CHAPTER ONE
Draco Malfoy walked down the hollow halls of Hogwarts, cursing about Dumbledore, the headmaster, all the way. "Me?! Extra credit?! Just for getting a T for one measly, little subject?!" he thought angrily to himself. "Wait till my father hears about…" before Draco could finish his sentence, Colin Creevey, a short, blonde, inquisitive photographer bounded up to Draco and caught him by the shoulders. Colin was much, much shorter than Draco, so, he looked up to the Slytherin Price with wide, questioning eyes.
"Do you know anything about the explosion in…" Colin babbled excitedly. "Get off of me!" Draco shoved him away, straightened his robes and continued down the hallway, shaking his head. "Do you know if it had ANYTHING to do with Seamus Finnigan?!" Colin called after him. "How the bloody Hell should I know?!" Draco yelled back. "Little weirdo," Draco muttered under his breath.
He stopped in front of a door with a sign that read 'Hogwarts' Times' above it. Draco let out a sigh of frustration and went straight in. It was a big room with desks all over the place. Quills, ink bottles and parchment were everywhere. Most of the desks were currently occupied by busy, little reporters and photographers for the Hogwarts' Times. Some of them looked up and frowned at the presence of Draco Malfoy. The others didn't even notice him; they were too preoccupied by their own work. He walked towards a door with a sign that read Editor-In-Chief above it. On the way there, he caught a glimpse of red hair. He frowned and looked at the person a little more closely.
"Oh, good grief!" he groaned to himself at the sight Ginny Weasely, nauseated by the thought of working with her. Suddenly, the door to the editor's office had burst open. "I'll get that explosion story!" Ernie Macmillan, a Hufflepuff prefect ran out, successfully dodging a flying ink bottle. Ernie turned around and paused when he saw Draco. He looked at Draco up and down with great dislike before walking off. Draco glared back at him before stepping into the editor's office.
"Is there a problem?" he asked, shutting the door behind him. A tall, lanky girl in his year with long, chestnut brown hair and flashing hazel-blue eyes turned to him. "Yes, I am this close to killing myself!" she screamed, loosening her red and gold tie that resembled the Gryffindor House. "Would you believe that we have absolutely no information on the explosion in Snape's class?!" she screamed louder. "Ah," Draco nodded with disinterest. She paused and looked at Draco squarely in his face. "What the Hell are you doing here, Malfoy?" she asked, furrowing her brow. "Well, I…" he began to explain in bored tones. "Save it. I got the memo. Sit your ferret ass down, please," she rolled her eyes and motioned to the chair in front of her. "Thank you, Prude-DENSE," Draco drawled coolly as he took the seat she offered. She retorted with a vicious glare and sat down herself.
It was obvious that Prudence Pattinson and Draco Malfoy did not like each other at all. With her being a Gryffindor and him, a Slytherin. Plus, everyone knew that she was good friends with Harry Potter, Ron Weasely and Hermione Granger. "So, not too bright at The Care of Magical Creatures, are you, Malfoy?" Prudence asked, lifting an eyebrow, enjoying every moment of it. "If you're going to insult me all day, Pattinson, I might as well just be on my way," Draco replied, getting hissy. "Oh, don't be such a baby! We're all professionals here," Prudence spoke to him as if he was five years old.
"You know what, Pattinson? You are such a…" before he could finish his sentence, a girl with tousled, brown hair walked in. "Prue, I… Oh," she stopped short when she caught sight of Draco. "Hi, Hermione," Prue smiled and lifted her eyebrows questioningly. Draco turned his chair around so he was facing Hermione as he leaned back comfortably. "I… was…" Hermione couldn't seem to form a sentence with the presence of Draco Malfoy. He smirked at how Hermione was struggling as he continued to watch her. Sensing the awkwardness, Prue got up and tried to repair the situation.
"Oh, yeah, I don't think I'll be able to study with you and the boys today. We've got a meeting. Is that okay?" Prue explained apologetically. "Yeah, sure," Hermione frowned at how Draco was looking at her. There was a moment's silence. "Hey, can I borrow some parchment?" Hermione turned back to Prue. "Yeah, sure, it's in the top drawer," Prue indicated to a cupboard near the door. "Thanks," Hermione stole a glance at Draco and to Prue, giving her a 'You-are-going-to-have-to-tell-me-what-the-bloody-hell-is-going-on-later' look. Prue nodded, getting her message and settling back in her seat. Hermione went over to the cupboard with her back turned to them.
"So, let's see. What do you usually do Malfoy? Do you have a camera? Do you like to write? Do you want to…" she was scanning Dumbledore's memo before looking up to catch Malfoy still watching Hermione. Prue frowned and followed his eyes. She saw what Malfoy was staring at and was absolutely disgusted by him. Obviously, he was ignoring what Prue was saying. "Okay, apparently, Hermione's ass has something more important to say, so, I'll just let you two finish," Prudence said loudly. Draco's head snapped back to look at Prue in horror. "Malfoy, you disgusting, little ferret!" Hermione screeched at him before storming out.
"Pattinson, you have CROSSED THE LINE!" he got up angrily and pointed an accusing finger directly at her. "Don't you point that thing at me!" Prue got up as well and swatted his finger away. "You're a little bitch, you know that?!" Draco snarled at her. "Really? Thanks for sharing! YOU'RE A SON OF A BITCH! HOW ABOUT THAT?!" Prudence screamed at him. "DON'T BRING MY PARENTS INTO OUR QUAINT, LITTLE CONVERSATION!" Draco roared. "I was talking about your mother, IDIOT! But, if you want me to comment on daddy, then, I will! He's the biggest bast…"
CRASH!
A bludger was suddenly zooming around the room, leaving a shattered window pane by Prudence's desk. Prudence let out a scream as she ducked. The bludger nearly hit Draco, but, he managed to dodge it just in time by diving off of his chair. "YOUR FIRST ASSIGNMENT IS TO… CRIPES!... GET THAT BLUDGER OUT! OF! HERE!" Prudence screamed, crouching behind her desk.
Oliver Wood flew in through the shattered window after the jet black ball. "Oh, damn," he muttered, dodging the bludger as it zoomed around the room. It crashed into one of the bookcases before it continued to zoom around. Draco kept jumping from left to right to try and catch the blasted bludger.
"Three times!" Prudence cried in anger as she scrambled to her feet. "Three times this week, Wood!" she shrieked as she poked Oliver's chest with every word she said. "We have to practice, Pattinson!" he tried explaining, his brown eyes flashing. "What?! Practicing on how to make me live my life on the edge?! Why don't you people go play that ghastly game somewhere else!?" she roared. "Honestly, woman. You sound like a god-forsaken soap opera. Just in case you haven't noticed, our field is planted to the ground. So, why don't you just move YOUR chair to the other end of the school to write your pathetic WASTE of parchment!?" he snarled back.
Prue froze as her cheeks reddened. "You. Have. Crossed the line, Wood," she lowered her voice dangerously. They stared menacingly at each other.
Meanwhile, Draco had managed to grab hold of the black menace. As it had a mind of its own, it decided to suspend him in mid-air. "Excuse me. A little help would be appreciated," he growled as he clung desperately to the bludger. "Not now, Malfoy…" Prue began her sentence. "… We're busy!" Oliver ended it. They were still glaring at each other. "Don't mind me. I'm just in one of those usual life or death situations. No big deal," Draco drawled sarcastically. "What the Hell, Malfoy!?" she spun around. "Up here, Pattinson," he told her in a bored tone. Her hand flew to her mouth, stifling a gasp as she saw his legs dangling above her head.
"Good God, Malfoy. We can't leave you alone for a second," Oliver shook his head in exasperation as he mounted his broom. "Can't be very heavy, can you?" he mused, flying to Draco's rescue. Draco scowled as Oliver took hold of the bludger, setting him lightly on the ground. "Keep your head out of the clouds, yeah, Malfoy?" Oliver advised him humorously. Then, he turned to Prudence, who had her hands on her hips. "This isn't over yet Pattinson," he pointed a finger to her with a mildly amused expression on his face before flying out the shattered window with the offending bludger tucked, squirming, under his arm.
"This isn't over yet, Pattinson," she mimicked in a high-pitched voice, waving her hands in the air. Draco was dusting his robes as he listened to what Prue had to rant about. "I mean, seriously! 'Ooh, look at me! I'm Oliver Wood! Ooh, I'm the obnoxious Gryffindor Team Captain! Ooh, I'm such a manly man! Ooh, I have girls fawning over me everywhere I go! Ooh, I exert my power over women by using my gruff, manly authority!'" Prue impersonated Oliver in a high-pitched voiced, collecting her files and parchment in rage. "By the way, I'm fine, thank you for asking," he drawled sarcastically. "He is honestly such a…" Prue wasn't even listening to him as she continued to collect her things. "OKAY. Where are you off to?" he cut her off, getting annoyed.
"WE are off to a staff meeting," she corrected him, heading to the door. Draco started to follow her, but, she quickly stopped him short. "Assignment number two: Clean up this mess," Prue ordered, gesturing around in her office. "But, what time is the meeting?" Draco furrowed his brow. "Nine o' clock in the morning," she answered coolly. "BUT THAT'S IN FIVE MINUTES!" he cried in shock, stealing a glance to his watch. "Then, you'd better hurry because I want to see this office clean by the time we get back, and if it isn't, your teachers will be very, very cross with you once they read my report. Chop, chop!" she replied sarcastically sweet before storming out. Draco stood there and sighed deeply.
"I love my new boss," he muttered in sarcasm.