The blonde stared, not in her usual mask of loathing, but in….something else that wasn't easily placed. At least not by her closest friend Pansy. An elbow to the ribs distracts her for a moment, and the signature Malfoy glare returns to her face as she looks towards the perpetrator. Even Pansy's innocent face wasn't innocent. "Sorry there Draggie, didn't mean to poke your itty bitty side but how about you enlighten us as to why you seem to be preoccupied with the Gryffindors this morning?"
Pansy's eyes suddenly lit up. "Ohh do you have something nasty planned for one of them? The Weasel or his sister? Granger? Or is it just your normal target this morning?"
Pansy's line of questioning seemed to attract the attention of the rest of the table, especially Daphne and Tracy who were always eager for the latest piece of gossip. Malfoy, instead of responding just scowled, pressing her lithe frame against the table and crossing her arms under her chest. "It's just the stench of Potter. It doesn't distract you as well?" she asks the rest of the table who snicker in response.
Pansy however, she just quirks an eyebrow. She was a lot more perceptive than her persona as the Slytherin bitch, (after Dramoria, or Draggie for short), would allow her. Something had always been up with her friend and for some reason it was manifesting now. This whole thing with Potter, it was…..strange. She had never seen Malfoy fixate so much on somebody, let alone a boy. In fact she had turned down every offer for a Hogsmeade date she ever received , so much so that she stopped receiving them midway through last year.
The only male interest she ever wanted was from Potter, and it was nearly always negative. Pansy craned her head to look at the boy in question, sitting next to his two friends, well almost flanked by them more precisely. Pansy used to be disturbed by how close the three were until she realized that Crabbe and Goyle essentially did the same thing to Malfoy. Even now the two dumb oafs were on either side of her stuffing their faces. Of course she would never defend Potter or his choices out loud. To do so would be instantaneous death, at least in Death eater infiltrated Slytherin.
The thought causes Pansy to look a little sadly towards her friend. She knew that if she were to pull up her sleeve she would find the dark mark of Lord Voldemort. It was done against her for her father's benefit, as most everything was. Dramoria however, couldn't see it, such was her level of hero worship for her father.
"Looks like the Golden boy is having a good time huh?" Comes a call from down the table, probably Theo or Blaise and Pansy looks over at the golden trio's position. The male Weasley was pushed over and now gluttoned himself with a rather grumpy attitude as the female Weasley, her bright red hair flashing, occupied his former position. In the past year the female Weasley had….filled out in polite terms. Her chest and ass were the constant focus of many males in all houses, (secretively in the house of snakes however), and Potter found himself as the recipient of all her newly endowed affections, and the jealousy of the male population of the school.
As it stood now Ginny was pressing herself into his side, speaking almost seductively into her ear as her fingers gently twitched in his hair and her thigh was pressed against him. Her position served to emphasize her large chest under her robes which all could see were the major attraction in Potter's eyes. A blush adorned his face and he was clearly uncomfortable as he tried to move a bit to his right while Granger, tiring of just how forward Ginny was being, finally helped fight the vixen away. The conversation couldn't be heard from across the dining hall but anyone who knew the bushy haired genius could infer that she was lecturing Ginny about propriety.
For her part Ginny looked rather pleased with herself, knowing that she had at least gotten Harry's attention. Pansy, now chuckling turned to her friend. "What a slag. Guess that explains why her mum had a whole litter eh Drag?" She said trying to get a laugh out of her friend.
What she saw, however, was something entirely unexpected. She was as rigid as a board and her fork almost trembled in her hand from how tight she was holding it. Now, the look in her eye was definitely a glare. But for some reason it wasn't directed at Potter. It was directed at the female Weasley. Pansy is about to ask what was wrong before her blonde friend stands up, almost pushing the bench back against the wall and making everyone on the bench wobble a bit from the force of the movement. She turns to her classmates and realizes that she needs to conduct some damage control.
Her face slips into a sneer. "Sorry, but there is only so much Potter-Weasley smut one can take before vomiting. Excuse me" and with that she turned and walked out of the hall, attracting much attention from merit of being one of the most gorgeous girls to ever go to the school, and how seemingly violent her walk and exit were, the large oak doors slamming open and then shut behind her.
At the Slytherin table it is silent for only a moment before someone , most likely Millicent Bulstrode, lets out a comment. "Wow, Potter really does get to her doesn't he?" which is followed by laughs up and down the table . "Yeah Potter " Pansy says simply as she looks back over at the record of events. The strange look, the freakout over the Weaslette. However, Pansy shakes the thought away. It was ridiculous. Instead she simply returns to eating and thinks that Dramoria must be going through her special time of the month.
In the ladies bathroom
Dramoria stomped I to the room, using her wand to ward the door against any unwanted visitors, backing it up with a notice me not charm for good measure. She really did not want to be seen as tears began to stream down her face and her eyes began to become puffy and red. She futilely wiped at the offending drops as she moved towards the bathroom mirror and looked at herself up and down. She knew she was attractive, but apparently not attractive enough.
She placed her hands on her chest and hefted her breasts up a bit, checking on herself before scowling and continuing to cry. "Sorry I'm not some busty bimbo Potter, you arse faced loser" she said before continuing to cry and moving into one of the stalls, using the toilet as a seat. She had last year admitted it to herself. She had been in love with Harry Potter for a long time. It just became all the more noticeable during the tri-wizard competition and the Goblet of fire incident. He was so damn suave , at least to her. She knew Potter was too noble to have actually put his name in the Goblet and part of her loved that nobility despite it's decidedly un-Slytheriness.
She remembered fuming when that veela whore kissed him and she also remembered the agony she felt upon seeing him return with Cedric's body. She Wanted nothing more than to run to him and hold him, promise that everything would be okay. She knew it was wrong. Her father would disown or kill her if he ever found out. But, Dramoria would admit in her own mind that there had always been an aspect of that she liked.
In first year, she offered the naive and cute boy her friendship. First at Diagon Alley and then on the Hogwarts Express. She'd be the first to admit however, that she botched both encounters. She came off as too arrogant and when she tried to persuade him away from Weasley she didn't exactly put it in the nicest terms. She could remember clear as day how she must have a looked, a small blonde girl lecturing a near stranger about who he should and should not associate with. She almost cringed at the level of her father present in her. When he rebuffed her, she acted as she was taught to act. As a spoiled little girl who didn't get what she wanted. She stomped off, telling Potter he'd regret his decision.
Now it was Malfoy that regretted her decision. It was many times a night she would wake up from a dream where she and Potter had become friends. It would be slow, at least at first. Glances would turn into smirks, and the smirks would finally turn into kisses in broom closets. Potter would've even been in Slytherin in her dreams which would've made him an acceptable match to her father.
But….things had been radically different over the years. Malfoy sought any attention from Potter and the way she got it was by being the one constant nuisance in his life. She sabotaged everything he tried to do and bullied his friends whenever she got the opportunity. She hated the insults she would hurl at him. Items meant to hurt. Everyday she wanted to throw herself at his feet and apologize for what she had said about his parents in third year. After a particularly fun bout of Longbottom teasing Harry had stepped in and made a comment of his own.
"I'd say your parents would be ashamed of yourself but then again they probably aren't all that much different" he had said. Dramoria hated that. Most of all because he was right. What she shot back with however, she would never forgive herself for.
"At the very least my parents have the sense not to wind up dead. Probably why we can't gauge what your parents would say about you eh Potter?"
She remembered the hurt in his eyes. She had never gone there before. She had always stayed away from it, instead utilizing name-calling and retorts. But the laughing Slytherin who had been around her did not help the situation. After that….things changed. Harry avoided her completely. He wouldn't even respond to her jibes and teasing, instead he would simply ignore her. That was the twisting of the knife in her heart. She never wanted him to ignore her.
It was shortly after that that she realized how much Potter meant to her. She loved him. That's why she teased and belittled him. Because he wasn't hers.
"And now he's with that slut Weasley" she sniffled, causing another bout of sobs as she imagined all the things she wanted for her and Harry being replaced with Harry and Ginny. The slag had been pushing herself on Harry ever since the beginning of third year. And Harry's rejection of her advances were becoming softer and softer.
Malfoy sobs as she pulls up her sleeve, revealing another reason it would never work. The black skull, the symbol of Voldemort swirled on her arm, reminding her of when she had been forcibly branded, like cattle. She cried for hours afterwards, in her room alone of course. Her father had seen her first tears and sent her away in disgust of her weakness. Her mother, just a much a slave to Lucius Malfoy, entered her room only late at night to gently rub her daughter's back and hold her tightly. She wanted no part of this war either and that's why she assumed Dramoria had been crying. The truth, however, was worse and she broke down and told her mother the truth.
How she loved Potter and would never want to hurt him. How she had insulted him and how she wanted nothing more than to apologize, anathema to a Malfoy in any situation. Her mother, had patiently waited for her to finish before hugging her even tighter into her chest. "Oh Dramoria, I wish you were a child again. It was so easy to fix things for you then" she said gently, rubbing her only daughter's back and brushing her fingers through her hair. Narcissa had told her gently that she approved. She always liked the Potter boy and thought that while decidedly not a Slytherin by nature, that he was exactly what her daughter needed.
Dramoria gently began to brush her robes against her eyes , drying herself as she calmed down enough to exit the stall. She needed something to change and in order to do that she would need to first talk to Harry. But how does one end almost half a decade of rivalry with an "I love you"? It just wasn't as easy as it sounded….or was it? Dramoria looked at herself in the mirror, quickly fixing herself up as she prepared for the inevitable encounter that would change her life, for good or for worse. She summoned her owl, Pontiphas and waited by an open window.
The owl was old, his grey feathers even more pronounced but he was reliable and loving, a fact Dramoria hid. Like house elves, Malfoys weren't supposed to care for their owls. She scowled at the number of things Malfoys were supposed to do and were not supposed to do. She stroked the owls ears and gently handed him a letter. "Deliver this to Harry Potter please Pontiphas. Err, nicely this time" she adds remembering when she had the owl toss a screamer through his dormitory window.
The owl hoots and takes off, the letter clutched in his talons as the moonlight reflects evenly off his back. Dramoria simply closed the window and straightens her robes, happy to finally have a plan, but frightened horribly by all the factors running against her.
Gryfindors Boys Dorm
"I mean I'm the first to admit that she came on a little strong, but bloody hell Harry she is so obviously smitten with you mate" came Seamus' voice from the other side of the room as the Irish boy was sitting at the foot of his bed.
"Not to mention those giant.." the boy is cut off by a pillow flying at his face. "Oi, shut up your horny fag" comes the angry reply of one Ronald Weasley. "That's my sister".
"Well your sister has some big tits" Seamus adds with a smirk getting another pillow, thrown harder this time, to the face. The boys dorm roars with laughter at the whole episode and Harry can't help but smirk. Today had been….interesting to say the least. Between Ginny coming onto him and Dramoria storming out of dinner he couldn't decide if it had been a good day or a bad day. Then again, any day where his nemesis was unhappy was a good one, but any day where Ron's slutty sister came onto him was not such a good one.
The whole thing was starting to grate on him and really even affect his friendship with the red head. After all, Molly had been playing matchmaker for years, trying to decide which Partner got matched up to who among her sons and only daughter. It was something the Weasley clan even accepted. That to him was creepy. Having your romantic relationships decided by your mother. Ron saw no problem with it however other than the fact that Molly's maneuverings and suggestions hadn't gotten him closer to Hermione. But even he was pushing him to date Ginny.
He didn't know why he didn't want to, it's not like most of the school wasn't lusting over her and he was a man after all. But, maybe it was just the whole choice thing. Harry Potter wanted to choose who he fell in love with, not have that decided by proximity and circumstance.
His musings are interrupted by tapping on the window, a break hitting the glass lightly. Everybody turns to see the famous Malfoy owl Pontiphas sitting on the ledge, a scroll in his talons as he quirks his head and looks to Harry. With a tilt of an eyebrow the chosen one gets up and opens the window, letting some of the cool night air in and the owl with it. The scroll is dropped at Harry's feet and the owl abruptly turns and leaves through the same window, his shape decreasing into the night as he flies back towards the owls entrance to the dungeons.
"Oi, what the hell does Malfoy want with you eh?" Asks Ron, as all the other boys clamor. Next to Ginny, Dramoria Malfoy was the subject of many boys fantasies and any goings on with her and Harry were always interesting to watch.
Instead of answering Harry picks up the scroll and unrolls it, revealing the neat and highly feminine handwriting of his arch nemesis. "Potter, meet me tonight at the astronomy tower. It's time we end this game." Harry read aloud. It was signed with a simple d, with a bit of cursive flair.
"Either Potter is gonna get laid or he's going to die it's only one of the two" Seamus says with a laugh while Neville, scared for his friend, finally pipes up. "Don't go Harry. It's a trap of some sort. You know Malfoy. She won't be waiting for a social call". There was nods of assent across the room and even Ron, the boisterous and confrontational one of the group, advocated for ignoring the letter.
"It'll be a great laugh seeing Malfoy waiting up there all night, shivering cold" He says with a laugh, to which the other boys once again laugh.
Harry however, was bent on going. "It's the wording of the letter. Let's end this game? I think it's about time to do that. And it's not like I'm afraid of Malfoy. I've best her every time we dueled" he said, remembering second year when he put the beautiful blonde on her backside in front of the whole school.
"I'm gonna go. And when I come back I'll have Malfoy's snapped wand to show you guys" Harry says proudly, finally about to beat his arch enemy. He slips on his robe, happy he hadn't begun to ready himself for bed and slips down the stairs, the sounds of the boys either cheering him on or warning him off echoing behind him.
The Astronomy Tower
"Alright Malfoy, come out you snake. You want to end this huh?" Came Harry's reply upon entering the ancient tower. His wand was already drawn and pointed out in front of him, ready for any and all attacks that would most likely come from Malfoy or her goons. "Relax Potter…..Harry. I'm not here to fight" came a voice from the shadows across the room. Malfoy stepped out, her hands open, palm out on either side of her. "I didn't even bring my wand" she says, the nervousness trepidation playing out on her face.
This is the first time that Harry has ever seen her….well like a girl. In all other instances she wore a scowl and was hurling insults at him. Now she bit at her lips nervously and dare he say it cutely. Her noise, angular and pretty was further accentuated by her lack of a scowl. And wait, did she just call him Harry?
His wand remained raised, now pointed at the lone girl as he suspected a complete trap. "Who else is with you Malfoy?" He sneers, knowing that she would never willingly enter into a fair fight. Someone must be waiting in the shadows. Perhaps he should have listened to his friends. For all he knew death eaters or Voldemort himself would be waiting with Malfoy, the girl just being a distraction. He looks around, looking over his shoulders, seeing enemies in every dark corner.
"There is no one else here Harry. This is just you and I" she says with a light smile playing about her lips. Harry mistakes it for one of sinister intent but that's only because he had never seen Malfoy genuinely smile before. She was ecstatic at the thought of being alone with Harry. She had never been alone with the boy before. Always people around. Always expectations of how or what she was supposed to act like. Now, she could let Harry hear and see the real her. She stepped forward a bit, forcing Harry's wand back onto her. Her smile disappeared and was replaced by a frown. "Harry…" his name was strange still on her tongue, "I promise I'm not here to hurt you".
"Why do you keep calling me Harry?" He asks curiously, being used to Potter or scarhead. "And why the bloody hell should I believe you?"
That hurt and hurt always welled up as anger with Dramoria. "Because if I had meant to hurt you I would have shot a spell at you from the darkness you asshole" she shouted and turned her back to him, utterly upset and dismayed at how this was going for her. Then again, years of distrust and hatred don't go away with using someone's name. She rubbed her face and calmed down, turning once again. "I want us to talk about…..well….us I suppose" she says suddenly feeling very small once again.
Harry is a little taken aback but slowly nods and holsters his wand. "Okay Malfoy. Talk" he says still wary about the blonde girl who now seemed to be...weak and vulnerable. The girl takes in a breath and closes her eyes, readying herself for what she knows she has to say bluntly. "I have feelings for you" she says in almost one breath, which is followed by absolute silence before it's broken by the sound of laughter. Harry was almost on the floor as tears seeped from his eyes and he continued to guffaw. "Nice one Malfoy, you can tell your goons to come out. I know you have them recording this somewhere".
Anger pools once again within the small blonde girl. If she didn't love him as much as she did she would hate him with a burning passion and be willing to kill him right now. It still might that. However, she had one last tactic first. She marched angrily towards the still laughing boy and grabbed him by his robes, their difference in size making it all the more comical as she stood a full foot shorter than him. Within one second her lips were upon his as she stood on her tippy toes trying to reach him. She poured years of her secretive and unrequited love into the kiss.
Her lips were soft against his and she gently moved her arms up and around his shoulders, leading to her almost hanging off of him. Harry for his part was in a state of shock. The impact of face to face contact had knocked his glasses askew and he stared at her , this lithe and beautiful hated enemy of his who was suddenly kissing him. His hands gently going to her waist with the first intent of pushing her off before he realized that he liked how she felt against him. Her little body moved almost in need of protection against him and her lips felt like heaven to him. At this moment he could care less if this was a trap that would lead to his painful death.
Kissing Dramoria Malfoy was worth it.
She releases her lips from his and slowly settles down onto her feet once more, her hands gripping his robes as if she were afraid he'd disappear if she didn't. She rests her head on his chest, happy to just hear his heartbeat, rapidly now as she seems to take pride in. He for his part, continues to hold her, baffled by this turn of events as he looks down at the girl. "Uhh, Malfoy….I don't...I don't...know what to say" he stutters out as they stand there, only the moon illuminating their forms in the darkness.
She giggles and for the first time around him, an honest one. No malice or ill intent. Just a giggle. "I didn't expect you to. Your arch kissed you and basically told you she loved you. I accept that you don't have an answer for me Potter".
With that she stepped away and straightened her robes, moving her hand to her face in order to fix her smudged makeup. "And from that kiss I know you feel something for me" she days before turning, now a bit more of the Malfoy he remembers as she stalks toward him once again. "Harry, you are mine. I have loved you for too long to have it any other way. I will not embarrass you with anything other than the truth. I don't care how you feel about that, soon you will love me back. And as for that Weasley slag" she stops to catch her breath and a bit of her demeanor back. "She is not to touch you. If she tries you are to say you already have someone. If she persists I will personally rip her eyes out. Is this clear Potter? Good. I shall see you this weekend at Hogsmeade. Wear something nice" she finishes before gently pecking Harry on the lips and walking out of the astronomy tower, leaving the very confused boy standing there, mouth agape, unsure of what to make of the whole situation.
Malfoy however, was ecstatic. She had done it. Really done it. She kissed him and it felt amazing. To be held by him and protected by him, she loved it. She craved it. It was her addiction now. She had forgotten much of what she had meant to say. Apologies and such but that was hard for a Malfoy. She would apologize but…...in time. First she needed to lay claim and make sure he understand how things would work. She smiled to herself as she entered the Slytherin dorms. "Malfoys always get what they want" she whispered to herself.