Oh, the planets have aligned. I finally get the chance to post again. It must be a miracle.
Before I start, here are a few things.
1)I still don't own the characters (rats)
2)the Hugh Mitchell picture bounty is still in effect
3)if any of you awesome readers would like to help me out, let me know. I need someone or someones who are familiar with the Nine Inch Nails album Pretty Hate Machine. Just drop me an email (super-goose@excite.com) if you're interested or in a review. You'll be helping a story take shape. I'll explain more if you're interested. If you're not, just wait and you'll eventually see the tale on FFN. Thanks in advance.
4)I apparently have to post in .txt file now, and I hate that, so bear with me as I work out the spacing and stuff. FFN no longer recognizes my MS Word docs, and I don't know why.
Alright, now let's get on with it.
Once Harry got over the shock of the bomb that Draco dropped, he was quite upset. Actually, that was hardly the word. Nearly inconsolable might be more like it. He kept seeing that smirk of Draco's in his mind. And raspberries. Hints of raspberries. Draco was very right about that. Colin certainly did enjoy those candies from Hogsmeade. Deep in his heart, he knew that Draco wasn't lying, even though he wished with all his soul that he was.
Harry leaned against the wall and hung his head low. He shook it side to side and breathed deeply, trying to fight off the tears. He quickly made his way back to the Gryffindor common room and sank into one of the cushy chairs.
It was no ones fault but my own, Harry thought to himself. I never even acknowledged his presence after Ron and I made up. It was like he wasn't even there. I don't blame him at all for going off to find someone else. Maybe someone else will deserve him more than me, even if it is Draco Malfoy.
Harry thought back to all the times that they'd shared over the past few weeks. He never really realized how deep his feelings ran for Colin until now that he'd lost him. Much deeper than he'd ever thought possible for anyone. His talisman began to glow faintly and radiate a little more heat than normal, beginning to warm the tower that had picked up its typical late September afternoon chill. He was so deep in his reveries that he didn't even notice the common room door swing open and Dennis and Ron step in.
Dennis was still winded from his sprint across the grounds a bit ago, but when he saw Harry trying to bury himself in the chair, all the fatigue dropped out of him instantly. He was over at Harry's side before Ron had taken more than three steps into the room. Dennis jumped onto the chair beside him and threw his arms around Harry, jolting him back into real time.
"Harry!! Oh Harry, it's terrible news, Harry!"
"I know, Dennis, I know."
"You know? But how?" Dennis looked quite dumbfounded as to how Harry could already know what he had just seen a bit ago.
"Malfoy told me." Dennis' face turned as pale as Draco's normally was.
"Oh no. I was dreading telling you, but hearing it from him is 100 times worse."
"That is an understatement, Dennis, believe me."
"Dennis, come here for a minute," Ron called from the doorway.
"Yeah, Ron?" Dennis made his way over to him.
"Stay here and keep an eye on Harry. I've got to go find Hermione, she'll know what to do. Don't let him do anything stupid, got it?"
"You got it." Dennis attempted a salute, but it was so half-hearted that it was sad. He went back over to Harry's side and sat down. Ron left the room on his mission, still not sure what to think about anything that had happened today.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ now to our favourite Slytherin ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Draco left the encounter with Harry on a mission of his own. It was quite simple, really. If he finds Colin first, he wins. If he doesn't, Potter wins. It was just a game, really. A game with very high stakes for both the contestants.
He headed in the direction of the Divination classroom, hoping to find the teacher there. While he never took stock in Divinations as a particularly good branch of magic, or even a single class for that matter, he knew that was his quickest option to winning.
He scaled the ladder and was about to push the door open when it swung to on its own. He was a little surprised, but stepped through with his typical swagger. The room he stepped into looked like something out of an old Muggle mystery movie. The walls were painted a variety of orange shades, with a bit of greens and blacks thrown in. There were quite a few half shaded windows, quite a few seemingly randomly placed tables and many, many candles.
"Greetins, Draco Malfoy," a voice from one end called out and startled him.
"How do you know who I am? I've never set foot in here before." Draco was caught unawares, one of the few things that could irritate him almost as much as Potter.
"I dunno, mebbee because I am psychic? Or mebbee I just know who you are? I'll let you decide. Now how can I help you?"
"If you're psychic, then you should know why I'm here, shouldn't you?" he asked in his sarcastic drawl.
"Do not mock the Ether, young Draco Malfoy. They know much more than you and reveal it when they are ready. Now come over here and let's see what the cards say for you."
The way she said that took the wind from his sails, so he sat down in the chair across from her smaller than he'd been a moment before. "Now, what can I help you with?"
"I need to know where a certain person is right now. It is very urgent and most important."
"Aah, then I'll need your birthday."
"My birthday? Whatever for?"
With a stern look, Miss Cleo said to him, "it helps the cards focus, that is why it is important. Now, what is your birthday?"
"November 15." what little fight Draco had left in him was now gone. He was much more like the timid Neville than the raucous Draco we saw a bit ago.
"See, that didn't hurt, did it?" she asked in a semi-mocking voice. Now let's see what the cards say, shall we?" Draco just nodded, suddenly unsure if this was such a good idea anymore. She shuffled the cards thrice and then cut them once, then laying ten of them on the much stained and quite old table.
"Interesting. Very interesting indeed."
"What? Do you see who I'm looking for?" Draco's head perked up.
"Oh yes, honey, I see him. I also see something else," she was going to continue but Draco interrupted her.
"Where? Is something wrong?" Draco was leaning halfway over the table now, any further and he'd be sitting in Cleo's lap.
"He be fine, Draco. Be not worried about him. But the other thing that I see, that you might want to worry a little about. I fear it will cause you many problems in the not to distant future."
"What do you see then? You have to tell me!"
"I see more feelings than you want to realize right now, Draco Malfoy. Many more feelings. You don't want to admit them to anyone, least of all yourself. I must say, I'm a bit surprised, from what I've heard, you're to be quite the ladies' man."
"What in the bloody hell are you talking about?"
"The cards do not lie, Draco Malfoy. You have feelings for this one, quite strong actually. You can hide them from most people, but I can nearly smell it."
"Feelings? For- Look, I told you that this is very urgent. Are you going to tell me where to go, or do I need to just leave now and look myself?"
"I will surely tell you where he is. He is in one of the pens near Hagrid's cabin. On top of one of them, to be absolute."
"Everything is okay, right?"
"Yes love, he's fine. Do remember my warning though," she said as Draco was storming for the door. As the door shut behind him, she laughed to herself and said to no one that we could see, "Boys and their feelings. I do hope everything turns out okay."
Sorry that this is such a short chapter, I just can't keep my eyes open any longer. Next one will be quite lengthy and will hopefully resolve the Harry/Colin/Draco thing. Get ready for someone to kick Harry in the ass to get out of his little depression and get him motivated. He can be such a lunkhead sometimes, can't he?
Oh yeah, any NIN fans wanna help me out?? Let me know.
Before I start, here are a few things.
1)I still don't own the characters (rats)
2)the Hugh Mitchell picture bounty is still in effect
3)if any of you awesome readers would like to help me out, let me know. I need someone or someones who are familiar with the Nine Inch Nails album Pretty Hate Machine. Just drop me an email (super-goose@excite.com) if you're interested or in a review. You'll be helping a story take shape. I'll explain more if you're interested. If you're not, just wait and you'll eventually see the tale on FFN. Thanks in advance.
4)I apparently have to post in .txt file now, and I hate that, so bear with me as I work out the spacing and stuff. FFN no longer recognizes my MS Word docs, and I don't know why.
Alright, now let's get on with it.
Once Harry got over the shock of the bomb that Draco dropped, he was quite upset. Actually, that was hardly the word. Nearly inconsolable might be more like it. He kept seeing that smirk of Draco's in his mind. And raspberries. Hints of raspberries. Draco was very right about that. Colin certainly did enjoy those candies from Hogsmeade. Deep in his heart, he knew that Draco wasn't lying, even though he wished with all his soul that he was.
Harry leaned against the wall and hung his head low. He shook it side to side and breathed deeply, trying to fight off the tears. He quickly made his way back to the Gryffindor common room and sank into one of the cushy chairs.
It was no ones fault but my own, Harry thought to himself. I never even acknowledged his presence after Ron and I made up. It was like he wasn't even there. I don't blame him at all for going off to find someone else. Maybe someone else will deserve him more than me, even if it is Draco Malfoy.
Harry thought back to all the times that they'd shared over the past few weeks. He never really realized how deep his feelings ran for Colin until now that he'd lost him. Much deeper than he'd ever thought possible for anyone. His talisman began to glow faintly and radiate a little more heat than normal, beginning to warm the tower that had picked up its typical late September afternoon chill. He was so deep in his reveries that he didn't even notice the common room door swing open and Dennis and Ron step in.
Dennis was still winded from his sprint across the grounds a bit ago, but when he saw Harry trying to bury himself in the chair, all the fatigue dropped out of him instantly. He was over at Harry's side before Ron had taken more than three steps into the room. Dennis jumped onto the chair beside him and threw his arms around Harry, jolting him back into real time.
"Harry!! Oh Harry, it's terrible news, Harry!"
"I know, Dennis, I know."
"You know? But how?" Dennis looked quite dumbfounded as to how Harry could already know what he had just seen a bit ago.
"Malfoy told me." Dennis' face turned as pale as Draco's normally was.
"Oh no. I was dreading telling you, but hearing it from him is 100 times worse."
"That is an understatement, Dennis, believe me."
"Dennis, come here for a minute," Ron called from the doorway.
"Yeah, Ron?" Dennis made his way over to him.
"Stay here and keep an eye on Harry. I've got to go find Hermione, she'll know what to do. Don't let him do anything stupid, got it?"
"You got it." Dennis attempted a salute, but it was so half-hearted that it was sad. He went back over to Harry's side and sat down. Ron left the room on his mission, still not sure what to think about anything that had happened today.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ now to our favourite Slytherin ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Draco left the encounter with Harry on a mission of his own. It was quite simple, really. If he finds Colin first, he wins. If he doesn't, Potter wins. It was just a game, really. A game with very high stakes for both the contestants.
He headed in the direction of the Divination classroom, hoping to find the teacher there. While he never took stock in Divinations as a particularly good branch of magic, or even a single class for that matter, he knew that was his quickest option to winning.
He scaled the ladder and was about to push the door open when it swung to on its own. He was a little surprised, but stepped through with his typical swagger. The room he stepped into looked like something out of an old Muggle mystery movie. The walls were painted a variety of orange shades, with a bit of greens and blacks thrown in. There were quite a few half shaded windows, quite a few seemingly randomly placed tables and many, many candles.
"Greetins, Draco Malfoy," a voice from one end called out and startled him.
"How do you know who I am? I've never set foot in here before." Draco was caught unawares, one of the few things that could irritate him almost as much as Potter.
"I dunno, mebbee because I am psychic? Or mebbee I just know who you are? I'll let you decide. Now how can I help you?"
"If you're psychic, then you should know why I'm here, shouldn't you?" he asked in his sarcastic drawl.
"Do not mock the Ether, young Draco Malfoy. They know much more than you and reveal it when they are ready. Now come over here and let's see what the cards say for you."
The way she said that took the wind from his sails, so he sat down in the chair across from her smaller than he'd been a moment before. "Now, what can I help you with?"
"I need to know where a certain person is right now. It is very urgent and most important."
"Aah, then I'll need your birthday."
"My birthday? Whatever for?"
With a stern look, Miss Cleo said to him, "it helps the cards focus, that is why it is important. Now, what is your birthday?"
"November 15." what little fight Draco had left in him was now gone. He was much more like the timid Neville than the raucous Draco we saw a bit ago.
"See, that didn't hurt, did it?" she asked in a semi-mocking voice. Now let's see what the cards say, shall we?" Draco just nodded, suddenly unsure if this was such a good idea anymore. She shuffled the cards thrice and then cut them once, then laying ten of them on the much stained and quite old table.
"Interesting. Very interesting indeed."
"What? Do you see who I'm looking for?" Draco's head perked up.
"Oh yes, honey, I see him. I also see something else," she was going to continue but Draco interrupted her.
"Where? Is something wrong?" Draco was leaning halfway over the table now, any further and he'd be sitting in Cleo's lap.
"He be fine, Draco. Be not worried about him. But the other thing that I see, that you might want to worry a little about. I fear it will cause you many problems in the not to distant future."
"What do you see then? You have to tell me!"
"I see more feelings than you want to realize right now, Draco Malfoy. Many more feelings. You don't want to admit them to anyone, least of all yourself. I must say, I'm a bit surprised, from what I've heard, you're to be quite the ladies' man."
"What in the bloody hell are you talking about?"
"The cards do not lie, Draco Malfoy. You have feelings for this one, quite strong actually. You can hide them from most people, but I can nearly smell it."
"Feelings? For- Look, I told you that this is very urgent. Are you going to tell me where to go, or do I need to just leave now and look myself?"
"I will surely tell you where he is. He is in one of the pens near Hagrid's cabin. On top of one of them, to be absolute."
"Everything is okay, right?"
"Yes love, he's fine. Do remember my warning though," she said as Draco was storming for the door. As the door shut behind him, she laughed to herself and said to no one that we could see, "Boys and their feelings. I do hope everything turns out okay."
Sorry that this is such a short chapter, I just can't keep my eyes open any longer. Next one will be quite lengthy and will hopefully resolve the Harry/Colin/Draco thing. Get ready for someone to kick Harry in the ass to get out of his little depression and get him motivated. He can be such a lunkhead sometimes, can't he?
Oh yeah, any NIN fans wanna help me out?? Let me know.