And this is the second. It's set in Draco and Pansy's sixth year. For this one I used third person omniescent for the first time and found it rather enjoyable. The word limit for this was 500 words, and the first draft turned out to be near 1500, and most of their dialogue got axed. I'll probably turn it into a one shot some time in the future.
Draco Malfoy loosened his cloak; the weather was uncommonly warm for this time of year and the sunshine was beating down, making him sweat. Beside him, Pansy Parkinson was equally warm, though she had shrugged her cloak off as they turned from the main street.
They were headed to a spot a little way outside the village that Pansy had discovered last year, a spot that she liked to think of as 'theirs'. Although Draco didn't share her enthusiasm for the time they spent alone here, he put up with it for the sense of superiority it gave him over the other students. To him, she had only ever been a boost to his confidence, something to boast and brag about, but although she shared these feelings to a degree, they had always been accompanied by genuine affection for him, and it was this that made her put up with him when he was arrogant, or short tempered.
Today, Draco was neither of these things; he had not been himself for weeks now, and avoided company. Before, he had liked to sit in front of the fire in the evenings, hinting heavily about the Dark Lord, but now he withdrew to his dorm, or he simply wasn't present at all.
'What's the matter with you, Draco?' Pansy sighed in exasperation. They had reached the place now; a small meadow enclosed by rough stone walls.
Draco looked startled at her words and looked round to her, looking almost as if he were surprised to find himself in company.
'You haven't said a word since we left Hogsmeade. And you've been withdrawn lately. Is it –' she lowered her voice, 'something to do with him?'
Draco's head snapped around, angered by her presumption.
'Of course not!' he said, irritably. 'It's none of your business.'
'You know, it's almost like you don't care about the task he's given you!' she snapped, angered at his tone.
'You have no idea what I care about!' he shouted back, his anger rising at her ignorance. How could she know the stress he was under? 'You have no idea what it's like, trying to do what he wants. Your pathetic mind can't comprehend it! It's fucking impossible what he's set me to do! He's a bloody madman!'
Pansy backed away from him, scandalised. How could he say such things? But Draco didn't care. He had had enough; he didn't want her on his case as well. He knew he shouldn't have said those things, but it was too late, and he was too angry to care. He stood up and set off down the path they had just come up.
'You're a fuckinging disgrace to his name!' Pansy shouted after him. A Loyal servant, that's what he had referred to himself as, but Pansy knew he wasn't loyal anymore, not after what he had said. She knew that she could never trust him as that again, and that he would never be worthy of the Dark Lord.
Up next, Severus Snape.