Word count: 2607

Written for:

Hogwarts Fairytales Assignment - Write about a theft.

ALL extra prompts used: (item) chair, (plot point) someone falls asleep, (term of endearment/nickname) Goldilocks, (item) porridge, (word) little, (colour) yellow, (POV) write from the perspective of the thief, (emotion/feeling) curiosity, (location) woods, and (word) hot.

Goldilocks and the Three Girls

Draco gazed lazily down the table, watching his house-mates eat breakfast. The other houses seemed to think that there was something so inherently Slytherin about the way they behaved - snickering and pointing, "borrowing" food from each other's plates, waiting for stately owls to swoop down from the ceiling - but none of this was unusual. Gryffindors, Ravenclaws, and Hufflepuffs, even - were guilty of the same. Still, he wouldn't correct any accusations of stuck-up grandeur. It was nice to have an image to live up to, especially if it kept away unwelcome guests.

A few seats down, the girls in Draco's year were huddled together, munching on toast and giggling. Well, in Pansy Parkinson's case, the munching and giggling could be better called scarfing and guffawing. But Draco wasn't interested in the girl who fawned over him day and night. She had known her efforts were futile ever since the day Draco rejected her publicly in the Common Room dungeons. Yet she never missed a chance to simper at him, saying Hello, Draky darling. Draco shuddered at the thought. Revolting.

Draco was more interested in a certain Daphne Greengrass. Her delicate features and brunette curls were fairly attractive - but when Draco was honest with himself he knew that her ambivalence towards him was the greater draw. He preferred girls that required a bit of effort to win over.

The girls got up from their seats, still giggling, and Astoria - the younger sister - turned towards him, raising her eyebrows in what she must have thought was a 'come hither' look. Needless to say, Draco was unimpressed. He was, in fact, annoyed.

"Two Greengrass sisters and the wrong one fancies me," he grumbled to Crabbe, who sat beside him, stuffing his face with sausages. Crabbe offered a weak grimace and continued eating. Poor man. He was hopelessly enraptured with Daphne, but that wasn't Draco's problem. The chances of Crabbe getting a catch as good as Daphne were worse than the odds of Longbottom learning to fly.

So he refocused on Daphne, only to realize that she was MIA. Gone. Not present.

Draco swore. He had missed his chance to talk to her. He would see her at their first class, in about an hour, but that was simply too long for Draco's heart to wait.

Pondering a solution, he got up from the table and looked around for traces of the Slytherin girls, but they had vanished in a pack the annoying way girls do. Passing by their used plates, he spotted a silver charm lying next to a butter knife.

Draco stopped. He wasn't concerned with jewelry, but this seemed strangely familiar. The pendant, the cursive letters D-A-P-H-N-E, was attached to a long chain that had been tucked underneath it with care.

He snatched it up and shoved it into his robes, grinning.

Draco walked through the school like he owned the very tapestries on the wall. He probably did. His father had made his way onto the Board of Governors through very generous donations. (Read: bribes in exchange for the position.) These investments guaranteed that every other painting had at one time occupied a wall of his family's formal sitting room.

He jogged down a few flights of stairs, unaccompanied by his usual gang, as they had been held back by McGonagall for some reason or another.

There were footsteps behind him - rushed, like the person was hurrying to catch up to him. Draco didn't turn.

"Goyle?" he asked wearily. "What took you so-"

He was cut off by a high, musical voice.

"Hello, Goldilocks. Er- Draco Malfoy, I should say. People never do seem to appreciate alternative names, do they."

Draco whipped around, and saw a girl dressed in Ravenclaw robes staring curiously at him. She was clutching a steaming bowl of porridge that must have had a charm cast on it, because it shouldn't have stayed hot this far away from the Great Hall. A bright yellow spoon poked out of the porridge.

"Lovegood," he said. "What- what are you doing?"

He stared, utterly bewildered. Normally he would turn up his nose at such a girl, but seeing someone so unapologetically plain speaking to him like a friend made him hold his tongue. He tried not to show it, but he was horribly curious.

"I'm bringing extra porridge to the house-elves, I'm sure they're craving it," she said.

"You're not part of Granger's stupid SPEW plot, are you?"

"No, but I like to see the elves sometimes. They don't get to talk much."

Luna looked at him with her annoyingly clear blue eyes. He wondered if she talked much. Everything she said was so honest and yet so infuriatingly strange. How could one person confuse him enough for twenty?

"Well, what in Merlin's name does Goldilocks mean?" he demanded.

"It's a children's story," she said, as if it was common knowledge. Maybe it was, among crazy people.

"What?"

"Goldilocks was a little girl who wandered through the woods, and stole porridge from three bears because she was hungry. She-"

"Wait," Draco interjected. "Bears? Porridge? Since when do-"

"I'm not finished with the story yet." Luna looked stern.

"Hurry up then."

She wasn't listening. "That's odd, I've got porridge." Brightening, Luna made the connection between the bowl in her hand and her story. Draco rolled his eyes.

"Well, anyhow, the bears found her, and they were angry because she took the baby bear's porridge. But I don't think they ate her as punishment. Actually, they definitely did not. That seems strange. If I were a bear, I would certainly eat a little girl who invaded my house and ate my porridge. Wouldn't you?"

Draco was speechless.

"If you're wondering, I said it before because you took that girl's necklace and snuck it in your pocket. Just like Goldilocks did."

"I didn't steal it. I was going to give it back," he said. "You know what? No. I don't need to defend myself to anyone, especially you." He tried out a sneer, but it didn't feel right.

"That's not very nice."

"Well, I'm not a nice person!" Draco burst out. He was sick of her acting like she had all the right to stand there, harassing him, holding that stupid bowl of porridge and provoking him with too-polite sentences and reproaching glances. She was the problem here, not him. Draco thought to leave with dignity, but dammit, Lovegood had started talking again.

"-I wouldn't have said anything, you know, but I have a bit of experience with my things being taken, so I know how it feels."

"I still don't see why I should care what you think."

Luna tilted her head thoughtfully. "I suppose I could tell a Professor what you've done."

"As if they would believe you." But Draco was sweating, knowing that if Lovegood went to anyone but Snape, the Head of House would side with her. And he didn't want a girl getting him in trouble. Especially this girl. The fact that he hadn't yet walked away proved that he cared, at least a tiny bit, what she thought. He hated it, but it was true.

"I'm a Ravenclaw."

She said nothing else, probably assuming that the information was enough of an answer. It most certainly wasn't, but he wasn't going to beg for something better. Not to this girl, not ever.

Suddenly there was a cough somewhere to Draco's right. He turned, seeing only a large suit or armor and tapestry. He looked back at Luna. She shrugged at him.

"Must be the-"

Her cut her off. "The Nargles, yes Lovegood, we know."

She frowned. "Maybe if you didn't make fun, I wouldn't have a reason to tell a Professor about what you did." She spoke in that sweet tone of voice she always used, but Draco could tell she was troubled.

Draco didn't answer, just raised his eyebrows at her and returned to his path down to the dormitories. There wasn't much time before class, and he needed all the time he could get.

As he walked away, he glanced back at the staircase. Luna stood there with her bowl of porridge, not smiling, but not frowning either.

Pansy was waiting for him in Potions. Her arms were folded, and the extra lipstick she always had on when they were in class together had smudged down her chin. Her eyes were puffy - but then again, they usually looked like that.

"Why," she growled, "did you take Daphne's necklace?!"

Draco paused, not sure to be pleased or worried that Pansy had traded her adoration of him in for anger. She was a large girl with strong arms that could snap his neck if she chose. But he could maneuver his way out of this. Compliment her, or something.

"Don't you look gorgeous," he said in an unconvincing tone. Pansy began to smile, then glared at him.

"You're trying to distract me! I'm not gorgeous. I'm not stupid, either. Er-"

Draco sighed. He knew the ruse was a long shot. "Look, Pansy, I..."

Then he stopped. He had intended to plainly state his affections for Daphne, and hope that Pansy got the message, but he hesitated. For one, Pansy would be furious once she worked it out. Second, he wasn't sure of his thoughts about Daphne anymore.

Draco stuck out his hand to her, having taken the necklace out of his robes pocket a moment before. "Here, take it."

Pansy knitted her eyebrows. "For me?" she asked in an almost predatory fashion. A grimacing smile returned to her face as she inspected the jewelry.

"Um, sure. Whatever. I don't feel like giving it back to Daphne right now. You can do it."

"Uh huh." Pansy was nodding, her eyes fixed on the pendant in her palm. She looked back up at him through her eyelashes. "Thanks, Draky!"

She reached out her arms to hug him and planted her lips dangerously near his cheek.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Draco said quickly, disentangling himself from her robes and taking a few steps back. "Ew. Okay, Pansy, I just have to say I'm not interested. Leave me alone-"

Pansy looked heartbroken, and rather angry. "Ugh! I hate y-"

"And tell Daphne to leave me alone too, all right?"

Draco watched Pansy's face sort through multiple emotions: anger, confusion, petulance, then finally, satisfaction.

"Of course, Draky darling," she said. "I see."

Draco let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. That was close. He felt the loss of Daphne, but the effect on him wasn't strong at all. It felt like losing a bottle cap: bothersome for a moment, then a non-issue for the rest of the day.

Pansy spoke again. "Draky, you might want to know that Daphne is right behind you."

Draco turned slowly, like a little kid afraid of a monster, and saw the girl glaring at his back, holding back tears.

"I would've gone out with you, Draco..." she choked out. "Give me the damn bracelet, Pansy. We're leaving."

Draco, feeling like he had been the winner of the whole encounter, rubbed his eyes. It was only ten A.M. and already he had been subjected to every possible emotion of the female psyche. He walked over to his potion table, where Blaise was watching him with amusement. Draco sat in his chair and realized what was so funny.

"Told Pansy what I did, huh?"

Blaise shrugged. "Thought it'd be fun."

"You traitor." But Draco laughed too, and they sat down together, reliving the argument between the girls and Draco.

Snape appeared in front of them.

"Let's see... Two of my students fighting in the classroom? Two girls storming out? All three twenty-five minutes late at least? That'll be 30 points from Slytherin. Mr. Malfoy, I am extremely... displeased."

Draco gulped. Snape always took his side, but apparently not when rules were so blatantly overlooked.

"I'll see you in detention Thursday afternoon."

Draco shivered. It had obviously been a stupid idea to leave his warm cloak in the dormitory. He should have guessed that Snape would send them out into the forest to collect potion ingredients, especially since the store cupboards had already been cleaned out and the hospital wing was spick and span. But he had hoped for something more merciful than this.

He looked at his companions for a fourth time. Apparently not.

There was Pansy with him, and Daphne, and a few Gryffindors who Draco didn't know. It would be hell interacting with any of them. Then - rounding out the group - none other than Luna Lovegood.

"Why are you here?" he asked her quietly.

"Fell asleep in Potions, I believe," she answered. "At least that's what I've been told. The boy ahead of me put in a few too many drops of Murtlap Essence, causing the potion to become a sleeping one. I and a few others were affected, but only I was given detention."

"Why?"

"I don't think Professor Snape likes me very much."

"To be honest, he doesn't like that many people."

Luna laughed, and the other students turned around to look at them blankly. She covered her mouth, but they stared for a few more seconds before muttering to each other about her in none-too-quiet tones of voice.

Draco nudged Luna and rolled his eyes. "Forget them. They're just annoyed because they can't find anything to laugh about in these dumb woods."

"The Forbidden forest is spectacularly diverse; I wouldn't call it dumb," she protested. But seeing the look on his face, she relented. "I suppose it is rather ridiculous to send children into a place where there are dangerous creatures and things."

"Thank goodness. I thought I would have to convince you," Draco joked. Then he had a thought, and shuffled his feet. "Hey, you're not mad about that time... earlier this week, on the stairs... you know. When I said your Loldigocks story was - well - unusual."

"Oh, I got over it. Most people would have left after seconds, but you stayed. I supposed you didn't mind so much, otherwise you wouldn't have stayed, would you?"

"Course not. I actually thought it was sorta interesting, I just had a lot of things on my mind." Draco paused. "Let me just say that one of those things is no longer an issue, and I'm happier that way."

"Pansy? Or Daphne?" Luna asked, with no hesitation.

"Both. How did you know?"

"I'm not that oblivious," she replied. "It's all people have been talking about this week."

"True," said Draco. "I'm sick of it, actually. It's not a big deal."

Luna nodded. "Well, we'd better get to work, don't you think so?"

He watched the others disappear into the trees, lit only by the lights of their wands. "Okay. Let's start looking for our potion ingredients. They're not going to find themselves."

"Our potions ingredients?" repeated Luna, unsure.

"Ours, yeah." Draco was back in his element, but it wasn't just about knowing the right words to say. He used them, but made sure that he meant every word of it. "This isn't the best first date you could imagine, but it's not bad, huh? The starry sky, the castle lights... It isn't so bad."

"You're saying that we..."

"Well, only if you want to," said Draco, with an innocent face. "But I'd highly recommend it."

Luna took his hand. "I've always wondered what it would be like to see this part of the forest by night," she confided.

"Hey, me too," Draco told her. "But it's pretty much the best thing I could imagine to be seeing it with you."

They smiled, and took a step together into the darkness.

FIN

**If you enjoyed, feel free to review. If you hated it, why not review anyway?**