Chapter 1: Hate is a strong word.
Draco groaned loudly when the first ray of morning light touched his pastel skin. He curled up into a tight ball and held a pillow over his head tightly ignoring the irritated grunts from his roommates.
"Would you keep it down Draco some of us are trying to sleep!" came a voice Draco was too tired to recognize.
"Sod off will you, I'm not in the mood to hear your infuriating voice!" Draco retorted as arrogant as he could manage when his voice was as groggy as it sounded. An agitated snort was all he got in reply. Bloody hell now I can't get back to sleep, curse the one that woke me up, curse him to hell! Draco thought furiously while shoving all his blankets onto the floor in a swift fluid movement. Still angry he stomped across the floor, as loudly as he could, sounding much like a livid three year old who was just denied something they really wanted.
"Would you drop the temper for once Malfoy?" Came drowsy voice at the door that didn't belong to anyone his age. Draco whipped around to face the intruder to find it was only Marcus Flint.
"Did I wake you?" Draco asked innocently.
"Yeah, me, and every other Slytherin in my dorm." Marcus fumed rubbing his eyes.
"Well blame the idiotic sod who woke me!" Draco drawled lazily twirling a lock of snowy blond hair.
"Just...go down to breakfast or something if you're awake and let the rest of us sleep!"
"Fine, after I shower and gel my hair and get dressed I will do just that." Draco snapped ushering Flint out the door, smacking him on the bum mischievously and slamming the door before he could respond. Night was hard, all Draco could think about was Harry and he got nearly no sleep so now he was grumpy and irritated, which for Draco was not a good combination at all (especially for Harry who was sure to take the blow). After the usual morning routine Draco sauntered down the breakfast and gracefully slipped into his normal seat. Not feeling hungry he shoved his plate forward and propped his long legs upon the table, he should have gotten annoyed glances but people simply nodded or smiled in his direction, even Flint but only because for a person who had woken up far too early Draco looked fresh and well rested.
"Hi Dracie" a soprano voice chimed somewhere to his left. Draco scowled and let out an agitated snort.
"Could you try to be more annoying because I'm so cheerful today that it wouldn't cause me to slap your little pug face" Draco drawled sarcasm present in his every word.
"Oh! Draco! You're so funny!" Pansy cooed happily. Draco decided if he ignored her maybe she would die…no such luck. When he was annoyed to the point he wanted to break someone's neck he determined it might be wise to slip out of the great hall before he did something foolish, though, it would be entertaining to smash a first year's face in. With his usual grace he quietly pushed his chair back, got to his feet and walked in between the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw tables, making a point to lightly brush a certain black haired Gryffindor cheek as he passed. Harry jumped at the boys touch and tried to catch his eye before he left but he was facing the opposite direction and Harry was sure it was a complete mistake. He turned back to his friends and let out an irritable grunt when all he could think of was Draco.
"Harry what is it? Your acting...well to put it simply your acting like a lovesick puppy." Hermione snapped. Harry scowled at this observation and shook his head vigorously.
"I'm leaving!" Harry announced; standing up and pushing his chair back roughly.
"Bye mate!" Ron waved, oblivious to Harry's irritation. "Bye" Harry grumbled, stomping out of the great hall loudly and slamming open the doors in search of the blond. His anger quickly receded when he spotted Draco leaning gracefully against the brick wall with one elegant brow raised and his arms crossed.
"Something wrong Potter?" Draco asked innocently.
"Yeah there is something F wrong Malfoy!" Harry spat venomously.
"Really? May I ask what it is?" Draco asked calmly, his expression never changing. Harry turned away as he felt a blush creep up his neck. What was he going to say 'You brushed my cheek and I want to know what it meant' NO that was god damn idiotic! Draco carefully watched the other boy with detached amusement, trying his best to keep all signs of amusement off his pale face and masking it with innocence, well as much innocence as a Malfoy could portray. When Harry turned back around he had successfully calmed himself by taking a few deep breathes and picturing McGonagall in a bikini only to riled up all over again when he noticed Draco had a long fingered hand over his lips to muffle his laughter.
"What is so dmn funny?" Harry asked sharply. Malfoy composed himself in a matter of seconds and wiped the smile off his face only to replace it with the Malfoy Smirk.
"You" He scoffed.
"What the fk does that mean?"
"Well my little lion; it is really quite simple," Draco cooed. Never once moving from the wall where he had made himself comfortable.
"I did something…and being the witty, handsome, cunning, debonair..."
"Get to the point Malfoy." Harry growled
"As I was saying, I did something and being wise beyond my years I knew how you would react. Therefore I was waiting here…" Draco stopped to gesture toward the wall and then continued "And you came, blew up in my face and then had no clue why you were so angry or what to say so you are over there turning several interesting shades of red and it is damn funny!" Draco was panting by now and it made his intelligent façade seem less convincing, and Harry was turning colors that clashed horribly with his scarlet and gold sweater.
"You...you...I, you…the thing and you…I…you…we…nrrk…humph." Harry stuttered uncertainly not once locking gazes with the seemingly unruffled slytherin.
"Yes Potter, I did 'the thing' on purpose. Is it really that unbelievable?" Draco queried with calm that was frightening and a face that was void of all emotion.
"It is Malfoy, you hate me and I hate you. We always fight and now we're all calm and civilized. Well, you're calm; I'm just confused. But the point is we are not yelling or fighting, well you're not yelling, I did earlier but you stayed calm. Ok now I'm confusing myself so I will ask this 'What's up? What's different?"
"Look around, do you see anyone? Any other person? Even one?" Draco asked. Harry took a second to look around the hall "No." he answered.
"You see?" Draco coaxed.
"No, what're you getting at?"
"You poncy git! I'm trying so hard to keep my calm with you but your obvious lack of brainpower is not making this easy for me!" Draco snapped icily before forcing himself to regain his poise. "People Harry, they expect us to hate each other and if for some twisted reason we didn't…things would go terribly wrong. There are no people here now; no one to make us snarl insults at each other." Draco smiled as comprehension dawned on Harry's other wise puzzled face.
"You mean to tell me that this is just an act, this rivalry, this competition, is all a…act?" Harry asked almost bitterly.
"Yes, but not without reason." Draco said as he pushed himself from the wall and sauntered over to stand directly in front of Harry. "Sometimes Harry, Hate is only something we use to hide something we use to hide something deeper and more profound" and with that Draco was gone leaving Harry staring stupidly at the spot he had been. What the hell did that mean?