Sorry, guys! I know this really ISNT as entertaining as the last two chapters but I needed a DRASTORIA ONLY section somewhere...DO NOT let this put you off though, because there's plenty more drama and humour coming in the next chapters. Remember to R+R please! =D
Dear Steve,
Bloody hell!
If you did pray for me – as I asked previously – it most definitely didn't work. That could not have gone worse in any way possible. Three solid hours in Filch's office alone with only Astoria Greengrass as company. And it was terrible. Still, I consider myself lucky. With Granger being a total know-it-all and getting out of detention and Daphne being carted off to the hospital, there were two less annoying people out of my life for those three hours.
There was a very awkward silence between me and Astoria though, so I started off a perfectly normal conversation. It's not like I was rude or anything, I just asked her a fairly simple question. But no, she had to be difficult.
"So…how are you?" I muttered.
"Why do you care?" She answered from her side of Filch's office. A perfectly normal answer to my perfectly normal question like, "Fine, you?" would've been great.
Grrrrr.
"Hey, that's answering a question with a question, that's not fair, is it?"
"Who says?" She smirked.
"You're doing it again!"
"Well sorry, but nobody had the decency to enlighten me on the Laws of Conversation. Who told you you're not allowed to answer a question with a question? Oh yes, I forgot. You're a Malfoy – you know everything, don't you?"
"Pretty much, yeah."
She sighed in annoyance. "Daphne's really hurt, you know."
PFFT! How dare she say that, as if it was my fault!
"Well, she's the one who can't play Quidditch to save her life, not me. If she kept her eyes open, she would've seen that Bludger coming her way." I said, shoving a box full of junk out of my way.
"She says it's all your fault."
"Oh? And what made her come to this ridiculous conclusion?"
"Dunno really. She's always been a bit…"
"Dramatic? Annoying? Infuriating? Idiotic?" I grinned.
"You can't talk, Malfoy. At least she isn't vain or arrogant or egotistical or sarcastic. Not like someone round here." Vain? Arrogant? I wasn't any of those things! Where did she get that idea from?
"You know, there is a polite way to tell people about themselves."
"I know. I just choose to save the impoliteness for you."
"And why's that?" I questioned.
"It could have something to do with the fact that you're a vain, senseless lunatic. That could be a contributing factor."
I sighed. This was going nowhere. "Look, we're going to be in this dump for three hours every day for the next two weeks, so I suggest we stop arguing or we'll drive each other loony."
"What do you want? To completely start over?"
"Oh yeah, let's put this all behind us and pretend like it never happened. Hi, I'm Draco Malfoy, a vain, senseless lunatic!" I grinned.
She glared. "I really do hate you."
I gasped, pretending to take offence. "Wounded!"
"You can be really annoying at times, Draco." She didn't sound as frustrated as she said she was though.
"Ah, so we're on a first name basis now, are we?" I was surprised. Really. I'd only ever heard her say "Malfoy".
"Don't get too happy. That was a one-off."
"Trust me; it's nothing to be happy about." She rolled her eyes and scowled at me.
"You know, when I saw you on the train, I thought you were a stupid, arrogant, vain, annoying fool. Turns out…I was right. 100% right. You're just like your father – cruel and pathetic. Does it run in the Malfoy family then?"
Oh no. She just crossed the line. Dissing me, I could handle, but not the entire Malfoy family. That was going too far. WAY too far.
"Well, Greengrass, you're not exactly a Saint yourself, are you? I mean, you're in Slytherin. You can't be."
"I never wanted to be in Slytherin. I actually wanted to be in Gryffindor."
"Don't lie. The Sorting Hat takes into account what house you want to be in. It was going to put Harry bloody Potter in Slytherin for God's sake, and I reckon it would've if he didn't ask for Gryffindor!" She was getting to my last nerve now.
"Did it ever occur to you that that's not the case with everyone? Do you think that every single Hogwarts student in history has been placed in the house of their choice? No, didn't think so. You were put in Slytherin because you're a foul, evil maniac."
"Whatever. My family have been in Slytherin for centuries." I snapped. "What makes me any different to them?"
"Exactly! That just makes you one more in a long line of foul, evil maniacs! Like father, like son, huh?"
"I am nothing like him."
"Oh really? Prove it." Before I could say anything else, she stormed out of Filch's office looking really frustrated.
So yeah, that was our conversation. I stayed in Filch's office until McGonagall came to collect me.
I was busying myself with looking through Filch's drawers and filing cabinet, having a few quick glances at some student records. I found mine:
FULL NAME: Draco Lucius Malfoy
AGE: 14
BIRTHDAY: 5th June
LEGAL PARENTS: Narcissa Malfoy and Lucius Malfoy
HOGWARTS HOUSE: Slytherin
BLOOD STATUS: Pureblood
WAND: 10" Mahogany and Unicorn Hair – purchased from Ollivanders.
I was looking through Weasel Bee's records when McGonagall walked in. "Mr Malfoy, those files are extremely confidential. And where on Earth is Miss Greengrass?"
I shrugged, closing the filing cabinet. Her eyebrows shot up in disbelief.
"Professor, I can genuinely say that I do not know where she is."
"Well what did you say to her?" Her eyes widened.
"Nothing! Honestly…We just sort of had an argument, that's all." Yes, an argument that she obviously won. In fact, she didn't win me! She absolutely positively crushed my argument!
"No matter. I expect she'll be with her friends in the Great Hall. Or perhaps with her sister in the hospital wing. I suggest you keep away from her, Mr Malfoy, or you really could get into trouble." She looked at the time. "You should probably get off now, actually. Go on, off you go."
Long live my next argument…
Dear Steve,
The next day, I had a free lesson, so I went and took a walk by the lake like I always did. I didn't even like being with my friends when I was by the lake, let alone anyone else, so you can imagine my annoyance when someone showed up.
"Astoria, I already have to spend three hours with you later. Please don't make it any more." I said without turning around.
"How did you know it was me?" She demanded.
"Dunno. Just did."
"And anyway, you've got nothing to do with where I go or what I do. How do you know I didn't just fancy a walk?"
"Well I'd be pretty freaked out if you were following me."
"Well, who'd want to follow you? I like coming here when I have nowhere else to go. Problem?"
"Yes, I do have a problem. I like coming here, too."
"I'm not really bothered what you like doing. That's got nothing to do with me, Malfoy." She said as I went and sat on a log behind me.
"Back onto a surname basis then? Silly me, I thought we were starting to get on!" I shrugged as I watched her select a shady spot on the grass to sit down. She pulled a heavy-looking Potions book out of her bag and started reading.
"We aren't getting on at all, Malfoy." She muttered, her eyes flitting across the page. "And I don't intend on doing so either."
"Never?" I smirked.
"Never."
"Never is a long time you know, Greengrass. Sure you'll be able to hate me for ever?"
She looked over at me. "I'm quite confident." And then she…smiled. PASS THE SUNGLASSES, SOMEONE! It was then that I realised – I'd never actually seen her smile. At least not at me, anyway.
I checked the time and saw that it was probably best I went as I had to make my way to Care of Magical Creatures. Great – my favourite lesson EVER. Not.
"Well I'll be seeing you later."
"What? Will you?"
"Yes – detention, remember?"
"Oh. Oh yes. Sorry, reading."
So I left for Care of Magical Creatures. It didn't help that Potty and the Weasel still tormented me over Buckbeak's attack.
"Gee, Harry! I really hope we're studying Hypogriffs in Care of Magical Creatures today!" Ron shouted, in an overly loud voice. "Maybe Malfoy'll get to ride on one of them this time!"
Reminding myself that I already had three hours of detention today, I took a deep breath and carried on walking.
Dear Steve,
Today's detention was even worse. It'd actually started off pretty good, but in a flash everything went downhill.
"This room is filthy. Disgusting and filthy."
"Afternoon to you to! And a speck of dust on one of the filing cabinets is not disgusting and filthy. It's normal. Oh, I'm terribly sorry. I forgot you had house elves attending to your every need at Malfoy Manor. Silly me."
"Yes, silly you." I repeated.
Another smile. Blimey – two in one day? That was a record.
"Have fun in Care of Magical Creatures then, did you?" Her voice went shaky as she held in her laughter. "That's right - I heard it's not exactly your favourite subject. Your friend Potter's been telling the entire school what happened. Not to mention the time Hermione Granger punched you. In the face. Oh, and the time you got snowballed in Hogsmeade!"
"Ha. Ha. Ha. I'm dying with laughter on the inside. Care of Magical Creatures was OK, I suppose." I muttered. I always hated that lesson. "What about you? How's your day been?"
"OK, I guess. Had double Potions…yawn."
"Potions is quite a good subject in my opinion."
"Yeah, that's because Professor Snape loves you," she pointed out. It was a fair argument. Snape did favour me over other students. For example…HARRY POTTER! IN HIS FACE!
I restarted the conversation. "So…what are you planning on doing when you leave Hogwarts?" I'd asked.
"I'm only in my third year! But I'm starting to think I'd like to be an Auror. What about you?"
"Not sure really. My father's pretty much got my future planned out for me." Father was always telling me what to do. It's crazy.
"So…you're going to be like him?"
"What? Work in the Ministry? Yeah, probably. I mean-"
"No." She interrupted. "Your Dad. He doesn't just work for the Ministry of Magic, does he?"
I knew what she was talking about. I knew exactly what she was talking about. But that was the Malfoy family business. She was talking about my father's Death Eater-ness. No-one had ever talked to me about that. Ever.
I looked away. "I…don't know what you're talking about."
"I think you do know. But…you still didn't answer my question." She replied.
"Well I don't know, do I? How am I supposed to know if I'll even wake up tomorrow? Let alone become a Death…I mean, one of them." My throat was dry. My heart was nearly beating right out of my chest. Nobody had ever asked me that question. Not even my mother, who I'd known my entire life.
"But…you don't want to be like your father, do you?" She asked.
"Of course I don't want to be one of them. Who would?"
"So what are you going to do?"
"I don't know, Astoria, I really don't know. So many questions. Who am I going to choose? Which side?"
"There are only two sides to choose from and it's obvious which one you should choose." She muttered.
"I know."
"Then why are you choosing wrong?" Her voice was starting to get louder.
"This conversation," I nearly shouted, not meaning to be so loud, "ends right here." Why was I getting so worked up about this? Astoria and I were barely friends, so what came next totally surprised me…
"Fine! This friendship ends here, too, then."
"Friendship? What friendship?" I ordered. "I've barely known you for five minutes! And you're already talking about me becoming a…becoming one of them when I've never even talked to my own mother about it!"
"Honestly, you are just like the rest of your family! You'll just never give in, will you? Here I am, trying to be a good friend and trying to convince you that what you're going to choose is wrong, and you just explode in my face!"
"Well perhaps if you stopped talking when I told you to, we wouldn't be arguing right now, would we?" I snapped.
She sighed and swallowed. "I was right - like father, like son."
"How many times are you going to say that? I'm not like him!"
"YES YOU ARE!" She yelled.
BANG!
Ouch…
She slapped me. SHE SLAPPED ME!
On my face! ON MY FACE! SHE SLAPPED ME ON MY FACE!
I felt a burning pain on my left cheek. How had I not seen that coming? I have to admit – I did sort of deserve it.
And for the second time in twenty four hours, the stomped out of Filch's office, leaving me confused. I let out a sharp breath and realised just how hard she'd hit me.
Everything was just a blur. That girl was seriously confusing – talk about extreme mood swings!
Seriously…what just happened?