First and foremost, I kind ofwent off on tangents while writing the customarydisclaimery/author's note-ypart of this, so if you're not in the mood to read my ramblings, just skip ahead to the parts in bold that are actually relevant.
Disclaimer: I am of course, the one and only J.K. Rowling and I have taken time out of my extremely busy schedual to come on a website and write fan fiction instead of just writing it in my books like any normal multi-millionaire author would do...
I'm lying, of course I'm not, and could never hope to be the glorious Joanne (or is it Joanna, I really should know, shouldn't I?) Rowling. All the characters in the story to come belong soley to her, and I guess the various publishing companies, toy makers, and Warner Brothers? I dunno, I have no idea how these things work. At any rate, this disclaimer's running too long, I'm going to cut myself o-
Author's Note: So, I might as well explain my insperation and how this story's gonna run, and all that jazz. Well, as you know from the summary, this story takes place at Christmas. I don't know why I decided todo it like that,since I started writing it last summer and can't remember that far back, but I guess I was just in a Christmas mood shrugs Oh, and I hope I made Draco and Hermione in character enough. I think Idid pretty well but I'd really like your opinions on that.Important note:
The first few chapters of this story go in pairs, though they themselves are individual chapters. Ie. chapters one and two go together, three and four go together, five and six go together, and seven and eight go together. After that, they will converge.Also, themain charactershifts from chapter to chapter,and is named in the title.
So, enjoy chapters one and two:D
Snug in Their Beds
Draco
Draco had always hated Christmas. Ever since he could remember, it had onlybrought pain, anger, jealousy, discomfort, and pretty much every other bad emotion known to man. So as he lay awake in his room, at 4:00 am on Christmas morning, he dreaded the time his alarm clock would go off.
He had barely slept that night. He almost never slept soundly anymore though. He either stayed up at night worried that his father would suddenly appear, or any othermember of You-Know…He-Who-Must…The Dark Lo-, 'Ah fuck it, VOLDEMORT'S' he thought. 'Any other member of Voldemort's little gang'. And if he finally did drift off to sleep, it was almost always shrouded with nightmares. The things Draco had learned from his father, the stories he had heard, it was no wonder the boy found his dreams haunted with blood and gore.
He knew of course that others must have it worse, those who had witnessed Voldemort's regime themselves, those effected everyday by losses of loved ones, and those who are involved directly in the Second War now. But Draco refused to think about those people. Perhaps it was because he knew that a large number of his own family was responsible for that pain, for those nightmares, for that fear. And Draco refused to admit that he was in any way connected to their misery. Or perhaps, it was because he wanted to be special. He wanted to be the one plagued with the most misery. He wanted people to pity him. 'No!' He thought immediately after his last reflection, 'Malfoys don't want anyone's pity!'.
"Yeah, Malfoys, right," he spoke out loud and rolled his eyes.
He turned over in bed and quickly looked for a change of topic. He glimpsed his Prefects Badge, shining brightly in the reflection of the full moon, laying on his nightstand. Immediately he directed his thoughts to Hogwarts. Unfortunately, these thoughts didn't bring much comfort to him either.
He thought of his "best friends", Crabbe and Goyle. How everyone thought of them as his lackeys or body guards. Perhaps they were, but he didn't truly dislike them. He feared they disliked him though. Not that he blamed them, everyone seemed to hate him now-a-days. Draco sighed at this thought. Ever since he had gotten back to Hogwarts in September, his life there had been a living hell. Everyone assumed that since Lucius was a sadistic son of a bitch who lived to serve the Dark Lord, Draco was too. He never denied these accusations, figuring there'd be no point.
"They'd think I was lying anyways, trying to get on Dumbledore's and Potter's good side to find out some bloody information or something" he said bitterly into his green silken pillow.
'Besides, mustn't ruin the Malfoy reputation in front of the children of Death Eaters' he thought in an imitation of his mother's voice.
Truly, Draco was beginning to loath Hogwarts as much as he once loathed his home. Things were better here, now that his father was gone, but at Hogwarts…let's just say he barely slept there as well. He's never trusted his roommates, especially Theodore, 'Ha, Teddy,' he thought, laughing to himself. Nott hated when he called him that, just as he hated it when Teddy called him Drakey. Theodore was not actually such a bad guy when compared to the bloody idiots Crabbe and Goyle, at least he could carry on an intelligent conversation with him. But he wouldn't trust Nott if his life depended on it. Draco laughed at the irony of this statement: Trusting Nott would most likely bring about the end of his life.
Crabbe and Goyle, they weren't to be trusted either. Ever since their fathers had been put in Azkaban, they had been trying to convince him to help break them out, which Draco knew was suicide. He also never knew when they'd suddenly get the crazy idea to become Death Eaters, but he knew that when they finally did, Draco would either have to talk them out of it, or join them. Neither of which he was very willing to do, and he wasn't quite sure which one he'd choose to do anyways.
Then there was his other roommate, Blaise. Draco trusted Blaise more than anyone at Hogwarts…with the possible exception on Professor Snape. Zabini was practically the only one in the Slytherin house who's parents weren't supporters of Lord Voldemort. Draco really envied that. But he also pitied his friend. He pitied him because none of the Slytherins really trusted Blaise. They never openly spoke around him, for fear that he was a spy for Dumbledore or something. Draco was of course guilty of this too, and rarely spoke to Blaise, but he still trusted him to never try to kill or humiliate him, which was refreshing.
Draco sighed again. Thinking about Hogwarts was turning out to be just as depressing as thinking about his family. He couldn't wait to leave that place. But after he left, then what? He honestly didn't know. He'd hate to leave his mother all alone in this house, fearing her husband and sister's possible return. Maybe she'd move away to France or somewhere, where they wouldn't find her, then Draco wouldn't feel guilty about leaving her behind. Because Draco had seriously been contemplating leaving the whole magical world lately.
Everyone here hated him, judged him, feared him even. But in the muggle world, he was no-one, he could easily slip under the radar and live his life without worry. But then, that scared him. Having to make his own living, and re-gain the respect he had once had as a Malfoy. Draco didn't know which was worse: being feared, or being afraid. It didn't really matter anyways, 'I've still got to deal with another year of this hell anyways. 'Cause there's no way I'm quitting school', he admitted defeat.
His thoughts lasted not much longer than this, until he finally drifted off to a dreamless sleep. Dreamless only because he never got past the NREM stage of sleep. He was thankful for this the next morning as his 16th century antique alarm clock woke him up, because though he was tired, his head was at least free of graphic images.
He woke up to find the fireplace in his room already lit, thank God for his house elf Dicey. He got gracefully out of bed, left his green silk sheets in a big heap on the bed, and slowly made his way to his private bathroom to get ready.
"Uh, this is gonna be a long day," He muttered.
A/N: I love reviews hint hint nudge nudge
