hate' series. It was supposed to be three parts, each with a three-word title. I kept to the three words…it just got a bit longer than I'd expected. ^^;

Rating: PG-13, just to be safe.

Disclaimer: I own myself, my cat, and a bit of pocket lint. That's all.

Not the Same

Of course I hate him. Why shouldn't I?

Because he's the stupid Boy Who Loved? Hah. I could care less, really. Or because he's good at Quidditch? So am I. I've been playing Quidditch since before he even knew he was a wizard.

But of course, I'm not famous. I didn't live through Voldemort's curse even before I was old enough to remember it. People know my family's name, but they hold it with very little regard. My father was one of the first to 'turn back to the good side' after Voldemort's defeat. Father always has been a wonderful liar. I wonder what the stuffy old wizards at the Ministry would think if they were to find out what Father really keeps hidden around the house.

But really, that's not important. I'm not Harry Potter, so obviously I'm not important, either. Unless, of course, you ask any other Slytherin, who hates him almost as much as I do.

Almost. No one hates him more than I do. No one has been so humiliated by him, so infuriated by him. No one has had him shun their friendship not once, but twice.

I wanted to be his friend at one point; his ally. Instead he chose a Mudblood and a Weasel. He wanted to be put into any house but Slytherin, even though everyone knows he could have been wonderful here. Anywhere but Slytherin. Anywhere but with me.

Twice he turned me away when I extended a hand of camaraderie. No one says 'no' to a Malfoy. Not even harry Potter.

Even now, as I sit in Potions class, paying less attention than usual, do I hate him. I hate the way he always sits between his stupid friends, chatting to them as if no one else mattered. I hate the way he always manages to set his potions right, no matter how much Snape degrades him and makes things difficult for him.

And I hate the way he always turns his head just a bit to look at me, when he thinks I don't know he's watching. But I know; I always know. How could I not feel his glowing green eyes piercing my flesh, digging into me deeper than even I myself dare to go? Its amusing, the way he thinks no one notices.

Maybe I was wrong. No one who acts so blatantly would be able to make t in Slytherin. The whole school knows he travels about the castle at night, thinking himself quite clever with that invisibility cloak of his. He never realizes that half the time I follow him around, hidden underneath my own cloak that I made Father buy for me just before second year. If he wasn't to keep secrets he should learn to be a bit quieter. You don't have to see someone to know that they're there. Especially when they stumble around in the dark making more noise than they do in the light.

Why do I follow him like I do? Why do I keep track of everything he does?

He's become my most hated obsession. I know everything he does, when he does it, and whom he does it with. Unsuspecting Hufflepuffs make good spies when either bribed or under the right threats.

He's never kissed a girl, though I myself was that Mudblood kiss him on the cheek at the end of fourth year. I rather think it was one of pith and friendship, as she decided to announce herself dating Weasley in the middle of lunch one day last year.

Is it strange that I know every aspect of that miserable boy's five and a half years at Hogwarts? I think I rather know him better than himself, as he often takes on a rather confused look when he's thinking to himself. He does it especially in Potion, and then he looks at me with those strange eyes of his.

Does he hate me as much as he puts on? Why shouldn't he? He's Gryffindor, I'm Slytherin; that alone is grounds enough to hate each other. So why does he look at me the way he does? The way he is now? I turn my head to catch his eye, and I give him a lovely sneer. I know he watches me as I watch him. He turns back to the front of the class, his cheeks matching Weasley's hair. A strange boy, that one is.

He always blushed when I catch him looking. Maybe it's not me he stares at? I glance around the room to see who else it might be. Certainly not Crabbe or Goyle, and I shudder to think that anyone might look at Pansy in such a way. Honestly, most of the Slytherins are a rather unattractive bunch. But I suppose that not everyone can simultaneously have good looks and incredible wealth. Most of them chose wealth; I was lucky enough to be gifted with both, and a decent mind, to boot.

Its no secret that I'm the second 'Most Lusted-After Wizard in Hogwarts,' even beating out all the seventh years. One guess as to whom the first is, and its certainly not Weasley. Though somehow he managed to rank quite high on most lists, as did his stupid older brothers before they graduated. I don't know how they did it…it must be all that unsightly red hair. I don't pretend to understand girls, and I don't want to.

They tried to get my opinion on the top five witches that I thought were attractive. I told them all to go to hell. I think it's quite ridiculous to rate a person entirely on their looks. Besides that, girls don't interest me. They're vapid and boring, and they giggle at the smallest thing, even if it isn't even remotely amusing. Girls can go to hell, too.

He's looking at me again. Why does he always look at me like that? Sometimes it almost looks as if he's going to cry. For me? I doubt it. Wouldn't that be amusing though? The Great Harry Potter, shedding even a single tear for a person like me. It's laughable, really. If he hates me as he should, why does he look at me so? Does he really hate me like he says he does? Or does he simply rise up to the challenge every time I present him with one?

I can't stand him. Because he doesn't hate me the same way I hate him.

Ende part 1.

Yes, short, I know. That's why you need more! C'mon, you know you want more…just hit that 'Review' button and tell me. ^-^; Heck, even if you hated it and you think I'm stupid, tell me. ^-^

-=Keiran Shea=-

-Random Slytherin #1