*A/N:Keep the reviews coming! Thanks to Shanner Nanner and ToOtHpIcK!:-)*
DISCLAIMER: nope i dont own anything except my plot and Allie Arden!
Chapter Five
*He was falling...falling into something he could not see or feel...He fell into what felt like water, but it burned his skin like acid...esspecially his arm...The burning fluid was rushing all around him, pulling him deeper and deeper into its fiery depths...Then there was the laughter. High, cold, cruel laughter that he had heard so many times before...and the eyes. Red glowing eyes, that seemed to penetrate right through his skull...His whole body was in pain, but he found himself being drawn to the source of the laughter...Although he was terrified of both of these things, he felt like he needed something from the thing that was causing him all this pain and terror...closer...closer....If he could only get a little closer--*
Draco awoke with a start. He found himself drenched in cold sweat, and his heart was pouding against his chest. Trying to get his breathing back to a normal rate, he recalled fragments of his dream...the laughter....the pain.....and most horrifying of all- those blood red eyes...What would have happened if he had gotten closer to them...? Draco thought desperately, trying to remember something-anything- but it was useless, like trying to cup water in your hands. The more he tried to think about it, the more excruciating the pain in his head got.
Feeling confused and somewhat releived that it was just a dream, Draco fell back into his pillows. He looked to the window and saw the first rays of sunshine peeking forom behind the rolling green hills that surrounded the school. It looked welcoming to him after the darkness he was surrounded by in the dream.
After a few attempts of trying to return to his slumber, Draco gave up and got out of bed. The bedroom was quiet apart from Crabbe's sporadic snores, and was now drenched in sunshine. As quietly as he could, Draco sunk out, heading for the Great Hall. When he got there, the big oak doors were still closed, showing signs that breakfast wasn't served yet.
It was still early and he wanted to be alone, so he decided on taking a walk along the lake. Lately he felt a lot like that- wanting to be alone. He didn't know what it was but the usual behavior of his Slytherin peers was getting to be repulsive. With every cruel remark they made he became less and less like his usual self. After his father got landed in Azkaban, he became the center of other people's jokes, never in his life had he been in that position until now. He'd always been the smart one, the cute one, the popular one...now all of that was nearly lost.
He almost felt sorry for the people he and his friends (if you could call them that) picked on everyday. But only almost. He was a Malfoy after all, and like his father had brought him up- Malfoys never show thier emotions. And Draco was a true Malfoy through and through, starting from his personality and ending with his good looks.
But lately....he was....he was...
'God,' he thought kicking a pebble into the lake, 'I don't even know what's wrong with me.' Looking at the castle, Draco noticed people in the Great Hall. 'Must be time for breakfast'. With that, he headed to the school, trying to brush all the confusing thoughts out of his brain.
.::*::. .::*::. .::*::.
"Draco wait for me!!" Pansy called as she tried to catch up to him as he headed to Potions. Purposely Draco walked faster, but nonetheless, she caught up.
"I told you to wait for me!" she said, apperently annoyed. She brushed her frizzy brown hair away from her face and gave Draco a 'look'.
"You did? I must have not heard you." Draco kept his eyes away from her, hoping she'd get the hint and leave him alone.
"Draco Lucius Malfoy, you heard me perfectly, and you know it." she said in her whiny voice. She stared at Draco, waiting for a reply.
Draco was silent. They walked a few steps in silence and then Pansy spoke again.
"What's the matter with you?!" she demanded, her puggish nose turning red, a suretell sign that she was getting angry.
Draco was still silent, but now he walked faster.
"Fine be that way!"
Still no reaction. They walked a few feet in silence and then Pansy exploded in rage.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" she practically screamed. A group of Ravenclaw girls who were standing nearby turned around, obviously interested. They looked at eachother, secretive smiles of pleasure appeared on their faces at the prospect of seeing Draco Malfoy's girlfriend close to tears.
"Pansy, I'd appreciate it if you didn't make a scene in front of these lovely ladies." Draco gestured at the Ravenclaws politely and flashed them a smile. In return, they waved and in unison said "Hiiii Draaaaco!" flirtasiously. He turned back to Pansy, waiting for the jealous rage that he expected to be shot at him.
To his surprise Pansy just gave him a look of disgust and walked away.
The Ravenclaw girls giggled and one strode up to Draco. "Hmm, guess that didn't go so well..." she said to Draco. He stared at her. What the hell did she want? The girl tried to smile seductively at him. Draco looked at her in disgust, hoping she would get the hint and leave. The girl was still oblivious to the fact that she was not wanted and continued staring at him, as if in a trance. 'This is getting wierd..' Draco thought and quickly excused himself, saying he had to get to class.
As he walked away he heard the girl tell her friends, "You just wait. In about a week, they'll be history. And if I say so myself, that went quite well, didn't it? He seemed very taken aback by me-" Then one of her friends broke in telling her that she had no chance with him and they began bickering.
Draco smirked as he remembered something his dad used to say jokingly: "All this trouble because of little old me?" He walked lazily to Potions, not caring if he was going to be late- Snape would never do anything to his favorite student. He walked down the cold dungeon steps, into the cold classroom, and made it just in time for the bell to ring.
"Quiet down everyone," Snape said. " I have noticed a small amount of progress in many of your grades and I have come to a conclusion."
Draco heard Harry scoff and mumble,"Might that conclusion be that you are a great ugly prick?".
Snape either didn't hear him or ignored his comment and went on. "And that conclusion is that 2 people can get a better potion than one. Therefore, I will be pairing you all up with someone"-the whole class graoned, but Snape talked over them-"although, against my better judgement, I have also decided to let you have the luxury of picking your own partners for the second term." The class seemed more agreeable with this decision.
"Alright then, with that out of the way, gather your things and prepare to move next to your partner. Crabbe and Parkinson over at these desks, Brown and Potter at these over here, Weasley and Patil next to them...."
After that Draco tuned out, at least he wouldn't have to be paired up with Pansy. A few moments later Snape waved his wand and the truth potion they were supposed to be making appeared on the board. Draco looked around. Everyone was with their partners except for him. Where was his partner? Was he supposed to work by himself or something?
"Would you move your stuff? I need some room too, you know!" Allie appeared by the desk.
"Oh. You damn American again, huh?" Draco replied, lazily moving his folders, books, and notebooks over to the other side of the desk one by one.
"Cut the crap, Malfoy. I don't want to spend more time than I have to with you, so you might as well deal with it." she said angrily. "Now, go get the ingredients, while I set everything up."
Draco was shocked. HE was the one who gave the directions! This isn't right! He looked at Allie again.
"What?" she said in an annoyed way. "If you don't get the ingredients right now, we'll be behind the rest of the class tomorrow." Still he did nothing.
"WOULD YOU GO ALREADY?!"
Draco groaned and finally got up. "Well SOMEONE got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning!" he grumbled. Ten minutes later he returned with everything balanced on a tray.
"Took you long enough...." Allie murmured as she began stirring essence of asprila and a few spoons of crushed spider powder together.
Draco ignored her and took the beetle eyes and started mashing them.
"No, you don't do it like that! You're crushing them wrong!" Allie cried a few seconds later.
"Damnit, there is only ONE way to crush something, so how could I be doing it the WRONG way?" Draco snapped back at her.
Allie gave him a hateful glare. "When you push the mallet like that, you make them ooze too much, if you do it like this," she took the crushing mallet from him,"they won't ooze as much...do you see now?"
"I was doing it exactly like that!"
"No, you weren't."
"Yes, I was!"
"That's what YOU think."
"And I think right!"
"Draco, shut up and crush the beetle eyes like I told you to."
Draco smiled teasingly. "No."
Allie looked up from her stirring, into his steel grey eyes. "What do you mean, 'no'?"
"I mean no."
"I suggest you start meaning 'yes'."
"But I don't. I mean 'no'."
Allie rolled her eyes and sighed heavily, returning to her stirring. The potion was turning blue. It had to turn purple before they could do anything else with it, so she had plenty of time to make him agree with her. After a few quiet minutes of Allie stirring and Draco doing nothing but watching her stir, Allie broke the silence.
"Are you going to be this difficult all semester?"
He gave her what most girls would consider a dazzling smile and replied,"As long as you keep being bitchy."
"I am NOT bitchy."
Draco snickered at that and began crushing his beetle eyes again.
"What?" she asked, pleased that she got him to do his work.
"Nothing."
"Yes, there's something! You wouldn't laugh for no reason. And I am not bitchy!"
"How would you know my laughing habits? You haven't known me long enough. And yes you are."
Allie's eyes widened. Was he trying to flirt? Well...he was pretty hot, but that attitude...? Two can play that game....
"Oh? Really? How would YOU know? You haven't known me long enough either."
"I know what I need to know." he replied mischeviously, adding the beetle eyes to the now purple mixture. Instantly it started turning lavender.
Allie narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean by that?"
"Nothing. Nothing at all."
"Whatever, you're really starting to piss me off, ya know that?"
"That's what I'm here for! Nice to know I'm doing my job!"
Allie couldn't help but smile. She turned away hiding it, but he noticed. They both sat down, waiting for the potion to turn pearly, which could take another 15 minutes.
"You know, you aren't as bad as long as your girlfriend isn't around." Allie said after a moment of silence.
"She's not my girlfriend."
"Oh."
There was a pause, then Draco spoke, "I know she acts like it but I don't like her like that."
"Oh." Allie never expected to get as far as having this conversation with him. "So are you going to break up with her?"
"That's a good question, Arden."
"So what, you're like, using her or something?"
"Another good question." He looked at her, to see her reaction. Allie's mouth was in a perfect 'o' shape.
"Malfoy, that is so wrong. I don't like her much but that's just wrong."
"What? I never said I DID!"
"You implied it!"
"No I DIDN'T."
"Well, it sure sounded like it!"
Suddenly, Draco turned around and gave her a glare much like the one he gave her a month ago on the Hogwarts Express. "Would you just leave me alone? This is NONE of your business, and I don't even know why you are asking me about my personal life."
"I wasn't asking you about your persomal life you just started tel-" Allie began but he never let her finish.
"OK, just drop it? You stupid Americans....always think that you know better than anyone else. Well, I've got news for you, YOU DON'T!" With that he turned back to the potion and began mixing the rest of the ingredients into the couldron.
.:*:. .:*:. .:*:.
I was surprised by Draco's sudden outbreak. I thought everything was going pretty well. Obviously, I thought wrong. Either way, we somehow finished our potion, which turned out to be one of the best in the class, unlike our partnership. When the last bell had rung, I joined Harry, Ron, and Hermione in the walk back to the Gryffindor Tower.
"How did it go?" Harry asked grimly. "I hope he wasn't too much of an idiot, or he'll have to pay."
I smiled, touched at his kindness. "No, he was alright. Well, he was alright until the end when we got into talking about his ugly girlfriend."
Ron laughed, "THAT'S an understatement! Ugly doesn't even begin to describe it, Allie."
Hermione just roller her eyes, and turned to me."They love poking fun at her. Come to think of it I do too but there's always a limit." We quickened our pace to get ahead of the guys so we could discuss Draco further.
I laughed, "Yeah, I know."
"You HAVE to tell me everything he said to you."
"Oh it wasn't much." I said, feeling my cheeks blush.
Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Really?"
"Yes....I think so...?"
She laughed and gave me a pitying look, "Sorry to tell you this, but don't get too attactched. He's not who you think he is. He'll never change. Once a Malfoy always a Malfoy, and a single person can't change him into being someone he wasn't brought up to be."
"I never thought of doing that!" I tried to laugh it off, even though in the past hour of Potions I had a few thoughts on that topic. "And anyway, I can't stand him. Did you see how he just exploded at me for no reason?"
Hermione nodded. "All I can say is poor you."
I smiled wryly,"Thanks alot."
She laughed, "Anytime!"
___________________________________________________
Yes I know, very short. but at least there was some action! lol k, please review people! and sorry for taking such a long time to update. I hope to get Chapter 6 up sometime in the next few weeks, since I will probably have more free time. till then! kiss kiss hug hug :-)
DISCLAIMER: nope i dont own anything except my plot and Allie Arden!
Chapter Five
*He was falling...falling into something he could not see or feel...He fell into what felt like water, but it burned his skin like acid...esspecially his arm...The burning fluid was rushing all around him, pulling him deeper and deeper into its fiery depths...Then there was the laughter. High, cold, cruel laughter that he had heard so many times before...and the eyes. Red glowing eyes, that seemed to penetrate right through his skull...His whole body was in pain, but he found himself being drawn to the source of the laughter...Although he was terrified of both of these things, he felt like he needed something from the thing that was causing him all this pain and terror...closer...closer....If he could only get a little closer--*
Draco awoke with a start. He found himself drenched in cold sweat, and his heart was pouding against his chest. Trying to get his breathing back to a normal rate, he recalled fragments of his dream...the laughter....the pain.....and most horrifying of all- those blood red eyes...What would have happened if he had gotten closer to them...? Draco thought desperately, trying to remember something-anything- but it was useless, like trying to cup water in your hands. The more he tried to think about it, the more excruciating the pain in his head got.
Feeling confused and somewhat releived that it was just a dream, Draco fell back into his pillows. He looked to the window and saw the first rays of sunshine peeking forom behind the rolling green hills that surrounded the school. It looked welcoming to him after the darkness he was surrounded by in the dream.
After a few attempts of trying to return to his slumber, Draco gave up and got out of bed. The bedroom was quiet apart from Crabbe's sporadic snores, and was now drenched in sunshine. As quietly as he could, Draco sunk out, heading for the Great Hall. When he got there, the big oak doors were still closed, showing signs that breakfast wasn't served yet.
It was still early and he wanted to be alone, so he decided on taking a walk along the lake. Lately he felt a lot like that- wanting to be alone. He didn't know what it was but the usual behavior of his Slytherin peers was getting to be repulsive. With every cruel remark they made he became less and less like his usual self. After his father got landed in Azkaban, he became the center of other people's jokes, never in his life had he been in that position until now. He'd always been the smart one, the cute one, the popular one...now all of that was nearly lost.
He almost felt sorry for the people he and his friends (if you could call them that) picked on everyday. But only almost. He was a Malfoy after all, and like his father had brought him up- Malfoys never show thier emotions. And Draco was a true Malfoy through and through, starting from his personality and ending with his good looks.
But lately....he was....he was...
'God,' he thought kicking a pebble into the lake, 'I don't even know what's wrong with me.' Looking at the castle, Draco noticed people in the Great Hall. 'Must be time for breakfast'. With that, he headed to the school, trying to brush all the confusing thoughts out of his brain.
.::*::. .::*::. .::*::.
"Draco wait for me!!" Pansy called as she tried to catch up to him as he headed to Potions. Purposely Draco walked faster, but nonetheless, she caught up.
"I told you to wait for me!" she said, apperently annoyed. She brushed her frizzy brown hair away from her face and gave Draco a 'look'.
"You did? I must have not heard you." Draco kept his eyes away from her, hoping she'd get the hint and leave him alone.
"Draco Lucius Malfoy, you heard me perfectly, and you know it." she said in her whiny voice. She stared at Draco, waiting for a reply.
Draco was silent. They walked a few steps in silence and then Pansy spoke again.
"What's the matter with you?!" she demanded, her puggish nose turning red, a suretell sign that she was getting angry.
Draco was still silent, but now he walked faster.
"Fine be that way!"
Still no reaction. They walked a few feet in silence and then Pansy exploded in rage.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" she practically screamed. A group of Ravenclaw girls who were standing nearby turned around, obviously interested. They looked at eachother, secretive smiles of pleasure appeared on their faces at the prospect of seeing Draco Malfoy's girlfriend close to tears.
"Pansy, I'd appreciate it if you didn't make a scene in front of these lovely ladies." Draco gestured at the Ravenclaws politely and flashed them a smile. In return, they waved and in unison said "Hiiii Draaaaco!" flirtasiously. He turned back to Pansy, waiting for the jealous rage that he expected to be shot at him.
To his surprise Pansy just gave him a look of disgust and walked away.
The Ravenclaw girls giggled and one strode up to Draco. "Hmm, guess that didn't go so well..." she said to Draco. He stared at her. What the hell did she want? The girl tried to smile seductively at him. Draco looked at her in disgust, hoping she would get the hint and leave. The girl was still oblivious to the fact that she was not wanted and continued staring at him, as if in a trance. 'This is getting wierd..' Draco thought and quickly excused himself, saying he had to get to class.
As he walked away he heard the girl tell her friends, "You just wait. In about a week, they'll be history. And if I say so myself, that went quite well, didn't it? He seemed very taken aback by me-" Then one of her friends broke in telling her that she had no chance with him and they began bickering.
Draco smirked as he remembered something his dad used to say jokingly: "All this trouble because of little old me?" He walked lazily to Potions, not caring if he was going to be late- Snape would never do anything to his favorite student. He walked down the cold dungeon steps, into the cold classroom, and made it just in time for the bell to ring.
"Quiet down everyone," Snape said. " I have noticed a small amount of progress in many of your grades and I have come to a conclusion."
Draco heard Harry scoff and mumble,"Might that conclusion be that you are a great ugly prick?".
Snape either didn't hear him or ignored his comment and went on. "And that conclusion is that 2 people can get a better potion than one. Therefore, I will be pairing you all up with someone"-the whole class graoned, but Snape talked over them-"although, against my better judgement, I have also decided to let you have the luxury of picking your own partners for the second term." The class seemed more agreeable with this decision.
"Alright then, with that out of the way, gather your things and prepare to move next to your partner. Crabbe and Parkinson over at these desks, Brown and Potter at these over here, Weasley and Patil next to them...."
After that Draco tuned out, at least he wouldn't have to be paired up with Pansy. A few moments later Snape waved his wand and the truth potion they were supposed to be making appeared on the board. Draco looked around. Everyone was with their partners except for him. Where was his partner? Was he supposed to work by himself or something?
"Would you move your stuff? I need some room too, you know!" Allie appeared by the desk.
"Oh. You damn American again, huh?" Draco replied, lazily moving his folders, books, and notebooks over to the other side of the desk one by one.
"Cut the crap, Malfoy. I don't want to spend more time than I have to with you, so you might as well deal with it." she said angrily. "Now, go get the ingredients, while I set everything up."
Draco was shocked. HE was the one who gave the directions! This isn't right! He looked at Allie again.
"What?" she said in an annoyed way. "If you don't get the ingredients right now, we'll be behind the rest of the class tomorrow." Still he did nothing.
"WOULD YOU GO ALREADY?!"
Draco groaned and finally got up. "Well SOMEONE got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning!" he grumbled. Ten minutes later he returned with everything balanced on a tray.
"Took you long enough...." Allie murmured as she began stirring essence of asprila and a few spoons of crushed spider powder together.
Draco ignored her and took the beetle eyes and started mashing them.
"No, you don't do it like that! You're crushing them wrong!" Allie cried a few seconds later.
"Damnit, there is only ONE way to crush something, so how could I be doing it the WRONG way?" Draco snapped back at her.
Allie gave him a hateful glare. "When you push the mallet like that, you make them ooze too much, if you do it like this," she took the crushing mallet from him,"they won't ooze as much...do you see now?"
"I was doing it exactly like that!"
"No, you weren't."
"Yes, I was!"
"That's what YOU think."
"And I think right!"
"Draco, shut up and crush the beetle eyes like I told you to."
Draco smiled teasingly. "No."
Allie looked up from her stirring, into his steel grey eyes. "What do you mean, 'no'?"
"I mean no."
"I suggest you start meaning 'yes'."
"But I don't. I mean 'no'."
Allie rolled her eyes and sighed heavily, returning to her stirring. The potion was turning blue. It had to turn purple before they could do anything else with it, so she had plenty of time to make him agree with her. After a few quiet minutes of Allie stirring and Draco doing nothing but watching her stir, Allie broke the silence.
"Are you going to be this difficult all semester?"
He gave her what most girls would consider a dazzling smile and replied,"As long as you keep being bitchy."
"I am NOT bitchy."
Draco snickered at that and began crushing his beetle eyes again.
"What?" she asked, pleased that she got him to do his work.
"Nothing."
"Yes, there's something! You wouldn't laugh for no reason. And I am not bitchy!"
"How would you know my laughing habits? You haven't known me long enough. And yes you are."
Allie's eyes widened. Was he trying to flirt? Well...he was pretty hot, but that attitude...? Two can play that game....
"Oh? Really? How would YOU know? You haven't known me long enough either."
"I know what I need to know." he replied mischeviously, adding the beetle eyes to the now purple mixture. Instantly it started turning lavender.
Allie narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean by that?"
"Nothing. Nothing at all."
"Whatever, you're really starting to piss me off, ya know that?"
"That's what I'm here for! Nice to know I'm doing my job!"
Allie couldn't help but smile. She turned away hiding it, but he noticed. They both sat down, waiting for the potion to turn pearly, which could take another 15 minutes.
"You know, you aren't as bad as long as your girlfriend isn't around." Allie said after a moment of silence.
"She's not my girlfriend."
"Oh."
There was a pause, then Draco spoke, "I know she acts like it but I don't like her like that."
"Oh." Allie never expected to get as far as having this conversation with him. "So are you going to break up with her?"
"That's a good question, Arden."
"So what, you're like, using her or something?"
"Another good question." He looked at her, to see her reaction. Allie's mouth was in a perfect 'o' shape.
"Malfoy, that is so wrong. I don't like her much but that's just wrong."
"What? I never said I DID!"
"You implied it!"
"No I DIDN'T."
"Well, it sure sounded like it!"
Suddenly, Draco turned around and gave her a glare much like the one he gave her a month ago on the Hogwarts Express. "Would you just leave me alone? This is NONE of your business, and I don't even know why you are asking me about my personal life."
"I wasn't asking you about your persomal life you just started tel-" Allie began but he never let her finish.
"OK, just drop it? You stupid Americans....always think that you know better than anyone else. Well, I've got news for you, YOU DON'T!" With that he turned back to the potion and began mixing the rest of the ingredients into the couldron.
.:*:. .:*:. .:*:.
I was surprised by Draco's sudden outbreak. I thought everything was going pretty well. Obviously, I thought wrong. Either way, we somehow finished our potion, which turned out to be one of the best in the class, unlike our partnership. When the last bell had rung, I joined Harry, Ron, and Hermione in the walk back to the Gryffindor Tower.
"How did it go?" Harry asked grimly. "I hope he wasn't too much of an idiot, or he'll have to pay."
I smiled, touched at his kindness. "No, he was alright. Well, he was alright until the end when we got into talking about his ugly girlfriend."
Ron laughed, "THAT'S an understatement! Ugly doesn't even begin to describe it, Allie."
Hermione just roller her eyes, and turned to me."They love poking fun at her. Come to think of it I do too but there's always a limit." We quickened our pace to get ahead of the guys so we could discuss Draco further.
I laughed, "Yeah, I know."
"You HAVE to tell me everything he said to you."
"Oh it wasn't much." I said, feeling my cheeks blush.
Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Really?"
"Yes....I think so...?"
She laughed and gave me a pitying look, "Sorry to tell you this, but don't get too attactched. He's not who you think he is. He'll never change. Once a Malfoy always a Malfoy, and a single person can't change him into being someone he wasn't brought up to be."
"I never thought of doing that!" I tried to laugh it off, even though in the past hour of Potions I had a few thoughts on that topic. "And anyway, I can't stand him. Did you see how he just exploded at me for no reason?"
Hermione nodded. "All I can say is poor you."
I smiled wryly,"Thanks alot."
She laughed, "Anytime!"
___________________________________________________
Yes I know, very short. but at least there was some action! lol k, please review people! and sorry for taking such a long time to update. I hope to get Chapter 6 up sometime in the next few weeks, since I will probably have more free time. till then! kiss kiss hug hug :-)