I scratched out the sentence, hand hovering as I chewed my lips and waited for the words to float into my brain.

I sat alone in the greenish darkness of the Slytherin common room, hesitantly writing a letter to my parents. It was agonising. Their perpetual disappointment in me hurt, and replying to a particularly nasty letter hurt even more.

My Father had shown signs of knowing more than he should once more, and I still ached at the memory of his last "lesson". The threatening text should have been ignored as the anger of an old man, but he was still my Father. I still loved him. It just made every letter so much more painful.

I thought back to the scene their earlier letter had created, and sighed.

*FLASHBACK*

Tap, tap. The noise at the window alerted me to the fact that an owl was outside of my window, but I held back from answering it. I was late for first lesson, having run back to my dormitory for my forgotten school bag.

Giving in and resigning myself to being late, I opened the cool glass, and was immediately assaulted by my Fathers beautiful black eagle owl.

I took this as a bad sign. Mother usually sent me the friendly 'keep-up-to-date' letters, whereas Father was more... severe.

Unfurling the parchment, I took a deep breath as I began to read.

I didn't go to my first lesson in the end. In fact, I'd completely forgotten I had any. I hadn't forgotten Daphne's schedule though. I bit my lip as I looked at my watch. If I ran, I'd make the end of her lesson. I hoped she hadn't left already.

My legs groaned as I forced them quickly up stair after stair to the top of the Astronomy tower, sprinting to make sure Daphne and I would have privacy. Some of the paintings looked at me disapprovingly, some happily egging me on. A particularly large woman was saying to another "Ooh, watch her go Violet, doesn't she look eager!" I grimaced, but kept running.

When I reached the top, I was a mess. My hair, I knew, was messy, dark strands wildly escaping my careful ponytail. My face was flushed, warm from emotion and physical movement. My breathing heavy and often, I knew my usually perfect appearance was shattered. Still, she was here.

I only just made it. She had finished packing up her things, and I steadied myself internally before walking up to my sister and her multitude of like-minded idiot friends in a manner that simply screamed confident. Internally, I shook, but I collected my face into a cool mask, my chin sticking out slightly, my posture very straight, head raised.

"Daphne," I called, just loud enough for her to hear me. "Daphne, we need to talk."

She looked at me disdainfully. "Not now Astoria, can't you see I'm busy? I have to go to Transfiguration."

I glared at her in disbelief as she turned away from me, an obvious snub.

"Daphne." My voice hardened, turning cold and commanding. "If you will not talk about it privately, I will talk about it publicly."

Her eyes narrowed dangerously as she span to face me. "You wouldn't-"

"Are you willing to risk it?" I stared pointedly at her posse of curious friends, who all blushed and looked away.

She hissed, before saying in a voice so sweet that my tooth enamel was in danger "You guys go ahead. I'll catch you right up."

She smiled encouragingly at them and they slowly drifted towards the door, eyes flicking over at us every step along the way.

As soon as they'd left, the smile dropped. "Astoria, I don't want to hear it. In fact, if you say a fucking word, I will make Father's threats seem as empty as they truly are. Grow up!" She twisted expertly on her heel and stalked out.

A wave of disappointment in my sister hit me. The harsh words from all members of my immediate family followed, and I felt as I was drowning in a sea of despair. My face remained composed however, and I walked slowly to the edge of the high tower. I contemplated jumping, before shaking my head. Slytherin to the core, I was much too cowardly. I would face my problems first.

I jumped as a voice disrupted my suicidal reverie.

"All alone, Greengrass?"

I whipped around, face hostile, as the voice continued. "Why, with an attitude like that, it's no wonder you have no friends."

I scanned the shadows cast by the pillars in the room, searching for the source. I couldn't see anything. Growing frustrated, I did one last visual search, and gave a small jolt of alarm as I noticed a flicker of pale movement.

"Malfoy?" I murmured, squinting to make sure.

"You shouldn't pull faces like that, the wind will change and you'll be stuck forever." He sniffed. "Of course, in special cases, it's an improvement..."

His gaze travelled over my body, and if it were not for the pronounced sneer on his face, I would have said he was checking me out.

I crossed my arms across my chest and rolled my eyes. Of course, I couldn't be sure that's where his eyes had landed, but I was fairly certain.

"If you want to imagine me naked, Malfoy, do it in your own time. I'm busy." I snapped, twirling to face the overview of the grounds once more.

When he spoke again, his voice was much too close for comfort, coming in a soft tone just behind me.

"This is my own time. I have a free, and I need to finish up here."

"Oh." I faltered. "Well, I guess now is a good time to think about me naked then."

I smirked at his shocked face, and darted out of the room. I needed time to think. And as much as I hated to admit it, Draco had cheered me up. I loved being a bitch.

A/N Okay, first one up! Takes place in Draco's sixth year, when he's all "rawrr I'm soooo evil and dark-marky and Imma kill Dumbles" . I think he needs a bitta lovin' then.

I solemnly swear to update every week (except next week will be erratic as I'm moving house).

Question; Who's hotter, Draco Malfoy or Tom Felton?

Oh and I totally stole the naked line from the Vampire Academy series, and the characters from J.K.R. ... LOVE, me xx