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Chapter II

~Trashed~

   I look back at the towering castle and sigh, leaning against the Whomping Willow. Today was my last day at the school. Dumbledore had suggested that I took a day to say goodbye to my friends. I almost laughed when he told me. Friends? They had left me when they realised their 'so-called leader' was in too deep for them to handle. I had never really had friends. On my first day I managed to find the biggest and toughest first-years and they remained my protectors for the time I had at Hogwarts. It didn't help that they were incurably dim.

   "Er -- sorry ... Is it true you're being kicked out?" It's Lana? Lisa? Lina? She has a pretty face I recoginise from the hallways, but I never can place her. She smiles sweetly at me. I shrug. What have I got to lose?

   I stretch and yawn slightly, patting the spot next to me, indicating for her to sit down. She does so, and looks at me, her eyes full of concern. "So, is it true?"

   I look at her and nod slowly. "Yep. Dumbledore just decided to take things too far. Has it in for me that guy." I begin throwing nearby sticks in the lake, just to show her that I'm frustrated. She pats my arm.

   "Draco. When are you leaving?"

   "Today." Another stick. She winces as it hits the top of the giant squid's head, just as it is resurfacing.

   "Ooh." She pats my arm again. "I'm so sorry."

   "Yeah, well ... What can you do, right?"

   She frowns in a sort of concerned parent sort of way and stands up. "My friends are waiting ..." Her friends consist of Parvati Patil, Lavender Brown, and - oh, must be my lucky day - Hermione Granger. She looks at me and winks. I raise one eyebrow at Hermione as the retreating back of the unnamed beauty heaves a sigh. "It was my last chance," I hear her telling her friends.

   Chuckling to myself, I prop myself up by my elbows, and gaze at my surrondings. I see the Slytherin Quidditch team practising on the Quidditch pitch, and I am, in fact, the only one who sees them. Snape made it mandatory for them to practice under the Concealment Charm so only members of the Slytherin Quidditch can see them. This made it easier for us to practice more than the other teams. I was incredibly surprised when Dumbledore said it was a suitable thing for us to do.

   "Oh, Draco! Draco Malfoy! Where in the world are you?" Of course. How could I possibly leave Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry without saying goodbye to the--well, I'm not sure it's a name that could be uttered without possible gasps from around the world.

   Pansy Parkinson. It is rather disappointing she decided to latch onto me on our first day and refuse to let go. I suppose I am like her security blanket, except I am quite sure I wasn't with her since birth. I've known her since I was 11, now that I'm 17 I hope she has a six-year-limit on how long she obsesses over someone.

   "Helloooo! Oh! Oh! You're leaving! Draco, why? Why in the world would you do that to me?" She approaches me, manages to stand me up on my own two feet and envelops me in a crushing bear hug. "Will you miss me?"

   "No," I say quietly.

   "Huh?"

   "Yes," I smile at her. "I'll miss you."

   "Of course you will," she says. "Do you mind if I spend the day with you?"

   "Yes."

   "What?"

   "I have homework," I say quickly.

   She pouts at me. "On your last day?"

   "Cruel, huh?"

   "Can I help?"

   "Potions."

   "Oh. Well ... Bye."

   "Goodbye, Pansy," I exclaim walking across the freshly cut (by magic of course) green grass. "Thank Fuck," I add under my breath.

   I walk inside the Hogwarts building, enjoying my freedom. My father was refrained of talking to me until I returned almost a year later. For once, I was happy. And I was being followed.

   "Oh, who could that be?"

   "Mudblood ... Granger ... Frizzy-Haired Freak for starters?"

   I smirk to myself. All of my names. Not that I had any claim on them--but I knew I was the first to call her them. And I was glad, not guilty, but glad. I would never under any circumstances admit it, but the old Brainiac was beginning to grow on me. Too bad I was leaving.

   "And I'm Draco Malfoy, I do believe. What was that name for me again?" I ask, still not looking at her.

   She laughs. "Ferret Face?"

   "Never forget that one," I agree.

   "So, you're leaving," she begins. "May I ask why?"

   "No."

   "Right. Problems?"

   "Right."

   "None of my business?"

   "You guessed it."

   "Dumbledore's kind of ... happier. But you get that when the one who causes you the most trouble ends up leaving," she says.

    Dumbledore's happier? I thought we were making progress--not that I was glad I was becoming one of Dumbledore's followers. It scared me to tell you the truth. I felt slightly safer that I wasn't going to be hated by one very important person for the rest of my life. And feeling safe in a family like mine made you feel less secure. And feeling less secure in my house increased your chances of going nowhere. Just like my brother. Oh, right--you didn't know I had one. Neither does anyone.

   "He's going to cast a spell," I say quietly.

   "I know. He told me."

   "He wasn't supposed to ..."

   Hermione laughs. "It isn't like I'm going to remember."

   "Right."

   "So, we're back to that again?" she steps up next to me and stares up at the portrait of the first Headmaster of Hogwarts. "You're going to miss this place?"

   "Yes."

   "I'll miss you."

   I stare at her. "Are you serious?"

   "Yes. God, I do need some excitement now and again, don't I?"

   I shrug. "I suppose you do." Then I went back to staring at the potrait.

   We stayed like that until it was time for me to leave. Hermione Granger was the last person I saw at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.