Disclaimer: I own Cassie. That's pretty much it, and for your information I wouldn't mind owning Draco (hehe), but I don't.
Summary: Draco talks to a friend. (I've already noted that it sounds extremely boring.)
Setting: Summer after fourth year.
Pairings: There are pretty much no pairings in this story, except for a slight Draco/Hermione, but it's very very slight. Also, Cassie and her boyfriend, but yeah, that's a given.
Author's Note: Ok, I don't know why I wrote this story; I was just watching Charmed, when all of a sudden an idea popped into my head. I'm weird like that. I think it's pretty good, but why don't you be the judge of that… well, enjoy.
Draco Malfoy walked down the Muggle streets that he'd been banned from. His father didn't know of his nightly rituals. All he knew was that Draco left every night at 5:00 and would be back at exactly 11:00.
The moon looked gorgeous even to Draco, but that's not why he was out.
The park was in bloom. The flowers were all different colors. Yellows, reds, even purples. There was a small pond in the middle of the park.
But Draco wasn't looking at any of that. Instead, he was focused on the silhouette seated on the lone bench next to the pond, near the old playground where Draco had played as a little boy.
"Cassie," Draco whispered as he sat down next to the brunette.
"Hello," Cassie whispered back, but she never once took her eyes off the old playground. They'd meet every night. Every night they'd sit on this bench, her on the left, him on the right. She would be staring at the playground; more specifically at the swings.
Draco laughed remembering some of the 'old days'. The days before his father banned him from the Muggle world. The days before he'd been locked up in Malfoy Manor when he was eleven. The days before he turned 13 and was allowed out of the house.
"You remember when we were five and you fell off the swings?" Cassie interrupted his thoughts. She had her trademark 'casual' look on her face, which reminded Draco of someone else, but he could never actually put his finger on it.
"Don't remind me," He smirked and put his elbows on the back of the bench, leaning into it. Cassie and him had been friends since they were two. Though neither of them remembered how they met, everything else was pretty much carved into their minds. From when they 'accidentally' managed to push Mr. Gordon in the pond, to when they decided to kiss each other so that they'd never regret their first kiss.
"How was school?" Cassie finally turned her head to him, her dark brown eyes, meeting his grey ones. School was always a big subject with her, ever since he told her about him getting into Hogwarts when they were eleven.
"It was fine," But the fact was that it wasn't 'fine'. It wasn't even good.
"Liar," Cassie muttered, "Now tell me what happened." She urged him, every year when summer started, to tell her what happened at Hogwarts. Every year it seemed the same.
Draco laughed, "I became the 'amazing bouncing ferret' and if you saw me, you would've have been laughing so hard, Cassie." He was amazed that he could even laugh about that. He'd never cracked a smile at that school, so why could he do it here, in the Muggle world.
"Hmm…" Cassie tried to hold back her smile, but it came. Her teeth came out from hiding, her lips parted in a laugh. She had the most gorgeous laugh, guys loved her, and she loved… some… of them.
"Yeah, knew you were gonna do that," Draco went back to his normal smirk. "Oh, but it turns out the guy who turned me into a ferret was working for Voldemort. Would you believe that? They gave him the Dementor's Kiss too."
"Oh, well, if they hadn't given him the kiss, I'm sure your father would be all over Voldemort for having a servant who treats a future Death Eater like that." Cassie's smile faded as her tone became sarcastic.
Draco's face fell. His eyes lowered as his head did. He couldn't look at her, not after that comment.
Cassie's face fell when she realized what she'd said. He felt her move beside him, her putting a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Draco. It's just… you know me, I get sarcastic. I don't think before I speak," She pleaded with him to forgive her.
"Wanna swing?" Draco looked at her, giving her a smile. A real smile. "Come on, I won't fall off this time." He grinned and pulled her onto her feet, not waiting for a reply.
"Draco," She whispered, laughing softly as she sat on one of the swings, him sitting next to her. "You're father is going to kill you if he ever finds out you come out here…" She leaned over and pushed his swing slightly, making it move to the side.
"Hell, let's see, I've been doing this since I was ten, not counting the two years I wasn't allowed out during the summer." Draco started to swing, going high as if he was trying to fly. "If he hasn't figured it out yet, he's a real moron.
Cassie gave him a laugh; her gorgeous laugh filled the night, and Draco's ears. "So, how's it going with Potter?" She had to bring that up didn't she?
"Oh God. He's Potter, what'd you expect?" Draco swung his legs. "He got picked for the Triwizard Tournament. Then we all made fun of him, me mostly of course," Draco smiled proudly, as if it was an honor. "Then he got high scores for both the first and second task. And then he won after the trophy transported both him and another contestant to Voldemort who had the other one killed and Harry got out with barely a mark." He stopped, taking a deep breath.
"You're jealous," Cassie sighed, already knowing that it was true, hoping that Draco wouldn't' deny it.
"I'm not jealous of the fame if that's what you think," Draco shook his head, looking out into the night sky.
"But you are jealous," Cassie was almost asking him to spill it all. She wanted to know why he made fun of Harry Potter and Company.
"I'm jealous because…" He sighed and swung harder, "He's got these two friends. Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley. Ok, I'm not jealous because of Weasley, but… Hermione… she's just…" He couldn't finish. "I can't describe her. I mean, she's the know-it-all. She's the teacher's pet. She's,"
"The one person you can't have," Cassie finished for him.
Draco didn't say yes, he didn't nod, he just looked up at the sky. You could see most of the stars because the park was pretty dark. Cassie was right, Draco wanted Hermione. She was forbidden to him, she probably hated him anyway.
"She slapped me in third year," Draco put a hand on his cheek, remembering the surprise when her hand had connected with his face. There had been a slight red hand mark when he looked in a mirror after that.
"You told me about that," Cassie smiled slightly, remembering him wincing at the thought of the slap. "You told me that she was looking at you like she would kill you."
"All I did was call that giant pathetic, and she slaps me. And he is pathetic too," Draco stopped his swing, sliding his feet in the sand below him.
Cassie pulled on his swing to stop herself. "You have got to stop that," She stood up, stretching her arms over her head. "You can't keep making fun of them just because you're jealous. And you can't make fun of her friends if you like her that much,"
Draco followed her over to the pond, but instead of sitting on the bench, they started to walk the circumference of the pond.
"What's going on with Pansy?" Cassie asked in a sing song voice, her long hair was pulled back in a ponytail which waved in the slight breeze.
"God, would you believe that father still wants me to marry her?" Draco gave a very annoyed sigh. Pansy had spent the end of the school year trying to convince him that they were old enough to make decisions.
"Man, doesn't your dad realize that you are barely fifteen?" Cassie took Draco's hand in hers, pulling him to stand beside her. "Though, my dad still believes that I'll give up on Gregory and I'll go back to Clark." Cassie gave a long laugh.
Draco smiled. "How is Gregory? I heard you two are doing great."
"Yeah, he gave me this necklace for our six month anniversary," Cassie pulled a silver necklace out of her shirt. There was one charm, a music note, which hung from it. "We have a date for Saturday."
Draco smiled, swinging his hand, and her hand, back and forth as they walked. "What time is it?"
Cassie glanced at her watch, and then frowned. "Damn it, it's ten thirty."
Draco put one hand on each shoulder as they stopped walking. "I'll see you tomorrow, same time, same place." He leaned over and placed a kiss on her cheek. "Say hi to Gregory for me, when you see him tomorrow." With that, he left her alone by the pond.
Another little tradition. He'd always leave at ten thirty. It was rare that he would ever stay longer, but his house was pretty far away, so he'd have to start walking.
The only lights were the street lamps, but Malfoy Manor was so secluded, that when he finally got to the large gate in front, the street lamps were gone, and it was dark and cold.
Draco finally made it to the large porch of his home; the manor would be his someday. It was too much for him. All he wanted was to be able to talk to Cassie in front of his father, without his father blowing up. To go to the playground in daytime and swing on the swings, talking to Cassie about how going to Hogwarts isn't all it's cracked up to be.
But for now, he could only do that at night. Only by the light of the moon.