Disclaimer: Harry Potter may not be mine, but I can have fun with his world.
My Father
Chapter Six
Draco's POV
Damn was she fine. They definitely didn't make them like that at Hogwarts. The first time I laid my eyes on her, I had to literally suck my saliva in. She was every kind of gorgeous, her thick black hair shining in glistening sheets that hung past her shoulders, her deep blue eyes that sparkled, her flawless skin. And her body was to die for. Curves in all the right places, Merlin, I had to control the urge to jump her every time I saw her.
But there was something else. Something lingered in her eyes, even when she was smiling, which wasn't often. Something haunted her, something she wasn't willing to talk about. I craved to know what it was, but I knew, there was no way in hell that she would open up to me. She hated me.
Of course, it didn't exactly help that my, ahem, womanizing ways weren't going as well as I thought. Maybe I was coming on a bit too strong. I was puzzled, any other girl would jump at the chance to have me shag them senseless.
She wasn't like the other girls though. She was proud, and independent. She didn't need to rely on someone constantly to make her feel good. She didn't need anyone. It had to have something to do with why she was here.
At the Sorting Feast, she sat next to me, though, I could tell, it was not her will. I maybe overdid it a tad bit, telling her she could rest her raven-haired head in my lap if she was tired, and to be quite honest, I was surprised she didn't throttle me right then and there. The thought certainly crossed her mind, I could tell. And when I attempted to keep her warm as we walked down to the common room with the first years, I thought I was going to die right then and there.
Tactless, Draco, real tactless. There was an art to this, dammit, and I had to figure out how to get her.
Later on, in the common room, I had seized the opportunity to make civil conversation with her when she was sitting on the couch in front of the fire. But then, maybe my timing had been a little off, she looked thoroughly pissed off about something that Pansy had just handed her. She was not thrilled when I sat with her. Maybe I shouldn't have sat so close?
When she got pissed at me, she called me Malfoy. That hurt, only my enemies called me Malfoy. I wanted to be Draco. Her Draco. But how to do it?
I sat there, with my eyes closed for the longest time after she had fled from me. My mind spun, trying to figure out where I went wrong and how the bloody hell I was supposed to win Sarai over.
Nothing came to me, and I gave up, frustrated. I was so desperate, the thought crossed my mind to be nice to Potty and Weasel, who seemed to be the only ones close to her.
Nah. I wasn't that desperate. Was I?
I got up and trudged off to my dormitory, my bed calling out to me. Actually, it wasn't my bed calling out to me, and I had to restrain the urge to walk into the girls' dorm. This was going to be a long year.
I flopped onto my four poster, staring up at the green canopy above. Her face swam before my eyes. I shook my head, trying to clear it. How the hell was I supposed to concentrate on anything around here?
I fell into an uneasy sleep, my dreams plagued by Sarai's face, her troubles calling out to me to fix them, and make them go away.
I woke with a start, drenched in sweat and tangled in my bedclothes. I swore softly and got up, trying to rid my mind of Sarai and her troubles. Damn her for being so inviting, so untouchable. Damn her troubles for unconsciously reaching out to me.
I threw my robe on and dug my feet into a pair of slippers. I slipped out of the dormitory, intent on sitting in front of the fire for awhile to clear my mind, and possibly fall asleep again.
I didn't notice her at first. She was curled on the couch, asleep. The fire flickered across her face, which was far from peaceful. Her brow was furrowed, and she kept crying out. Sarai shivered, as though she was cold, but I could see beads of perspiration stood out on her forehead as I drew nearer.
"Mother," she cried out weakly.
I hesitated. Do I dare wake her? Whatever it was that she was dreaming was clearly torturing her. I wouldn't want to keep dreaming. My heart actually clenched to see her in pain. What the hell was wrong with me? I've never felt this way before.
My body made the decision for me. Before I knew what I did, I was sitting down on the couch, smoothing her hair away from her sweaty face.
Sarai's POV
Bloody hell could he piss me off. Combined with the prospect of meeting my father again tomorrow evening, I was in the foulest mood imaginable. I hated when people tried to get friendly with me when I was pissed off at the world.
Damn him and his bloody good looks.
I stomped off to my dormitory, ignoring him as he called out to me, "I'd prefer 'Draco,' if it's all the same to you."
Yeah, okay. I'm gonna call the guy that I have a bloody attraction to but still try to absolutely loathe by his first name. Count on it. If I did that, I'd be finished, and he would have won. No way, he wasn't going to win that easy.
I threw my pajamas on and crawled into bed, fuming about life in general and how cruel it had been to me. The loss of my mother still caused my heart to ache when I least expected it, and now coupled with the fact that my father was trying to get friendly with me and the guy that I'm trying so hard to ignore keeps coming on to me, I was really ready to throw myself down the nearest flight of steps. Or a window. Yeah, a window might do the trick.
I laid there, glaring at the canopy above me. My father, my mother, and Malfoy kept swimming before my face.
Fucking hell.
I rolled over and curled underneath my covers. I thought I was the luckiest person in the world up until a few months ago. I had a mother who loved me to pieces, who was my best friend and who I could trust with my biggest secrets, I had friends at my school who were there for me when my mother wasn't, and I didn't have to put up with a father who didn't know I existed. Now, three months later, I'm motherless, stuck with a father who really disgusted me, and trying to resist the affection of the one person who might actually care for me at the moment.
I let my mind wander through all the happy times I had with my mother. I remembered the time she tried to teach me how to cook the Muggle way. It had ended up a disaster, and we nearly burned the house down. I grinned to myself, remembering how much we had laughed that day and how we both decided that Muggle cooking was not our foray.
I remembered my first time going to Beauxbatons and how frightened I was to be away from my mother for an extended period of time. She had hugged me tightly and told me not to worry, she would write to me every day until I became used to being away from her. She had sent me care packages every other day, full of sweets and reminders of home.
I remembered that one time, in my third year, when my friends had thrown me a birthday party for my thirteenth birthday. They had decorated our dormitory and snuck down to the kitchens to get sweets and food for us to pig out on. I grinned, remembering the gifts they had given me. A whole bag of wizard crackers, a Grow Your Own Warts kit, a wizard's chess board, and a lot of joke products.
The grin that had unfurled on my face quickly disappeared as I realized something. My birthday.
I sat up in bed and swore. How could I forget? My birthday was next week. My sixteenth birthday, the first birthday without my mother. The one day I had counted on each year that I knew my mother would be truly spectacular and incredible. She once made me fourteen cakes, one for each year I had been alive. And now, she wouldn't be here.
Oh fuck this.
I got up and drew my robe around my shoulders and stuck my feet into my fuzzy slippers. I tiptoed out of the dormitory, intent on curling up by the fire for awhile.
I stretched out on the couch, staring into the fire. I wonder if my father knew my birthday was next week. I snorted, finding that impossible.
"Like he would care," I muttered darkly.
I tried to resist the urge to close my eyes, but they closed against my will. I soon drifted off to sleep, which was far from relaxing. My mother tormented my dreams, appearing at random moments to remind me of another time when she had been there for me. I tossed and turned, not waking, going through another moment in my life when my mother was there.
"Mother," I cried out weakly.
I finally awoke when I felt someone smoothing the hair away from my sweaty face. I felt tears sliding down my face, and, without knowing what I was doing, I threw myself into the arms of the person who was stroking my hair.
Draco's POV
She woke up abruptly. She threw herself into my arms, tears sliding down her face. I wrapped my arms around her, rubbing her back in small circles and trying to quiet her. She was still half-asleep, and didn't realize who I was. Merlin help me when she fully woke up and realized it was me.
Maybe it would be best if I just carried her to her bed and let her fall back to sleep again. She would never realize it was me.
Smart thinking Draco.
I picked her up easily. She was so small, I hadn't realized it. She felt like nothing in my arms. She buried her head into my neck, her breathing warm and soft on the skin under my ear. Dammit, this was not helping matters any.
I carried her into the girl's dormitory, finding her bed disheveled. I laid her down gently and pulled her slippers off her feet. I set them down and carefully pulled her robe off her shoulders. I untangled her covers and drew them up to her chin, trying all the while not to wake her more. She had quieted down and her tears began drying on her face. I had to clamp my hands to my sides to resist the urge to wipe them away. She sighed softly, snuggling down under her covers and falling into a deeper sleep.
Quietly, I made my way back to the door. I turned around and looked back at her. I made myself walk out the door, my mind screaming at me not to and to go back in there and lay with her, to comfort her. I made myself walk resolutely back into my dorm and climb back into my bed.
I yanked my covers up and rolled onto my side, cursing myself.
"She didn't know it was you. She didn't know it was you, dammit. Quit thinking this means something. Tomorrow morning, she'll go right back to hating you. She won't remember any of it unless you tell her. And you won't because you don't want to piss her off more," I told myself furiously.
'But you want it to mean something Draco, admit it,' a voice in the back of my head spoke.
No. Dammit, knock it off.
'Just tell her how you feel. She might come around,' the stupid voice said.
Fuck that. She'll hate me more.
'Ah, but you don't know that,' the voice said slyly.
Bloody hell, just fucking shut up already!
I rolled onto my back and stared at the canopy until I felt my eyes grow heavy. I fell asleep again, and tossed and turned for the rest of the night. When I woke up the next morning, I had a bloody headache.
My heart actually hurt because I wanted affection, and Sarai needed it. And we both wouldn't admit it.
