How's it going? College...well like most things it has its ups and its downs. But you know, I'm getting through it.
A thanks to; TuesdayNovember, vampire-angel1996, L.A.H.H, missokaycool, Eooiiee, and LuvTaylor01
And thank you to everyone that added this story to their favorites or their alerts. The continued support makes me smile and gets me through the day. Truly it does. :)
Oh and there's a message at the end, it's rather long sorry about that! But you should read it. :)
Now move along loves, because here's Chapter 9
Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter universe. If did, I definitely would have written a Prequel, featuring everyone's favorite Marauders. (That's a hint, Rowling). XD
The snow melted around the school as February arrived, to be replaced by cold, dreary wetness. Purplish-gray clouds hung low over the castle and a constant fall of chilly rain made the lawns slippery and muddy. The upshot of this was that the sixth years' first Apparition lesson, which was scheduled for a Saturday morning so that no normal lessons could be missed, took place in the Great Hall instead of in the grounds.
When Angeline arrived in the Hall trying to stifle a yawn, she found that the tables had disappeared.
"You'll Splinch yourself if you're tired." Blaise said from her right.
"Thanks for the concern," Angeline replied dryly. "I'll be fine."
"Famous last words."
"Oh, shut up, Zabini." Angeline said as they continued into the Hall. Rain lashed against the high windows and the enchanted ceiling swirled darkly above them as they assembled in front of Professors McGonagall, Snape, Flitwick, and Sprout—the Heads of Houses—and a small wizard whom Angeline knew to be the Apparition instructor from the Ministry.
He was oddly colorless, with transparent eyelashes, wispy hair, and an insubstantial air, as though a single gust of wind might blow him away.
"Good morning," said the Ministry wizard, when all the students had arrived and the Heads of Houses had called for quiet. But Angeline could hear Draco's voice even after the call of quiet. He sounded angry and annoyed. The typical Draco Malfoy in her opinion. "My name is Wilkie Twycross and I shall be your Ministry Apparition instructor for the next twelve weeks. I hope to be able to prepare you for you Apparition Tests in this time—"
"Malfoy, be quiet and pay attention!" barked Professor McGonagall.
Everyone looked around. Draco had flushed a dull pink; he looked furious as he stepped away from Crabbe, with whom he appeared to have been having a whispered argument. Angeline looked to the front at Snape, who looked annoyed though Angeline suspected it had less to do with Draco's rudeness than the fact that McGonagall had reprimanded one of his House.
"—by which time, many of you may be ready to take your tests," Twycross continued as though there had been no interruption.
"As you may know, it is usually impossible to Apparate or Disapparate within Hogwarts. The headmaster has lifted this enchantment, purely within the Great Hall, for one hour, so as to able you to practice. May I emphasize that you will not be able to Apparate outside the walls of this Hall, and that you would be unwise to try.
"I would like each of you to place yourselves now so that you have a clear five feet space in front of you."
There was a great scrambling and jostling as people separated banged into each other, and ordered others out of their space. The Heads of Houses moved among the students, marshaling them into position and breaking up arguments.
"Oi," Angeline exclaimed when Harry Potter stopped directly in front of her and curiously directly behind Draco. "Watch what your doing, Potter," she said.
"Sorry about that," Harry said without looking at her. Angeline rolled her eyes.
Annoying little git...
Taking a few steps back in order to have five feet between her and him she looked over her shoulder to see Pansy behind her.
As if this couldn't get any better.
Instead of acknowledging the fact that Pansy stood in sabotage distance she focused her attention on Harry and Draco as Draco argued with a very mutinous looking Crabbe.
"I don't know how much longer, all right?" Draco shot at him. "It's taking longer than I thought it would."
What was taking longer than he thought it would?
Crabbe opened his mouth, but Draco appeared to second-guess what he was going to say. "Look, it's none of your business what I'm doing, Crabbe, you and Goyle just do as you're told and keep a lookout!"
Merlin's beard...What are you up to?
"I tell my friends what I'm up to, if I want them to keep a lookout for me," Harry said so that Draco could hear him.
Draco spun around on the spot, his hand flying for his wand, but at that precise moment the four Heads of House shouted, "Quiet!" and silence fell again. Draco turned slowly to face the front again.
"Thank you," said Twycross. "Now then..."
He waved his wand. Old-fashioned wooden hoops instantly appeared in front of every student.
"The important things to remember when Apparating are the three D's!" said Twycross. "Destination, Determination, Deliberation!
"Step one: Fix your mind firmly upon the desired destination," said Twycross. "In this case, the interior of your hoop. Kindly concentration upon that destination now."
Everybody looked around furtively to check that everyone else was staring into their hoop, then hastily did as they were told. Angeline gazed at the circular patch of dusty floor enclosed by her hoop.
Think of that hoop and not about what Draco's up to. Store that for later and think about that bloody hoop.
"Step two," said Twycross, "focus your determination to occupy the visualized space! Let your yearning to enter it flood your mind to every particle of your body!"
Angeline rolled her eyes at his description, but did as she was instructed. She definitely didn't want to be Splinched.
"Step three," called Twycross, "and only when I give the command...Turn on the spot, feeling your way into nothingness moving with deliberation! On my command now...one—"
What? Already? So soon!
"—two—"
Calm down, Angeline. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Destination. Inside that hoop. Determination. I want to be in that hoop. Me. My entire self. I will be standing in that hoop. Deliberation. Move without haste!
"—THREE!"
Angeline spun on the spot, lost balance, but to her surprise managed to stay standing. Angeline wasn't the only one that staggered. The whole Hall was suddenly full of staggering people; Neville Longbottom was flat on his back; Ernie Macmillan, on the other hand, had done a kind of pirouetting leap into his hoop and looked momentarily, thrilled, until he caught sight of Dean Thomas roaring with laughter at him.
Angeline had to admit it was sort of funny.
"Never mind, never mind," said Twycross dryly, who did not seem to have expected anything better. "Adjust your hoops, please, and back to your original positions..."
The second attempt was no better than the first. The third was just as bad. Not until the forth did anything exciting happen. There was a horrible screech of pain and everybody looked around, terrified, to see Susan Bones of Hufflepuff wobbling in her hoop with her left leg still standing five feet away where she had started.
Bloody hell! That's disgusting...
The Heads of House converged on her; there was a great bang and a puff of purple smoke, which cleared to reveal Susan sobbing, reunited with her leg but looking horrified.
"Splinching, or the separation of random body parts," said Twycross dispassionately, "occurs when the mind is insufficiently determined. You must concentrate continuously upon your destination, and move, without haste, but with deliberation...thus."
Twycross stepped forward, turned gracefully on the spot with his arms outstretched, and vanished in a swirl of robes, reappearing at the back of the Hall.
Show off.
"Remember the three D's," he said, "and try again...one—two—three—"
But an hour later, Susan's Splinching was still the most interesting thing that had happened. Twycross did not seem discouraged. Fastening his cloak at his neck, he merely said, "Until next Saturday, everybody, and do not forget: Destination. Determination. Deliberation."
With that, he waved his wand, Vanishing the hoops, and walked out of the Hall accompanied by Professor McGonagall. Talk broke out at once as people began moving toward the entrance hall.
"How did you do?" asked Blaise, once Angeline had fell back on the couch beside him. "I was only a little dizzy," Angeline shrugged as Crabbe, Goyle, Draco, and Pansy joined them.
"I did fine I guess, felt nauseous a few times," she said.
"Oh I felt nauseous too. It must have been your overwhelming odor I kept smelling." Pansy said from her place beside Draco.
"That wasn't me you were smelling, Parkinson, that was upper lip." Angeline said allowing a smirk to grow on her face. Pansy glared at her as she opened her mouth to retort.
"Don't start," Draco said though he sounded distracted. Angeline glanced at him and his attention wasn't on either her or Pansy but on the fireplace.
"All right there, Malfoy?" she asked.
"I'm fine," Draco replied looking at her a little longer than she thought he should have. "I'm going for a walk," he added though it was directed at Crabbe and Goyle. Both of which frowned but stood up to follow him out of the common room.
"Not going, Parkinson?" Blaise asked as the girl in question stared at the place Draco once had been.
"He doesn't want me around," Pansy said absently. "He's always telling me to go away." Angeline scoffed. "Do you have something to say, Jensen?" Pansy snapped.
"Not really," Angeline replied calmly. "But I think perhaps if you didn't cling to him he might not push you away, but then again..."
"Shut up," Pansy growled. "What would you know about relationships let alone what Draco and I have? You're jealous, you'll never be as good as me." she spat. "And you'll never have him."
"I don't want him, Parkinson." Angeline retorted. Pansy scoffed this time. "I was only giving you my advice. No need to get so offensive."
"Do you think I'm stupid, Jensen?"
"Do you really want me to answer that?" Pansy's eyes narrowed before she stalked off into the girls' dormitories.
Angeline turned and looked at Blaise he was giving her a look that she couldn't read to save her life.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" she inquired.
"Just thinking," Blaise began. "There's something different about things."
"Specify, Zabini" Angeline said running her hand through her hair.
"You and Malfoy," Blaise said. "There's something odd there with both of you." Angeline had a wave a dread wash over her.
"You're seeing things that don't exist." she said. "I mean we get along better than we did if that's what you're saying."
"Well then, take some advice, Jensen," Blaise said. "Don't trust him. Be a little suspicious about everything, especially when it comes to each other."
"Still on the whole, Draco Malfoy's no good thing?" Angeline allowed the annoyance to show in her question. Blaise shrugged. "Give it a rest, Zabini."
"Just remember, I have no problem saying, 'I told you so', in the end." he said. "And believe me I feel like I'll be saying it more than once."
"Five galleons says you're wrong." Angeline said automatically. Angeline was not a betting person, but hell, what's the worse that could happen?
Zabini would be right.
"Twenty says I'm right," Blaise said just as quick. Angeline threw him a look. Which he returned with a smug grin.
"Fine then, twenty galleons it is."
OK the worse that could happen is that I lose twenty galleons, because Zabini would be right.
The two sixteen year old witch and wizard shook hands on their bet.
But that's not going to happen. I'm going to gain twenty galleons because Zabini's wrong. That's a guarantee.
That night about an hour before curfew, Angeline found herself walking down various corridors of the school without a known destination. She had been feeling restless, and she had grown tired of listening to people complain about this or that. So she here she was now on the sixth floor not too far from the boys' bathroom when she saw sitting in one of the windowsills staring out into the darkness, Draco Malfoy.
Has he been here all this time?
He hadn't heard her approaching nor did he seem to see her reflection within the window itself. Angeline coughed as she stuck her left hand into her pocket.
"Knut for your thoughts?" she asked as she pulled the bronze coin from her pocket. Draco jumped slightly as he turned his head to look at her. Angeline couldn't help but to notice how unkempt he looked. Which was starting to be a normal thing about him, but still left her in wonder.
"A knut doesn't buy much. Especially my thoughts." he sneered in response. Angeline couldn't help but smile slightly.
Somethings don't change.
"Well then," she said as she tossed the coin a few times. "I suppose you're right, with our upbringing and all. Would a galleon or two suffice?" She asked almost curiously.
"Don't you understand that I don't want you around right now?" Draco questioned her. Angeline truly smiled this time.
"Are we admitting that you like having me around part of the time?" Draco narrowed his eyes slightly before he turned his gaze back to the dark window. Though she knew she wasn't wanted, it didn't stop her from pulling herself up onto the windowsill next to him where she continued to play with the knut in her hand. Draco's gray eyes met her green ones in an instant. "What do you think you're doing?"
"Sitting and minding my own business," she replied. Draco's face did some sort of weird twitch. Angeline wondered if she should be worried about it.
"Bloody infuriating girl," he mumbled under his breathe before he returned to his gazing to the dark outside world.
Both of them sat in silence, Angeline playing with her coin and swinging her legs back and forward as Draco sat stiff staring out the window. Angeline stopped playing with the coin and opened her mouth to apologize for being such a nuisance and to end the silence, but apparently she wasn't the only one that found the silence nerve wracking.
"It's just really hard," Draco muttered. Angeline looked at him just to see he wasn't looking at her but still out the window.
"What is?" she asked him slowly. He looked torn and worn down. Something no Malfoy would ever want to look. Even on their worst days. Draco turned his gaze to her. Was it possible that it appeared that, the Draco Malfoy wanted to cry?
No, it's dark. I'm surely seeing things.
"It doesn't matter what it is. There's nothing you can say or do that..." he trailed off with the sound of a very familiar meow. It was past curfew and it was only a matter of time before Filch showed up.
I can not get detention!
"Come on," Angeline said jumping down from the windowsill and grabbing Draco's hand as she did so.
Draco allowed himself to be dragged down corridor after corridor, stair after stair, by Angeline only because he knew he wouldn't have gotten up from the windowsill himself. He simply didn't give a damn whether or not Filch caught him or not. He just didn't care about much of anything anymore.
The only thing running through his mind was that, though the Vanishing Cabinet wasn't working...he did set another plan up only with the unknown motivation by Angeline. A poisoned bottle of mead. That would and if all worked out would make its way to Dumbledore if he could not get the Cabinet to work. And when that time came his task would be complete and he would have gained the honor his family had loss.
Do you really believe that? The little voice in the back of his mind questioned.
I need a distraction...And she is it... Draco shook his head once and then twice as Angeline began to slow down and ducked into one of many empty classrooms. He wasn't sure what floor they were on, or in what abandoned classroom they were in. All he knew was that for the second time in his life he was alone with Angeline Jensen in an empty classroom. Holding her hand nevertheless as they both leaned against the now closed door.
Draco immediately let go her hand and moved away from her and the door. He watched her as she stood panting slightly, listening to what was on the other side of the door. Turning his back to her he looked around the classroom she had flung them into. The windows were as large as the ones in the Potions classroom, and let in quite a lot of moonlight. Moving more around the room he noticed it was indeed an abandoned classroom. Dust was all over the place except for the table in front of the very last window in the back of the room. It was void of the heavy dust the rest of the room had.
"I come here when I can't go anywhere else and I just need to think about other things." Angeline's voice came directly from his left. He hadn't heard her move from the door. Draco looked down at her as she stared at the table and absently played with the knut in her hand. "It's not that far from the common room. Aren't terribly tired from that run are you?"
"Do I look tired to you?" he asked. Angeline glance sideways at him.
"You look like a lot of things." she responded. Draco didn't ask her to elaborate he knew she was right and he didn't need to hear her say all his problems out loud it would only make him feel worse. Draco moved away and sat on the bench at the clean desk.
"Why didn't you just take us back to the common room?" He questioned lightly.
"It's relatively early still. Just think of the rumors that would fly if we ran in there together, let alone hand-in-hand." Angeline replied as she sat on the desk in front of him. "Did you hear, Malfoy and Jensen are shagging?" she rolled her eyes.
"Starting the next generation of Death Eaters." Draco added nonchalantly. Angeline chuckled and even he couldn't help but smirk ever so slightly.
"Wouldn't forgive myself if that were true," she said with a little sigh.
"About which part?" he asked.
"Starting a new generation of Death Eaters." Her response was automatic. "When I have children...They'll be raised different. They won't have to deal with what our kind put us through. I want their lives to be what ours never was."Draco stayed quiet as he listened to the bitterness in her tone. Saw the fear flash in her eyes of pain she never expressed. What was she afraid of? "I just..." she stopped and looked at her hands. "Catch." she said flipping the coin in his direction. Draco caught it and stared at the knut for a moment.
"I'm not sharing my thoughts with you, Jensen," Draco said. Angeline nodded.
"I know that," she said. "I'm not going to force you to talk to me about anything. You sort of just do it. Are you aware of that?"
No
"Yes."
"Well, I just thought you could hang on to it...if you ever wanted to talk. Just give it to me and I'd know. Not exactly what Knut for you thoughts is supposed to work, but it sort of works, right?"
"Don't expect me to use this, Jensen," Draco said. "I'm not some needy person," he added.
Yes you are.
"Never said you were. But we all need to vent right?" she asked with a small smile. "And think of it this way. I'm not Crabbe or Goyle so you can very well use big words and I'd understand them. And I'm not Parkinson so I won't try to snog you to 'make you feel better'." Angeline said.
"But you wouldn't be against it," Draco inquired coolly. Angeline's eyes narrowed as her cheeks turned a shade of pink.
"Are you suggesting you yourself aren't?"
"I don't kiss blood traitors." He replied. Angeline laughed as she jumped down from the table.
"Well then, good, I don't kiss blood purist." She stated. Draco smirked slightly at her comment. "I suppose it's late enough for us to sneak back into the common room. Shall we?" she asked. Draco stood from the bench he was sitting on. He ran a hand through his hair and walked past her to the door. He opened it and allowed her to walked through it first and followed her back to the common room.
In the few minutes of just sitting and talking, Draco was able to forget about what had nearly brought him to his lowest point while working on the Vanishing Cabinet. He was now somewhat good spirits and he needed that to last for the time being, because far too soon he knew he would need to go back in the Room of Requirements. And who knew if it would work in a day let alone a month from now. Looking at down at the knut in his hand.
"If you ever wanted to talk..."
Draco told himself he wouldn't ever need to use that coin. But there was still that little part of him that knew he would and he listened to it as he stuffed it into his pocket, because there was that part of him that truly liked having Angeline around and in a way needed her around. If only to keep his mind off of everything wrong with him and his life. Angeline looked back at him and smiled. Draco vaguely wondered if she liked having him around and needed to have him around and that was why she put up with him and never seemed to judge him.
What are you thinking, Draco...
It's funny, I took a look at my chapter outline for this story the other day and this story has about 5-6 chapters left. Ah! I literally flipped out. That's the upsetting news. The good news is that, I will have a sequel, and I've always planned on having a sequel. It's going to be seventh year and how these two lovely characters get through the war and how they change throughout it. It will start with the summer leading up to the return to Hogwarts. You'll see how they both cope with what's become of their world. And best of all how they cope with one another.
May seem early to give this away, but it's because I need your help dear readers. What kind of help? Well, I'm going to be needing a title. And I want you all to help. I have come up with a title, Complexity but...I don't know...It seems too...obvious. So let me know what you want the sequel to be titled, and a reason why it should be titled such. I'll pick the top three and have people vote. But I'll do something special for each person that participates like a one-shot or something. (I know I'm nuts.) To help, I'll explain why I titled this story Simplicity.
I titled this story Simplicity for three reasons, the first reason was because I like to think that Draco believes everything he does and everything in life is simple. The second reason is because of my character Angeline and how she herself sees the world and the people in it. She's quick write people off, because there's not much to them. They're simple and easy to get. Until Draco unintentionally makes her take a second glance. The last reason that ties it all together, is that I wanted it to show that nothing is simple and that if you go around thinking that you're going to end up way over your head...Kind of like Angeline and Draco when you think about it.
Anyway I'm done with that rant! Hope you participate! And I hope you liked the chapter!
Good luck!
Thanks for reading! And hopefully reviewing!
Much Love,
TR