LadyThunder- It's incredible to hear that this is your favorite. I shall write on, even if my updates are at strange intervals. I will see this through 'til the end.
A/N- So I've just been wondering a few things lately. Is it weird that Sophie is in a friendship with Draco? Should I have more letters from Jessie? I have another question too, which I'll put at the end of this chapter
Dear Jessie,
Am I actually friends with Draco Malfoy, of all people? The prince of the Slytherin house? How did that even happen? And should I ever tell him about the fact that I'm the one who attacked him back when I first became a student here?
This may seem a bit sudden, and for that, I do apologize. I was asking if we're friends because I think that we were having girl talk earlier. And I'm not sure if that says more about me or him, honestly. He's actually the one who tracked me down. It wasn't that hard, he just had to skip class and wait in the common room for me to get up and at 'em.
He motioned for me to sit down. 'C'mon, it's not like there's anyone else around.'
I gulped, and sat down. 'Hey, if this is about yesterday, then I can assure you that I didn't tell anyone that you're-'
Draco shook his head. 'This has nothing to do with yesterday. It's got more to do with you and me. I have to know: why do you hang around with those Gryffindors so often? You know that they probably only feel sorry for you, right?'
I nodded. 'Yeah, sorry that you're my only other friend choice. Now what's this about?'
Draco smiled. 'Well, if you're not going to tell me why you hang out with those losers, then I'm going to tell you my theory,'
'Please don't,'
He grinned, and I'm happy to report that it was one of the few of his grins that were actually real. 'My theory is that you only hang around with them so that you can eventually bugger Granger.' He smiled with satisfaction.
I noticed that his satisfaction waned when I didn't react to that statement. "I don't want to bother her. I just like hanging around with her.'
Draco frowned. 'No, I didn't say bug her, I said bugger her.'
'Oh,' I shrugged. 'What's that supposed to mean, then?'
Draco slapped one hand across his forehead. I think he was frustrated, but I don't think it's fair of him to judge me just because I don't understand every British sounding word that's thrown my way. It's not like I was born and raised in Europe. He sighed, and spoke slowly, like he was trying to explain something to a child. 'Sex. It means that I think you only hang around with the Gryffindors because you want to have sex with Granger.'
I could feel my cheeks burning, and I just know that my whole face must've flushed bright red, based off of the return of Draco's smirk. 'What? But I'm way too young- and she's a girl- and I wasn't even thinking of her like that- and I don't think that I could-'
Draco cut me off with a loud laugh. 'Relax, I'm only teasing you. Though you really do seem to look at Granger with misty eyes more than anyone ever should. I think you manage to do it even more often than the weasel.'
My stomach started doing flip flops at that thought. 'Wait, are they together, or something?'
Draco shook my head. 'No. Though some suspect that they do wish to be in a relationship.' He gave me a sharp look. 'She's a horrible person. You can do so much better.'
I shrugged. 'Doesn't matter. All I know is that the first time I saw her, I thought that she was beautiful.' I raised my hand to cover my mouth, and stared at my housemate with wide eyes. 'I didn't mean- not that she's not- but I-'
The prefect just started to laugh at me like I'd told some hilariously clever joke or something. 'Sophie, stop. There's no point in pretending like you don't have a huge crush on the walking encyclopedia.'
I crossed my arms over my chest, and figured that it would only be fair for me to find a way to get onto equal ground. 'Well who do you have a crush on then? Come on, out with it.'
Draco shrugged. 'No one in particular. I don't think that there are any girls in this whole school who could ever be considered good enough for me.'
We sat in silence for a few minutes after that, neither of us really sure what we were supposed to say. I couldn't help it when I started to snicker. 'You're a pretty pretentious dick, aren't you?'
He looked offended for a moment, and then he nodded. 'Ah, Americans. You do use some interesting word choice sometimes.'
I shrugged. 'I'm not the one who makes annoying someone and having sex with someone sound so similar.'
Draco snorted, and there was another minute of silence before he spoke again. 'So are you ever going to actually try and pursue Granger, or are you just going to continue being just friends, when you can't even keep your eyes off of her?'
I shrugged again. 'Do you know Ginny Weasley?' he nodded once. 'She said that she was going to help me get closer with Hermione. It never really panned out. Besides, I doubt that Hermione is into girls.'
Draco rolled his eyes. 'So basically, what you're telling me is that you're too afraid to actually go after what you want?'
I swatted him gently in the arm. Then I looked at him curiously, and wondered if he'd hex me for asking any of the hundreds of questions that have been swirling through my mind since our last conversation. I decided that it was worth the risk, because I really did want to know what was up. 'Can I ask you something? Wait, don't answer that. I'm going to ask you anyways,' I took a deep breath, and shifted so I could spring away at a moment's notice if I needed to. 'If Trelawney's prophecy was about you, which choice would you make?'
A look of surprise flitted across Draco's face. His body tensed, and I was ready to make a run for it. Then he relaxed, and leaned back into the couch. He pulled out his wand to catch a simple silencing charm, so that even if someone were to randomly wander in, they wouldn't hear the nature of our conversation. He looked at me assessingly. 'You've probably already heard the rumors. That my parents are both death eaters, in you-know-who's closest circle of people within the rest of the death eaters. And those rumors are true. To preserve my family's name and honor, I'm going to follow in their footsteps.' He peered at me cautiously, and I realized that I still looked like I was ready to bolt. I let myself sink down a little bit, and shifted closer to Draco. 'I'd always thought that it would be something that would happen someday, a long time from now. I didn't think that it would be so soon. This year, even.'
I looked at Draco in surprise, but he was just staring straight ahead, refusing to meet my eyes. I gulped nervously. Draco? A death eater? I hadn't seen that one coming. It's not like I tried to stay caught up with all the latest gossip or anything. Draco looked pretty miserable. I think that he must've been feeling miserable most of the time, but had just learned how to hide that.
Well, Draco had shared something important with me, so I decided that it was really only fair for me to return the favor. 'Do you remember awhile back, like a couple of months ago or so? You had to go to the hospital for a bit?' He nodded, and turned his head a bit to look at me. I'd piqued his curiosity. I spat out the next part as quickly as I could. 'Well, that was me because I could barely control my magic. Not that I can really control it any better now, but I'm sorry, and I don't-'
Draco leaned towards me and I squeezed my eyes shut, certain that he was about to curse me pretty badly. So I was frozen in shock when his arms wrapped around me, and he pulled me into a tight hug. My arms were pinned down, so I couldn't return the gesture even if I wanted to. I wasn't sure if I did want to or not, since I had no idea what had suddenly brought that about.
After a length of time had passed, and it had just officially gone into the region of being awkward, Draco let go of me and sat back. He smiled, and I thought that maybe he'd finally snapped and gone psychotic. Except that wouldn't explain why he was just sitting there instead of trying to do anything.
Draco chuckled. 'I had been wondering who'd done it. I wanted to be able to thank them for giving me at least a little bit of delay before I would have to get back to work.' He furrowed his eyebrows. 'I wonder what caused that kind of reaction…' then his eyes widened in realization, and he gave me a knowing look. 'It happened during a chat I was having with Granger,' he began laughing so hard he looked like he could barely breath. It was probably one of the scariest things I've ever seen before.
When he'd finally finished laughing at my expense, he pulled me into another quick hug before standing up, and beginning to pace back and forth. 'So if the prophecy was about me, then yeah, I think that I'd pick the path where people aren't trying to constantly oppress me or force me to do things that I don't want to do,'
I looked at Draco curiously. 'Yeah, I totally agree. Which side is that, though?'
That pretty much brought about the end of our conversation. Draco left to go catch what he could of whatever class he'd skipped to talk to me. And I was left to think about everything that had been discussed. There's no way that the prophecy is about me. I'm not special in any way.
But just in case, maybe I ought to start thinking about it.
Yours always,
Sophie
A/N So I wanted to ask another question without giving any spoilers. Here's the thing: the prophecy is (obviously) about Sophie. That shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone at this point (other than maybe Sophie herself). So my only question is this- Will Sophie choose to go Dark or Light? I can figure out how to write it either way, so I think that I might leave it up to you guys. About ten chapters or so from now, whichever way has the most votes will be the way that I go. Thank you so much to everyone who's been reading this story! (:
