A/N: I wish I owned Draco & the rest of Hogwarts, but he & the rest of the magic belong to Jo. Mallory Tyler is a work of fiction that I made up. Special thanks to Pottermore for the inside scoop on Hufflepuff living. Set during HBP - this could be considered a one-shot, if you wish. This will become a chapter story though (possibly, depends on how lazy/busy I get).
Apples
Chapter One
Mallory tickled her chin with the tip of her quill, staring down at the half scrawled piece of parchment, her eyebrows knit in frustration. It was her fault for procrastinating – Professor Snape had set the essay weeks ago – but getting to write a three-page essay on properly defending yourself against an attack against Dementors seemed a little much. Was it really worth three pages of explaining?
Her stomach rumbled, causing her to flinch. She had skipped dinner in hopes of spending more time on her essay. Needless to say, she wasted that time to chat with Hannah Abbott about her recent date with Seamus Finnigan. Even Hannah's useless ramble was a treat compared to the looming distress of Snape's assignment.
Mallory stretched her arms, her fingers reaching high up towards the ceiling and cracked her wrists. Looking back at the mantelpiece, Helga Hufflepuff smiled at Mallory, toasting her golden cup at her, almost as if giving her permission to go out and grab a midnight snack. Mallory looked down at her pathetic essay, knowing full well that there was no way she would ever get any of it done on an empty stomach, and shoved it to the corner of the desk next to a particularly active cacti.
Slipping her slippers back onto her bare feet, Mallory traveled through the earthy tunnel until she reached the end of the barrels that guarded the Hufflepuff common rooms. She made her way down the basement corridor (conveniently the same corridor as that of the kitchens) until she reached the portrait of the bowl of fruit, gently tickling the giant pear and smiling as it squirmed and giggled at her touch. It swung open graciously and let Mallory inside.
Even though it was late, the house elves still bustled around furiously, cleaning pots and pans and bumping into each other. House elves zoomed around her calves and knees (she was particularly short for her age), paying her no attention, until suddenly a familiar voice echoed in her ear.
"Does Winky spy Mallory Tyler, misses?" Mallory's eyes rested upon a most peculiar looking house elf with a tomato sized nose and incredibly large, bat-like ears, stooping over to her. Mallory sighed.
"Winky, are you drunk again?" she questioned, crouching down so as to look face-to-face with the creature. Winky gave Mallory a sloppy smirk, her big brown eyes bloodshot and her pupils dilated.
"Winky does not wish to say or Mallory Tyler will not like poor, drunk Winky anymore," she hiccupped. Mallory smiled at the little elf, soaking in her inebriated state, and patted her on the head, crumpling the blue hat that sat atop her brown hair.
"Very well, Winky," Mallory stated. "I'll just help myself to a sandwich if you don't mind." Winky shook her head, which drastically threw her off center, and toppled over to the ground, bursting into a fit of laughs and hiccups. Mallory was about to stoop down and help her up, but another house elf did instead, and Mallory made her way towards the back to fix herself a sandwich.
"Mallory Tyler should take caution though Winky thinks," Winky piped up, her high voice piercing the very air. Mallory turned to give the house elf a curious glance.
"Why?" she asked, taking a few steps back towards Winky. The other house elf next to Winky desperately tried to cover her mouth so as to quiet her.
"Winky must not speak anymore!" the house elf proclaimed. "Draco Malfoy specifically said he did not wish for anyone to bother him!" At the mention of the name Malfoy, Mallory's insides became cold.
Mallory had never spoken to Draco Malfoy before, nor had she ever planned on doing so. Draco was one of those students you heard about and occasionally saw, but never actually sat down and chatted to about homework or the weather. He was someone to avoid, and with her being a Hufflepuff and he a Slytherin, it was best to keep their distances. Most Slytherin students were generally not prejudice against other houses and blood status, and many friendships blossomed between the badger and the snake. But a wizard with such a prestigious wizarding bloodline like Draco's was ever so stereotypical.
Mallory was about to leave the kitchens and go back to the common rooms when her stomach made an abnormally loud rumble. She clutched at her empty belly, wincing at the acidic pain. She looked towards the back, looking deserted and isolated, and decided she would run back, grab an apple, and head straight back to the common rooms. Besides, she didn't know where Draco was lurking anyway; the chances of bumping into him were slim to none.
She ran towards the back, skipping around house elves and almost knocking one down on her flight to the fruit. Finally, she spotted a large array of fruit piled high in wooden bins, much like at an outdoor market place, and rushed to grab one of the luscious, green Granny Smith apples she so enjoyed.
BAM! Mallory smashed face first onto the ground, her knit sweater providing a cushy fall on her chest and sliding her towards the stand of apples, just gently knocking it so as one would fall on top of her head.
"Ouch," she mumbled, rubbing her neck and setting herself up right. She watched the green orb roll its way towards the spot Mallory tripped, settling itself at the slipper clad feet of another student.
Mallory's heart dropped as the white hand slowly picked it up and examined it. His face, though paler than the full moon outside, was handsome and tired looking, as if he hadn't slept for days. His tousled white blond hair stood up a little cockney, but nevertheless still in a dapper fashion. He peered closely at the apple, his grey eyes squinting at its green flesh, and frowned at it.
"It's bruised," he muttered, giving her a bored expression, tossing it to her. Mallory caught it in both her hands, her mouth in a little 'o' shape at his casual tone. She turned the apple in her hands and noticed the browning ebbing on the fruit's flesh.
"Doesn't mean it's not still good," Mallory pointed out, almost feeling bad for the rejected apple. Draco shrugged his shoulders.
"I wouldn't put that to my lips if it was the last piece of food on Earth," he stated calmly. Mallory furrowed her eyebrows at him. He didn't look at her, just sat there on the floor, leaning against one of the many long counters that made him invisible in the room – that made him unnoticeable to Mallory on her mission to grab a piece of fruit and run. He didn't even apologize for accidentally tripping her. Typical.
Mallory bit into the apple, right on the very bruise Draco so detested, making a loud crunch as she did so. At this, Draco turned his attention towards her, face wrinkled in distaste. Mallory, mouth full of apple, gave him an irritating smirk.
"That's disgusting," Draco hissed, recoiling so that his body faced hers. Mallory shrugged.
"Not at all – a small imperfection doesn't make it disposable," she explained. He rolled his eyes.
"Well I would never eat something that's on its way to being spoiled," Draco announced, sticking his nose up smugly. Mallory swallowed her bite of apple, looking at the particularly large chunk she had taken from it. A small smirk played on her lips.
"That's funny, being as you're so spoiled yourself, Malfoy," she retorted. Draco's jaw dropped at Mallory's surprising come back, but was unable to come up with anything cruel to say back seeing as she quickly scrambled up and began running away.
"Hey! Come back here!" he exclaimed, bringing himself up and chasing after her. Mallory stopped just short of the portrait and turned to him. She threw the bitten apple at him, and he caught it clumsily with both hands. She smiled – he scowled.
"What are you? A Gryffindor?" he asked, his voice almost in a bit of shock. Mallory stalked over to him, feeling braver than any Gryffindor could ever feel, and stood nose to nose with the young Malfoy.
"Hufflepuff," she whispered, giving him a sly grin. One of Draco's eyebrows raised suspiciously, but before he could even say "Hufflepuff?", Mallory had spun around and raced out of the kitchens, her heart beating fast and her stomach doing flips.
Mallory bounded down the basement corridor, hoping that her bold move had stunned Draco enough to keep him at bay, and arrived at the wooden barrels guarding the entrance to the Hufflepuff common rooms. Just as she finished tapping out the familiar rhythm against the barrel and began to crawl into the earthy tunnel, she heard the Slytherin cry out,
"Wait! I didn't even catch your name!" Mallory's heart dropped into the pit of her empty stomach. With as much force as she could muster, she yelled,
"Mallory! Mallory Tyler!" just as the round, wooden barrel door squeezed shut.
Little did she know that Draco stood just outside the bushel of barrels, grabbing onto her name like a fallen leaf from the trees. He held the bitten apple out in front of him and smiled – a smile he had tucked away long ago. He placed the apple into his bathrobe and made his way back to the Slytherin common rooms.
Although Mallory never really got her intended midnight snack, she felt oddly full on her arrival back to the Hufflepuff common rooms, and slept soundly and peacefully under her patchwork quilt – the taste of the green, bitter, Granny Smith apple still resting on her lips.
~End