Hi, so I've been gone for a bit. I swear it was not by choice, but my laptop literally crashed the week before christmas. I called tech support and they said the only way to fix it was to completely wipe it. I later found it this was not true, but it was already too late. :( So, I lost all the prewritten chapters I had saved and I couldn't find motivation to rewrite them until recently. On top of that when my computer was wiped for some reason the new software doesn't have word and only supports wordpad which SUCKS. Bottom line, Thank you for being patient and I hope you enjoy this chapter even though it's super short. - Niki
Draco found himself standing amongst a group of people whom he would describe as the closest things he had to friends as they droned on about trivial things such as their planned weekend getaways to Italy for the coming summer, and athough he nodded and laughed at the appropriate times he wasn't truly listening. He was currently trying not to stare at Hermione who was sitting at a picnic table a few yards away from him. She was contently chatting with Luna, Neville, Harry, and Ginny, and although she wasn't really speaking to him Ron was there. He couldn't, or wouldn't recognize the emotion that he'd felt when he'd seen them together, but it sure as hell wasn't positive.
"So, you really think you can get me an extra ticket to the ball?" Millicent a masculine looking girl he'd known since grade school asked him. She'd been explaining to him why she needed an extra ticket for the past few minutes, and truthfully, he couldn't relay any part of the story even if his life had depended on it.
"It shouldn't be a problem; I'll ask my Mother as soon as she gets home." Millicent smiled at him gratefully.
"Are you sure it's not too much trouble?" She asked for the thousandth time. He was growing tired of her begging, but he grit his teeth and forced a strained smile to form on his face.
"Millicent, it's fine. Consider it done okay?" She smiled again and visibly relaxed before nodding, and he almost felt bad after she'd turned her back to him to text her date about the ticket, she'd scored them. He was almost 100 percent sure that once you'd received your two tickets it was impossible to get more; that's what made the ball so exclusive only members and their plus one's were granted entry. Providing extra tickets implied that any old person off the street could attend which just was not true, but explaining that to her would have elongated the conversation, and in that moment, he was willing to do anything to prevent that. Sighing to himself he turned his attention back to Hermione, and tried to think a reasonable excuse to approach her.
"Tell her you're confused about how the presentation in class is going to work" He thought to himself. His eyebrows involuntarily furrowed as he immediately shot the idea down. In typical Hermione fashion they'd practiced the presentation ample times, and he knew it like the back of his hand. Besides she wasn't stupid, she would instantly know he was full of crap. He was just about to plot another plan when the bell rang. He had half a mind to linger and wait for her to walk by in hopes of getting her attention but this too was conflicted. When he turned to where she had just been sitting and her small frame was nowhere to be seen. He stood and tried to pick her out of the mass of students, but couldn't see her anywhere.
"Hey mate." His friend Blaise said casually clapping him on the shoulder startling him in the process causing him to jump.
"Are you gonna stand here all day, or do you wanna start heading to class? You know Snape's a bitch when he wants to be." He continued peering at the side of his face which was still searching the crowd. Ignoring him Draco turned on his heel and began walking toward the building, and he was not surprised, but still slightly annoyed when he felt Blaise falling into step beside him. Draco had known Blaise his entire life and he was more like a brother than a friend, and while he usually enjoyed the dark-skinned boy's company, he certainly enjoyed taking the piss out of Draco when he was already upset. In fact, if you asked him, Blaise would probably list it as one of his favorite pass times.
"How come you're going this way?" He asked nudging Draco with his shoulder.
"I'm going home." He replied plainly lazily motioning to the unmonitored gate behind the lunch room. Blaise suddenly grabbed his arm and stopped walking causing several students to bump into them mumbling and giving him dirty looks as they continued walking. Draco joined them after he shook off Blaise's grasp. This didn't deter him though, and in a few long strides he had caught up to him and grabbed his arm more forcefully this time.
"What!?" He snapped causing a group of younger students to widen their eyes at them before they ran off giggling and whispering to each other.
"The presentations are today; what about Hermione?"
"What about her?" He asked throwing his nose slightly in the air out of habit as he began walking again. To his dismay Blaise didn't miss a beat and resumed strolling beside him.
"So... wont she be ticked off that you didn't show?" He asked shrugging calmly.
"Since when do you care about me pissing Granger off? If I remember correctly, we both used to give her hell in grade school." Blaise chuckled and shook his head before responding.
"C'mon mate. Who do you think you're fooling?" Draco stopped walking without turning around when he felt Blaise fall behind him.
"I know all about your little outing last weekend, and your run in with Pansy yesterday. On top of all that you practically stared a hole through her at lunch today." Draco found himself clenching his fist and trying to remind himself that he liked Blaise, and therefore should not haul off on him.
"You don't know what you're talking about." He muttered halfheartedly the words lacking the malice he wanted to put behind them.
"Oh, trust me, I'm just confused as you are mate." Blaise said pausing.
"I'm not claiming to know what's going on between you and the bint, because I don't even think you know whats happening, but I am saying that you will ruin whatever it is if you stand her up. Don't be a bloody wanker Luc." He finished. Using the idiotic nickname, he'd come up for Draco almost two decades ago. He stood unsure how-to respond he hated when Blaise did this to him.
"How many times do I have to tell you that "Luc" is not a cool name before it gets through your thick skull?" He said finally turning around. He was suddenly overwhelmed with gratefulness that Blaise knew him so well, and hadn't stuck around for an actual response and had instead opted for heading to class. Draco had turned just in time to see him jogging up the stairs two at a time. He sighed and noted that he'd been doing that a lot recently before he rubbed a hand down his face dejectedly. The thing about Blaise was that he picked up on things before you did, and he would sit back with a sick grin as he watched you come to the realization on your own. On the rare occasions he did decide to share his observations he was always right. Today was different though, yes Draco was confused, and yeah Hermione would be pissed if he left her to do the presentation alone, but for once Blaise was wrong, and he couldn't even gloat because for the first time ever he wished his friend's odd intuition would be correct; because what he didn't know was that Draco had already ruined everything.