Draco Malfoy Promises To Be A Good Boy This Year

Part Five

In Trouble

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Things just progressed even worse from there. Apparently, Colin Creevy went running to McGonagall's room first thing the next morning and practically broke the door down. He blabbed on about how Draco Malfoy was in his room and that I had tried to kill him. McGonagall was very skeptical about this, but needless to say she went to get Professor Snape up. They looked in my Slytherin dorm and found a bunch of broken beds and kids sleeping on the floor, but no me. My 'friends' told the two of them that I had wrecked the room and practically killed them. Now I was responsible for the near deaths of about six people. Needless to say, I was in some deep trouble now.

My first conscious thought was the fact that I was being yanked out of bed by my arm. "Malfoy, get up!"

"Mmm…what?" Ginny murmured sleepily next to me.

"Young man, wake up!" The voice was sharp. It was Professor McGonagall.

I practically jumped out of my skin, my heart pounding. "Professor! I…er…"

"Mr. Malfoy, you are in a girl's dorm in a girl's bed! You have no idea how much trouble you're in!"

"Well…she is my girlfriend," I said weakly.

"That's no excuse! She then pulled Ginny out of bed. "And you, young lady, what on earth are you thinking?"

"What, I just woke up! I didn't know he was here, honest! We didn't do anything, I was asleep, I swear, I…" her voice drifted off as McGonagall pulled her out of the room by her ear. Now I was going to be blamed for a seventh almost-murder. Ginny's. If McGonagall didn't kill her, her parents would.

I threw on my robes as fast as I could and stumbled out of the room and down the winding stone stairs. As I emerged into the common room, I was met with laughter on all sides. The entire house of Gryffindor was standing there in pajamas, laughing at me. My trunk was sitting in the middle of the room, my little nameplate shining in the rising sun which streamed through the windows. So they had known I was up there before McGonagall even did. My trunk was a dead giveaway. Several seventh year boys were sitting on top of it, laughing uproariously. This was a grand hour for the Gryffindors, seeing one of the mighty Slytherins so low and cast out.

Harry, Hermione, and Ron were standing in one of the corners, looking at me sadly. At least they weren't laughing. I looked at them, my eyes flaring. It was all their fault that this happened to me. Being friends with them had lost me my Slytherin friends. They made the Slytherins laugh at me. And now the Gryffindors were laughing too. Everyone was laughing. I bared my teeth at them.

Hermione stepped towards me. "Draco?" she mouthed, a confused look on her face. I shook my head and took a step back.

"It's all YOUR fault," I muttered. I suddenly screamed. "YOUR FAULT, POTTER!"

His eyebrows shot right up and he adjusted his glasses. "Draco…I…"

"Your fault!" I had to get out of there. I had to get away. They were laughing at me. They thought I was funny. No one laughs at Draco Malfoy. No one! Not my father, not the teachers, not the students…no one! I pulled out my wand and shot fireworks at them all. The sparks exploded in their faces, causing them to cry out and cower to the floor. I took off running and flew out of the common room like the devil was on my heels. I pounded through the castle, knocking over everything I could. Stone statues, suits of armor, torches, Peeves the Poltergeist…nothing escaped my rage. I could not find acceptance anywhere, from anyone. Damn them!! I used my wand to blast a door right off its hinges. Every little blast took away a bit of the hurt I felt.

"Malfoy, stop immediately!" McGonagall was coming after me.

"Forget it!" I yelled. I ran faster, plowing Professor Flitwick over in my mad scramble. I toppled but was up and running again before McGonagall could catch me. If I was going down, I was taking everyone in this school with me!

I was almost to the front door when Professor Dumbledore cut me off. "Draco, stop this!" I had never heard him so firm. I screamed wildly at him and turned the other way. He was my enemy too. He was laughing at me! They all were! Oh, I never should have come here.

I ran down the familiar corridor to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. I had to get in. I had to hide. I dropped down and slid over the wet tile on my knees. I rapped on the bronze tap with the snake on it. "It's Draco, open up! Please open up!" But it wouldn't. I wasn't a parselmouth. So I decided to blast it apart. A bright light slammed against the sink and it shattered. It left a hole in the wall. I wasn't sure if I could get down to the Chamber of Secrets this way, but I could at least try. I shoved my body into the hole but was stopped by a pair of hands holding onto my feet.

"Draco, no!"

I kicked. "Leave me alone, or I'll kill you, I swear! Stop laughing at me!!"

"No one is laughing." The cold voice was Snape's, but I imagined it was my father.

"Let me go, father! I'll kill you! I'll KILL you!" I swung a hand back to smack him.

He caught my hand and pulled me out. "Come on, Draco. Pull it together. Let's go to my office." He physically contained me and pulled the wand out of my hand. "I think you've done enough damage to the school for one day…"

I kept a steely glare on my face as he led me along, his cloak wrapped around me so that I was shielded from the students who stared. This I was glad for. I kept hearing whispers about how Draco had snapped and tried to kill everyone, how he had tried to blow up the school because he was disturbed while he was with a girl, how his father beats him so he's crazy, how no one really likes him. I covered my ears with my hands and whimpered. I couldn't stand it.

In Snape's office, he had me lie on a couch, and I curled up into a little ball. I had known I didn't want to go back to Hogwarts and I wish I had never consented to it. I knew the Slytherins wouldn't understand me being with Ginny, or my alliance with the Gryffindor Dream Team. Don't the teachers see that I had to destroy things? I had to show them I wasn't weak, that they couldn't laugh at me and get away with it.

*****

I walked into the big primary school for magic children, clinging to my mother's hand. I was nine-years-old and I was shy and quiet and scared. I didn't want her to leave, but she kissed my cheek and left. She left me there. And the children in my class teased me. They said that I was scrawny and sick looking and my eyes were too big and my hair was too white. They teased me because I was wearing short pants and a little tie that my father thought were distinguished and they were all able to wear regular Muggle clothes. They teased me and said that I would never be able to do magic when I was older because I was too small and dumb. I wasn't dumb…I was just quiet. And they laughed at me. They laughed. And I swore no one would ever laugh at me again. So at recess, I showed them all just how powerful I could be. I sent snakes after them, and they never laughed at me again. And I was the way I am from then on. I was Draco Malfoy, the best, the boy no one dared laugh at. And Hogwarts will pay for laughing at me.

*****

"Draco…snap out of it."

I flinched and looked up at Snape who was shaking my shoulder. "What?"

"You were staring at the torch flame, and you had a maniacal smile on your face."

I shrugged. "Maybe I'm crazy."

"You're not crazy. But you're angry." He swept around the room, collecting things for the first potions class. "And what are we going to do about that?"

"I'm leaving. I'm going to pick up Ginny and then I'm leaving."

"And where do you plan to go?"

"I don't know. Anywhere." I sniffed. "What does it matter? Anywhere but here, where everyone hates me."

He kneeled down in front of me and flicked a lock of hair out of my eyes. "Maybe you should go somewhere else, take a little break from this. You don't seem fully ready to be here yet. You can't be here at Hogwarts if you're going to be destructive, Draco. And I don't want you to hurt yourself."

Why did everyone hate Snape so much? All you had to do was talk to him to know that he was a decent chap. He was always so fair with me. But I guess it was because I was…formerly…a Slytherin. This made me upset at him. I pushed him away. "How come you're only nice to the Slytherins? What have they ever done that was so great?"

He sighed. "We are talking about you, not me. Don't change the subject. What are we going to do with you?"

"You could just drown me." I shrugged sulkily.

"Oh, as much as I would like to, I doubt Professor Dumbledore would approve of that." He cracked a smile at me. "He did, however, suggest that you live at home and take your courses by correspondence though the mail. We will Owl you your lessons every day. It will be difficult, but you can still keep up with your studies."

"So I'm expelled?" My heart sank. I was so angry with everyone, but actually leaving school made me feel so separated from the others, even more than I was already.

"Not expelled. But suspended until you feel ready to come back and not cause any problems." I hung my head at this, and he lifted my chin. "Draco…you can be the strongest wizard, the strongest man and still have a hard spell. Give this a try. Live at home for a bit."

I suddenly panicked and clutched at Snape's shoulders in terror. "No! No!! I can't go home! Don't send me home, don't send me home!!"

He grabbed my arms and his eyes bore into mine. "Draco, why can't you go home?"

"My father!" I sobbed. "Don't send me back to him!" All my strength was gone. I was nothing but a crying, simpering little weasel. And I didn't give a damn.

"All right, relax. Professor Dumbledore and I will think of something."

Dumbledore came into the office a little later and the three of us decided that I would be sent to live in a small flat in London. The flat belonged to Snape, although he rarely used it. It was protected by powerful magic, so no one could break in there, thus I would be completely safe. Anyone whom I didn't let in couldn't get in. I would be sent an owl every day with the day's lessons so I could keep up with my magical studies, and I would send my homework back later that night. Not only that, but there would be a stationary Portkey from Hogwarts to Snape's flat so that my friends could visit with me after dinner as long as they were back before midnight. I was thrilled. This would be perfect for me. I just couldn't take the students right then, and now I could just surround myself with people I liked and who liked me. And more importantly, my father couldn't get to me unless I let him in.

Once things seemed settled, Snape told me that if I wrecked his flat, he would kill me himself and do the Dark Lord a favor. I laughed and sighed with relief. When I felt ready, I would be back and I would be stronger than ever. They wouldn't laugh when I made my triumphant return. Then I would show them all up for ever laughing at me.

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Note: Whew, okay! Thanks for all the nice reviews people have given me so far! I know thus far it's just been Draco going a little nuts, but I've been having a very hard time formulating a plot for this story. Honestly, I had nothing for him to do at Hogwarts at this point. But I think now I've got it! Now that I've got Draco out of Hogwarts the main action can begin. I hope the little flashback helped to clarify why Draco was so afraid of everyone laughing at him. Elementary school can be traumatic for a kid! But can Draco get back his favor in the eyes of the Slytherins and still be friends with Harry Potter? What happens when someone moves in with Draco in Snape's flat? And Snape is nice, isn't he…lol Why is Lady Grizzy writing such an odd author's note? That's one question that even I don't know the answer to. LOL Anyway, I hope you all like this so far. :)