Disclaimer: oh well. ditto again.
got feedback on the letter writing thing. don't worry people, i'm only going to insert a letter between narratives. i.e.: narrative 2 chaps, letter, narrative 3 chap, letter, narrative.... etc. though not necesarily in that order. i'm not going to (gasp) write a story composed totally of letters. i will get bored too. the fun is in the descriptions!
and whoopz i think this was supposed to be fluffy. damn. i guess i just can't bear to have them too happy. haha. just kidding.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Draco was in a bad mood. Actually that would be a major understatement.
After he received the letter from Harry, he managed to throw one of the worst tantrums the slytherin common room had ever seen. And that said something, considering how many spoilt brats the room had housed.
Perhaps it was the green sparks erupting from the end of Draco's wand that gave the first warning. Or maybe it was the panic on Blaise's face. Blaise was a typical slytherin and nothing fazed him much. It had to be a very dangerous situation when he got nervous. Much less running out of the room screaming "Mercy".
Especially when it involved an explosive blond standing red faced and clutching a parchment paper.
Whatever it was, there was suddenly a mass stampede to the exit. The characteristic slytherin grace and sense of decorum forgotten in a bid for survival.
Draco started breaking everything in sight.
When he finished, the walls were slightly charred and the floor was sprinkled with shards of glass from the mirrors he shattered. The couches were in tatters, the leather streaked with gaping diagonal gashes. The floor length tapestries were shredded into ragged inch-wide strips. Doors to the dorms swung wildly, half unhinged and some already threatening to collapse. The floor was littered with singed scraps of paper, remains of half done homework left unwittingly behind by their owners in their frantic haste to get out of the vicinity.
The destruction had stopped as suddenly as it begun.
He stood there, bits of cloth and paper and ash rained down like some crude confetti.
The room was silent, even the paintings had fled their frames to seek sanctuary elsewhere in the castle. His breathing sounded harsh in the stillness and the loud thumping of his heart filled his ears. Blood pounded between his ears, making logical thought impossible.
For a moment it looked as if he was going to begin tearing down the place again and the walls seemed to flinch under his wrathful glare. Then just as suddenly, the anger disappeared, and in it's place a surprising vulnerability crept in.
The throbbing grew almost painful inside his skull.
Draco was unused to this feeling, yet he was unable to stop his trembling. He ran his slender fingers through his hair harshly, taking deep shuddering gasps of breath. If anyone was nearby at the moment, they would have witnessed the hurt in his eyes, making him seem almost painfully young.
As if unable to hold up much longer, his knees gave beneath him. He collapsed to the ground. Not noticing or caring when the sharp edges of glass pierced his delicate skin. He lay on his sides motionless, too exhausted to even curl up to fetal position. His eyes remained curiously blank, staring off into the distance.
The blood from the cuts streaked the porcelain skin, the red congregated at the tip of his fingers. A droplet formed, swelled and grew pregnant. It dripped onto a fragment of mirror, staining its world scarlet.
He closed his eyes, the fatigue finally catching up with him. Draco slept.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
They found him later, in the same position, a lonely figure amongst the wreckage.
The Slytherins conferred, then deciding not to risk Draco's anger, they decided to keep the incident amongst themselves. They cast healing spells over the still unconscious figure and proceeded to levitate him to his bed.
The older students took up the arduous task of repairing the damage and replacing furniture. Then abandoning the endless and futile employment, a first year was dispatched to summon the house elves.
After threatening the elves with variations of themes of suffering and sudden death if the incident ever got out to the headmaster, they left them to their work, resuming the various activities they had been engaged in before their evacuation.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Draco woke to aching joints and a major migraine. He groped for the vial of pepper-up potion he left at his trunk for hangovers. Finding it, uncorked it and downed it in one go. Immediately he felt better.
He stretched leisurely, arching his back sensuously like a cat. Mid-stretch he stiffened and paled. Then grabbing his robes, shot out of bed, stumbling slightly over the bedsheets twisted around his leg. Hurriedly he dressed himself, with uncharacteristic disregard for perfection.
"Where you going?" came the sleepy voice from the bed beside him.
Draco stiffened as he remembered the conversation which led to his outburst the day before. To be sure, it was perfectly innocent on Blaise's part, teasing between friends.
~ * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ~
His eagle owl came back with Harry's reply, a dark form against the darkening sky. Ghostly wings churned the air in it's silent progress.
He was sure that it was a favourable response. Draco knew that they couldn't live without each other. This was just one of the little spats couples have to go through. Nothing important. Nothing serious.
Yet there was something nagging at the back of his mind. A small doubt and he couldn't help feeling apprehensive.
Before the bird had a chance to land he snatched the rolled letter from its feet, earning a annoyed hoot, which he promptly ignored. Nervously he undid the green ribbon, his hands suddenly awkward and clumsy.
He dropped the letter, which unrolled slightly to reveal the familiar flowing script.
Taking a deep breath he picked it up gingerly as if it would disintegrate to dust between his hands if he were not careful.
As he read it, his fears intensified. It was impossible.
Harry didn't want him anymore.
He stood stunned, then a gave a rueful gasp, which startled him in its rawness. He wanted to tear the letter to shreds, destroy those damning words, but he found he couldn't bear to. Harry. My Harry, he thought possessively.
He folded it carefully, automatically slipping it into his robe pocket. Then immediately, took it out again, pressing a gentle and chaste kiss, merely a brush of lips over a splotch in the ink. Senselessly, he spoke aloud, wonderingly, "Harry's tears fell here."
In a daze, he went back to the common room. It was as if veils of sheer silk lay before him, making it difficult to think or move. Breathing took so much effort.
His ashen face generated a stir. Blaise took one look and was immediately by his side, leading him to a chair in a secluded corner.
Draco let himself be guided. He seemed hardly aware of his surroundings.
They sat there silently for around half an hour, Blaise not asking anything. He figured if Draco wanted to tell him, he would. There wasn't any use in demanding the details.
But after the long lapse, Blaise grew fidgety and alarmed at his friend's lack of movement. Draco continued staring at some distant point, his face wooden and devoid of expression.
Finally, Draco pulled out the letter without a word of explanation and pushed it towards his best friend. His eyes beseeching as he watched Blaise pick it up warily.
Blaise scanned the letter quickly, nervously filling in on the details. It took awhile to sink in. Draco and Harry breaking up? Or rather Harry breaking up with Draco? It was unthinkable. Blaise didn't think Harry would have the guts to do something like that,
Draco was always the one who initiated break ups. He had a tendency to get tired of his latest conquests with astonishing speed. Sometimes leaving the unfortunate soul after the first night of passion.
In fact now that Blaise thought of it, Draco and Harry had lasted a record length of time as a couple. Given their history, it was only inevitable that they would break up sooner or later. Those two were too volatile to last very long together. Harry had been too nice to be true, always giving in to Draco and Draco was one hard customer to please. No saint couldn't have kept it up forever.
In the few seconds he took to scan the letter, Blaise convinced himself that he had seen this coming ever since Draco had told him about his relationship with Harry. Forget about how he had been thinking that they made the perfect couple that very morning.
"Er... Draco?"
Draco lifted his weary eyes in response.
"Um... I don't know what to say," Blaise floundered helplessly, then ventured, "Maybe if you went to talk to him..."
"I wrote him a letter," came the half-hearted reply.
"Well... then we'll just wait to see what Potter says," Blaise tried to inject some false gaiety into his words, thinking to himself, "The things I have to put up with..."
"That IS his response." Draco grated out.
"Oh." Blaise said eloquently.
"Yes."
"I..."
"Damn it!" Draco shouted, shocking Blaise into backing away, he spat venomously, "Stupid Potter."
Draco was furious that Harry had given up so easily on their relationship. Didn't they have something special? Harry knew he was crazy about him. Did he have to spell it out for him all the time?
Blaise gave a sigh of relief, this was a Draco he knew and could deal with; the silent and vacant individual wasn't. At least he knew now that Draco wasn't angry at him.
"So..."
"Yes." Draco replied to the unspoken question.
They fell silent.
Then in a moment of foolish flippancy, Blaise laughed, "Is that all?"
Draco stared at his friend uncomprehendingly.
Blaise continued, "So you're angry at Harry because he broke up with you? How many people have you broke up with? If this is about your pride, Draco, I suggest you get over it."
"But..." Draco spluttered vainly, "This is different."
"You wasn't expecting it to last were you? It's Harry Potter for Merlin's sake."
"Well..." Draco hesitated, confused and irritated, he immediately regretted showing Blaise the letter.
Blaise pushed on recklessly, "Since you're not dating him anymore, you can go back to being the Most Eligible Bachelor in Hogwarts..."
Draco smiled at this blatant appeal to his ego. Blaise took this as a favourable response and imprudently added,
"...and the rest of the Harry Fan Club can have their chance at the Golden Boy."
That's when Draco exploded.
~ * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ~
"Out." Draco replied curtly.
On Blaise's part there was only silence. Perhaps Blaise had grown wise, but more likely than not, he had fallen asleep again. Either way Draco was thankful for the lack of response. He did not want to be forced to hex his best friend.
He headed purposefully for the door, then as if he had second thoughts, backtracked to the mirror to comb his silky silver blond locks. Harry always liked his hair soft and falling about his face. Draco had to admit it was more flattering than the gel helmet he sported before they started dating.
Finally satisfied with his reflection, Draco left the common room in search of the Gryffindor tower.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
To noraseyes: thanks.
To Sailor Grape: hmz... ok. you won't miss out on the action coz i will still have the narrative part. the letters are just a supplement so readers can get a better idea of what the characters are feeling. but if you still don't like the style after a few chaps, tell me.
To Serenitas: thank you =).
To katrina: yah that's what i meant by alternating. a letter between a few chapters. i would miss descriptions too much if i only did letters. hmz... so that was a bad attempt at writing letters? oh dear.
To psycho tabby cat: thanks alot! hmz... you are in uni? what's it like? i'm going next year, abit nervous now.
To NayNymic: haha glad you caught onto the evil part. =) i'll take that as a compliment.
To Megs: thanks. i'm thrilled that you enjoyed it so much.
To Lady Shirubana: knowing draco... sigh.
got feedback on the letter writing thing. don't worry people, i'm only going to insert a letter between narratives. i.e.: narrative 2 chaps, letter, narrative 3 chap, letter, narrative.... etc. though not necesarily in that order. i'm not going to (gasp) write a story composed totally of letters. i will get bored too. the fun is in the descriptions!
and whoopz i think this was supposed to be fluffy. damn. i guess i just can't bear to have them too happy. haha. just kidding.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Draco was in a bad mood. Actually that would be a major understatement.
After he received the letter from Harry, he managed to throw one of the worst tantrums the slytherin common room had ever seen. And that said something, considering how many spoilt brats the room had housed.
Perhaps it was the green sparks erupting from the end of Draco's wand that gave the first warning. Or maybe it was the panic on Blaise's face. Blaise was a typical slytherin and nothing fazed him much. It had to be a very dangerous situation when he got nervous. Much less running out of the room screaming "Mercy".
Especially when it involved an explosive blond standing red faced and clutching a parchment paper.
Whatever it was, there was suddenly a mass stampede to the exit. The characteristic slytherin grace and sense of decorum forgotten in a bid for survival.
Draco started breaking everything in sight.
When he finished, the walls were slightly charred and the floor was sprinkled with shards of glass from the mirrors he shattered. The couches were in tatters, the leather streaked with gaping diagonal gashes. The floor length tapestries were shredded into ragged inch-wide strips. Doors to the dorms swung wildly, half unhinged and some already threatening to collapse. The floor was littered with singed scraps of paper, remains of half done homework left unwittingly behind by their owners in their frantic haste to get out of the vicinity.
The destruction had stopped as suddenly as it begun.
He stood there, bits of cloth and paper and ash rained down like some crude confetti.
The room was silent, even the paintings had fled their frames to seek sanctuary elsewhere in the castle. His breathing sounded harsh in the stillness and the loud thumping of his heart filled his ears. Blood pounded between his ears, making logical thought impossible.
For a moment it looked as if he was going to begin tearing down the place again and the walls seemed to flinch under his wrathful glare. Then just as suddenly, the anger disappeared, and in it's place a surprising vulnerability crept in.
The throbbing grew almost painful inside his skull.
Draco was unused to this feeling, yet he was unable to stop his trembling. He ran his slender fingers through his hair harshly, taking deep shuddering gasps of breath. If anyone was nearby at the moment, they would have witnessed the hurt in his eyes, making him seem almost painfully young.
As if unable to hold up much longer, his knees gave beneath him. He collapsed to the ground. Not noticing or caring when the sharp edges of glass pierced his delicate skin. He lay on his sides motionless, too exhausted to even curl up to fetal position. His eyes remained curiously blank, staring off into the distance.
The blood from the cuts streaked the porcelain skin, the red congregated at the tip of his fingers. A droplet formed, swelled and grew pregnant. It dripped onto a fragment of mirror, staining its world scarlet.
He closed his eyes, the fatigue finally catching up with him. Draco slept.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
They found him later, in the same position, a lonely figure amongst the wreckage.
The Slytherins conferred, then deciding not to risk Draco's anger, they decided to keep the incident amongst themselves. They cast healing spells over the still unconscious figure and proceeded to levitate him to his bed.
The older students took up the arduous task of repairing the damage and replacing furniture. Then abandoning the endless and futile employment, a first year was dispatched to summon the house elves.
After threatening the elves with variations of themes of suffering and sudden death if the incident ever got out to the headmaster, they left them to their work, resuming the various activities they had been engaged in before their evacuation.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Draco woke to aching joints and a major migraine. He groped for the vial of pepper-up potion he left at his trunk for hangovers. Finding it, uncorked it and downed it in one go. Immediately he felt better.
He stretched leisurely, arching his back sensuously like a cat. Mid-stretch he stiffened and paled. Then grabbing his robes, shot out of bed, stumbling slightly over the bedsheets twisted around his leg. Hurriedly he dressed himself, with uncharacteristic disregard for perfection.
"Where you going?" came the sleepy voice from the bed beside him.
Draco stiffened as he remembered the conversation which led to his outburst the day before. To be sure, it was perfectly innocent on Blaise's part, teasing between friends.
~ * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ~
His eagle owl came back with Harry's reply, a dark form against the darkening sky. Ghostly wings churned the air in it's silent progress.
He was sure that it was a favourable response. Draco knew that they couldn't live without each other. This was just one of the little spats couples have to go through. Nothing important. Nothing serious.
Yet there was something nagging at the back of his mind. A small doubt and he couldn't help feeling apprehensive.
Before the bird had a chance to land he snatched the rolled letter from its feet, earning a annoyed hoot, which he promptly ignored. Nervously he undid the green ribbon, his hands suddenly awkward and clumsy.
He dropped the letter, which unrolled slightly to reveal the familiar flowing script.
Taking a deep breath he picked it up gingerly as if it would disintegrate to dust between his hands if he were not careful.
As he read it, his fears intensified. It was impossible.
Harry didn't want him anymore.
He stood stunned, then a gave a rueful gasp, which startled him in its rawness. He wanted to tear the letter to shreds, destroy those damning words, but he found he couldn't bear to. Harry. My Harry, he thought possessively.
He folded it carefully, automatically slipping it into his robe pocket. Then immediately, took it out again, pressing a gentle and chaste kiss, merely a brush of lips over a splotch in the ink. Senselessly, he spoke aloud, wonderingly, "Harry's tears fell here."
In a daze, he went back to the common room. It was as if veils of sheer silk lay before him, making it difficult to think or move. Breathing took so much effort.
His ashen face generated a stir. Blaise took one look and was immediately by his side, leading him to a chair in a secluded corner.
Draco let himself be guided. He seemed hardly aware of his surroundings.
They sat there silently for around half an hour, Blaise not asking anything. He figured if Draco wanted to tell him, he would. There wasn't any use in demanding the details.
But after the long lapse, Blaise grew fidgety and alarmed at his friend's lack of movement. Draco continued staring at some distant point, his face wooden and devoid of expression.
Finally, Draco pulled out the letter without a word of explanation and pushed it towards his best friend. His eyes beseeching as he watched Blaise pick it up warily.
Blaise scanned the letter quickly, nervously filling in on the details. It took awhile to sink in. Draco and Harry breaking up? Or rather Harry breaking up with Draco? It was unthinkable. Blaise didn't think Harry would have the guts to do something like that,
Draco was always the one who initiated break ups. He had a tendency to get tired of his latest conquests with astonishing speed. Sometimes leaving the unfortunate soul after the first night of passion.
In fact now that Blaise thought of it, Draco and Harry had lasted a record length of time as a couple. Given their history, it was only inevitable that they would break up sooner or later. Those two were too volatile to last very long together. Harry had been too nice to be true, always giving in to Draco and Draco was one hard customer to please. No saint couldn't have kept it up forever.
In the few seconds he took to scan the letter, Blaise convinced himself that he had seen this coming ever since Draco had told him about his relationship with Harry. Forget about how he had been thinking that they made the perfect couple that very morning.
"Er... Draco?"
Draco lifted his weary eyes in response.
"Um... I don't know what to say," Blaise floundered helplessly, then ventured, "Maybe if you went to talk to him..."
"I wrote him a letter," came the half-hearted reply.
"Well... then we'll just wait to see what Potter says," Blaise tried to inject some false gaiety into his words, thinking to himself, "The things I have to put up with..."
"That IS his response." Draco grated out.
"Oh." Blaise said eloquently.
"Yes."
"I..."
"Damn it!" Draco shouted, shocking Blaise into backing away, he spat venomously, "Stupid Potter."
Draco was furious that Harry had given up so easily on their relationship. Didn't they have something special? Harry knew he was crazy about him. Did he have to spell it out for him all the time?
Blaise gave a sigh of relief, this was a Draco he knew and could deal with; the silent and vacant individual wasn't. At least he knew now that Draco wasn't angry at him.
"So..."
"Yes." Draco replied to the unspoken question.
They fell silent.
Then in a moment of foolish flippancy, Blaise laughed, "Is that all?"
Draco stared at his friend uncomprehendingly.
Blaise continued, "So you're angry at Harry because he broke up with you? How many people have you broke up with? If this is about your pride, Draco, I suggest you get over it."
"But..." Draco spluttered vainly, "This is different."
"You wasn't expecting it to last were you? It's Harry Potter for Merlin's sake."
"Well..." Draco hesitated, confused and irritated, he immediately regretted showing Blaise the letter.
Blaise pushed on recklessly, "Since you're not dating him anymore, you can go back to being the Most Eligible Bachelor in Hogwarts..."
Draco smiled at this blatant appeal to his ego. Blaise took this as a favourable response and imprudently added,
"...and the rest of the Harry Fan Club can have their chance at the Golden Boy."
That's when Draco exploded.
~ * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ~
"Out." Draco replied curtly.
On Blaise's part there was only silence. Perhaps Blaise had grown wise, but more likely than not, he had fallen asleep again. Either way Draco was thankful for the lack of response. He did not want to be forced to hex his best friend.
He headed purposefully for the door, then as if he had second thoughts, backtracked to the mirror to comb his silky silver blond locks. Harry always liked his hair soft and falling about his face. Draco had to admit it was more flattering than the gel helmet he sported before they started dating.
Finally satisfied with his reflection, Draco left the common room in search of the Gryffindor tower.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
To noraseyes: thanks.
To Sailor Grape: hmz... ok. you won't miss out on the action coz i will still have the narrative part. the letters are just a supplement so readers can get a better idea of what the characters are feeling. but if you still don't like the style after a few chaps, tell me.
To Serenitas: thank you =).
To katrina: yah that's what i meant by alternating. a letter between a few chapters. i would miss descriptions too much if i only did letters. hmz... so that was a bad attempt at writing letters? oh dear.
To psycho tabby cat: thanks alot! hmz... you are in uni? what's it like? i'm going next year, abit nervous now.
To NayNymic: haha glad you caught onto the evil part. =) i'll take that as a compliment.
To Megs: thanks. i'm thrilled that you enjoyed it so much.
To Lady Shirubana: knowing draco... sigh.
