[A/N: This chapter is, like, three weeks after ch. 2. By the way. I didn't come out and say this in the fic, but many letters have been exchanged at this point and they're coming to rely on each other to talk to.]
Disclaimer: Do I own Harry Potter? Let me check . . . Nope. Not even a little bit. JKR has that honor.
Willow
Ch. 3, edit 2
Draco,
This is my mp3 player, my parents won't get me an iPod. You just hold down the button on top for three seconds to turn it on.
You may be wondering why I'm sending this to you. There's a song on it I want you to listen to. It's called "The First of Me" by Hoobastank. I heard it and it reminded me of our conversation at Maggie's, well, sort of. Anyway, listen to it, and any other songs that catch your eye, and then send it back to me. I might be able to figure out how to put your favourites on a disc, so send me a list of those, too.
Your first non-boarding school friend,
Willow
Draco took the letter with him to the library after lunch to look up the Muggle words. As he walked in, he glanced around the room. He didn't see anyone he knew. He headed into the shelves, not noticing a certain frizzy-haired witch look up from her books in a darkened corner. He managed to find his way to the Muggle Studies section without having to ask Madam Pince and for that he was grateful. If the old bird knew that he was looking up Muggle things it could cause some unwanted attention. Especially since he didn't actually take Muggle Studies.
He found a book on "technology" that looked like it'd been published fairly recently, say, within the last few years. He sat on the floor, right there in between the towering aisles of books and crossed his legs so he could look up "mp3 player," "iPod," and "disc."
He learned that an mp3 player is a device that Muggles use to store music so they can listen to it whenever they want. An "iPod" is a specific brand of one of these devices, the only difference being that on an "iPod" you can also "download" games and things. A "disc" was a circular device that stored music as well and you needed a "computer" or a "CD player", whatever that was, to listen to the music on a "disc." Discs were much less expensive than mp3 players.
Unbeknownst to him, as he was sitting there studying Muggles, something he'd never thought he would have to do, that certain frizzy-haired witch was peering through a hole in the books behind him.
LATER THAT NIGHT
Draco was up a tree, literally. He'd found that when he wanted to be alone at Hogwarts, completely alone, where no one would find him, he should hide up in a tree. Because people rarely, if ever, look up.
He put in the ear buds that had come with the mp3 player, and turned it on. He spent a half an hour scrolling through the different options. Overall, he found it was easier to use the more he studied it. Finally, he found the artist called "Hoobastank" - silly name, he thought - and their song "The First of Me."
He pushed play and laid his head back against the trunk of the tree, closing his eyes.
I must make a choice
A tough decision
Listen to my voice
Should I give in
To temptation
Admiration
One leads to myself
The other someone else
Just an empty shell
Just an empty shell
It's harder than it seems
When you're told that
All your hopes and dreams
Are yours to hold if
You just give them
What's expected
Something they can sell
Put upon a shelf
But I am not for sale
I am not for sale
I hear a voice inside
It's grown into a scream
I'm not the next of them
I am the first of me
'Cause I can't live the lie
I am just what you see
I'm not the next of them
I am the first of me
IN GRYFFINDOR TOWER
"You saw Malfoy?" Ron asked Hermione incredulously. "In the library?" They were sitting together in a corner of the common room. Hermione had a thick Arithmancy book open in front of her, Harry was making plans for the DA in a special notebook that Hermione had charmed for him, so that no one could read it but him, and Ron was trying to figure out a way to sneak a look at Hermione's finished Potions essay, because he had no idea what to write. "Well, I guess that disproves my theory that he's an idiot who can't read." He made a pouty face. Oh, how Hermione loved that face! Ron could never tell, but sometimes, when she knew he wasn't looking, Hermione would just stare at him instead of doing her homework (one of the reasons she was always up later than either Harry or Ron.)
"Ron," Hermione snapped. "You're not listening. He was in the Muggle Studies section."
Harry and Ron both looked at her blankly.
Hermione sighed.
"He doesn't take Muggle Studies." She said exasperated. "He's not in the class!"
Ron looked at her, surprised.
"How d'you know that? You don't take Muggle Studies anymore." he said.
"I know Ron, because I asked. I wanted to know who was still taking it. Besides, Malfoy wasn't taking it in third year."
Harry leaned back in his chair, his arms crossed.
"Did you see what he was reading?"
"No." Hermione said, disappointed.
"Well," Harry said. "We may not know why, but we do know one thing." he looked around at Ron and Hermione. "Malfoy's hiding something and I think now would be a great time to keep an eye on him and break out the Marauders' Map."
THE NEXT DAY
Willow,
I loved the song. Don't bother trying to figure out how to copy it to a disc; I copied it in my own way. Students aren't allowed to use much technology here.
The teachers are just piling on the homework this year, because there's a really big test coming at the end of the year.
There's this girl in my year, Pansy, who's somehow gotten it into her head that I like her and that I want to go out with her. She won't take no for an answer and keeps hanging on my arm. It's getting really annoying.
So, how's life with you? Weren't the auditions for the autumn play last week? I think you mentioned it once or twice . . . maybe a million times. How'd they go? Does the list come out soon?
Your first non-drama friend,
Draco
Draco finished his letter to Willow early Monday morning, and hurried out of the Slytherin common room to send it.
It was a long way from the dungeons to the Owlery, but strangely, Draco met no one on his trip.
When he walked in, he was instantly assailed with the smell of owl droppings and he wrinkled his nose a little, and then remembering that that was undignified and just decided not to breathe through his nose while he was up there.
He sent Selena off, confident she'd find Willow before she went off to her Muggle school. He stood there for a minute, just admiring the view of the surrounding mountains and the lake. He was about to leave when he heard someone coming up the stairs. He cursed under his breath, he didn't want to be seen up here, didn't want to have to lie about who he'd been writing to.
He shrank back into a shadowy corner, behind one of the wooden perches, and waited.
In burst Harry Potter, Draco instinctively shrank back into the shadows when he saw Harry. He was the last person Draco wanted to see. Ever. All he ever got from Harry were dirty looks. Harry sent off a letter quickly, like he was rushed, and then he ran into Cho Chang, the Ravenclaw Seeker. Draco watched as Harry tried to be romantic or something, almost chuckling to himself before he remembered that he was hiding.
Then, Filch came in. Filch! Honestly, it was getting rather crowded up there. Draco was sure he was about to get caught. But no, Filch just confronted Potter about Dungbombs.
Ha, Draco scoffed, Like perfect Potter would ever do that. He's probably never dropped a Dungbomb in his life!
Cho Chang defended Potter, and when the three of them left, Draco gave a sigh of relief.
He waited five minutes for them to get far enough away, then he made his way to the Great Hall for breakfast, suddenly realising how hungry he was.
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