Chapter The First: The Beginning
"Draco! Draco! What happened? Are you okay? Draco!"
No sooner had Crabbe and Goyle practically dragged Malfoy into the nearly empty Slytherin common room than had Pansy been at the boy's side, interrogating the blond as he wrestled out of the other boys' grips and moseyed over to a black leather chair. He pretended not to notice her, even as she clung to him. He sat down without giving her more than a glance, and stared off into space. After another moment without a response from Draco, Pansy turned to the other two boys.
"Greg?"
"Granger punched him," Goyle answered promptly.
"Square in the nose!" added Crabbe with the slightest lift in his voice. Pansy fixed angry eyes onto him, but was unable to act any further when Blaise joined them a few seconds later - although he specifically joined Draco. He pulled a chair similar to the one Draco was sitting in next to the other boy and tried to break Draco's gaze, but it was obvious that whatever was going on inside his head had him transfixed. After a couple of minutes, Blaise slapped Draco upside his head.
"Hey! My face has taken quite enough damage for one day, Zabini!" Draco snapped.
"Well if you weren't off in bloody Ireland - or wherever your head's off to - I wouldn't have had to hit you to get your attention!" Blaise sneered. Draco rolled his eyes, but didn't argue.
"What's in Ireland?" he inquired teasingly.
"You tell me; you're the one daydreamin' about it," Blaise responded.
"I am not daydreaming!"
"You totally are. What, thinking about Granger?" Blaise scoffed. "No wonder your head hurts."
With a smirk, and a laugh which earned him an intense glare from Pansy, he stood up, turned and began to walk away from the others.
"Do you think that's even possible?" Draco asked admonishingly, praying that he kept his composure as his heart raced.
"Hey, opposites attract, right?" Blaise retorted. "You might not like her, but even you've got to admit, Granger's smart, and she's got guts. You, on the other hand…"
"Zip it, Zabini," Draco groaned as he pushed his way back out into the corridor. He ran past a crowd of leering faces, up the stairs, out onto the grounds, and over to the lakeside, then leaned up against a tree and sat down. After making sure he was alone, he sighed heavily and wiped a lone tear off his cheek.
Out of every girl I could have fallen for, it just had to be her.