A/N: And this is Chapter 10. Yay! Never thought I'd even get this far. Dialogue distribution's a bit weird; barely any in the beginning, and a little heavy at the end. Enjoy anyway. Thanks to Scarbrow for some plot suggestions. (Seriously, sorry about the mispelling).
Draco Malfoy walked down the halls, deep in thought. In fact, he was so deep in thought that he forgot to jump a trick stair and his left leg sunk in up to his thigh.
He swore, and tugged on his leg. Normally he would be able to just pull himself out, but of course he fell into the only trick stair that not only collapsed when you put pressure on it, but also grabbed onto your leg. It put just enough pressure that you couldn't pull it out yourself, but not enough that it would break bones. It would, however, leave some lovely bruises.
Bruises were the least of his problems, though. Dinner was still going on, so there was no way anyone could come to help him out. He also didn't particularly want anyone to help him, but he was smart enough to admit when he needed assistance. He hoped someone would come along and help him out, but only one person, so he could threaten them not to tell anyone.
Well, he thought, Sitting here wishing for help isn't going to get me anywhere. And so, he swallowed his pride, and called out, "Hey, anyone there? I need a hand over here!"
After a few minutes, he gave it up. About a half an hour later, he was getting worried. Soon dinner would break up, and a wave of people would come to find him, the Head Boy, stuck in a trick stair that even Neville Longbottom managed to avoid at this point.
Then, he heard faint footsteps, and called out again. "Hey! Hello! Get over here!"
He heard the footsteps increase in pace, and get closer. He sighed in relief; he wouldn't be stuck here for the school to find and ridicule.
He saw someone round the corner at the foot of the stairs, and sighed resignedly when he saw the Hufflepuff colors. Great. Well, stupid help is better than no help.
He waved the Hufflepuff over. "Hey, come give me a hand with this," he said, gesturing to his trapped leg.
The Hufflepuff held out his hand, and Malfoy grabbed it. They both pulled hard. "This stair is bloody friendly," the Hufflepuff said, "It doesn't want to let go."
"Tell me about it," Malfoy grunted.
They both jerked hard at the same time, and his leg finally came free, both of them loosing their balance and falling a couple of steps down.
They both stood up, and only then did Malfoy realize exactly how large the student in front of him was. He was easily three inches taller than Malfoy, and had much wider shoulders. This was saying something, as Malfoy was six-two, and though lean, was still very muscular.
The Hufflepuff dusted himself off and stuck out his hand, saying, "James Archer, nice to meet you. My friends call me Archer, or Archie if you like."
Malfoy just looked at the hand for a second, and then glared back into his face. "Draco Malfoy," he said finally, ignoring the hand still, "Head Boy. And if you breathe a word of this to anyone, I swear I will make that bloody yellow tie of yours into a noose and hang you from the rafters in the Great Hall with it."
Archer took a step back, surprised by the intensity in Malfoy's voice. "Alright, mate," he said, sounding uneasy, "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone…" His voice trailed off awkwardly. Malfoy kept glaring at him for another few seconds, then turned on his heel and walked back up the steps, remembering to jump the trick stair this time.
He stalked down the halls, deep in thought again. He reflexively checked his watch.
Crap, he thought, I'd better hurry up. I don't know where the head dormitory is, and I'll probably have to find Granger or Professor McGonagall to get the password.
He began walking back towards the Great Hall. As he reached the open doors, however, it was very apparent that the feast was already breaking up. He was glad; it meant he wouldn't have to deal with Pansy at the Slytherin table. He saw Granger and Professor McGonagall talking at the teacher's table at the front of the hall, and made his way towards them.
"Ah, Mr. Malfoy," Professor McGonagall said, "How good of you to join us. I was just about to take Miss Granger to the Head dormitories, if you would care to join us."
He nodded simply; his mind was occupied.
They left the great hall but surprisingly only went up one floor. They turned down a corridor that Malfoy knew for a fact held only unused classrooms, and a few paintings. They stopped in front of a large picture of a small cozy-looking room with a pair of armchairs, a coffee table between them, and a fireplace in front of them. It was a view from the left of the room, with the chairs on the right facing inward towards the other objects. The frame stretched from about chest height to the ground, due to the fact that it was hung underneath a torch bracket. The painting seemed to be momentarily vacated by its occupants. McGonagall turned to the two Heads.
"This portrait is the entrance to your dormitory," she said, looking at them with the air of someone imparting a great secret.
"Oh," Hermione said, "What's the password? And doesn't there have to be a guardian to let us in?" Draco had no idea what she was talking about. It was rather obvious to him that the painting was a picture of the common room they would be sharing.
He reached out to touch the picture, and as he expected, his hand sank straight through the canvas as if it wasn't there at all. He didn't know what rubbish Granger was talking about with guardians.
Professor McGonagall gestured to him, "Mr. Malfoy seems to have gotten the idea. Go in and look around."
Malfoy smirked at her; he had figured out something she hadn't. He ducked through the painting, and noticed that the surface was cool and almost wet feeling, as if he was walking through a veil of mist. He was immediately followed by Granger and then Professor McGonagall, clutching onto the back of Granger's robes.
"But," Granger said, sounding confused, "What's to stop just anyone from entering?"
"Well," the professor said, "First there's the fact that even if they knew this painting was the entrance, most people would assume as you did that it operated the way the Gryffindor portrait hole did." Hermione nodded in agreement. She had unconsciously slipped into the attitude she displayed when she was in class. Well, she was learning something, but still… Malfoy sighed. She was hopeless.
McGonagall continued with her explanation, saying, "There's also the fact that only the Heads may enter this room with impunity; even professors have to be escorted in. The only reason I was allowed in just now without you having to specifically give permission was because I was holding on to your robes, Miss Granger. Coincidentally, if you wish to bring someone other than a Head or teacher in, that is how you would go about it. You do not need to accompany them on their way out, though." She paused for a second, and then continued in a more severe, lecturing tone, "I would hope that you will exercise good judgment, however, in whom you allow inside. After all, you are Head Boy and Girl, and are expected to set an example to the rest of the world."
Draco noticed that this comment seemed to be directed particularly at him, and just shrugged in response.
"Well," McGonagall said, "Get comfortable. Your Head duties will not start for another two days; enjoy the break." With that, she turned towards the entrance. There was a picture in the exact same frame and position as the one they had entered through, except this one displayed the hallway they had just left. She crouched and walked through, and they saw her straighten up on the other side, smooth her robes, and walk away.
"Hmmmm…" Hermione observed the painting closely. "I wonder if someone on the outside can see us in the picture."
Malfoy stared thoughtfully; he hadn't thought of that. "I'll go check. Do something," he said, and smirked as he walked towards the picture.
"What do you mean, 'do something'?" she asked. "What am I supposed to do?" She glared at him.
"I don't know," he said, exasperatedly, "Do something… interesting." He walked through the picture, and turned around. He saw Granger standing in the room. She snorted and rolled her eyes, putting her hands on her hips, looking at him expectantly. He ducked back inside, and said, "Well, you look like the same annoying know it all from the outside."
"Well," she said, "That'll be annoying."
"Ah, there you're wrong," Malfoy said. "I doubt I'll be spending much quality time in the common room with a mudblood," he shuddered, dramatically; she rolled her eyes. "Besides," he continued, "Our bedrooms and bathroom are obviously not on display for the general public. And, no one actually comes down this corridor; the classrooms are all unused."
She started to nod, but then she stopped suddenly, and said, "Remember what McGonagall said on the train, about the prefect's meeting room?" Draco thought back, staring into space for a few seconds.
"Wait," he said, looking back at her, "She said that it was right down the hall from the Head's dormitory, in an unused classroom."
She nodded at him, "And what are all the rooms in this hallway?"
"Ah," he said, "Unused classrooms." He sighed, then said, "You may have a point, Granger, but that still doesn't change the fact that they can't get in without our permission. There's only so much they can do to annoy us from the outside."
She gave him a wry smile. That simple smile confused him; had he just been nice to Granger? He thought back on the conversation… Sure he had called her mudblood, but only once, and without any real venom… Uh-oh. He couldn't have her thinking he was being nice to her. Quick, he thought, What's the easiest and simplest way to insult her right now?
He thought for another few seconds then, looked back at her. She was still looking at him. "What, are you waiting for, mudblood," he said derisively, "A house elf to suddenly jump out and announce it wants to be freed? Well, guess what, Granger," he practically spat her name out, "They don't want to be freed."
That was good. He knew she was still sore about her stupid spew thing not working out. This ought to be a good reaction.
He looked at her expectantly, but she just stared at him for a few seconds, before saying abruptly, "Well, I'm off to bed."
She turned and walked quickly towards the back wall. There were three doors; she took the right one. He followed her lead, and took the left one. He assumed the center door lead to their shared bathroom.
He flopped down onto the four poster bed in his room, and looked around. There was a wardrobe across from the bed, and a window between them. Under the window was a small bedside table with a lamp sitting on it. There was an oval shaped rug between the bed and wardrobe. His trunk was at the foot of the bed.
Well, he thought, It's better than what I had in the Slytherin dorms, anyway. And Pansy can't get to me here, which is a definite plus.
He unpacked his clothes, and put them into the wardrobe. Then he left his room, and went to go take a quick shower before bed.
A/N: I know, it's an anticlimactic way to end the chapter. But hey, it's late, and I can assure you, the next chapter will be very interesting. And if you're thinking it has something to do with the shower Draco's about to take, then get your mind out of the gutter ('cause you're standing on my head)!
A/N: (Update) Ok, so after rereading this today, I realized I was kind of out of it last night, and completely forgot to make Draco be mean to Hermione. So, if any of you reviewed saying something about that (I haven't even checked yet) then don't worry, it is fixed. Sorry if you got a notification and got excited 'cause you thought there was a new chapter. Chapter 11 will be up soon, don't worry.