I would just like to say that although I love J.K. Rowling and all of her characters, imagery, storylines and the such, they have never been mine and will never be mine. Rowling has just given me a push to explore my own imagination.
A/N: I have one question. It isn't too confusing with me going back and forth between memories and the interview is it? Draco's such a weenie, but that's why I love to write him. There will be a bit of oocness at some points, but they're older (way older) and crankier, so I think that pretty much explains it. Chapter 4 is in the works. It may take a little while because I've got so many things going on. I have another story as well and seeing how I'm getting no reviews for this one and plenty for the other one, I'll probably be working on the other one more. Enjoy and thanks for reading!
Chapter 1: The Beginning Of The End
A car arrived shortly after nine o'clock in the morning a few days after we had received the letter, to sweep us away to St. Mungo's. Neither Alexis nor myself said much other than the trivial greetings to the driver as we had too many questions running through our minds. When we arrived, we were taken to a room on the third floor of the hospital. There were words on a plaque next to the door, but they were too old and worn to read. I assumed it was the ward that they were being housed in, but my mind was torn away from that thought as I laid my eyes on the occupants within.
Ms. Granger and Mr. Malfoy were both sitting up, backs propped against a mountain of pillows, in identical beds. Alexis turned to me and whispered, "How old do you think they are? They look as old as the sea, but as young as maybe twenty, at the same time. How is that possible?"
"I don't know…" I whispered back as Ms. Granger spoke.
"Hello, you must beGabrielle and Alexis. We're pleased to meet you. Aren't we Draco?"
"What?" he looked as though he had just been brought back to reality from some daydream. "Oh, yes, pleased. Now, Granger, I told you to leave me alone when I was in my special place. It's the only way I can get away from you for any amount of time," he growled, glaring at Ms. Granger.
I looked to Alexis and said, "This is going to be loads of fun."
"Loads," she replied with a perplexed look on her face.
"If you both wouldn't mind, Alexis and I would really like to get down to the interviews. We're very curious as to why you so desperately needed to meet with us."
"This will not be an interview per say," Ms. Granger told me, "We will tell you our stories and you will record it all. Then you can take what we give you and do what you like with it. We will not answer any questions."
"Okay," Alexis replied, "Then why don't you tell me your story, and Mr. Malfoy can tellGabrielle his. Fair?"
"Quite." They both answered her at the same time.
"Mr. Malfoy, why don't you go first," I said with a warm smile on my face and a yearning for him to prove me wrong in my heart. Why I wanted them to make me believe, I wasn't sure.
It was late one misty Saturday morning in autumn shortly after the first term of our sixth year at Hogwarts had started. Crabbe, Goyle, and I were sitting in the Slytherin common room deep in discussion. Well, maybe I should say more along the lines of, they were listening to me put my greatness into words.
"You were bragging, Draco," Ms. Granger had interrupted at this point. She glared at him through slit eyes. "If you're going to tell the story, tell it right."
"Keep quiet, Granger. This is my story and I'll tell it how I like."
"Please," I said, "Ms. Granger, you'll get your chance to tell your story. Do the two of you always argue like this?"
"No!" Draco.
"Yes!" Hermione.
I could tell at this point it was going to be a very long interview as they were both glaring daggers at each other. A chuckle escapedAlexis' lips as I told Draco to continue with his story. Thankfully there were no more interruptions for a while.
It was something the three of us did often. I cherished it! They never disagreed with anything I said about myself. Crabbe and Goyle were my cronies, so to speak. They did what I told them to do when I told them to do it. Mostly I just used them as a scapegoat for my own mischief. When I would do something to get in trouble, one of them would take the fall. They considered it something a friend just does for another friend. I considered it stupidity, but it was stupidity that fit my needs.
In the middle of my explanation of why I would one day be greater than He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, Crabbe simply stated, "I'm hungry."
"Yeah, Draco, me too. Would you mind finishing what you're saying in the Great Hall? Maybe with a giant stack of sandwiches in front of us?" Goyle added with a rumbling in his stomach.
"Oh, and a large cup of pumpkin juice and a big bowl of rice pudding flowing over the edges," Crabbe added. The two of them were sitting on the couch by the fire staring longingly at the door rubbing their stomachs and sighing blissfully.
"Yeah, rice pudding..." Goyle's voice trailed off.
Normally I would have been livid for being interrupted, but as my own stomach was beginning to speak to me I agreed. "Neither one of you had better forget where I was. I will be asking..." I spit at them with one of my finely developed malicious glares.
"N-No Draco, we won't forget," they replied in unison. I knew as soon as there was food in front of them they would both forget what we had been talking about. I still enjoyed making them stutter though.
As we approached the Great Hall we could hear a commotion erupting on the other side of the massive doors. Curious as to what could be the cause of it and wanting everyone to know that I had arrived, I burst through the doors. They both made a simultaneous crash as they slammed into the walls from the force of my thrust. Everyone turned to see who had made such a bold entrance. "What's going on in here?" I asked as I turned to Pansy Parkinson who had just rushed up to meet me.
"Not much really. Potter's gotten something everyone thinks is spectacular. The usual." A bored expression passed over her face as she animatedly rolled her eyes. I looked over to the Gryffindor table to see Harry Potter holding the new Nimbus model broom.
"Let me see that Potter," I spat as I crossed the room to get a closer look.
"Get your father to buy you your own Malfoy. Ooops, I forgot, he's locked up in Azkaban with the other mangy death eaters." I just glared at him, too stunned to make any kind of response.
"What's wrong Malfoy, Crookshanks got your tongue?" sarcasm seething from Weasley's voice as he asked.
"Sod off Weaselbee. I don't recall anyone dubbing you important enough to be part of this conversation." Crabbe, Goyle, and Pansy all came to stand behind me. They knew a confrontation was brewing and they never missed a chance to ruffle some Gryffindor feathers.
"Leave Ron alone."
"Ah, Granger, you finally decided to add your two cents in. Nobody wants to hear from a stupid, lowly mudblood. Go back to your books," I replied with a self-satisfied smirk on my face.
"That's it you self-righteous little prat. Nobody speaks to Hermione like that." Weasley pulled his wand from his pocket and readied himself to hit me with a spell. I wasn't too concerned about it, though. He was definitely the weakest spell caster of the trio, especially when he was flustered. He tried to say the words to a spell, I had no idea which one because none of the words sounded right. Nothing happened.
"Oh bloody hell, this thing is useless when I really need it." He threw his wand behind him and said, "We'll just have to settle this like men." Then the bleeding weasel charged at me.
"Petrificus Totalis!" I yelled waving my wand. Ron's feet froze instantly but the rest of him kept coming towards me. As he fell, his fist hit me square in the nose. The force of the impact threw me off balance and I collided with Pansy who was directly behind me. I vaguely heard Pansy's voice muffled behind me as my consciousness fought to control my senses. His knuckles had connected with the bridge of my nose in such a way that I swear I felt my brain hit the back of my head.
"Oi, get off Draco!" I had fallen on top of Pansey and had prevented her from moving her legs. By this time everyone was crowding around us pushing and shoving, even climbing on top of tables to get a better look.
"What in Godric Gryffindor's name is going on here?" Professor McGonagall had maneuvered the squirming mass of students away to stand directly in front of me. "Get up Mr. Malfoy. IMMEDIATLY! Somebody tell me the meaning of this." The room fell silent and all eyes turned to me expectantly.
I was still trying to figure out what had gone wrong with my spell when I said, "It was all Potter and his wretched friends Ms. McGonagall. I swear, really." I tried to put on my most honest, innocent face.
"Bollocks!" Weasley shouted, his face turning redder than his hair.
"That will be quite enough from you Mr. Weasley," McGonagall reprimanded him turning to me. "Really, Mr. Malfoy?" she said, eyebrows raised.
Oh bugger it, I thought, it wasn't innocent enough...
"You four, my office, NOW!" Potter, Granger, and I all began to follow.
"Mr. Weasley, I said NOW!"
"But Professor, I can't move. Draco froze my feet," he replied dejectedly.
"Mr. Malfoy?" McGonagall glared at me.
"You see Profess-" I was cut off by Granger.
"Professor, Malfoy tried to start a fight. He said some things that were dreadfully awful about me and Ron tried to stop him. He did the Petrificus Totalis spell, horribly wrong I might add, and only froze Ron's feet."
"Why must I always deal with fighting between you four?" McGonagall sighed.
"I didn't do it wrong," I mumbled.
"And I didn't do it wrong," Mr. Malfoy shot a deadly look at Ms. Granger.
"Please, Draco, if you didn't do it wrong then why didn't you freeze all of him? You only froze his feet meaning you did it wrong!" Ms. Granger shot back.
I began to wonder if maybe they hadn't spent entirely too much time together in this hospital. Mr. Malfoy, face turning a dreadful shade of purple, apparently decided he couldn't win this fight and continued with his story.
"Completely wrong," Granger stated. "It's pe-TRI-ficus to-TAL-is, and you move your wand like this. See, Petrificus Totalis!" she said as she swung her wand correctly. "It's all in the proper inflection. Oh my..." her voice trailed off as she stared in amusement.
She had just performed the spell properly on me as I had been checking to see if my nose was bleeding. She had frozen me with my finger just inside my left nostril. I thought I had felt that telltale tickle of blood trickling down my nasal passage so I had put my finger in my nose to check. My frozen stance looked as though I had been trying to dislodge one decidedly large bogey. The great hall exploded with guffawing laughter.
"Miss Granger, I'll thank you to leave well enough alone," Professor McGonagall shouted angrily, her face turning crimson! "Five points each from Gryffindor and twenty from Slytherin for starting this whole fiasco." After Professor McGonagall had reversed all the spells cast, she escorted us all to her office. I vowed to myself I would make that filthy mudblood, Granger, pay. She had begun something I was determined to finish.