Author's Note:
Thank you to everyone who has read my story and to all who have reviewed. Thank you for being so patient with me once again. Sorry that this chapter was so long in coming, but school has been crazy. I've just finished my thirty page senior thesis and like a zillion other crazy papers and tests.
Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and please let me know what you think. If you have any suggestions for what you would like to see happen, please let me know.
Thanks again. Love you all.
Chapter Seventeen: Getting Started
Flashback:
"How much further, Flint?" came a whine from the back of the large group of young people who were currently migrating through the streets of wizarding London.
"Not much." Flint yelled over his shoulder in response.
"This place had better be worth it." Came another grumbling voice within the group, "You failed to mention that this pub is clear on the other side of London."
"We've only been walking for fifteen minutes." Flint shot back. "Geez, suck it up!"
Several minutes later.....
"You sure you know where you're going?"
SMACK!!!!
"Ow! I was only asking. Damn."......
"You're awfully quiet; you okay?" Flint asked as came up next to Draco.
"Yeah, I'm just really tired for some reason." Draco replied in a rather worn out tone.
"How many beers did you have?"
"One."
"Well, no wonder." Flint scoffed. "One beer! That's why you're tired."
Draco gave Flint a sideways glare. "What are you talking about?"
"Some people get sleepy when they start drinking."
"I thought you said that drinking was supposed to help you have a good time."
"It does, when you've had the right amount. You just need to get a few more beers in ya and you'll perk up." Flint patted Draco's shoulder a couple of times and then gave him a playful shove. Draco stumbled a couple of steps and, as a result, collided hard into a passing body.
Draco quickly turned around to face the person he had just bumped into. "Excuse...me." Draco stared in disbelief at the person who was currently trying to regain their balance before him.
"Watch where you're going, Malfoy!"
Draco's look of stunned disbelief quickly turned into an expression of complete distaste as he glared at the flaming red head of Ron Weasley who stepped a couple of paces forward.
To Draco's immense bad luck, he had knocked into Harry Potter, perhaps his least favorite person in the world. Actually, the position of his most hated person in the world was a tie between Potter and the Weasley. Granger wasn't too far behind though.
"Oh, sod off, Weasel." Draco replied in a disgusted tone as his icy glare swept over Potter's group. The Mudblood was there next to Potter, glaring right back at him. He also recognized the Weasley twins, Fred and George, and the youngest redhead, Ginny. He recognized the rest of the group as being completely from Gryffindor, but only a few did he know by name.
"Why don't you make me, ferret boy?"
"Ron, stop." Harry said as he grabbed a hold of his friend's arm whilst he sent a glare in Draco's direction. "He's not worth it. Let's just go; your mother is probably wondering where we are."
"Yes, trot off to mummy," Draco, taunted sarcastically, "she's probably worried sick 'cause it's way past your bed time."
"Shut up, you slimy git." Granger said nastily.
"Ooo, Granger, witty and original."
Ron had just opened his mouth for a retort but was cut off by a comment made by a member of Draco's group.
"Hold on; is that that Potter kid?!"
For the first time Harry and the others turned their eyes to the people who stood on the side of the street, watching amusedly at the scene before them.
"You're right, Marcus, he's not much to look at. A lot smaller than I expected." A few snickers exuded throughout the group. Draco smiled as he looked over at them.
After a few moments several mouths opened in aw as recognition swept over the Gryffindor boys.
"Are you Andy Beckons? As in THE Andy Beckons from the British Quidditch team?" Ron blurted out to one of the men who stood next to Flint.
"Yeah, I guess so." came the reply.
"And you're Daryl Lynch!" Seamus Finnigen exclaimed as he pointed to another one of the men.
"Guilty." was the response.
"My God! Half the British team is standing right here in front of us!"
Draco smirked at Potter and his friends. "Yes, Weasley, they are. However, I'm sure that they are getting quite bored of you gawking at them, so, if you'll excuse us, WE shall be on our way."
"What's this, Malfoy?" Ron taunted just as Draco was beginning to turn around, "How much did daddy have to pay for these guys to hang out with you?"
Draco quickly turned back around, his eyes narrowed in a menacing glare.
"Must have set him back quite a few galleons to hire all these people to pretend to be friends with a little worm like you." Several laughs came from the group of Gryffindors.
"Hey! You had better watch what you say you little punk!" Marcus said angrily as he stepped beside Draco.
"Don't you call our brother a punk!" George, or was it Fred, said as he and his twin brother pushed forward.
The bulky figures of Crabbe and Goyle stepped up threateningly beside Draco and Marcus and began cracking their knuckles.
"What's this?" Fred sneered, "Going to set your idiot gorilla's on us, Malfoy?"
"Hey!" Draco yelled, "They may be idiots, but they are my idiots; therefore, I, and only I, get to call them gorillas."
"Oi!" Goyle, who happened to be a bit brighter than Crabbe and able to catch on to an insult, exclaimed indignantly.
"Look, you all are being a bunch of idiots...." Hermione began to shout at them but was soon cut off by a yell from across the street.
"What's going on over there?!"
Everyone turned their gaze upon two dark, cloaked figures who began to approach them. Everyone quickly recognized these men as aurors and immediately began to shift about nervously like kids who had just gotten caught with their hands in the cookie jar.
"Now," one of the aurors said as they stopped and looked with narrowed, scrutinizing eyes upon the young people, "what is going on over here which makes you feel that it is so necessary for you to make so much noise?"
"Nothing, sir." Several voices chorused.
"Really?" everyone nodded their heads in unison. "Then I suggest that you carry on your "nothing" somewhere else before I take the lot of you in for unnecessary noise making."
"Yes, sir. We're leaving right now." Flint said.
"You do that."
The aurors eyed the group and began to move away slowly. Several sighs of relief could be heard.
"Come on," Daryl Lynch said, "let's just get to the pub so if we do wind up in a cell at least we would have enjoyed ourselves and have deserved it."
Several sounds of agreement could be heard.
"Yeah, lets go. Good time's wasting." Flint said as he began to turn around.
Draco gave Harry, Ron, and Hermione one last cold glare before he began to follow Flint. Crabbe and Goyle grunted and cracked their knuckles as they followed Draco.
"Study hard, Malfoy." Ron shouted to Draco's retreating form.
"Ron, that's enough." Hermione chided. However, Ron didn't pay any attention to her.
Draco turned about and looked questioningly at Ron.
"You better learn as much as you can from those guys, 'cause come Quidditch season I think that Harry would finally like to have a challenge out there."
"Oh, really, Weasley? I don't need pointers," Draco hissed, "because come Quidditch season you are going to see me kick Potter's ass."
The entire group of Griffyndors snorted.
"Yeah, right!" Harry laughed. "Sure, Malfoy, because that's happened, well? hmm? NEVER! If it wasn't for the fact that your father bought you the spot on the team you probably would have been kicked off a long time ago due to lack of talent."
That was it for Draco. His anger snapped and he made to lunge at Potter, his only thought was of ripping his heart out and feeding it to him, but he found himself being held back by several pairs of arms. He struggled as hard as he could to get at Potter, but instead he was being pulled further and further away.
"Hey! Come on, Draco, save it!" He heard someone yell at him. "The aurors are right around the corner; do you want them to arrest you over someone as stupid as Potter?"
"I don't care!" Draco yelled as he struggled harder. He could see Potter and his group beginning to turn around and walk away. "Just let me at him!"
"Draco, if you get arrested then you're father is going to find out that you snuck out of the house. Do you want that?"
Draco immediately stopped struggling and after a moment he managed to reply through gritted teeth, "No."
"Then come on. Forget about them. Let's just go get wasted, okay?"
"Fine." He said reluctantly.
"Alright, let's go." Marcus and the others released their hold on Draco and began to slowly make their way down the street.
"Damn!" Draco vented, "There aren't any other people in this world that make me more angry than that freakin' golden trio."
"I know, man." Marcus said as he placed a hand on Draco's shoulder.
"I am so sick of them saying that my father bought my place on the team because he didn't." after a moment's pause, "Did he?" Draco looked uncertainly at Marcus."
"Of course not, Draco. You earned that spot. You're a good Quidditch player. Your father didn't buy the Nimbus 2001s until after he found out that we placed you on the team; you know that."
"Yeah. I'm just so fucking sick and tired of people saying that my father has to buy my way into everything; Quidditch, friends, just everything. It's not true."
At that moment they reached McGinty's pub and entered it.
"Just let those idiots think what they want. We all know it's not true."
"It just makes me so damn mad!"
"Well, let's get a bit more alcohol into you and then maybe you'll start to feel batter."
"Yeah." Draco agreed. Just then a waitress was passing by with a tray full of beers and a few shot glasses. As she passed by in front of Draco he snatched up a shot from the tray and downed it in one gulp. Marcus stared at him unbelievingly as Draco immediately began to cough. His eyes watered as the drink burned its way down to his stomach.
"Feel better?" Marcus asked.
"Quite." Draco managed to croak out.
"More?"
"Please."
End Flashback:
Draco held one hand to his hot forehead while the other clutched his stomach as he emerged from the bathroom moaning and groaning. He had just spent the last forty-five minutes trying to clean up and get dressed.
For a good twenty minutes he had struggled to remain upright in the shower without falling to the floor and cracking his head open; although it felt like his head had already been split open. Though it was quite a fight, Draco managed to not fall to the floor, but instead experienced some slight relief as the cool water caused his stomach to settle somewhat, his head not to pound as hard, the nauseating smell to leave him, and his body to cool down from the feverish warmth which he had been experiencing. However, the relief that he was feeling quickly left the moment he turned off the water. After several minutes of drying off and fighting his way into some clothes Draco sunk to the floor with his head in his hands. His stomach began to tighten and churn and before he knew it he found himself vomiting into the toilet. Each time became more painful as his stomach was raw and sore.
After Draco felt like he had thrown up everything possible within his stomach, he managed to pull himself off the floor and make his way out of the bathroom.
"I want to die." he whined to himself. "I just want to lay down and die."
He paused for a moment as a new wave of nausea washed over him. After he was able to collect himself once again he made his way out through his bedroom door and proceeded down the hall to find his father.
Once he came to the great staircase he paused and looked down.
"Oh, dear God." He said to himself as his vision blurred slightly and he felt his head spin. He took a deep sigh and shuffled his way towards the stairs. With both hands he grabbed a hold of the wooden banister and leaned heavily upon it as he took a step down. A couple more steps and Draco felt as if he were going to collapse. So, instead of risking a deadly tumble down the steps, he instead sat down and scooted himself down one step at a time.
After he reached the bottom Draco managed to find his feet again and proceeded to try and find his father. Unbeknownst to him his father had actually witnessed his entire descent down the stairs. As he watched his son having to sit and take one step at a time, a slight smile tugged at his lips.
"This certainly isn't going to be too difficult."
"Draco! There you are."
Draco jumped and had to stifle a groan at his father's louder-than-normal voice.
As Draco turned around Lucius marveled at how well his son was able to hide the fact that he was feeling absolutely miserable at the moment. If someone who really didn't know Draco gave him a quick glance they wouldn't be able to tell that he was suffering, but Lucius could see it in his son's eyes and by the tenseness of his body; not to mention the fact that the kid was as white as a vampire.
"Are you sure you're feeling well, Draco? You look rather pale."
"I'm fine." Draco replied as lightly as he could manage.
"Very well then," Lucius continued, "I was planning on us spending the day together..."
"Really?" Draco almost groaned.
"Yes, but then I received word from the Ministry that they need me to sit in on a meeting this afternoon, so we would have to cancel today..."
"Really?" this time Draco's tone was a bit happier and his face brightened up.
"but then I thought, why don't you come with me?"
"Really?" Draco had kept his smile but he talked through gritted teeth and his tone sounded a bit disappointed and annoyed. Lucius ignored this.
"It occurred to me that you have never actually been to the Ministry of Magic and I thought that you would find it somewhat interesting. Plus, this will mean that we can still spend the day together."
"Great." Draco replied in a tone which clearly showed that he thought his Father's idea was anything but great.
"Wonderful." Lucius said a bit too cheerily. "I must collect some parchments from the study so I will meet you at the main entrance hall in just a couple of minutes."
"Okay." Draco still maintained the forced grin on his face and kept it until his father's figure had disappeared around the corner. His face then immediately contorted into one of pain and almost anguish. It looked as if he were about to cry as he turned and slowly made his way towards the main entrance hall. He felt as if he wanted to cry. However, he only made a few soft whimpering sounds and when he reached the hall he quickly lowered himself into a chair and placed his throbbing head into his hands.
"There's no way that I can survive today. There's just no bloody way. Maybe I should tell him about last night."
"What?! Are you nuts?!" came a little, but loud voice inside his head. "You can't tell him!"
"But I feel so sick. How in the world am I supposed to go traipsing about all day when I feel like shit?"
"Well, you're just going to have to. Do you have any idea how mad he is going to get if he finds out what you've done? He may be acting really not himself lately but remember he is still the same man who gets really pissed when you talk back to him. Remember how angry he got when you tried to alter your marks so he wouldn't find out that you almost failed Herbology? Well, this is like ten times worse than that. Whatever, you do, DON'T LET HIM FIND OUT!"
Draco decided to take his own advice and finished arguing with himself when he heard the distinctive clicks of his father's boots across the hard floor. Draco quickly stood up but immediately regretted it as his vision swam in front of him and he swayed unsteadily.
"Okay, next time a bit slower." He thought to himself as he regained his balance and his vision cleared.
"Ready to go?" Lucius asked as he began to walk towards the great doors.
Thank you to everyone who has read my story and to all who have reviewed. Thank you for being so patient with me once again. Sorry that this chapter was so long in coming, but school has been crazy. I've just finished my thirty page senior thesis and like a zillion other crazy papers and tests.
Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and please let me know what you think. If you have any suggestions for what you would like to see happen, please let me know.
Thanks again. Love you all.
Chapter Seventeen: Getting Started
Flashback:
"How much further, Flint?" came a whine from the back of the large group of young people who were currently migrating through the streets of wizarding London.
"Not much." Flint yelled over his shoulder in response.
"This place had better be worth it." Came another grumbling voice within the group, "You failed to mention that this pub is clear on the other side of London."
"We've only been walking for fifteen minutes." Flint shot back. "Geez, suck it up!"
Several minutes later.....
"You sure you know where you're going?"
SMACK!!!!
"Ow! I was only asking. Damn."......
"You're awfully quiet; you okay?" Flint asked as came up next to Draco.
"Yeah, I'm just really tired for some reason." Draco replied in a rather worn out tone.
"How many beers did you have?"
"One."
"Well, no wonder." Flint scoffed. "One beer! That's why you're tired."
Draco gave Flint a sideways glare. "What are you talking about?"
"Some people get sleepy when they start drinking."
"I thought you said that drinking was supposed to help you have a good time."
"It does, when you've had the right amount. You just need to get a few more beers in ya and you'll perk up." Flint patted Draco's shoulder a couple of times and then gave him a playful shove. Draco stumbled a couple of steps and, as a result, collided hard into a passing body.
Draco quickly turned around to face the person he had just bumped into. "Excuse...me." Draco stared in disbelief at the person who was currently trying to regain their balance before him.
"Watch where you're going, Malfoy!"
Draco's look of stunned disbelief quickly turned into an expression of complete distaste as he glared at the flaming red head of Ron Weasley who stepped a couple of paces forward.
To Draco's immense bad luck, he had knocked into Harry Potter, perhaps his least favorite person in the world. Actually, the position of his most hated person in the world was a tie between Potter and the Weasley. Granger wasn't too far behind though.
"Oh, sod off, Weasel." Draco replied in a disgusted tone as his icy glare swept over Potter's group. The Mudblood was there next to Potter, glaring right back at him. He also recognized the Weasley twins, Fred and George, and the youngest redhead, Ginny. He recognized the rest of the group as being completely from Gryffindor, but only a few did he know by name.
"Why don't you make me, ferret boy?"
"Ron, stop." Harry said as he grabbed a hold of his friend's arm whilst he sent a glare in Draco's direction. "He's not worth it. Let's just go; your mother is probably wondering where we are."
"Yes, trot off to mummy," Draco, taunted sarcastically, "she's probably worried sick 'cause it's way past your bed time."
"Shut up, you slimy git." Granger said nastily.
"Ooo, Granger, witty and original."
Ron had just opened his mouth for a retort but was cut off by a comment made by a member of Draco's group.
"Hold on; is that that Potter kid?!"
For the first time Harry and the others turned their eyes to the people who stood on the side of the street, watching amusedly at the scene before them.
"You're right, Marcus, he's not much to look at. A lot smaller than I expected." A few snickers exuded throughout the group. Draco smiled as he looked over at them.
After a few moments several mouths opened in aw as recognition swept over the Gryffindor boys.
"Are you Andy Beckons? As in THE Andy Beckons from the British Quidditch team?" Ron blurted out to one of the men who stood next to Flint.
"Yeah, I guess so." came the reply.
"And you're Daryl Lynch!" Seamus Finnigen exclaimed as he pointed to another one of the men.
"Guilty." was the response.
"My God! Half the British team is standing right here in front of us!"
Draco smirked at Potter and his friends. "Yes, Weasley, they are. However, I'm sure that they are getting quite bored of you gawking at them, so, if you'll excuse us, WE shall be on our way."
"What's this, Malfoy?" Ron taunted just as Draco was beginning to turn around, "How much did daddy have to pay for these guys to hang out with you?"
Draco quickly turned back around, his eyes narrowed in a menacing glare.
"Must have set him back quite a few galleons to hire all these people to pretend to be friends with a little worm like you." Several laughs came from the group of Gryffindors.
"Hey! You had better watch what you say you little punk!" Marcus said angrily as he stepped beside Draco.
"Don't you call our brother a punk!" George, or was it Fred, said as he and his twin brother pushed forward.
The bulky figures of Crabbe and Goyle stepped up threateningly beside Draco and Marcus and began cracking their knuckles.
"What's this?" Fred sneered, "Going to set your idiot gorilla's on us, Malfoy?"
"Hey!" Draco yelled, "They may be idiots, but they are my idiots; therefore, I, and only I, get to call them gorillas."
"Oi!" Goyle, who happened to be a bit brighter than Crabbe and able to catch on to an insult, exclaimed indignantly.
"Look, you all are being a bunch of idiots...." Hermione began to shout at them but was soon cut off by a yell from across the street.
"What's going on over there?!"
Everyone turned their gaze upon two dark, cloaked figures who began to approach them. Everyone quickly recognized these men as aurors and immediately began to shift about nervously like kids who had just gotten caught with their hands in the cookie jar.
"Now," one of the aurors said as they stopped and looked with narrowed, scrutinizing eyes upon the young people, "what is going on over here which makes you feel that it is so necessary for you to make so much noise?"
"Nothing, sir." Several voices chorused.
"Really?" everyone nodded their heads in unison. "Then I suggest that you carry on your "nothing" somewhere else before I take the lot of you in for unnecessary noise making."
"Yes, sir. We're leaving right now." Flint said.
"You do that."
The aurors eyed the group and began to move away slowly. Several sighs of relief could be heard.
"Come on," Daryl Lynch said, "let's just get to the pub so if we do wind up in a cell at least we would have enjoyed ourselves and have deserved it."
Several sounds of agreement could be heard.
"Yeah, lets go. Good time's wasting." Flint said as he began to turn around.
Draco gave Harry, Ron, and Hermione one last cold glare before he began to follow Flint. Crabbe and Goyle grunted and cracked their knuckles as they followed Draco.
"Study hard, Malfoy." Ron shouted to Draco's retreating form.
"Ron, that's enough." Hermione chided. However, Ron didn't pay any attention to her.
Draco turned about and looked questioningly at Ron.
"You better learn as much as you can from those guys, 'cause come Quidditch season I think that Harry would finally like to have a challenge out there."
"Oh, really, Weasley? I don't need pointers," Draco hissed, "because come Quidditch season you are going to see me kick Potter's ass."
The entire group of Griffyndors snorted.
"Yeah, right!" Harry laughed. "Sure, Malfoy, because that's happened, well? hmm? NEVER! If it wasn't for the fact that your father bought you the spot on the team you probably would have been kicked off a long time ago due to lack of talent."
That was it for Draco. His anger snapped and he made to lunge at Potter, his only thought was of ripping his heart out and feeding it to him, but he found himself being held back by several pairs of arms. He struggled as hard as he could to get at Potter, but instead he was being pulled further and further away.
"Hey! Come on, Draco, save it!" He heard someone yell at him. "The aurors are right around the corner; do you want them to arrest you over someone as stupid as Potter?"
"I don't care!" Draco yelled as he struggled harder. He could see Potter and his group beginning to turn around and walk away. "Just let me at him!"
"Draco, if you get arrested then you're father is going to find out that you snuck out of the house. Do you want that?"
Draco immediately stopped struggling and after a moment he managed to reply through gritted teeth, "No."
"Then come on. Forget about them. Let's just go get wasted, okay?"
"Fine." He said reluctantly.
"Alright, let's go." Marcus and the others released their hold on Draco and began to slowly make their way down the street.
"Damn!" Draco vented, "There aren't any other people in this world that make me more angry than that freakin' golden trio."
"I know, man." Marcus said as he placed a hand on Draco's shoulder.
"I am so sick of them saying that my father bought my place on the team because he didn't." after a moment's pause, "Did he?" Draco looked uncertainly at Marcus."
"Of course not, Draco. You earned that spot. You're a good Quidditch player. Your father didn't buy the Nimbus 2001s until after he found out that we placed you on the team; you know that."
"Yeah. I'm just so fucking sick and tired of people saying that my father has to buy my way into everything; Quidditch, friends, just everything. It's not true."
At that moment they reached McGinty's pub and entered it.
"Just let those idiots think what they want. We all know it's not true."
"It just makes me so damn mad!"
"Well, let's get a bit more alcohol into you and then maybe you'll start to feel batter."
"Yeah." Draco agreed. Just then a waitress was passing by with a tray full of beers and a few shot glasses. As she passed by in front of Draco he snatched up a shot from the tray and downed it in one gulp. Marcus stared at him unbelievingly as Draco immediately began to cough. His eyes watered as the drink burned its way down to his stomach.
"Feel better?" Marcus asked.
"Quite." Draco managed to croak out.
"More?"
"Please."
End Flashback:
Draco held one hand to his hot forehead while the other clutched his stomach as he emerged from the bathroom moaning and groaning. He had just spent the last forty-five minutes trying to clean up and get dressed.
For a good twenty minutes he had struggled to remain upright in the shower without falling to the floor and cracking his head open; although it felt like his head had already been split open. Though it was quite a fight, Draco managed to not fall to the floor, but instead experienced some slight relief as the cool water caused his stomach to settle somewhat, his head not to pound as hard, the nauseating smell to leave him, and his body to cool down from the feverish warmth which he had been experiencing. However, the relief that he was feeling quickly left the moment he turned off the water. After several minutes of drying off and fighting his way into some clothes Draco sunk to the floor with his head in his hands. His stomach began to tighten and churn and before he knew it he found himself vomiting into the toilet. Each time became more painful as his stomach was raw and sore.
After Draco felt like he had thrown up everything possible within his stomach, he managed to pull himself off the floor and make his way out of the bathroom.
"I want to die." he whined to himself. "I just want to lay down and die."
He paused for a moment as a new wave of nausea washed over him. After he was able to collect himself once again he made his way out through his bedroom door and proceeded down the hall to find his father.
Once he came to the great staircase he paused and looked down.
"Oh, dear God." He said to himself as his vision blurred slightly and he felt his head spin. He took a deep sigh and shuffled his way towards the stairs. With both hands he grabbed a hold of the wooden banister and leaned heavily upon it as he took a step down. A couple more steps and Draco felt as if he were going to collapse. So, instead of risking a deadly tumble down the steps, he instead sat down and scooted himself down one step at a time.
After he reached the bottom Draco managed to find his feet again and proceeded to try and find his father. Unbeknownst to him his father had actually witnessed his entire descent down the stairs. As he watched his son having to sit and take one step at a time, a slight smile tugged at his lips.
"This certainly isn't going to be too difficult."
"Draco! There you are."
Draco jumped and had to stifle a groan at his father's louder-than-normal voice.
As Draco turned around Lucius marveled at how well his son was able to hide the fact that he was feeling absolutely miserable at the moment. If someone who really didn't know Draco gave him a quick glance they wouldn't be able to tell that he was suffering, but Lucius could see it in his son's eyes and by the tenseness of his body; not to mention the fact that the kid was as white as a vampire.
"Are you sure you're feeling well, Draco? You look rather pale."
"I'm fine." Draco replied as lightly as he could manage.
"Very well then," Lucius continued, "I was planning on us spending the day together..."
"Really?" Draco almost groaned.
"Yes, but then I received word from the Ministry that they need me to sit in on a meeting this afternoon, so we would have to cancel today..."
"Really?" this time Draco's tone was a bit happier and his face brightened up.
"but then I thought, why don't you come with me?"
"Really?" Draco had kept his smile but he talked through gritted teeth and his tone sounded a bit disappointed and annoyed. Lucius ignored this.
"It occurred to me that you have never actually been to the Ministry of Magic and I thought that you would find it somewhat interesting. Plus, this will mean that we can still spend the day together."
"Great." Draco replied in a tone which clearly showed that he thought his Father's idea was anything but great.
"Wonderful." Lucius said a bit too cheerily. "I must collect some parchments from the study so I will meet you at the main entrance hall in just a couple of minutes."
"Okay." Draco still maintained the forced grin on his face and kept it until his father's figure had disappeared around the corner. His face then immediately contorted into one of pain and almost anguish. It looked as if he were about to cry as he turned and slowly made his way towards the main entrance hall. He felt as if he wanted to cry. However, he only made a few soft whimpering sounds and when he reached the hall he quickly lowered himself into a chair and placed his throbbing head into his hands.
"There's no way that I can survive today. There's just no bloody way. Maybe I should tell him about last night."
"What?! Are you nuts?!" came a little, but loud voice inside his head. "You can't tell him!"
"But I feel so sick. How in the world am I supposed to go traipsing about all day when I feel like shit?"
"Well, you're just going to have to. Do you have any idea how mad he is going to get if he finds out what you've done? He may be acting really not himself lately but remember he is still the same man who gets really pissed when you talk back to him. Remember how angry he got when you tried to alter your marks so he wouldn't find out that you almost failed Herbology? Well, this is like ten times worse than that. Whatever, you do, DON'T LET HIM FIND OUT!"
Draco decided to take his own advice and finished arguing with himself when he heard the distinctive clicks of his father's boots across the hard floor. Draco quickly stood up but immediately regretted it as his vision swam in front of him and he swayed unsteadily.
"Okay, next time a bit slower." He thought to himself as he regained his balance and his vision cleared.
"Ready to go?" Lucius asked as he began to walk towards the great doors.