Draco Malfoy and the Disownment Project
Chapter Four

Disclaimer: See Chapter One

Lavender's eyes widened as she realized just who she was staring at. Beside her, her best friend Parvati Patil gazed open-mouthed at Draco, her schoolbag hanging limply from her hand. They didn't seem to have noticed Blaise, though that was all right, as Draco was aware of her enough for all of them. What exactly was that girl thinking?! Draco needed to plan what he was going to say to Lavender. He needed time to carefully prepare a suave, sophisticated, and yet outwardly unrehearsed conversation to be presented to the one girl integral to the success of his Project. And what did that imbecile he called an accomplice do? She went ahead, disregarding all previous plans, and dragged him off without practice to talk to said essential girl.

Blaise nudged Draco roughly. He glared at her, his mind spinning. What was he going to do? He couldn't mess this up! He was going to kill Blaise!

"Well," said Blaise loudly and emphatically, "I'll see you at lunch, Draco. Bye!"

She gave an uncharacteristically sweet smile to Lavender and Parvati before hissing "Get going!" under her breath to Draco.

Her words seemed to jerk him out of his stupor. This wasn't a problem! He was Draco Malfoy, Girl Magnet and Ladies' Man of the First Order, for Merlin's sake! The famous Malfoy Charm went into autopilot as he gave the two Gryffindor girls his best dashing grin. Parvati had to grab Lavender and hold her up as her knees gave way. Draco smiled wider.

"What class are you two lovely ladies coming from?" he asked jauntily, casually yet deliberately allowing a strand of his platinum blonde hair to fall alluringly into his eyes. Thank God for Gilderoy Lockhart's Hair Bleaching Potions! Mix that with the finest French shampoo money could buy, and Draco was the indisputable leader of good hair in Hogwarts. Parvati worked extra hard to keep them both standing now that her knees had gone weak as well. She was giving Draco a look that in some inexplicable way conveyed both reverence for his looks and loathing of him as a whole. He decided he didn't mind. Lavender was sighing stupidly.

"We've just come from Divination," she said dreamily, gazing at Draco with adoration. Why had he been worried? He had her eating out of the palm of his hand!

"Ah, Divination," said Draco fondly, despite the fact that he had never attended the class. "What a wonderful subject."

"Have you ever taken it?" asked Parvati, eyebrow raised.

"Have I ever taken it?!" said Draco, putting a hand to his heart and grimacing in a mortally wounded sort of way. "Is the sky blue? Am I the most handsome Slytherin Seeker to ever grace these stone hallways? Of course I've taken Divination!"

"I never knew that," said Parvati, mildly impressed.

Never knew what? Draco wondered. That I took Divination or that I'm the handsomest Slytherin Seeker ever? Must be the former, as the latter is simply undeniable.

"So what did you study today, Lavender?" he asked, turning back to her. She was now able to stand on her own, though she still looked rather wobbly.

"Uh... er... bird entrails..." she said vaguely, still grinning at him like a fool.

"See anything interesting?"

"Ooh!" Parvati squealed, then whispered something frantically to her friend. They both giggled like maniacs as Draco beamed indulgently at them.

"I take it that's a yes?" he said, his cheeks feeling as if they were strained from the effort of smiling so much.

"Oh, definitely a yes," said Lavender breathlessly.

"I always fancied palmistry myself," he said airily. He was pulling this stuff out from the back of his head—his mother was a big fan of Divination and was always going on about whatever foolish thing she had 'Seen' in her crystal ball.

"Oh, palmistry is one of my favorites!" said Lavender.

"No!" said Draco, faking astonishment. "Are you serious?"

"It's great! But the crystal ball is the best, no question."

"Oh yeah, it's spectacular. Some days I just like to sit in my room and gaze into the crystal ball for hours. It's incredibly relaxing."

Draco really hoped Parvati and Lavender wouldn't go gossiping about his 'love' for this nonsense. He wouldn't be able to show his face in this school again, and just think about how awful that would be for all his female admirers!

"So do I!" Lavender squealed. "It's so cool that you like it, too! Most guys don't. None of the Gryffindor boys do."

Then they are smarter than I gave them credit for, Draco thought.

"Have you ever tried seeing the outcome of a Quidditch match?" Draco asked suddenly, on a surge of inspiration. "Only the Slytherin/Ravenclaw match is coming up... did you see me catching the Snitch or anything?"

She giggled. "But haven't you tried to find out the result? When you're gazing in your room?"

Draco nodded, trying to seem sage. "Yes, I have tried, but I find that I See best when I'm not trying to see my own future."

"Wow," said Lavender. "That's so smart. I think I read about that somewhere. You know, that it's best not to try to predict your own future. That it's kind of like seeing death omens and things... you can start obsessing about what's to come."

Draco had no clue what she was talking about, and faking it could only get him so far before he incriminated himself. Better to change the subject now that he was ahead.

"Say, Lavender," he said, sweeping his hand through his hair, "would you like to get together sometime to study Divination?"

Lavender seemed to be overcome with rapture. For awhile Draco thought she'd been left speechless by the shock. When she regained her voice, she reacted very loudly.

"Of course!" she said with a scream.

"Does tonight sound good?" he asked, suppressing the mad urges to either cover his ears or cackle.

"Sounds wonderful," breathed Lavender, hugging her books tightly.

Parvati somehow managed to look in awe and troubled at the same time. Draco wondered where she had picked up the skill of communicating two different emotions at once.

"You love Seamus," she reminded Lavender in a whisper.

"Who?" asked Lavender, still gaping ardently at Draco. "Oh—him. I mean, yes, I love Seamus. Oh, no!"

Her eyes had gone wide with horror.

"I'm sorry Draco, I have to go meet Seamus for a moonlit walk."

She made it sound as if it was the most boring chore in the world.

"Some other time then?" asked Draco, trying courageously not to sound desperate. Malfoys were never desperate.

"Sure," said Lavender. "I mean—" she added hurriedly after a look from Parvati, "—I can't, I already have a boyfriend, Draco."

"It doesn't have to be a date," he said quickly. "It could just be two friends practicing their favorite class together."

Lavender seemed convinced. Parvati, however, pulled her into a huddled, whispered conference. Lavender emerged, looking despondent.

"It just wouldn't be right," she said dolefully.

"Ah, I see," said Draco valiantly, his heart sinking. "All right then. I'll see you two around."

He turned dejectedly from Lavender and Parvati, feeling slightly ashamed that he was heartened by Parvati's murmur of "Draco? Since when do you call him Draco?"

How had things gone wrong? Everything had been progressing swimmingly before that absolute imp Parvati had brought Seamus into the picture. Stupid noble Gryffindors. A girl from any other House would have dropped a boyfriend in an instant for a study date with Draco Malfoy. Trust the Gryffindors to have morals.

Draco sauntered into the Great Hall, already milling with students, and made his way to the Slytherin table. He pretended not to hear Crabbe and Goyle's calls of "Draco! Over here!" and instead slumped into a seat next to Blaise.

"How'd it go?" she asked without looking at him, taking a bite of her sandwich. When he didn't respond, she glanced at him questioningly. "What? What's wrong? What happened?"

Draco let out a deep, world-weary breath. It was abashing to have to admit failure, especially to Blaise. "I forgot that Gryffindors have ethics."

Blaise made a face. "Did you mess this up? Please tell me you didn't do anything stupid. Oh, I knew I should have stayed to supervise. What did you say to her?"

"I only asked her if she'd like to study with me!"

"But I thought that you were taking it slowly. I thought that you didn't want to put the moves on her quite so quickly."

"I didn't!" said Draco defensively. This was all her fault. Why was she trying to put the blame on him? "You surprised me by dragging me over there, and I got flustered. All previous plans shot straight out of the window and now I'm in this mess."

Blaise chewed thoughtfully. Draco thought she looked as if she was trying to stifle an eye roll. He was oddly touched by this possible sympathy. How very unlike her. "Well, I thought that by just springing it on you like that it would be more genuine," she said. "I was worried about you sounding too smarmy with a prepared speech. You've got a tendency toward doing that, you know. And no matter what you say, girls just don't like it when you're unctuous. The only reason it worked with Pansy is because, well, she's the same way. "

"You did this because you thought it would help?"

Blaise nodded.

"I find you fascinating," said Draco, looking at her with mystification.

"I find you unattractive," Blaise said genially, taking another large bite from her sandwich.

Draco was honestly taken aback. Perhaps he hadn't heard her correctly. "You what?"

"Find you unattractive," Blaise repeated nonchalantly, stealing Pansy's apple pastry while her back was turned. "I mean, you're good-looking, I suppose, but you're not the type I go for."

Draco felt a strange sense of relief. "Oh good, because I thought you meant ugly."

"Well, you're a bit washed out."

"I AM NOT!"

"Draco," she said, much as if she were placating an irritable toddler, "you're blonde, grey-eyed, and pale. You have no color."

Draco looked at her, pouting slightly. "You like midgets."

Blaise laughed. "Harry Potter, you mean?"

He glowered in what he hoped was a menacing way. "Yes."

Blaise smirked irritatingly. "I was just messing around."

"He's pale."

"He has dark hair and bright eyes. He has color."

"You like color?"

"I like color."

Draco considered this. "So, strictly speaking, if I dyed my hair you'd find me attractive."

"Possibly."

"I wouldn't have to get glasses and cut my head open would I?"

Blaise smiled. It wasn't one of her cynically amused smiles, either. She seemed, and this was an odd thing, sincere. "Honestly, I don't like Potter. And I think you'd look better if you didn't use so much hair gel."

Draco felt scandalized. "I would not go that far just so you'd think me attractive."

"You're such a dandy. Why do you care so much about your hair?"

"Because that's what I do." Honestly, he had his reputation for having the best head of hair in school to uphold!

"I think you should give up French shampoo," said Blaise, opening up a package of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. Where did such a dainty girl put it all?

Draco raised an eyebrow. "That's like saying that I should give up air."

"You really are too much."

"Thanks, doll."

"Bean?" she asked, offering him one that was an awful greenish color.

"No thanks," he said, picking at his own lunch. "Really, though, what was that thing with Potter about today?"

"It was just a joke," she said, aiming carefully, then throwing a bean in the direction of the Gryffindors. It hit Potter squarely in the back of the head. He whipped around angrily to see who had tossed it. Blaise waved coyly at him as he reddened and turned back to his food.

"You're paying an awful lot attention to him. If I didn't know better, I'd say you were flirting."

Blaise stared at him, her mouth twitching.

"You've spent your entire time at Hogwarts doing the same thing! Have you been flirting with Potter?"

"Of course not," said Draco.

"Then why accuse me?"

"You seemed awfully chummy with him in Potions."

"It's called 'provoking,' Malfoy. I think you know a thing or two about it."

"I don't wink at the enemy."

Blaise rolled her eyes.

"I'm going to tear your eyes out of their sockets if you keep doing that!" he yelled. "How would you like that, huh?"

"I probably couldn't wink at Potter anymore," she said disinterestedly.

"Ah ha!" Draco said. "So it's flirting with my opponent that's most important to you!"

"I thought your opponent was your father. Or the Dark Lord. I'm not making eyes at them."

Draco cringed. "Bad mental picture, Blaise. But if you weren't hitting on Potter, what were you doing?"

"I've already told you," she said, exasperated. "I was just trying to make him feel uncomfortable. It also irritated you, which is a plus. But it also had the unforeseen disadvantage of you getting territorial."

"I am not getting territorial."

"Then why are you so upset about it?"

Draco pondered this. Why was he getting so disconcerted?

"You could do better than Potter," he said finally.

Blaise laughed. "Well, thanks, I guess. I think all this time trying to spy on the Gryffindors has addled your brains. You sound just like Weasley."

"Blaise, I just gave you a compliment. Why must you offend me so?"

"Well, you did, you sounded like him."

"I have never in my life sounded like a ninny."

"That's debatable."

"I'm not speaking to you anymore."

Blaise grinned. "Wow, you promise?"

"I can't believe that in my time of need you compared me to a Weasley."

"I thought you were being kind of cute in a protective-older-brother way."

"Don't try to kiss up to me now. The damage is done."

Blaise snickered and smacked the back of his head. "Quit playing the role."

"Watch it!" he shouted, frenetically smoothing his hair.

She seemed to be silently pleading for restraint. "Sorry, I forgot. So now what are you going to do? About Lavender, I mean?"

"Well, Blaise, I'd think that would be evident."

"Of course it is. I just asked for my health, that's all."

"Sarcasm is never becoming, my dear."

"Funny, you always said you looked your best while being sarcastic."

Draco patted her back consolingly. "Sadly, you do not possess my angelic features, which look otherworldly in any expression."

"Yes, that's probably it," she said. "Are you stalling?"

"Why would you think that?"

"Because usually you are only too eager to share your self-proclaimed precocity."

"If you must know, I am not even the slightest bit deterred. I will keep moving! As far as I'm concerned, the problem of Gryffindor nobility is of no consequence. I'm Draco Malfoy! With patience and persistence, it's only a matter of time before Lavender sees the light!"

Author's Note: Thank you for the reviews!!