Well, I'm hurt. Nothing AGAIN? Luckily for you (well, maybe for me) there
is a plot bunny stuck in my head. *hrumph*
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On a Saturday in early November, Draco was taking a walk outside. There hadn't been any snow yet, which was strange for this time of year. [Whatever. Fine with me,] he thought, enjoying the crisp, cold air.
As he sat down on the grass, he heard a faint sound coming from by the lake. It was high pitched, but seemed to be full of sadness. He listened for a while, absorbed in his thoughts.
He pulled a letter out of his cloak. It had been brought to him early in the morning by a black owl that bit his hand when he tried to open it. He knew exactly who had sent it. Erin had just left. She drank his coffee, like every morning. He didn't mind, since he normally drank his cup before she arrived. When he didn't, though, he didn't get to have his sugary coffee. Pansy would always come and he never got to put any sugar in it.
That morning, however, he paid no attention to Pansy. He just sighed and picked up the letter. Not feeling the need to be depressed that morning, he put it in his cloak.
When he opened the letter that afternoon, he dreaded to see the contents. Draco recognized the long, spindely handwritting of his father, and began to read.
*** Draco-
I have heard you've made friends with the American girl at your school. Good. There will be a use for her later. I want you to stay at school this winter break. I have some urgent buisness to attend too, and your mother is coming with me. I believe you know what I am talking about. The date has been set. You must be ready by May 5.
Happy Christmas,
Lucius Malfoy *** Yes, Draco knew exactly what he was talking about. And he knew Lucius wasn't really wishing him a Happy Christmas. It was just a cover to make it seem as though he was a loving father. It meant nothing. But mostly, Draco was concerned for his mother. He knew what Lucius was capable off.
He just sighed. After sitting for a few minutes, listening to the soft music playing, it piqued his curiosity. He stood up, brushed his behind in case there was dirt on it, and walked toward the lake. That was where the sound was coming from.
Sure enough, he found something playing music. There was an enchanted flute, playing a soft melody he didn't recognize. It was sterling silver, and glittering in the sun. As he walked over the top of the hill, he saw a girl, with her arms wrapped around her knees, sitting on the grass. He recognized the blond hair right away. There was also a thin, silver box sitting next to her.
He moved closer. Before he could say anything, however, he heard singing coming from the girl.
"O'er the land of the free," the voice was choked with tears, "And the home, of the, brave."
Now he remembered the tune. It was the American national anthem. [What was it called again? Oh yeah. The Star-Spangled Banner.]
The girl sighed loudly, then picked up the notes sitting by her. When she did so, Draco noticed that her arms weren't covered. And he saw her legs. They were just as naked.
"ERIN!" Draco yelled, running toward her. She whipped around, not knowing anyone was there. "What are you doing out here with shorts and a t-shirt on? You'll freeze to death." He took off his cloak and flung it over her shoulders.
"Draco, I'm fine. What are you doing out here?" She shoved the black fabric off her shoulders.
"Fine my ass. Your lips are blue." He put it back on her. This time she didn't pull it off, but she didn't acknowledge its existence.
"I was eating a blue-rasberry BlowPop." She opened her mouth to show the inside. It was a deep blue, and there was a large piece of gum sitting on her tongue. "What are you doing out here?" She restated her question. This time she didn't say it angrily.
"I was taking a walk, when I heard your flute. I came over to investigate." He smiled and jerked his thumb over to the flute. "Do you play, or just enchant it and pretend?"
She laughed, then grabbed the flute from where it was floating in mid-air. "I can play ok. I just charmed it so I could do my work at the same time."
"Will you play something for me?"
She smiled again, before putting it to her lips. "Sure. I should warn you, I'm not very good. What should I play?"
"Anything you want."
She put the flute to her mouth, and shivered at the cold touch. She slowly began playing Greensleeves. Draco closed his eyes as he listened, remembering the song from his youth.
When she finished, he spoke up. "You're amazing. You know, my mother used to play flute." A reminising expression came to his face.
"Really?"
"Yup. She was pretty good. Not as good a you, though." Erin blushed at this comment. Her face was now bright red, a combination of the cold, playing her instrument, and the compliment she had received.
"Yeah, she used to play it for me. She says it always calmed me down when I was crying."
"Wait, you said used to. She doesn't anymore?" A dark look came to Draco's face.
"No. Lucius doesn't like it. He destroyed her flute. It was made from sterling silver, so he melted it and made silverware." Draco's eyes were clouded with hatred.
Erin reached out and stroked his hand. He cold fingers brought Draco out of his haze. "I'm sorry Draco. Your dad really isn't very nice."
"You don't know the half of it." He laughed sardonicly.
Before she could say anything, a muffled ding sounded. "What was that?" Draco asked, raisng an eyebrow. Erin picked up the box and flipped the top over.
"Oh, it was one of my friends IM-ing me."
"Doing what?"
"Oh yeah, you don't know about computers. Ok, this is a laptop. It is a computer, which is something Muggles use for all sorts of things...taxes, writing, communicating, research..."
"And why do you have one?"
"Because I have Muggles friends. That's why I got so upset when you called Hermione a mudblood. That is a really foul word, you know."
Trying to avoid this subject, Draco asked, "So what is, what'd you say? IM- ing?"
"Instant messaging. What happens is someone writes a message to me, and hits ok, and it is sent immediately to my computer. It's like typing your conversation." She typed a quick reply to her friend, then hit 'enter'.
"See, my Muggle friends just think I'm studying abroad. And my old school wasn't a boarding school, so that was never a problem. You get it?"
Draco nodded, and stared at the screen. He was staring so hard that when the next message popped up, he jumped back. "That's cool." Erin smiled and started typing again. Draco tried to keep up with their conversation, but it was hard because they were using so many shortenings.
MagicGrl- so, what r u ^ 2?
Inside Joke- n2m. u?
MagicGrl- jus' talking w/ my friend
Inside Joke- ooo...who?
Inside Joke- is it that hottie u were talking about? Draco?
Erin blushed deeply as this came up. Draco smiled and looked at her. "Hottie?"
MagicGrl- it would do u good to shut up
MagicGrl- he's reading over my shoulder
Inside Joke- LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL
MagicGrl- thats not funny
Inside Joke- ur right, its hilarious
MagicGrl- oh shut up! :-(
"Can I do it?" Draco asked, still mesmerized by the screen. Erin shrugged and pushed it over onto his lap.
"All you have to do is type your message, then hit this key." She showed him the enter button, and he nodded.
Inside Joke- erin? where'd ya go?
MagicGrl- this isn't erin
Inside Joke- yeah, very funny. Not another one of your jokes, plz!
MagicGrl- this is draco!
Inside Joke- really? seriously?
MagicGrl- yep. so what's your name?
Inside Joke- alexa. can you send me a picture of yourself?
Draco turned and looked at Erin. "Sure."
MagicGrl- sure. just a minute.
"You can send picture over this thing too?" He was throughly amazed.
"Of course you can. Hand it back for a minute, will ya?" Draco gave it back and Erin typed in 'I'll send it now.' Moving quickly, she sent Alexa a picture she had saved onto the computer.
MagicGrl- its a video file, alexa
Inside Joke- even better!
Inside Joke- I'm watching it now!
There was a brief pause as the girl on the other end of the computers watched it. Luckily, Erin was able to take one of the magical photos she had of Draco and save it as a video.
Inside Joke- *melt*
Inside Joke- you weren't kidding. he's smokin!
Draco grinned wildly. "She thinks I'm hot too, apparently."
MagicGrl- thank you very much.
Inside Joke- SHIT! i forgot you were still on! give it back 2 erin!
He laughed and handed it back.
MagicGrl- i told u he was hot
MagicGrl- i gotta go. urgent buisness to take care of
Inside Joke- yeah, sure. ttyl
MagicGrl- bye
She signed off and closed the top. "What exactly did you send her?"
"A video file. Here, I'll show you." She opened the computer again and navigated to a folder titled 'Pictures'. As she did this, he realized that her desktop backround was a picture of people he didn't know.
"Who are they?"
"Them? Oh, they are my friends from back home." She began pointing out who was who. Then the file opened up and she showed him what had been sent overseas.
"This is very cool. I guess those Muggles get along pretty well without magic, don't they?"
Erin smiled and nodded. "Yeah, they do. And I can't believe I just heard a Malfoy say that."
His brow furrowed. "What do you mean, here a Malfoy say that?"
"Come on, Draco. Even in California, the Malfoy name is famous. Well, more appropriatly, infamous."
"You've known about my family all along?"
"Sort of...I knew who your dad was. He was constantly giving my dad hell for letting me become friends with Muggles. I knew he had a son."
"Sorry about that." Seeing her questioning look, he elaborated. "For my dad, I mean. He's a real ass."
"I know. Hey, let's go in. I'm getting cold."
"Oh, so NOW you're cold. And when I came out you were just fine, even though you were shivering."
"Oh, be quiet. I'm also quite tired, thank you very much. I didn't sleep too well last night," she said, getting up. Draco followed suit and picked up her laptop for her.
"Why not?"
"Oh, I've just had a lot on my mind. There are some things I need to deal with before long."
"Care to elaborate on that?" Draco asked.
"Nope. Sorry." She laughed at his frustrated expression. "Don't worry. It's not very important. It would just give you more to worry about. You seem a little pre-occupied yourself."
"Yeah, well. Things have been kind of hard on me lately too."
"Then lets just go in. You can go to bed, because that is what I'm planning on." The two smiled to each other and walked in silence. When it came time to part ways, Draco gave Erin a peck on the lips.
"See you soon."
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On a Saturday in early November, Draco was taking a walk outside. There hadn't been any snow yet, which was strange for this time of year. [Whatever. Fine with me,] he thought, enjoying the crisp, cold air.
As he sat down on the grass, he heard a faint sound coming from by the lake. It was high pitched, but seemed to be full of sadness. He listened for a while, absorbed in his thoughts.
He pulled a letter out of his cloak. It had been brought to him early in the morning by a black owl that bit his hand when he tried to open it. He knew exactly who had sent it. Erin had just left. She drank his coffee, like every morning. He didn't mind, since he normally drank his cup before she arrived. When he didn't, though, he didn't get to have his sugary coffee. Pansy would always come and he never got to put any sugar in it.
That morning, however, he paid no attention to Pansy. He just sighed and picked up the letter. Not feeling the need to be depressed that morning, he put it in his cloak.
When he opened the letter that afternoon, he dreaded to see the contents. Draco recognized the long, spindely handwritting of his father, and began to read.
*** Draco-
I have heard you've made friends with the American girl at your school. Good. There will be a use for her later. I want you to stay at school this winter break. I have some urgent buisness to attend too, and your mother is coming with me. I believe you know what I am talking about. The date has been set. You must be ready by May 5.
Happy Christmas,
Lucius Malfoy *** Yes, Draco knew exactly what he was talking about. And he knew Lucius wasn't really wishing him a Happy Christmas. It was just a cover to make it seem as though he was a loving father. It meant nothing. But mostly, Draco was concerned for his mother. He knew what Lucius was capable off.
He just sighed. After sitting for a few minutes, listening to the soft music playing, it piqued his curiosity. He stood up, brushed his behind in case there was dirt on it, and walked toward the lake. That was where the sound was coming from.
Sure enough, he found something playing music. There was an enchanted flute, playing a soft melody he didn't recognize. It was sterling silver, and glittering in the sun. As he walked over the top of the hill, he saw a girl, with her arms wrapped around her knees, sitting on the grass. He recognized the blond hair right away. There was also a thin, silver box sitting next to her.
He moved closer. Before he could say anything, however, he heard singing coming from the girl.
"O'er the land of the free," the voice was choked with tears, "And the home, of the, brave."
Now he remembered the tune. It was the American national anthem. [What was it called again? Oh yeah. The Star-Spangled Banner.]
The girl sighed loudly, then picked up the notes sitting by her. When she did so, Draco noticed that her arms weren't covered. And he saw her legs. They were just as naked.
"ERIN!" Draco yelled, running toward her. She whipped around, not knowing anyone was there. "What are you doing out here with shorts and a t-shirt on? You'll freeze to death." He took off his cloak and flung it over her shoulders.
"Draco, I'm fine. What are you doing out here?" She shoved the black fabric off her shoulders.
"Fine my ass. Your lips are blue." He put it back on her. This time she didn't pull it off, but she didn't acknowledge its existence.
"I was eating a blue-rasberry BlowPop." She opened her mouth to show the inside. It was a deep blue, and there was a large piece of gum sitting on her tongue. "What are you doing out here?" She restated her question. This time she didn't say it angrily.
"I was taking a walk, when I heard your flute. I came over to investigate." He smiled and jerked his thumb over to the flute. "Do you play, or just enchant it and pretend?"
She laughed, then grabbed the flute from where it was floating in mid-air. "I can play ok. I just charmed it so I could do my work at the same time."
"Will you play something for me?"
She smiled again, before putting it to her lips. "Sure. I should warn you, I'm not very good. What should I play?"
"Anything you want."
She put the flute to her mouth, and shivered at the cold touch. She slowly began playing Greensleeves. Draco closed his eyes as he listened, remembering the song from his youth.
When she finished, he spoke up. "You're amazing. You know, my mother used to play flute." A reminising expression came to his face.
"Really?"
"Yup. She was pretty good. Not as good a you, though." Erin blushed at this comment. Her face was now bright red, a combination of the cold, playing her instrument, and the compliment she had received.
"Yeah, she used to play it for me. She says it always calmed me down when I was crying."
"Wait, you said used to. She doesn't anymore?" A dark look came to Draco's face.
"No. Lucius doesn't like it. He destroyed her flute. It was made from sterling silver, so he melted it and made silverware." Draco's eyes were clouded with hatred.
Erin reached out and stroked his hand. He cold fingers brought Draco out of his haze. "I'm sorry Draco. Your dad really isn't very nice."
"You don't know the half of it." He laughed sardonicly.
Before she could say anything, a muffled ding sounded. "What was that?" Draco asked, raisng an eyebrow. Erin picked up the box and flipped the top over.
"Oh, it was one of my friends IM-ing me."
"Doing what?"
"Oh yeah, you don't know about computers. Ok, this is a laptop. It is a computer, which is something Muggles use for all sorts of things...taxes, writing, communicating, research..."
"And why do you have one?"
"Because I have Muggles friends. That's why I got so upset when you called Hermione a mudblood. That is a really foul word, you know."
Trying to avoid this subject, Draco asked, "So what is, what'd you say? IM- ing?"
"Instant messaging. What happens is someone writes a message to me, and hits ok, and it is sent immediately to my computer. It's like typing your conversation." She typed a quick reply to her friend, then hit 'enter'.
"See, my Muggle friends just think I'm studying abroad. And my old school wasn't a boarding school, so that was never a problem. You get it?"
Draco nodded, and stared at the screen. He was staring so hard that when the next message popped up, he jumped back. "That's cool." Erin smiled and started typing again. Draco tried to keep up with their conversation, but it was hard because they were using so many shortenings.
MagicGrl- so, what r u ^ 2?
Inside Joke- n2m. u?
MagicGrl- jus' talking w/ my friend
Inside Joke- ooo...who?
Inside Joke- is it that hottie u were talking about? Draco?
Erin blushed deeply as this came up. Draco smiled and looked at her. "Hottie?"
MagicGrl- it would do u good to shut up
MagicGrl- he's reading over my shoulder
Inside Joke- LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL
MagicGrl- thats not funny
Inside Joke- ur right, its hilarious
MagicGrl- oh shut up! :-(
"Can I do it?" Draco asked, still mesmerized by the screen. Erin shrugged and pushed it over onto his lap.
"All you have to do is type your message, then hit this key." She showed him the enter button, and he nodded.
Inside Joke- erin? where'd ya go?
MagicGrl- this isn't erin
Inside Joke- yeah, very funny. Not another one of your jokes, plz!
MagicGrl- this is draco!
Inside Joke- really? seriously?
MagicGrl- yep. so what's your name?
Inside Joke- alexa. can you send me a picture of yourself?
Draco turned and looked at Erin. "Sure."
MagicGrl- sure. just a minute.
"You can send picture over this thing too?" He was throughly amazed.
"Of course you can. Hand it back for a minute, will ya?" Draco gave it back and Erin typed in 'I'll send it now.' Moving quickly, she sent Alexa a picture she had saved onto the computer.
MagicGrl- its a video file, alexa
Inside Joke- even better!
Inside Joke- I'm watching it now!
There was a brief pause as the girl on the other end of the computers watched it. Luckily, Erin was able to take one of the magical photos she had of Draco and save it as a video.
Inside Joke- *melt*
Inside Joke- you weren't kidding. he's smokin!
Draco grinned wildly. "She thinks I'm hot too, apparently."
MagicGrl- thank you very much.
Inside Joke- SHIT! i forgot you were still on! give it back 2 erin!
He laughed and handed it back.
MagicGrl- i told u he was hot
MagicGrl- i gotta go. urgent buisness to take care of
Inside Joke- yeah, sure. ttyl
MagicGrl- bye
She signed off and closed the top. "What exactly did you send her?"
"A video file. Here, I'll show you." She opened the computer again and navigated to a folder titled 'Pictures'. As she did this, he realized that her desktop backround was a picture of people he didn't know.
"Who are they?"
"Them? Oh, they are my friends from back home." She began pointing out who was who. Then the file opened up and she showed him what had been sent overseas.
"This is very cool. I guess those Muggles get along pretty well without magic, don't they?"
Erin smiled and nodded. "Yeah, they do. And I can't believe I just heard a Malfoy say that."
His brow furrowed. "What do you mean, here a Malfoy say that?"
"Come on, Draco. Even in California, the Malfoy name is famous. Well, more appropriatly, infamous."
"You've known about my family all along?"
"Sort of...I knew who your dad was. He was constantly giving my dad hell for letting me become friends with Muggles. I knew he had a son."
"Sorry about that." Seeing her questioning look, he elaborated. "For my dad, I mean. He's a real ass."
"I know. Hey, let's go in. I'm getting cold."
"Oh, so NOW you're cold. And when I came out you were just fine, even though you were shivering."
"Oh, be quiet. I'm also quite tired, thank you very much. I didn't sleep too well last night," she said, getting up. Draco followed suit and picked up her laptop for her.
"Why not?"
"Oh, I've just had a lot on my mind. There are some things I need to deal with before long."
"Care to elaborate on that?" Draco asked.
"Nope. Sorry." She laughed at his frustrated expression. "Don't worry. It's not very important. It would just give you more to worry about. You seem a little pre-occupied yourself."
"Yeah, well. Things have been kind of hard on me lately too."
"Then lets just go in. You can go to bed, because that is what I'm planning on." The two smiled to each other and walked in silence. When it came time to part ways, Draco gave Erin a peck on the lips.
"See you soon."