Chapter 6: We're happy…
Draco POV
A few months passed any little had changed. Granger and I are now on a first name basis, bound to happen, we run into each other too often. I mean we share a bathroom! Not to mention she seriously knows how to cook.
One day she got sick of the breakfast they were serving us so she made pizza for breakfast. God I woke up to the smell and OMG I just needed some. She gave me about half the thing, it was HUGE! And there I was scarfing the thing down like a monster and she laughed. Seriously she laughed at me! But not the normal taunting laugh, it was that laugh she uses when she's happy or amused.
Since then we've been pretty cool. I mean I'm not shoving her around, we've quit insulting each other and she's finally learned to keep her hair down and tamed.
Well this morning I decided to visit Liandra in the Slythrin common room. She calls it a living room or something like that. Sometimes she calls it a hub, some name of a college hang out from the states.
I saw her taking something out of someone's bag so I snuck up behind her and asked, "What are you doing?"
"Oh, hi Drake, I figured you'd hang out here today," she said brightly popping a piece of chocolate in her mouth.
"What are you doing?"
"Stealing Parkinson's chocolate."
"Can I have some?"
She poured some into my hand and I sat on the arm rest with her until we heard a shrill, "Ahhhh! My CHOCOLATE!"
Normal POV
A panicking, pug faced girl went running around franticly searching for her lost sweets. The two thieves sat in their seats calmly, laughing on the inside at the hysterical girl. Smirks in place they sat there amused.
"There they are!" she yelled charging at the pair. They each raised an eyebrow at her. "How dare you steal from me!"
"Uh huh…well I see this as me doing you a favor. You should lay off the fats a bit, and the red meat. Beside what you attempted doing to me was much worse," she said nonchalantly as she popped another chocolate into her mouth.
Pansy attempted to snatch them back but Liandra threw them toward a random Slythrin. She cried out, "Catch! It's keep away! If you let her get it you're gonna get beat!"
The first year caught it and as Pansy came stampeding toward him he threw it at Flint, who flunked once or twice. And the game went on so Draco and Liandra made their escape.
As they were walking and cracking jokes about Pansy they were halted by Professor Snape.
"Miss Dao, what is this I hear about chaos among the common room because of your incompetence-"
"Uncle Snappy, do you have to use such big words?" she responded with a smile, she loved using his nickname. She came up with it when she was five. She had thought Snape was too sharp at the tongue.
He smiled and said, "Why did you pick on Pansy?"
"She was mean first."
"I see…what did that Jebus man say? Turn you cheek when you're hit so they could hit the other side."
"Jesus! Besides a negative times a negative equals a positive."
"Right, right, you know you shouldn't underestimate the girl. She may seem-"
"-Prissy, arrogant, bitchy-"
"Language."
"Right, annoying, dumb as a rock, wannabee, loser, no life, stuck up, bigheaded, and non-essential," she ranted out.
"Of course, but she is still your fellow class mate and you share a bedroom with her and the other Slythrin girls. She can turn them against you."
"She already has. I've been sleeping in Hermione's room, the Gryffindor rooms and in my trunk."
"Your trunk! Are you mad! There's no way you can be comfortable in that thing! Why didn't you ask me to lend you a bed in my room? It's huge, well not as big as the one I have at home. But all the same, it must be bigger than your trunk!" Draco exclaimed, "No wonder I've seen bruises on your arms! Why are you torturing yourself like this!"
Blinking a few times she laughed.
"I've failed to realize what's so funny!" he snapped.
Snape shook his head, "Mr. Malfoy, she had a room in her trunk (like Moody's)."
"Oh…" was all he could say as he flushed ever so slightly.
"Y-you th-thuh-thought I could actually fit in that thing?" she laughed out.
"It's not that funny."
"Yes, actually it is."
"Miss Dao please calm down so that I may ask you properly what Miss Parkinson has down to you."
After a few calming deep breaths she said, "Few pranks nothing huge."
"I see, well I'll be sure to look into it." With that he left with a swish of his cloak.
"Bye Bunny!" she called after him.
He didn't turn around but shook his head in amusement.
Turning around she asked directly to Draco, "Hey you have a game today don't you?"
"Yes."
"Oh, I'm sorry I can't be there."
"Well you have a dance competition and besides you aren't in this game."
"Oh yeah, why again?"
"Because Adrian has to have his last game thing."
"Oh."
"You're playing against you're old friends right?"
"First of all the questions should be 'you're competing with all you've got to kick your backstabbing group's ass, right?' And the answer is yes, I am," she said as she walked with him to the great hall.
"Oh…how did they stab you in the back?"
She let a moment of silence pass before responding, "On the old team there was my old friend Gem. I guess I stared hating her after a while of her friendship, say six years or so. She would constantly insult me, put me down and stuff. I put up with it because she was my friend. But one day I snapped. And I was out; everyone else took her side because they were scared of the consequences. See they've never seen me at my worse. So I left the group, I don't stay where I'm not wanted."
"Oh…I see."
"Every fucking day it was 'what kink of attack is that?' or 'your report sucked, I don't see how you got an A in it.' Enough is enough, she even treated me differently. Said that I was the only person that understood what she was going through. And then she would do everything in her power to make her life seem worse than mine. I didn't want to compete with her, nor did I need to. But she always had to make out that she was better than me even though she suffered so much more. It bit. Six years of her crap, I swear I'll get my revenge on her!"
"Liandra calm down!"
"I haven't even done anything yet!"
"…"
"I didn't do anything right?" she asked worriedly.
"No, it's just, I don't want to see you so pissed. Once you get started you attack or release your anger with pure rage. I'm trying to put out the flame before it gets started."
"Oh, sorry."
"No it's fine. On a happier note I've got chocolate cake from the cheesecake factory."
"Oooo! Chocolate!"
Draco laughed as she looked for it.
"Where is it?"
He waved his wand slightly and it appeared. A look of pure happiness crossed her face as she hugged him. "Yay! Chocolate!"
Liandra's POV
After breakfast, I got out and headed to the Hogshead. There I flooed to my house in America and drove to meet up with my crew. We were meeting at Jamba Juice for lunch. There we discussed some moves and pulls and blah, blah, blah. I'm good because I've been practicing in the room of requirements from the tapes they sent. I made it 3D, kind of like the movie the guy was watching in Minority Report and worked out.
At the competition there were the usual bright lights and ring in the middle. The music was pounding and everyone was on the dance floor. I caught a few friends there and I chilled a few seconds with them until Blade, the dude hosting it, started to competition.
We're pretty close, well not really, it's more of the he's got my back and I've got his. So we shook and I pulled his move by flipping forward and acquiring his cap.
"Oh yo, you finally got it," he said as I handed back his hat and the crowd went wild.
"I know, took tons of training though."
"That's kool. But yo I gotta start the comp."
"Cool."
Then he forced me to shake hands with Gem. She gripped so I gripped. Next thing I know Blade's trying to tear our hands apart. I'm gripping so hard she's starting to lose her blood circulation.
"Let go!" Blade finally yells.
I pull back harshly and shrug. I walk back over to my crew composing of Christine, Darien, Jennie, and Kristy.
The music started up and my group went first. We started with our five step, few jumps and kicks.
This is what I sound like after 5 years…
We hit to the beat, few jumps, quick steps.
You thinking I ain't hot, you so wrong, sorry for the prolong…
Then we turned up our game. Every try air tracks…hehe
Breath stretch, shake, let it go
Everyone Harlem shakes while I head spin, cuz' I'm a loser that doesn't know how to.
Some days I make thou, some days I make millions…
Think something along the lines of street dancing or super good 360. bump, butterfly, backslide
And I don't chase for money, money chase me…
Ballet turn, knew all those year would pay off, slide, up, head spin.
I'm back like Moses to bring the law…
Jump, side flip, turn, back, break-dance pulls
Put up a good fight…
Their turn. Hehehe…I'm being an idiot.
We went on for a long time. Gem's really slowed down. She's relying mostly on hips and something along the lines of porn.
Finally we had to pull a move that the other team couldn't do. They went first.
Gem pulled off the washing machine with a double step in between. I was able to imitate it easily; I decided to add an upturn in it just to give it some personality.
Then it was my turn. I, of course, chose the break-dancing route. I did the one thing I've been training for months for. Head spinning…down a flight of stairs. After I pulled it off I popped both knees one after the other, it's hecka easy but looks cool.
Gem decided to give it a try. For a second I was scared that she might be able to pull it off but put on my Slythrin cocky face and watched. She couldn't do it. In fact she nearly fell down the stairs, luckily she cart wheeled off it.
"Alright, alright. You all know how this goes, cry out for the better and stuff. Alright we'll start with the Gold Cord (Gem's team). There were cheers from her gang and it was about 1/3 of the crowd cheering. "Oh, come on y'all that sucked!" Blade said having them cry out again. A little louder.
"Okay how about the Silver Dragons (my team)." The crowd went crazy, or at least the remaining part. Then from the crowd someone yelled, "Yo, can I get all ya all's number?"
That's new. First response out of all our mouths, "one guy doesn't work for all of us, not enough service!"
As we left I turned to look at Gem. She gave me finger, then did our hate symbol, index finger hooked followed by the thumb, the other hand beneath it. Instead of a demented loser sign, it's a gun symbol, a .46.
I left with a nod. Winning gave me no satisfaction. The fact is somewhere deep down inside; I really wished I could be suffering the loss with my past friends. I didn't hate them, at least not anymore; I just want to belong now.
The group I'm with, yeah we won, but we're all just acquaintances. No, I just wish I could belong with them, not isolated like I was as Gem's old friend, but as her true friend. Now it's a bit beyond isolation now its pure loathing. And that burns. All I want is to hang out with them again, have fun. There was a time when Gem and I were perfectly good friends. But that was a long time ago, it was back when we pretty much first met. But it's done. Like lightning it was quick and sharp.
So now I have to walk away forever. And for some strange reason, although I won, I feel alone and cold. It's hard to walk away from your past and feel alright. I believe it's impossible. But now it's over, like the seasons, except this season will never return.
Normal POV
It was pitch black outside and the stars were out along with the glowing moon. Draco Malfoy leaned against the railing recollecting all the memories of that day.
Right before the Quiddach match against Ravenclaw, Mandy Brocklehurst, his girlfriend, jogged up to him and asked him to do her a favor. He'd been dating her for half a year now and of course agreed. Then she asked him to lose the game, he took a double take, took a step back and left. Through out the game he was distracted but at the end he saw it, a soft gold flitter around the pole closest to the teachers. Instance took hold and he dove. Within seconds he had caught it.
As his team ran to congratulate him he saw Mandy and watched her smile and leave. After he found out Mandy had been trying to use him, see how far he would go for her. Her true devious plan had been to get the Malfoys to help her family with their financial problems, a branch in England for their potions products had shut down. When Draco heard this he didn't loose his temper, he straight out broke up with her and left.
Since then he had been standing there.
"Hey," a voice behind him said.
"Hey, you guys win?"
"Yup, you?
"Victory."
"Good, well to the victors go the spoils," she said picking up the Vodka he had brought incase they both won or lost. It was their little tradition, they would meet after they both had a competition and drink either Vodka or wine.
After thirty minutes of silence and meditation, Draco spoke out silently, "Liandra, I have a question."
She gave him a look to continue and he asked sadly, "Are we happy?"
She sighed. All honestly she didn't know anymore. She though she was, she really did. So she answered, "We have everything, money, perfect bloodline, fame throughout the world, the ability to have everything, victory, and good health. What more can we ask for?"
He paused for a few moments, "Yes, what more can we ask for? Of course we're happy we have it all mansions, vaults filled to the brim with gold, a tendency to with in everything, people falling to their feet in front of us, brains, of course we're happy."
"We're happy."
"Yes, we're happy."
As they both stared out into the starry night with everything in the world they both couldn't help but wonder, it they were so happy why did they have to keep saying it aloud to reassure themselves?