The Hardships of Being Draco Malfoy

Disclaimer: Don't own any of the characters originally penned by J K Rawlings, don't even own the computer this is being typed on. But a girl can wish can't she?

Pairings: Not yet but will be Draco/Harry eventually

Warnings: Whiny Draco ahead, not to mention some probable OOC-ness to be had by all. But what can I say, first time Harry Potter writer.

Part 3

Draco Malfoy was hungry.

Not only was he hungry, but he was also annoyed. The house elves (all three of them) had been warned not to give him anything to eat outside of a set time for breakfast and lunch. Narcissa had sternly told them if he didn't eat then he wasn't to get anything. Hunger wasn't something Draco was used to dealing with. It was on the boarder line of cruel and unusual punishment as far as he was concerned. After all Draco never had eaten much at breakfast, he had a very delicate stomach after all, anything more then a slice or two of toast with jam and a cup of tea in the morning and he was ready to run to the bathroom and hurl. As for lunch, he had never really eaten that much then because he could and usually did snack without recourse throughout the day. Then he would have a good diner, and maybe a snack before bed, then the whole thing would begin again the next morning.

Now his mother was forcing him to go without diner, even worse without snacks also. She had even gotten the house elves to raid his private hoard of candy, and take it all away. He was almost tempted to give the little buggers cloths, and he would have followed through with it if he hadn't remembered the pain and hardship the family had gone through when they lost one of their elves around the end of Draco's second year. It had taken months for the other three elves to accustom themselves to the new additional duties that had been disbursed amongst them. Draco had feared he would be told he had to start picking up after himself! He still shudders at that particular fear, and was known to wake in a cold sweat, from nightmares of his father telling him to clean his room.

Well he would show her. He wouldn't complain about it at all, nope he could live without enough food for a little bit, after all he was a Malfoy and if nothing else they were survivors. Although usually it was at someone else's expense not their own. Yep he would show her that he could handle a little unjust punishment.

"But Mum, I'm starving!" Well okay maybe he couldn't make it the whole week, but he had made it a whole day and a half. That was about a day and a quarter more then he had ever expected he could go. "And there isn't all that much of me in the first place. Do you want me to go to school looking like a skeleton? And since I only have last year's cloths to wear I'll be a badly dressed skeleton at that. How can you be so cruel?" On one level he was thankful that at the vary least he hadn't hit his growth spurt yet, so his clothing still fit him, for the most part, in his opinion his hem lines were getting dangerously high, but maybe he could pass it off as a new style.

Narcissa rolled her eyes at Draco's wheedling tone. "Your punishment stands Draco, I wont have you disobeying me now that your father isn't around."

"But look at me," he cried out in near anguish, as he flung out his arms. Narcissa tilted her head slightly and gave him a hard look. "I'm a shadow of my former self! I'm wasting away to nothing! there wont be anything left of me to send back to Hogwarts at this rate!"

"Draco, quit being so melodramatic, you aren't good enough to be an actor, so try focusing on charms or transfiguration, even potion making. Don't waist excess energy on pointless pursuits." His mother sounded extremely board and slightly annoyed, not the best combination to try and convince her of the unjustness of his punishment. So instead he collapsed backwards onto the nearest settee, letting his legs stretch out along its length. "Shoes off the furniture darling, and next time sit properly or the furniture wont last for very much longer."

Draco scowled, but obeyed her, then chewed his lip briefly before speaking. "So Mother, you ignored my questions in Diagon Alley, will you answer them now?" He really tried not to sound to upset about how things were turning out, but he wasn't too sure if he was successful. "Why is everything lately boiling down to not having money that I know we have?"

Narcissa paled slightly and shifted nervously in her seat before speaking. "Darling you may not realize this but ever since your father was taken from us, I personally have been under watch by the Ministry and am being investigated to make sure that I am not also a follower of the Dark Lord. To this end they have frozen all accounts in our name. So until the Ministry is satisfied that I had nothing to do with the Dark Lord, I am afraid that all we have to live on is the contents of your fathers safe that he has in his study."

Draco's eyes got impossibly huge as he took in the words his mother spoke. Then in a small voice he said "They're not going to take you away from me, are they Mum?"

"Of course not Draco," She assured him. He looked so tiny, and frail sitting amongst the overstuffed pillows of the settee. "We just have to be very careful of who we associate with from now on. After all neither of us has ever been to one of those dreadful meetings, and as of now neither of us are ever going to. Draco do you understand what I am telling you?" Narcissa stood and went to sit next to her son. Slowly she wrapped an arm around his gently trembling shoulders. Draco pulled away from her slightly, but not enough to break contact.

"You mean we have to betray everything that we believe in, so we can keep what we have." He sounded as though the words were bitter as strychnine as he spat them from his mouth.

"No darling, I am not saying that we have to join Dumbledore's side, but we cannot be as open in our support of the Dark Lord. Try keeping to yourself, don't insult the mud-bloods, and whatever you do, don't get into any fights with those knowingly affiliated with the other side."

"But Mother!" Draco began, his mind awhirl with arguments, against his mother's plans.

"No buts young man, as long as you are still in school, under my care or living in this house, you will do as I say. And if I get one report that you have gone against me, you'll be wishing that the Ministry had taken me to prison with your father." Narcissa stood and held her hand out to her son, who just looked at her with big sad eyes. "You may not like it, but this is for your best my Darling. Now come on I think you have been punished enough for your transgressions, lets go to the kitchens and see if we can't find something for you to eat shall we?"

Draco gave his mother a blinding smile, he knew she was going to cave in on the food topic eventually. He stood slowly before taking his mother's hand in his, and allowing himself to be led towards the kitchen his stomach rumbled loudly, the sound bringing his mother's silvery laughter to float on the air. His mother would give in about the things she was saying here also, he was sure about it. All he had to do was play her game for a while then he could at least pretend he had given it his best shot then he would complain how unfair it all was, she would resend her decision and he would be one step closer to a position of power next to one of the most powerful wizards' alive.

Things would have been so much easier if those bumbling idiots at the Ministry hadn't captured his father in a rather compromising position. That and if they had just left it at putting him away. Really it was just bad manners to involve his mother in it all. Yep this mess was all the Ministries fault.

Stupid Ministry.