malfoy

Draco Malfoy
And the Bloodstone
_ _ _ _ _By Ti'ana

Chapter Two

The low rumble of thunder woke Draco out of a blissful rest He had a dream, he recalled, which he didn't want to wake from, but all the images were forgotten as he tried to recollect and was distracted by a flash of lightning. Already, the school year was going badly, and he hadn't even started his first class yet.

It took him a moment to realize how early it was. He could hear the snoring of Crabbe and Goyle in the beds next to his. They were heavy sleepers, and the only thing capable of waking either of them was extreme hunger or Malfoy's voice yelling at them to put their rears in gear.

He needed some time alone. Classes wouldn't start for three hours now, and there was no point in waking his friends if it he was able to get some "me-time" in there.

Malfoy took out his schedule.. Unfortunately for him, Slytherin had wound up partnering with Gryffindor in many classes he was currently taking. Potions, Care for Magical Creatures (which almost got him killed the year before, or so he made it seem) and Divination, all three of which were that day. Potions this morning (all joy of joys), Care for Magical Creatures, then Divination. Tomorrow, Potions was first, followed by Herbology, then a History of Magic. According to his schedule, Potions occurred every day but Monday. Care for Magical Creatures was twice a week (Tuesdays and Fridays), Divination only on Tuesdays. Charms was Monday and Wednesday. No Defense Against the Dark Arts today. It was easily his best, and favorite, class. May as well get a head start; he took out his book of Dark Arts, and began reading, although everything he read was forgotten.

He sighed. The thunderstorm was beginning to ebb, and the sun started to peak through the clouds. It was about eight o'clock now. This meant it was almost time to get ready for breakfast. Another thought crossed his mind, which made him feel uncomfortable. He would have to face Lisha in less than an hour. She had captivated the minds of his mindless friends, a task not even he could incur. Even the Bloody Baron and Professor Snape (of all people!) had taken a liking to her. Malfoy wouldn't allow himself to like her. There was something about that girl, Lisha, that bothered him so.

A sickening thud stirred Malfoy's thoughts. "Ah... Jeez...."

He turned around to see Goyle laying on the floor, clutching his head and whining. "I'm up! For cripe's sake I'm up!"

"Good," Malfoy mumbled. "I didn't plan on waking you yet. We have to leave in twenty minutes. Breakfast starts in a half hour. I want to get downstairs first."

"First?" Crabbe was rubbing sleep from his eyes. "First as opposed to what?"

"Just first!" Malfoy realized the mistake he had made when he said that. All he wanted to do was get a seat away from that Lisha girl. Malfoy surprised himself with how much he despised a person, a full-blooded witch no less, in a time span of less than two full days. His only vexation in that time was Mudbloods, Muggle-lovers and witches and wizards with Muggle blood in them somewhere, usually from their parents. Draco Malfoy came from a long line of wizards and witches, and his blood wasn't tainted in the least by some non-magical person. Muggles were scum in his and his family's eyes.

At least Malfoy had one thing to be glad about. They were the first people down at the Slytherin table. He saw Hermione, Ron, Harry and their friend Neville at the Gryffindor table, but he was in no mood to bother them.

The food was already set on the table when they arrived. Crabbe and Goyle hovered over the scrambled eggs and buttered triangles of toast like vultures, as if waiting for Malfoy's permission to eat. He sat down, and they attacked the plates. Professor Snape entered the hall and quietly sat down, but not before throwing a nasty scowl in Harry Potter's direction. It was a well-known fact he hated Harry, which was unheard of in the magical world, besides He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, Lord Voldemort, the one who tried to kill him.

Within a few minutes, the hall was bustling with activity, but Lisha was no where in site. "Maybe she's sick," Crabbe offered, when Goyle asked where their new friend was. Malfoy just scowled.

The Slytherin table hushed as Lisha, clad in her black school robe, slowly made her way over to the table. It was understandable that anyone would be tired the first day of school and move that lethargically, but it was slow movements not brought about because of weariness. Her steps were small, and eventually she sat. Malfoy sighed, relieved, when she sat on the opposite end of the table. He was slightly perturbed when she wouldn't acknowledge his unfriendly glare, or even look at him. She nodded a hello to Goyle, and then to Crabbe when he finished stuffing a forkful of eggs into his mouth. Lisha sat between Professor Snape and another student, Pansy Parkinson, who gave her a look and slid away from her a few inches. Malfoy simpered when he saw this. He soon realized his attention was drawn completely to Lisha, and he suddenly became riveted in his untouched breakfast.

Goyle must have felt particularly upset by the aversion towards Lisha, for he stood and walked over, smiled and said hello, then sat. Malfoy watched angrily as the two began to converse like old friends. Both of them took out their programs, and apparently were comparing them. Malfoy had done that with the two of them last night, and obviously they had all the same classes together. He frowned, though, when he noted by their expressions that Lisha was in most of them as well. This was all happening too fast for him to take in.

Breakfast ended. Goyle went back to Malfoy and Crabbe.

"You know, we have an identical schedule to Lisha's! We thought that was odd, too. She was just telling me about her tutors. Remember Professor Lupin? He tutored her the summer before he taught at Hogwarts!"

"Really," Malfoy grumbled. "We're in the same house, Goyle. C'mon, we're gonna be late for Potions."

And they were. Snape frowned when the three entered the near-full dungeon-like room below the school. Only four seats remained in the cold "classroom," if you could even call it that, and one of the vacancies, of course, was next to Lisha. The three went to the seats in back of the room.

"If I see you three coming late to class on a regular basis, it will be twenty points from Slytherin..." He paused for dramatic effect. "Each. And you know how much I hate having to take from my own House.

"Now, if I may proceed. I was just explaining how you will be paired this year. We will be starting off the year with antidotes, and then to cures for the common curse."

Malfoy had near forgotten they were in the same class as the Gryffindors, so he was surprised for a moment when he heard Hermione's annoying voice ask how they were to be paired.

"In the old-fashioned Muggle way. Alphabetical order." The class groaned. "I cannot trust you to choose partners on your own. I am afraid Neville Longbottom" (the owner of the name nearly swallowed his tongue as Snape called him) "will do better without your disgustingly controlling manner over projects, Miss Granger. He will never learn if you do everything for him. Although, I doubt he will learn independently, or with any student in this class.

"So when I call your name, you will sit in the first available seat. Everyone stand. Good. Millicent Bulstrode, you will sit in the first seat. Next to Bulstrode will be Vincent Crabbe. Seamus Finnigan, you'll sit over here with... "

The list went on. "Neville Longbottom, you will sit here." Malfoy smirked. There was only one person between he and Neville, and that person was in Ravenclaw. But to his surprise, the seat next to him was taken. Oh well, he would probably be put next to Pansy Parkinson, another Slytherin who was almost as sharp and rude as he was. Because of this, the two were rumored to date (much to the delight of Pansy, and the disgust of Malfoy). He would be the next one they called...

"Lisha Luralby and Draco Malfoy."

"NOOO!" Malfoy literally exploded. "You can't do this, Professor Snape! Please, put me with Neville Longbottom, with Pansy Parkinson. PUT ME WITH HARRY POTTER, BUT FOR GOD'S SAKE NOT WITH THAT FREAK GIRL!"

"Twenty points from Slytherin! And detention for a week if I hear you complain any further. NOW TAKE YOUR SEAT, MISTER MALFOY!"

Lisha was already seated, and when Malfoy came over, she gave him a hurt expression. "I don't like you either, Draco Malfoy. No one in this godforsaken school likes me, and I know that. I would rather work with that klutz Longbottom than you, but there's nothing we can do but accept the current predicament. Now," her voice lowered even further, if possible, "I want this to be a pleasant year, no matter how much we dislike each other. Can you agree to that?"

A certain pair of vulgar words overheard by Professor Snape took another ten points from Slytherin. This was certainly shaping up to be an excellent year, alright.

***

"You hold 'em like this." Hagrid, the Care for Magical Creatures teacher, was demonstrating how to handle a teekuu, a big fluff ball that seemed harmless. "Now, don't ferget to watch out for 'em nasty claws 'a there's. If you're annoyin' 'em enough, they'll lash out at ye."

Malfoy rolled his eyes. He couldn't stand the class almost as much as he could the teacher. He and Hagrid always had it in for each other, especially after the incident last year with Buckbeak, a nasty hippogriff that nearly broke his arm. He was supposed to be executed, but by some odd twist of fate was rescued along with Sirius Black, accused murderer of twelve Muggles (as if that mattered) and "Wormtail," an old friend (and traitor) of Harry Potter's parents.

"Now yer gonna be placed in pairs" (Malfoy's pale blue eyes darted to the silent Lisha, he would NOT be partnered with her again) "which you will choose yerselves. Yer gonna be carin' for one of these babies all term. Keep 'em healthy like ye would any pet'uv yers. They can be real darlin's some times." The teekuu in Hagrid's hand was nibbling his fingers. "See what I mean?"

"What you mean," Malfoy called out, "is that having a furry, disgustingly cute creature biting your hands off is sweet. And if that's your definition of sweet, I refuse to take part in this."

"You will do what I tell ye to do or that'll be ten points from yer house and I'll be givin' you extra assignments outside'a class. Now pick a partner yer gonna be workin' with for a long time. Go."

Malfoy grabbed his closest friend: Crabbe. He half-expected Goyle to complain, but he was already off, choosing his partner. HER.

Malfoy watched, enviously, as she smiled when Goyle came over. Right now, he would prefer his air-headed friend be working with Hermione, who still searched for a partner as Harry and Ron paired up. Hermione looked upset, but he overheard Hagrid tell her she could assist him.

"It's kinda cute if you ask me." Crabbe scratched his teekuu under the chin, and it purred in contentment. "Wanna hold it?"

Draco's repulsed expression answered the question.

"Okay, if you don't wanna. We gotta care for this thing all year, and you're never gonna touch it?"

"I"d prefer not to, thanks." The large brown pool-like eyes of the teekuu looked at him despondently. Like Lisha's, he thought. He glanced over at her. She was laughing; apparently the teekuu had found its way up her sleeve and was resting under the crook of her arm. A slight smile played across his lips, but was wiped away when he saw Goyle waving at him. Lisha looked over the crowd to see who her partner was waving at, and her laughter became a dull silence that seemed to echo over the field. She reached up her sleeve and pulled the teekuu out by the scruff.

Malfoy roughly pulled the teekuu away from Crabbe. Surprised, the half-asleep creature squealed something awful and grabbed Malfoy's sleeve with its sharp claws. He waved his arm wildly, which caused the small fluff ball to latch on tighter. It let go, eventually, and sprinted down Malfoy's sleeve. He stifled a laugh as it brushed against his arm, then climbed his stomach, which tickled more than it hurt, despite the many claw marks he must have had by now, and shot out of the top of the robe, landing on Malfoy's head where it quickly made a nest and laid down.

The class was howling with laughter. Ron Weasley was on the floor clutching his stomach, Harry almost strangling his as he snickered, Crabbe and Goyle hitting each other's arms as they pointed, and even Hagrid chuckling. Lisha, though, simply shook her head and stroked the animal sleeping on her arm.

Crabbe and Malfoy's teekuu had fallen asleep already in the blonde mass of hair. "What am I supposed to do with this thing?"

Hagrid, for once, answered Malfoy without hollering or correcting his actions. "Ne'er seen anything run like that. Best to leave 'em where he is. Teekuus don't like ta be bothered from their sleep, mind ye. 'Sides, don'tche feel special havin' a ball o' fur curled up on yer head?"

Malfoy didn't answer. He never truly "liked" anything, but he had to admit, he was beginning to fancy these teekuu things. Much better they were than hippogriffs!

He almost forgot the animal on his head until he started leaving back to the school for his next class. Hagrid didn't notice either until he was almost half way to the school. Malfoy apologized, which surprised Hagrid so much he offered to put the animal back for them.

Back in the school, Malfoy found the Slytherin table where Crabbe and Goyle already sat. They were already chatting.

"She said she used to have a pet teekuu, you know. D'ya know how big those things can get? Like, huge!" Goyle stretched his arms out to their full expansion, whacking Malfoy in the stomach. "Drac! Where were you? Didya hear about that new girl?"

Rubbing his stomach, Malfoy slipped into an empty space between the two. Coolly, he shook his head. "What about the new girl?"

"Lisha Luralby." Malfoy shuddered. "She really did come to this school! Remember, first day of Potions class, you turned her hair green because you didn't know the difference between green weely solution and green weely mixture?" Crabbe laughed as Goyle recounted the event. "And- and when you put the mixture in the pot with the boiling water it exploded all over some girl! That was her!"

"No," Malfoy said quickly. "Don't remember."

"Where is she, anyway?"

Goyle shrugged. "Think she said she had to go to Snape. Anyway, we'd better hurry and eat, 'cause we got Divination next and we don't want to miss one prediction Trelawney has in store for us this year."

Divination was uneventful. Professor Trelawney introduced them to Astrology, and according to her charts, "Someone in the class" (Malfoy noted her mournful glance at Harry Potter; he saw Ron stifled a laugh) will have passed into the next world by the end of this year." Professor Trelawney always predicted Harry was going to die, but none of her prognostications had been true. Unfortunately, for Malfoy that is.

"Vincent," she said, as she hovered over the table Malfoy and his friends sat at, "According to your sign, the Pisces, and the current position of the constellation in the sky and the recent moon patterns, what do you think that means about the coming days?"

Crabbe stuttered, but eventually cracked a smile. "I'm gonna die, aren't I?"

She beamed. "I'm very glad to see you take the news so well. You will not die, don't worry. But I predict you will be gravely injured by mid-May. In store for you this week, I see nothing awful awaiting. Oh, and don't forget to do your Potions homework, or Professor Snape will lash out at you viscously by Thursday I predict."

She stopped over Malfoy. She looked him over for a moment, and then smiled. "I see a bright and happy future for you this year at school. Yes– I see your first day back has already been rather joyous."

Crabbe and Goyle snickered. Malfoy waited until she walked away to hit each of them on the sides of the head. It seemed a risky feat, because both of them were twice his size and to abuse them like that was one exploit. They were too loyal to Draco, blind faith of course because they were too stupid to know much of anything else.

Professor Trelawney made a few more grim predictions before she decided to let everyone do their own work on their own charts. Five minutes before class ended, she gave them their first assignment.

"I want you to plot out every day for the next month and what you think will happen." She tapped their book, Unfogging the Future. "This should help you with the position of the stars and phases of the moon. Make serious predictions, please." She eyed Ron Weasley, who was tapping Harry and clamping his hands around his neck. Both were laughing quietly. "This is a serious matter, class."

"I predict I'm going to die," Draco mumbled on his way out of the class with Crabbe. Goyle stayed behind to speak with Professor Trelawney. Odd it seemed to both of them, as they knew just as well as Goyle did staying longer than he had to after class was way out of character. "Simple premonition. I mean, I am going to die someday, so it isn't like I'm lying. One-hundred percent true."

"I predict I'll be eating a nice, big helping of Cornish pastries in the next few minutes. Let's go down to the kitchen, I'm hungry again."