Disclaimer: No, I still don't own Harry Potter.
I forced a smile on my face to greet my parents when I entered the dining room.
It was massively massive, as expected, with a crystal chandelier hanging down from the center of the ceiling, and expensive silverware spread out across the table.
I almost snorted. There were only six of us and the table was set for roughly twenty, I imagined.
Ah, rich people.
The Malfoys were sitting on one side of the long table, so I went and sat beside my parents on the other. As I looked across the table, trying to be unnoticed, I saw Draco talking to his mother.
They definitely had their common traits, although Malfoy got most of his looks from his father. This made me wonder if Lucius had looked attractive when he was younger...
And now I'll stop right there. If I continue on this track I may not finish dinner.
The dining hall was suddenly quiet and I noticed that everyone was looking at me.
"What?" I asked, but cringed as I heard the stupid tone of my voice.
Lucius put his glass of wine down slowly, and stared at me with his penetrating gaze. "I asked you what your plans were after Hogwarts." This was the tone of a man that did not like to repeat himself.
I swallowed the lump in my throat and pushed my side bangs to the side nervously. Now's the time I wish I had pinned them back with the rest of my hair.
"Well, I'm considering becoming an Auror, but that depends on how well I do on my N.E.W.T.s in seventh year," I explained, fighting back the nervousness that was creeping into my voice. I hated being the center of everyone's attention, and I breathed a huge sigh of relief when the Malfoys turned around and continued on in their individual conversations. I was sitting there lamely, looking from person to person, until I decided to strike up a conversation with my mother. "Lucius threw me into a wall when we arrived," I pointed out after I had gotten her attention.
"That's Mr. Malfoy to you...and you had picked a petty fight with young Draco. That just shows that you have absolutely no manners," she said, already turning away from me.
"Because the git tripped me! And did I not just mention that he threw me into a wall? You know, a solid wall? We can go check I must've left a dent in it!"
"Stop exaggerating!" my mom said in a voice signaling the end of the discussion.
I scowled at her back, and from the corner of my eye I could see Draco smirking at me...and I just wanted to wipe it off his face. Calm Christina...find your inner zen...you can do this.
I almost jumped out of my seat when I noticed the food magically appear on the table. After waiting a beat to watch the others, I mentally shrugged and filled up my plate with a good amount of food.
The food was, of course, delicious. It was just the right temperature and cooked to complete perfection. It was so good, in fact, that I almost helped myself to three plates.
After I had finished my meal, I politely asked to be excused and made my way upstairs to my room. On my way there, I started to take off my shoes and once I stepped into my room, I peeled off the black dress that I was wearing. Tossing it on the bed to deal with later, I rummaged through the drawer to find a pajama.
Before I could put one on, however, I heard the door open and saw Draco staring at me with a blank expression.
"Malfoy!" I shouted quickly, trying to cover myself with the pajama top I managed to pull out. "What's the matter with you? You have to knock when you come into someone else's room."
"Oh, sorry," he said with absolutely no remorse whatsoever.
"Well, what the hell do you want?"
"Nothing," he shrugged, and walked out of the room without closing the door.
I really hate Draco Malfoy.
I could hardly contain my annoyed thoughts as I threw my PJ's on.
He wouldn't want me barging in on him like that! Well, we'll just see how he likes it!
After I was sure the coast was clear, I tiptoed to Draco's room, and after waiting a few seconds, triumphantly threw open the door.
Well, I definitely wasn't prepared for the scene before me.
Draco was in the middle of the room, shirtless and obviously in the middle of unbuttoning his pants. My eyes greedily traveled the expanse of his chest down to the visible skin of his lower abdomen. He had abs, tight toned abs, and I was not expecting that at all.
Obviously Quidditch gives him a work out...he's...whoa no, control yourself Christina! Think of his ugly personality.
His muscles rippled as he straightened and looked at my dazed face with an amused expression. "Can I help you, Miro?"
I immediately began spluttering in a great effort to save my pride, but the only thing that managed to escape my lips was a few random vowel sounds.
Real smooth, Christina. Now, feet, MOVE.
But my feet failed me, and so I remained standing there, looking at him like an idiot.
Draco's amused expression suddenly turned to a smirk as he walked over to me while I continued to spurt out a series of grunts and noises, trying to form an intelligible sentence. He leisurely put one arm on the doorframe beside my head, and leaned close to me. The button of his pants, which he had forgotten to re-button, brushed temptingly against my stomach through the thin shirt I had on. His face, I noticed, was even better looking up close. I wondered how that was possible as usually the closer something got the more imperfections I could notice. But, that was the exact opposite of what was happening here. Draco's face was like a clear anomaly of logic and fact. As he continued to stare at me, his gaze never wavering in the slightest, I actually felt my heart rate spike, as much as it pained me to realize.
What is he doing? Is he...going to kiss me? Do I even want him to? Yes he may be attractive, but he's also a cruel biased jerk.
As if he had heard my thoughts, Draco used his free arm to push me roughly out of his room and slam the door, missing my face by centimeters. "Don't come into my room." I heard him shout through the door, his annoyance clear.
"Arse!" I shouted once I regained my wits, and stalked dejectedly to my room.
Today was an...experience. If the rest of vacation goes like today, I may not have enough sanity intact to go back to Hogwarts.
I shut my eyes and sighed through my nose. Fed up with lingering on the negative that was sure to come, I buried myself under the soft blankets and fell asleep.
After only what felt like half an hour, I felt a soft tapping on my shoulder. I tried to brush it off and turn over, but it just wouldn't stop.
"Christina, your father and I are leaving for vacation now. We'll see you a couple days before term starts," I heard my mother's voice in my dream state.
I briefly wondered if I could get away will telling her to "sod off" in my half-asleep state, but instead, I settled for a short grunt to let her know I heard her.
"Now, you listen to me very carefully, Christina. If you cause any trouble your father and I will know, and we will deal with it accordingly when we return. Is that clear?" There was a subtle threat in her tone.
"Mhm."
"Fine then. It's still about 6am, so you can go back to sleep."
I snorted. Like waking up is an option.
I felt my mother's presence disappear, and I stretched my legs and arms out in the bed to get comfortable again. I was glad my parents weren't around, yes, but I still had to deal with the Malfoys and their very infuriating son.
When I woke up again I was glad to see it was a much more manageable 10am. It seemed to be a beautiful summer day, and I sprang up out of bed to open one of the many windows in my room. As I stuck my head out, I closed my eyes as a fresh breeze swished across my face, bringing with it the distinct smell of summer. Yes, summer had a smell, I don't care what anyone says. It was warm, musty, sunny, and fresh.
After having a moment of peace, my eyes fluttered open and I scanned the expanse of the Malfoy's land as far as I could see from my window. My gaze fell upon the nearly ocean-sized monstrosity the Malfoys called a pool, and noted with curiosity that Draco seemed to be sitting near it, cleaning his Quidditch broom.
A plan in mind, I changed into new clothes and rushed down the stairs until I reached the side entrance that opened up to the backyard area.
The backyard was gigantic, and covered with green grass and various types of flowers. Beyond the large pool, I saw a Quidditch field to my far right, and another small house to the left side of the yard. As I got closer to the pool, I noticed a fantastic waterfall at the northern side of it, and a Jacuzzi on the other. The spray from the waterfall mingled with sunlight, and I could actually see a freaking rainbow over some of the pool.
When Draco appeared in my line of vision, a slow and scheming smirk graced my face. I did my best to tiptoe forward, putting one foot delicately in front of the other until I leaned down to push him into the pool...
And without warning, Draco swerved his body and grabbed my arms. He shifted to the right, and I could feel a strong tug on my body, and before I had even a slim chance of saving myself, I fell headfirst into the pool.
My first thought was that if the Malfoys were so rich, why couldn't they own a heated pool? My second thought was...
COLD!
Water splashed around as I resurfaced, taking in deep breaths and spitting out the mouthful of pool water I accidently gulped in. My ears detected the sound of fairly high pitched laughter, and I turned my head to see Draco nearly on his back, roaring with hilarity.
I glared at him harshly, half my face still underwater. I probably looked like an alligator.
Draco actually had to wipe his eyes softly before turning towards me and giving me a look of mock sympathy.
"Ah Miro, so young, so naïve," He shook his head, and his gaze turned cold. "Don't bother me with your childish games. I'm busy."
"As I recall, I'm about three months older than you," I argued petulantly, crossing my arms over my chest to hide any embarrassing reactions to the cold pool.
"Maybe if you acted like it, I wouldn't have a problem recalling."
I rolled my eyes and slowly made my way to the edge of the pool before using all my arm strength to lift myself out. Instead of leaving, which I had half a mind to do, I sat on the edge of the pool, sticking my feet in a mimicking Draco's position.
"You're starting to sound like my parents," I said, swishing my hand around in the water, which was gradually increasing in warmth. "Get off your high horse, Malfoy. I don't have a problem recalling that you tripped me yesterday when I arrived. Immature or what, huh?"
"And if I recall correctly, wasn't it you who got in trouble in the end?" Draco questioned.
"Remind me to take the word 'recall' and all its forms out of my vocabulary," I moaned, already feeling a headache coming on. "So, what kind of broom do you have?"
"Firebolt," he replied blandly after a couple seconds. "Being Slytherin's Seeker, I need a broom with immense speed."
"I agree," I nodded.
"You're on the Gryffindor team, aren't you? A chaser?"
"How kind of you to have remembered!" I teased.
"Don't you mean recalled?" Draco deadpanned.
After looking at him in wonder for a minute or so, I burst into a fit of hearty laughter mimicking Draco's outburst from before. I had no idea why I was having a civilized conversation with him, or when it got to the point of it even being possible, but here we were, and I was actually laughing. It didn''t make sense, but hey, I was just gonna go with it for now. Without the use of my wand, I really didn't have the means or methods to duel with him. That would have to wait for the school year.
I glanced up at Draco from my back as I tried to still my heaving chest. It felt so good to laugh, to smile, even if it was with Malfoy. I barely smiled anymore, when I was with my parents at least. In this sense, I really wanted to go back to Hogwarts. It was literally, my home. That's why Harry and I bonded when we met. We both came from places we weren't wanted, in different circumstances of course, but we found solace in the familiarity of Hogwarts. We had friends, in each other, and in many others.
In that aspect, I felt somewhat bad for Draco.
In his group of friends, blood purity and status were everything.
And I mean everything.
If you weren't a pureblood in their eyes, you mind as well be dead or imprisoned at least.
So instead of having the acceptance and warmth that came with friendship, Draco and his 'friends' were judgmental, cold, and calculating. It was a shame, but I didn't bring myself to really care. If I said I didn't care at all I'd be lying, but you can't help those who don't want it.
"What kind of broom do you have?" Draco asked, looking at me strangely from my bout of silence during my thoughts.
"A Firebolt."
This got Draco's immediate full attention, and he stared at me in confusion, "I thought your family barely gives you any funds? A Firebolt is like 2,000 galleons, minimally. That's expense for someone like you."
I ignored his last sentence, not wanting or having the energy to start a fight.
"Yeah, it was expensive," I started, leaning back onto my elbows. "For someone like me," I repeated. "But whatever money my parents give me I save. Believe me, it's not a lot, but after a couple years, I had enough to purchase my very own Firebolt. Quidditch is rather special to me. I-" I paused suddenly, realizing who I was talking to. I didn't want to go into a full life story or anything, he'd definitely hold that against me.
"You what?" he asked, annoyed. He never liked when someone started a story but never finished.
"Never mind," I shrugged, and left it at that.
"You know, maybe if you just acted like the pureblood you are, you'd get more money and would be able to accomplish more," Draco spoke, like he couldn't understand why I disregarded my blood purity so freely.
"Yes, but then I would be going along with something I don't believe in, just to get the benefits. Is it really worth it?"
"Yes," Draco answered frankly. "And what your parents believe...what mine believe...it's the right thing."
"I don't think so," I shook my head earnestly.
"Then honestly Miro, I think you deserve the way you have it. Your complete disregard for what's right is quite appalling."
"I could say the same for you," I retorted quietly, internally hurt by his words. The word cold was just a natural part of his personality.
Now, what happened next may be a bit childish, but if I'm gonna be called it, mind as well live up to the name.
With careful consideration, I placed my hand on Draco's shoulder sharply and pulled before he could realize my intent. We both went crashing into the water, making splashes that caused some surrounding birds to flee.
We resurfaced seconds later, and I merrily realized that even though the water was warm for me, it would be cold for him.
Draco's face was twisted into a mirage of emotions; annoyance, anger, bewilderment, astonishment...and that was all good and well, but what really made me nervous was when it changed into a dark smirk, and he began stalking towards me.
I hurriedly tried to move backwards, but the weight of the water made a quick escape near impossible. "Now, now, Malfoy...just relax..." I pleaded, but that only seemed to edge him on, as he now moved faster.
Before I could find out what horrors he had planned for me, a sharp, squeaky voice rang out through the backyard.
"Dracoooo! Are you home?"
I shot my eyes towards Draco, and his face was already stricken with panic.
We both knew.
It was Pansy Parkinson.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Going back and editing/rewriting my old work is a bitch, but I enjoy it nonetheless. Hopefully the next chapter will be up tomorrow or maybe even later today...who knows...we'll see! :D
