The Hardships of Being Draco Malfoy
Disclaimer: What I wouldn't give to have them be mine, but alas I have to settle with merely barrowing them for a moment, then JK Rowling can have them back, with only a slight bit of wear.
Pairings: Draco/Potter eventually
Warnings: Whiny self absorbed Draco ahead, not to mention OOC-ness to be had by all.
DracoWhereArtThou – Thank You! I know I have said this before, but it still remains true, sometimes finding the 'stupid…." Part is the hardest part of writing in this series. And don't worry, Things always do pick up around Draco.
Disgrace07 – Who Hoo! Did ya'll see that! I got my first flame! Wow, it was really long and impressive too. Not sure why it was aimed more at me then the story, but I guess ya can't please every one. Actually it is almost poetic in an insulting way. Well whoever you are, I am sorry you are so very displease with this story, and I hope you can find reading material more to your liking elsewhere. Good luck in your search!
Blood-Debt – Only Thirteen chapters? Hmm, I might need a few more. I will certainly endeavor to pull off this pairing to your satisfaction though. Thanks!
Seto Kaiba's My Babe – Thank You for the Review! Sigh, the imperfection of spell check, but trust me when I say it would be oodles worse if not for that handy little invention.
Nocturnallupine – Thank you! You have no Idea the compliment it is to hear that something was funny enough to almost make you fall out of your chair! Hopefully this wasn't while you were at either School or Work, it is always hard to explain breaking out in 'spontaneous' laughter.
Creepy Clown Doll – Thanks lots! Hopefully this shall continue to your liking and keep you reading!
Aurilia – I'm not telling! 'Sides I personally go with the 'it's all one big conspiracy' theory, who knows where this could stop. It could go all the way up to, dare I say it, the Minister of Magic…. Just kidding. Thanks for reviewing!
Authors Note: This story has officially gone into AU-land, as this will contain absolutely no Spoilers or references to book 6! Also I am currently in negotiations in an attempt to find an actual Beta! Right then, to business, in this installment, we have Draco, his new room, and a few other things.
Part 15
Madam Pomfrey had given Draco firm instructions to go straight to his new dorm area and stay there till at least tomorrow to make sure that he recovered from his ordeal. He had of course agreed, if only to get out of the hospital wing. By the time that Draco had made it out of the infirmary, ducked around Dumbledore, passed up Potter, side stepped Snape, all without being detected, and reached the safety of his new room, he was itching to do something.
Unfortunately there was nothing to do. His clothing had been put away, exactly as he preferred them, his robes hanging in his new wardrobe were sorted by most fashionable, then further by color. Draco had eyed them critically, noting sadly that even though they were mostly black Hogwarts robes, they were sorted with an eye for perfection, taking into account natural fading. In fact everything in his room was as orderly as it would be, had he been at home.
He pouted momentarily, wondering if he should throw himself on the bed, and sulk, just to mess up the coverlet. He groaned inwardly at his thoughts before going to look out the window. This was what he was reduced to. Petty things that not even the house elves would be upset over. Lord it had been ages since Draco had done anything, to anybody. He longed to… Hex someone.
He undid the latch and opened the window, breathing the fresh air deeply. He wanted to go flying or to play some Quidditch. Absently he wondered how fast the Cleansweeps the school had would go.
He grumbled for a few moments to himself, he wasn't used to being so high up, and not having a broom beneath him. The room He and Potter had cleaned out had been on the 2nd floor, but after taking a short flight of curving stairs it appeared that his room, and possibly Potter's was at the top of a tower of the castle. Granted not the tallest tower, that would have been the one used for the Astronomy classes, but it certainly wasn't on the 3rd floor. He grumbled even more when he noticed the absolutely breath-taking view his window afforded him.
He could see the lake glimmer as the sun's dappled rays danced upon it, he frowned at the enchanting sight of a bunch of fairies rise from the grass running along the bank of the lake, to lazily flutter and loop their way back to the forbidden forest, where the leaves rustled gently in the breeze. One particularly lazy farie paused just outside the tree line and flitted down towards the ground at what Draco could only assume to be a pretty blossom, after all if not for the contented glow coming off the damn little bugs Draco wouldn't have even noticed them, they were only about the size of seagulls.
Then without warning the glow was gone, swallowed up by what looked to Draco like a cockatrice the size of Hagrid's stupid dog, Fang. A smile played over the Slytherin's face, he had never seen a wild cockatrice before, come to think of it, he had never seen a live cockatrice before. His father had a few stuffed ones that with a special word could change whomever was in front of the thing's eyes into stone, just like a real one might, and he had seen bits of them, for use in potions, but this was a real live one!
Suddenly Draco had an idea, he was going into the forest, if for no other reason then it would be something to alleviate the boredom and ease the frustrations that had lately becoming a constant in his life. He wasn't really going to go too deep into the forest, and he also wasn't going looking for any dangerous creatures, but he was going in.
Draco straightened his shoulders and pulled his wand from his pocket before shutting the window with pane-rattling force. He stretched casually before quietly sauntering over to the door. He was out of practice at sneaking around, he was pretty sure that it was mostly luck that got him unnoticed to his rooms earlier, so he figured no better time then the present to get back into the swing of things. He listened quietly at his door for a few moments, holding his breath as he listened for anyone or thing that might be on the other side. Then he dropped to his stomach and peered out of the crack between the hardwood planks of the floor and the base of the door.
Seeing nothing he stood, self consciously brushing off his robes, set his hand gently on the door latch and lifted it, just enough to release it's catch. Pausing he glared at the hinges, he couldn't remember if they were squeaky, a definite sign that he was loosing his touch. Last year alone he could have told anyone who asked where the loose floorboards were from the Slytherin dormitories to one of the many 'secret' spots to witness people sneaking around. He could point out which hinges complained no matter how much oil was used on them and where the favorite hiding places of Filch and his thrice-damned cat were. Of course last year he had been trying to find people who were breaking rules and going where they shouldn't be, which was exactly what he had said if anyone found him someplace he shouldn't have been.
Draco glanced out the window, and thought of something else, though it didn't seem particularly cold out side right now, the forest was just creepy enough to be downright shivery cold, without actually changing the temperature. He slowly released the latch and wandered over to his wardrobe, choosing a robe made of a heavier fabric the he had on and considered what spell to use on the questionable hinges of his door. There were three that he could think of, each had their own merits. One would lift the weight of the door from its hinges, freeing the metal from noisily rubbing together. This charm however only lasted for a further ten minutes beyond the initial casting, and you had to have direct line of sight with the hinges to work the charm, so he wouldn't be able to sneak back in. Another would instantly grease the hinge, but this was a spell with long lasting effects, the magical lubricant would continue to do it's job for months, maybe even years after it had been cast, and that would ruin Draco's chances of forewarning if someone were trying to sneak into his rooms while he was still inside. Unless of course he wanted to manually clean the gunk off, as if. The third was the trickiest, and he wasn't even sure why he was thinking of this one. After all he had yet to successfully cast it. It was a charm that had been in his beloved book of nearly forgotten Dark Arts, which had been a gift from You-Know-Who. The charm's whole purpose was to make solid objects intangible, while keeping the look of a solid object. One of the down sides was the fact that it was only good for one, object, and didn't continue on to added pieces. For example if you were casting it on a table you could very well loose the legs if they were carved from a separate piece of wood as the top.
Thus, if the spell was cast on the door which was several long solid piece of wood, each plank would be insubstantial, the hinges, door handle and latch would then no longer be connected to anything, and the handle, could very well fall through to the floor. Also if one was trying to get though a stonewall, you had to be careful to only cast the spell on a few stones, otherwise it could weaken the structure enough to collapse it. Draco shrugged and decided that the last one would just be showing off, if he could even get it right. Nope he was defiantly going with the first option, besides it wasn't like he was completely confined to his quarters, as long as he wasn't caught in the corridors outside of his new dormitory and classroom, he would be just fine.
Checking the situation on the other side of the door again, Draco cast the charm and eased the door open. Making sure his wand was at the ready.
The hallway was silent and rather dark for this time of day, as he moved quietly down the hall and steps, but as things stood shadows were Draco's friends and he was darn glad to be renewing his acquaintance with them. Draco paused just on the other side of the archway to the stairs and glanced around the room beyond.
Granted he knew he was just being silly and that all of this over the top sneakiness was unnecessary, still it felt good, like something he would have done a year ago, and anything that made him feel like his old self was definitely good.
By the time the boy had made his way to the entranceway of the castle he was, as of yet, still undetected, and pressed into a narrow recessed space between a statue and the wall, wondering when the two Hufflepuff's currently engaged in a serious lip-lock, right in front of his hiding spot, would decide to find a less public venue to swap spit. He longed to yell that they should get a room, or at the very least he wanted to cast a Petrificus Totalus on them so that some Professor or even Filch would be catching them in the act.
Draco glanced around the edge of the statues base, seeing if the pair looked like they were going to leave the other's tonsils' alone for a moment, or if he was going to have to hope that they were so engaged in snogging that he wouldn't be noticed while slipping away. Draco's eye's widened and he ducked down behind the statue again. Great, he really hadn't needed to see some nameless seventh-year groping about under the shirt of an equally nameless sixth-year. Draco thought he vaguely recognized both of their faces, (err at least half of their faces when the other wasn't blocking it).
Draco glanced around the hallway as surreptitiously as he could, checking to see if anyone else was around, then braced himself to leave his hiding spot. He couldn't stay here all day after all, he had things to do and places to be. He shifted and started rising when he heard it, the yowl that all students doing something they shouldn't be feared. The sound of Mrs. Norris calling for Filch.
Draco dropped back into a crouch and listened as the couple disengaged and fled down the hall. He strained his ears and imagined that he could hear the cat padding closer, he could see in his mind's eye the slight twitch of her whiskers as she scented the air, and walked to closer to where he was hiding. He could actually see her shadow against the wall, as she walked next to the base, getting closer to his hiding spot. Draco drew his wand, if he was going to be discovered out of his rooms after being told to stay put he was going to make sure that he did something worthwhile first. He readied himself with a freezing charm, but before he could cast, a gray-black striped head poked around the corner, and wide green eyes peered at him mischievously. Draco lowered his wand slightly as the cat fully turned the corner and sat in front of him, smirking at him.
"Was that you Morgana?" He asked. The cat calmly lifted its paw to her mouth and started licking it so that she could clean her face. Draco rolled his eyes and once again started to stand, dropping back as Morgana hissed at him. She then ran into the hall and hissed very loudly again. Draco peered out from his hiding space again and found his cat facing off with the real Mrs. Norris. They growled at each other for a moment before they seriously got into it, and Draco watched as they fought briefly, tufts of fur flying, accompanied by a plethora of hisses, growls and more then a few yowls.
They broke apart and Mrs. Norris bolted down the corridor, turning to go down another, and almost tripping Filch. Morgana gave chase and did trip the crotchety caretaker, who was up in a shot and chasing after her, and yelling at her loudly.
Draco smiled, he was going to have to do something really nice for her when he saw her next, which would probably be at the end of the year. He glanced down the hall and made his way out from his hiding spot. From their it was relatively easy to get out of the main doors.
Once outside Draco stuffed his wand in his pocked and stood quietly for a moment letting the sun beat down on him. It was colder out here then Draco had expected it to be, his breath clearly visible as he exhaled. While it had yet to snow, a rarity for the time of year, Draco could practically taste a coming storm on the wind. While today was bright and sunny, he would bet by the end of this coming Tuesday their would be at least a foot of snow on the grounds.
Smiling brightly Draco set off casually in the direction of the Forest. The only thing between him and his destination now was the house of that oaf Hagrid. And so long as no one was around it, Draco would be fine. He automatically slowed his pace as he neared the shabby little shack, and ducked behind some rocks as soon as he noticed that someone was outside it. Draco peaked over the stones, and noticed a grouping closer. So he carefully crept over to that pile and again looked towards the house.
There were two people outside the hut. Draco groaned quietly and rolled his eyes. The Half giant was talking to none other then Harry Potter, and from the look of things they were just starting their conversation, as Hagrid had just motioned for Harry to have a seat. Draco carefully pounded his head against the stone in frustration. He didn't want to hurt himself after all, but this was so very frustrating!
Stupid Hagrid!