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Draco

Fucking mind games. I was always good at them; I know how to manipulate people into getting exactly what I want. All my life I've been trained in them, father used to play them on me- taught me how to play them on others. But even father is no match for me anymore.

I love mind games, the bigger the challenge the greater the reward and this one is one fucking huge challenge. Oliver Wood. But I intend to win this one, I want him to come back to me, crawling and begging me to take him- and I would, because I wanted this so much, for so long that it would be stupid to throw it away. But he'll have to understand, he'll have to know that he can't play me for a fool. I am not one of his little one-night fucks in some club's dark room. I am Draco Malfoy and he's going to have to acknowledge that fact because no one and I mean no one is allowed to walk all over me and humiliate me the way he did. I don't really care what his reasons were and I don't want to hear them, there is no excuse for shagging me and then ignoring me. And he thought I'd melt into his arms once he was ready to face me again… Ha! Bet you got quit a nasty surprise last night!

Friday. I like Fridays, they promise the beginning of the weekend, they have a sense of finality to them, end of school end of the week, it's almost holly. I woke up with a good mood this morning, the resolutions I made last night were still fresh and strong in my mind and I was going to act on them, and that sense of mission made me feel right. Plus, there was still the matter of getting back at Blaize for his totally un-called for comment last night, and if there is one thing I excel in its revenge.

I walked into the Great Hall with my head held high, and sat in my usual place. I felt all eyes in the Slytherin table on me and just oozed indifference to them all.

"Morning, Draco." Pansy said in a cheerful voice and I graced her with a sweet smile.

"Morning, Pansy." She looked at me and her eyes sparkled, she knew that something happened, something that had everything to do with the issue of Oliver but had nothing to do with his presence. She was eager to see the unfolding of the drama; she could never contain herself when it came to other people's misery. I could only admire her for her cold heart bitchiness.

I looked at my right and fixed Blaize with a scorching glare, from which he visibly shrank. He knew I'd never do anything as obvious as hex him in the middle of the Great Hall in front of all the teachers but he also knew of my almost unnatural ability to worm my way out of almost every detention I ever merited. That was my greatness and that was my virtue- he could never tell where or when the blow will land.

"Two seats to the left of the Head Boy," he muttered to me and I couldn't help but look at the Ravenclaw table, two seats from the Head Boy sat a most lovely creature. "Michael Corner." Blaize confirmed in a low voice. I could see Pansy turning her head from the corner of my eye; she had a hearing of a fox and a knack to gossip like none other.

I studied Michael while Blaize was doing his penitence and gave me basic info on the sweet bishonen sitting right across from me. "He's pure-blood, lucky for you. He's smart, very smart- even for a Ravenclaw. He's very artistic, he paints or writes or something, I'm not sure. And he's dead shy, but I heard that once you get through his shell…" the last bit left unsaid, blank space for my mind to fill up- and I had to mentally bite my lip at that suggestiveness.

Michael had one of the most beautiful faces I've ever seen, his skin was pale, but not sickly so, and perfect. His eyes were big and blue, not pale blue but deep almost midnight blue and his hair was light brown and looked so soft I just wanted to reach out and run my fingers through the strands. His features were longish, but delicate, his bone structure almost feminine, a true Bishonen.

I watched as he tore small bits off his muffin and brought them up to his mouth with long, slender and delicate fingers that looked just perfect for drawing or doing practically anything…

I watched every move he made carefully, when he suddenly lifted his head, feeling the scrutiny on him. Our eyes met and locked over the space of two tables and I knew I made the right choice. My lips curved in a slow smile that was gentle and friendly and just a tiny bit suggestive- I didn't want to frighten him too soon. Michael lowered his eyes almost at once and to my great delight a soft, rosy blush crept up to delicately grace his cheeks.

"Nice work, Draco." Pansy's voice cut through my musing and I smiled again. Yes, good work indeed. I think that Blaize just may be forgiven for the moment.

As it turned out I was able to execute my plans for Michael much earlier and much easier than I thought possible and all thank to that sordid plant. We were all assembled in the stuffy hotness of the Greenhouse, and while professor Sprout went on and on about our mission I studied Michael again. Thank Merlin for joined classes. He was studiously taking notes of what professor Sprout was saying and I couldn't help but notice that he was left handed. He was also wearing glasses, elliptic lances that suited his face beautifully, the wire frame sending small silvery sparks whenever he moved his head and the metal caught the sunlight filtering through the high windows. The sharp elbow of Pansy in my ribs caught me unaware and I let out a little undignified gasp of pain. Half the eyes in the class turned to look at me; I straightened up and focused my gaze on professor Sprout's chubby and grubby form.

"As today's assignment requires complete silence I shall re-couple you all so that you would have less urge to chat." She said all too cheerfully and all around the room there were groans of frustration which were promptly ignored. She began to read out the list and I let my eyes slide again to the direction of Michael,

"Michael Corner and Draco Malfoy." Wow, what are the odds of that happening? There must be someone up there who really likes me. I looked over at Michael and saw him looking at me, studying me as if to see if I was worthy to work with, all the coyness from breakfast seemed to disappear- he was full in his element now, he was in class.

"Today you would be working on Perfidiosus guajava. Treacherous Guava. This tree attacks when there are loud noises in its vicinity, and that is why you would require being as silent as possible. Each tree in the greenhouse has a protective, sound proof barrier around it. Each couple would enter its barrier and attempt to collect as many of the fruits as possible, baskets are in the corner. Stay as clear as possible of his razor sharp leaves and beware of the fruits. If you're hit with one you are to be evacuated to the Hospital Wing immidiately because once the sap enters the blood stream you can be in mortal danger. And if not, then you'll just smell bad for weeks. Good luck." She added cheerfully and we all zoomed in on her with narrow-eyed stares of contempt. Oh, fun, yet another life threatening plant for us to care for.

I moved my bag to the work bench, the small tree- only about 3 feet in height, was just sitting there looking smug. Yes, I know it's just a plant but it looked smug! I could see the shimmering substance of the barrier around the plant. The thick foliage was dark green and menacing looking- the leaves were razor sharp edged, just like the professor said. The small round fruits were visible through the leaves bright green coloured.

"Doesn't look too bad, is it?" A soft voice was heard on my left and I turned my head to see Michael standing beside me. I was extremely pleased to find that he had a soft, quiet voice that matched his features.

"They never do." I said matching his quietness and then smiled at him; Michael returned the smile with a small chuckle and gestured towards the barrier. I took a deep relaxing breath and stepped in, the small tree's leaves rustles uneasily at the quiet swishing sound of my robes and I stood there trying to control my breath and watched Michael stepping in from the other side of the barrier. We stood watching the tree until the rustle of the leaves calmed and then looked up at each other. Michael pointed at himself and I nodded silently- he was to distract the tree and I was to collect as many fruits as I could. With a sharp take of breath Michael began to move slowly, his feet shuffling on the floor, the tree's foliage rustled again in Michael's direction and I watched him and waited for his signal, he stretched his arm far and then nodded to me. I dove at the tree before I even heard Michael's fingers snap. I tried to avoid the sharp leaves and reach the fruits when the first fruit shot, zooming with force near my right ear.

"Duck!" I yelled and flung myself down, cursing Sprout and wishing plague upon her entire house for causing me to crawl under the table in such an unbecoming manner. Under the table I met Michael, his back leaning against the solid wood of table's side. The bench we worked was a long table with occasional openings for students' legs.

"How many did you manage?" he asked in a slightly laboured breath voice. I looked down into the basket I was holding,

"Six, you?"

"Only four." He said sadly, while rummaging through the basket.

"Your hand!" I gasped loudly. From above us we could hear the tree bristling with anger again and I quickly pulled my wand to cast a silencing spell around us. Michael looked down on his hand where a long, sharp gash opened on the back of his delicate-boned hand, blood streaming freely from the wound.

"Stupid tree got me." He said quietly. I reached out for his hand and conjured some bandages, I'm really rubbish at healing charms but hell, this couldn't have been a more romantic moment if I planned it myself. I slowly circled the fabric around his injured hand, our eyes locked together, neither of us looking down at what we were doing.

"Thank you." His voice was so low he was almost mouthing the words.

"You're welcome." I smiled sweetly again, it was amazing how easy those smiles came to me now. His eyes were just inviting them and I was only glad to supply. We sat there for a while without saying a word or moving until Michael broke eye contact and glanced up,

"I think it's safe to have another go. Are you up for it?" Since you asked- Not really, no. I much rather sit here and keep seducing you than face a vicious plant with putrid smelling fruits.

"Sure. Switching?" It was only fair, really. Besides, Michael was injured and the last thing I wanted was to kill him, or have the evil plant do it. Michael nodded and we both stood up and repeated the process.

For the next hour we kept diving in and out of our shelter to attack the vicious tree before it could attack us. By the end of that hour we were both dusty and dirty and panting and sweating- and all because of that blasted… shrub! The time for each attack on the tree grew considerably shorter as the tree, who wasn't stupid, caught on and got angrier each time. The last attack ended with Michael's basket flying the length of the barrier as he stumbled backwards, I slumped on the floor as he was crawling around to retrieve his fallen fruits. The sodding tree caught me off guard and one leaf cut me deep on the shoulder. Michael had just managed to retrieve the last of his fallen fruits when he saw me. He scrambled towards me under the table,

"Shit, Draco, are you ok?" From above we could hear the tree bristling again and Michael actually growled in annoyance at it before casting a silencing charm. I couldn't help but smile. "Let me see." He said quietly and his hands reached over to my tie. I had absolutely no intention of stopping him.

His face were screwed in concentration as he undid my tie and unbuttoned the top few buttons of my shirt. He then pulled the fabric carefully away from my shoulder making me hiss with pain. The gash was running from my left shoulder down to the centre of my chest, it wasn't too deep but it was deep enough to have blood seriously soil my ripped shirt and robe.

"Time's up, boys. You can come out now." The voice of professor Sprout was sounding over the noise of the leaves and broke the tension. Michael started to button up my shirt when I placed my hand over his,

"Leave it. I'm going to have to see Pomfrey anyway." I told him and he nodded. We scrambled as slowly as we could out of the barrier and joined the rest of the class. A quick glance around taught me that I apparently was off easy. Each student in the class looked like he or she had had at least three rounds with a blast-ended skrewt.

"Good job everyone," Sprout said, completely ignoring the fact that each and every of her students were ready to hex her to oblivion right now. "We're going to cut this class short so you could all go and get treated for those injuries. I want each couple to write down a three foot long essay of the medical uses of the Perfidiosus guajava. Class dismissed." With that the class scrambled and muttering darkly we all made our way back to the castle.

We stood on the long line in front of the matron's office, since she clearly announced that there are only four people allowed in the infirmary at the same time the rest of us had to squeeze in the narrow corridor outside. Michael and I stood so close together I could feel the warmth radiating from his skin. This was really weird, he was making me feel like a fifteen years old giggly girl, standing close to her hero. He made me feel self conscious, shy even- which was something I never thought I'd feel, with anyone. But it felt nice, I don't know why. With Oliver things were much clearer, I knew what I wanted and I was prepared to fight for it, and more importantly- I knew that he'd indulge me (eventually) because I knew he was gay too. I wasn't hundred per cent sure Michael was swinging that way, despite of what Blaize was saying. And right now it felt like I was pending- I might be in for a hell of a ride or I may be in for the biggest fall of my life. This had better work because I was not ready for another fall so soon!

"So… Library, after dinner?" Michael's voice cut through my musing and caught me completely off guard,

"Huh?" He smiled again,

"Our assignment. Would you like to meet in the library after dinner to work on it?"

"Sure, why not."

The line moved in an agonizing slow pace and by the time Madame Pomfrey was finished with us we were late for the next lesson.

I skidded to a halt in front of McGonagall's class and gingerly opened the door hoping to slip in without her noticing me, but then again, it was McGonagall and the woman was a hawk! She took one look at my dishevelled form and raised one eyebrow.

"So who is it this time, Hagrid, Sprout or Potter?" I couldn't stop the grin that spread on my face,

"Sprout." She huffed and motioned me to sit, and I can just swear that she was physically holding herself from rolling her eyes.

By dinner time I was ready to hex the next person who had something to say about the state of my robes. People seemed to take it as a personal insult that the spotless, immaculate and ever-so-tidy Malfoy was looking so inappropriately messed up. It was as if their views of the world had suddenly changed because I was no longer the epitome of coolness. What a bunch of idiots! Even I had my down days, too bad this one folded out for the entire school to see. After a very irritating dinner I ducked into the dorm room for a hot shower and a change of cloths before I was off to meet Michael in the library. I chose black slacks that were snugly fit and a black cashmere V-neck, most blondes can't carry on black without looking like a walking corpse but in my case, it's doing me great justice. I took my bag and headed towards the library.


A/N:

1. It is a little known fact that Draco Malfoy, epitome of everything pureblood- has a huge thing for manga. He usually buys the books in his trips to London without his parents' knowledge or consent.

2. It only makes sense that if the Gryffindors have Herbology with Hufflepuff than Slytherin would have it with Ravenclaw.

3. Guavas are the antichrist of fruits. They are cunning and always plotting against unsuspecting poor souls whose only crime was to be born to a mother who actually likes them sordid things. Yes, that's right; we actually have a tree of them in the back garden. Away with you evil fruits!

Plants don't actually feel things the way we do, but Guavas are cunning and plotting trees! Don't let their innocent demeanour fool you!

4. I watched "Gakuen Heaven" yesterday and I just realized that Michael looks like Ito Keita, if that means anything to you... If not, you can look in Wikipedia for pics.