CHAPTER THREE
Since the first meeting between Draco and Georgia, things had not improved. Arguments were frequent and over such trivial things that Draco often laughed about it after with Blaise who had become a good friend since the experiment had begun. The downside to friendships being formed was that Georgia had become close friends with everyone in the small community of Kedron, muggle and magical alike. She had even managed to befriend Mrs. Salicylate who owned the small community supermarket, and that woman didn't like anyone.
On this particular evening, Draco and Georgia were, as usual, at each other's throats. The truth was, Draco enjoyed getting a rise out if the muggle. It far outshone annoying the Golden Trio, even that mudblood, Granger.
"Ever since you got here, I've done all the work! You laze about all day and order e around but your don't lift a finger yourself!" Georgia yelled at Draco as she washed up the plates and cutlery they had used for dinner.
Draco was only proving her point further by sitting on the lounge, remote in hand. He had discovered the delights of television.
"What are you talking about?" Draco asked innocently as he stretched out on the lounge.
Georgia's eyes widened in disbelief and she splashed her gloved hands into the soapy water, creating a big splash. She spluttered, not being able to find words that described Draco's arrogance.
"I pick up after myself, what more do you want?" Draco asked making Georgia let out an exasperated sigh and grunt angrily.
"All I want you to do is a few chores. Wash the dishes, clean you own dirty clothes, and cook dinner sometimes. God! I fell like I'm trapped at home again! You're almost as bad as..." Georgia trailed off.
She hadn't told anyone about her life and she didn't plan to but she had almost let her deepest, darkest secret slip.
"Like who?" Draco asked, suddenly interested, "Who am I almost as bad as?"
Georgia turned her back to the dishes, not able to face her enemy. Scenes of her past flashed before her eyes as she watched the soap bubbles glisten.
Georgia being beaten with a leather belt, Georgia being taken to the hospital from school after a teacher discovered rubbery bubbles on her arms and legs, the smell of burning hair, Georgia looking in the mirror and seeing her own reflection, black and blue and almost unrecognisable from bruises... it was never ending.
"No one you know." She finally replied, "Just help more often, okay?"
Draco narrowed his eyes and stared intently at the girls back, wanting to know more. He didn't want to change the subject. He was interested about Georgia's past and wanted to know what kept her from speaking about it. The bruise over her eyes and nose at their first meeting indicated to Draco that she was abused. He wasn't sure why he wanted Georgia to share the no doubt horrid details with him, it was no doubt the same reason people watched those fatal car accidents they show on television. It is terrible to watch yet you can't tear your eyes away.
Once again though, Georgia had managed to change the topic and steer the conversation onto a different path. There was no getting her to open up now, and Draco gave up.
"Whatever." He said, flipping the television channel.
X
Georgia had invited Harry Potter and his friends, Hermonie, Ron and their muggle partners over for lunch. She had run into Harry while doing her washing and decided she needed a break. When Georgia told Draco, he was not a happy camper. In fact, he was furious.
"Why did you go and invite them here for?" he asked, "It's bad enough with just you, let alone the whole muggle loving bloody clan." He added, intending that comment to be for his ears only.
Unfortunately for him, it did not escape Georgia who flared up immediately.
"You think you are so damn superior! You and your pure blood. You wouldn't even consider that a person with mixed heritage or no magical abilities at all can be just as, if not more, successful in life. Look at Hermonie if you need an example!" Georgia told him in a matter of fact tone.
"Pure blood does make me superior and successful. It gives me a good name and I can do whatever I want, whenever I want and I can be what I want. I don't even have to lift a finger." Draco yawned, sitting at the kitchen bench on a high stool.
"Well I figured that out already! You are so lazy, you don't lift a finger for anything!" Georgia agreed, her voice laced with sarcasm.
"It always goes back to this, me not helping you. I couldn't care less if you do all the work, you're a woman, it's in your job description!" Draco yelled, knowing before he finished his sentence that he had pushed the wrong button.
"Women's job?" Georgia screeched, "Oooh! One of these days..." She spluttered.
Draco laughed at Georgia's word shortage, only succeeding in irritating Georgia further.
"You are a conceited bastard!" Georgia spat, shooting Draco a nasty glare before stomping out the door, no doubt heading for Potter or one of his no good friends.
Draco stood fuming. Now he would have to make his own lunch. He wished he hadn't pissed Georgia off just before lunch. Draco was so busy trying to figure out what to do, he hadn't noticed his father, who had arrived just before the end of the argument, appear from his bedroom.
"You two sound like an old married couple." Lucius laughed, making Draco jump in fright.
Lucius' laugh wasn't in good humour though; it was cold and callous, almost spiteful.
"She is a handful." Draco agreed gingerly, "What brings you here father?"
Lucius sat himself down on the living room couch and waited for Draco to join him.
"The Dark Lord is interested to know of any developments that may have occurred since we last spoke." Draco's father said in a business like fashion, there wasn't a trace of fatherly love at all.
"Unless you want to hear, in extensive detail, the countless arguments I've had with that muggle, you're out of luck." Draco said, "I thought we would have had a task to do by now, but nothing. Everything has become so boring and this experiment is feeling all a bit pointless at the moment." He confessed.
Draco's father sighed as though he was tired of talking to his son. Draco felt like a five year old at that moment, complaining to his father that his elbow hurt or something.
"There is always a point to Ministry experiments. I tried to get information out of that Harman Tape but he proved to be a useless waste of energy. The Experimental Committee at the Ministry is being very tight lipped about the whole situation." Lucius informed him.
Draco knew the means his father used to force information out of a person. He had seen it first hand and the thought of the wizard twitching on the ground made Draco shudder.
"I still don't see why I have to be here. We've discovered that most wizards get on well enough with muggles, what more does the Ministry need to know?" Draco asked, he was desperate to leave the headache commonly known as Georgia Thompson.
"We will all have to wait and see. It is unlike the Ministry yo keep people on tenterhooks like this. Contact me with news of any developments you hear of." And without so much as a goodbye, Draco's father apparated into thin air with a small pop.
Since the first meeting between Draco and Georgia, things had not improved. Arguments were frequent and over such trivial things that Draco often laughed about it after with Blaise who had become a good friend since the experiment had begun. The downside to friendships being formed was that Georgia had become close friends with everyone in the small community of Kedron, muggle and magical alike. She had even managed to befriend Mrs. Salicylate who owned the small community supermarket, and that woman didn't like anyone.
On this particular evening, Draco and Georgia were, as usual, at each other's throats. The truth was, Draco enjoyed getting a rise out if the muggle. It far outshone annoying the Golden Trio, even that mudblood, Granger.
"Ever since you got here, I've done all the work! You laze about all day and order e around but your don't lift a finger yourself!" Georgia yelled at Draco as she washed up the plates and cutlery they had used for dinner.
Draco was only proving her point further by sitting on the lounge, remote in hand. He had discovered the delights of television.
"What are you talking about?" Draco asked innocently as he stretched out on the lounge.
Georgia's eyes widened in disbelief and she splashed her gloved hands into the soapy water, creating a big splash. She spluttered, not being able to find words that described Draco's arrogance.
"I pick up after myself, what more do you want?" Draco asked making Georgia let out an exasperated sigh and grunt angrily.
"All I want you to do is a few chores. Wash the dishes, clean you own dirty clothes, and cook dinner sometimes. God! I fell like I'm trapped at home again! You're almost as bad as..." Georgia trailed off.
She hadn't told anyone about her life and she didn't plan to but she had almost let her deepest, darkest secret slip.
"Like who?" Draco asked, suddenly interested, "Who am I almost as bad as?"
Georgia turned her back to the dishes, not able to face her enemy. Scenes of her past flashed before her eyes as she watched the soap bubbles glisten.
Georgia being beaten with a leather belt, Georgia being taken to the hospital from school after a teacher discovered rubbery bubbles on her arms and legs, the smell of burning hair, Georgia looking in the mirror and seeing her own reflection, black and blue and almost unrecognisable from bruises... it was never ending.
"No one you know." She finally replied, "Just help more often, okay?"
Draco narrowed his eyes and stared intently at the girls back, wanting to know more. He didn't want to change the subject. He was interested about Georgia's past and wanted to know what kept her from speaking about it. The bruise over her eyes and nose at their first meeting indicated to Draco that she was abused. He wasn't sure why he wanted Georgia to share the no doubt horrid details with him, it was no doubt the same reason people watched those fatal car accidents they show on television. It is terrible to watch yet you can't tear your eyes away.
Once again though, Georgia had managed to change the topic and steer the conversation onto a different path. There was no getting her to open up now, and Draco gave up.
"Whatever." He said, flipping the television channel.
X
Georgia had invited Harry Potter and his friends, Hermonie, Ron and their muggle partners over for lunch. She had run into Harry while doing her washing and decided she needed a break. When Georgia told Draco, he was not a happy camper. In fact, he was furious.
"Why did you go and invite them here for?" he asked, "It's bad enough with just you, let alone the whole muggle loving bloody clan." He added, intending that comment to be for his ears only.
Unfortunately for him, it did not escape Georgia who flared up immediately.
"You think you are so damn superior! You and your pure blood. You wouldn't even consider that a person with mixed heritage or no magical abilities at all can be just as, if not more, successful in life. Look at Hermonie if you need an example!" Georgia told him in a matter of fact tone.
"Pure blood does make me superior and successful. It gives me a good name and I can do whatever I want, whenever I want and I can be what I want. I don't even have to lift a finger." Draco yawned, sitting at the kitchen bench on a high stool.
"Well I figured that out already! You are so lazy, you don't lift a finger for anything!" Georgia agreed, her voice laced with sarcasm.
"It always goes back to this, me not helping you. I couldn't care less if you do all the work, you're a woman, it's in your job description!" Draco yelled, knowing before he finished his sentence that he had pushed the wrong button.
"Women's job?" Georgia screeched, "Oooh! One of these days..." She spluttered.
Draco laughed at Georgia's word shortage, only succeeding in irritating Georgia further.
"You are a conceited bastard!" Georgia spat, shooting Draco a nasty glare before stomping out the door, no doubt heading for Potter or one of his no good friends.
Draco stood fuming. Now he would have to make his own lunch. He wished he hadn't pissed Georgia off just before lunch. Draco was so busy trying to figure out what to do, he hadn't noticed his father, who had arrived just before the end of the argument, appear from his bedroom.
"You two sound like an old married couple." Lucius laughed, making Draco jump in fright.
Lucius' laugh wasn't in good humour though; it was cold and callous, almost spiteful.
"She is a handful." Draco agreed gingerly, "What brings you here father?"
Lucius sat himself down on the living room couch and waited for Draco to join him.
"The Dark Lord is interested to know of any developments that may have occurred since we last spoke." Draco's father said in a business like fashion, there wasn't a trace of fatherly love at all.
"Unless you want to hear, in extensive detail, the countless arguments I've had with that muggle, you're out of luck." Draco said, "I thought we would have had a task to do by now, but nothing. Everything has become so boring and this experiment is feeling all a bit pointless at the moment." He confessed.
Draco's father sighed as though he was tired of talking to his son. Draco felt like a five year old at that moment, complaining to his father that his elbow hurt or something.
"There is always a point to Ministry experiments. I tried to get information out of that Harman Tape but he proved to be a useless waste of energy. The Experimental Committee at the Ministry is being very tight lipped about the whole situation." Lucius informed him.
Draco knew the means his father used to force information out of a person. He had seen it first hand and the thought of the wizard twitching on the ground made Draco shudder.
"I still don't see why I have to be here. We've discovered that most wizards get on well enough with muggles, what more does the Ministry need to know?" Draco asked, he was desperate to leave the headache commonly known as Georgia Thompson.
"We will all have to wait and see. It is unlike the Ministry yo keep people on tenterhooks like this. Contact me with news of any developments you hear of." And without so much as a goodbye, Draco's father apparated into thin air with a small pop.