Disclaimer time - I am not J.K. Rowling, nor do I own the characters in her
Harry Potter series. I'm just borrowing them for a little chaos & dissolute
fun & I promise to return them in an only somewhat disheveled state. I know
my posting are becoming more delayed, but I promise to keep writing, albeit
slowly. BTW I hate the title of this chapter, so if a better one occurs to
you, please let me know. Anyway, here is the next chapter . . . enjoy (& of
course please review . . .what can I say, I'm addicted to reviews.
Draco paced around the room aimlessly. This is stupid, I really should have waited until detention, but I need to know how much damage control I'll have to do. Damn Potter & Weasel.
"Ummm Draco?" He spun around at the sound of her voice. "We don't have much time. People will be coming any minute now."
"Yeah, I know. I just wanted to make sure that everything was ok with you."
She looked at him with an ironic smile of her lips, "Well, I'm fine at the moment, but by the end of the day who knows."
"So I guess you talked to Potter and the Weasel."
Rolling her eyes, "Well they tried, I think, but I just walked off. I can't deal with all this shit."
"Are you ok, seriously?" He looked at her, noticing the dark circles under her eyes and her still too slight of a frame. "Ummm, here," he turned away to dig into his bag where he had stashed the croissants and handed her the little package, "you'd better eat these."
She smiled at him gratefully.
"Hmmmm, how cozy. A little get together I see. And Hermione, on the very day that Potter and Weasley return to school?!? Tut tut tut. Whatever would people think?" a snide voice asked. Draco and Hermione turned to see Pansy leaning up against the doorframe, a bitter sneer twisting her features into an even uglier expression then usual.
Fuck! Why? Why can't I ever get a goddamn break!?! Draco's head tilted upwards for a moment as he tried to gather his thoughts. Looking over at Hermione, he saw she had gone pale bone white. Putting the package into her hands, he leaned in close to mummer in ear, "Here, just take this and I'll see you later in class. Don't worry about Pansy, I'll take care of this, ok?" He looked up to see her eyes tremulously looking into his and smiled confidently, until she tentatively smiled back at him. Keeping a hand firmly in the small of her back, he guided her out the door. "I'll talk to you later, ok?" he said gently, while glaring at Pansy over Hermione's head in satisfaction as Pansy's smile fell.
Grabbing Pansy roughly by the arm, he cast a hasty glance around the surrounding hallway, before hauling her into the empty classroom.
"What the fuck is your problem, Parkinson?" he demanded to know as he shook her.
"My problem? What the hell is wrong with you? What are you dating the little mudblood!?!" her voice dripped with scorn, "Is that it? Are you going to make her your little pet?" She laughed manically.
Draco took a deep breath before releasing her with a hard shove against the wall and watched as Pansy fell back, hitting the wall, before slumping to the floor. Her stupid mouth fell open as she stared up at in shock. Fuck!!! Taking another deep breath, he decided on his course of action.
"Who the fuck do you think you are to challenge me on anything I do, hmmm? Do you forget who I am? I am a Malfoy. Do you even begin to understand what that means? I could kill you so easily at this moment."
He watched as her eyes began to fill up with tears. Great this is all I need. Did I play it too heavy? Time to backtrack, yet again, dammit. I am not having a good day and it isn't even 10 am yet. . . . He sighed before he sat down on the floor next to her.
"I'm sorry Pansy, maybe I overreacted. I didn't mean to be so rough with you," Draco forced his voice into something resembling a soothing tone. Can't let her know, how much I would really love to put a lovely curse or two on her right now, it's simply not the done thing, he thought to himself, one corner of his mouth quirking up into a sly half smile.
"I - I don't understand, Dra-Draco. Why are you bei-being nice to that mud- " she began, giving him a hesitant look, "that muggle. Don-don't you want to be wi-with me?"
"Of course, I want to be with you," he was practically gritting his teeth as he forced out the words. I can't believe she won't let this obsession go!?!? Why me? "But the thing with Granger, well, it's complicated."
"You like her," Pansy gasped out horrified.
"No, no, of course, I don't like her. It's - it's all part of my plan to get at Potter." He paused for a second, before continuing. "I mean what better way to hurt to hurt Potter then to isolate him from his friends. Now having to deal with the Weasel, well that would just be sheer torture, aside from the fact that he wants to kick my ass. Whereas Granger is the brains of the operation and thanks to that whole "we're dead, no just kidding, we're really alive" bit that Potter and company fucked up, she is totally vulnerable and ripe for the plucking. Not only is this going to drive Potter and the Weasel absolutely insane, it has the added benefit that without her help in schoolwork and a little bit of luck they both might fail out of Hogwarts." He ended with a brilliant smile, because, after all, it was his brilliant plan.
"Oh, so you don't really care about her?" She smiled vacuously when he nodded in the affirmative. "But wait a second, they only just announced that Potter and the Weasel weren't dead yesterday at dinner and you weren't even there?" She looked at him suspiciously.
Great now she has to start thinking, he stared at her through narrowed eyes, while gleeful images of strangling her darted through his mind.
"Ok, come on for a minute and think Pansy. I'm Draco Malfoy and my father Lucius Malfoy is in Voldemort's inner circle. Now logically, if Voldemort had really killed Potter, don't you think that I might have known about it? Hmmm? I knew Potter was up to something and I was planning on being ready for him when he came back. Which by the way, may I add; you might have just fucked up beyond repair by sneaking up on me and freaking out Granger. Do you have idea any how hard I had to work to get her to trust me in the slightest, before you barged in and possibly destroyed all of that?"
Her eyes grew wide listening to his tirade, "Oh, I'm sorry Draco, I didn't think."
"Yeah, obviously." He stood up and ran his fingers through his hair, "look just do me a favor, walk out of here and pretend you didn't see anything and we haven't had this conversation, ok?
"But, I can help you Draco!"
"Help!?!" he scoffed, "you've helped enough. Seriously, leave this to me and I'll fix it, ok." He began pacing again until she finally nodded in acceptance. Thank God, one more problem solved, he thought as he watched her walk out of the room.
He turned his back to the door as he gathered up his things for class.
"So that's what going on, you son of a bitch." Draco winced as he recognized the fury in Potter's voice and his hand slid into his pocket to firmly grasp his wand as he turned to face Potter. "You bastard, do you really think I'm going to let you get away with this?"
"Actually, Potter, I really don't think you've got a choice in the matter. I do what I want to do, and I think Hermione will agree. So you'd best learn to deal."
TBC
Here's the list of those very wonderful people who continue to read & review me.
allee kat (who has to be my most faithful reviewer, thank you ;), Hermione, Caitie, DaZeD, Linnie, cad, sandy, Book-Lover-210, Megan, scythe_fire, Alanna, Angel, ViEiRA, hdsagjyaf (my very first reviewer ;), Sucker For Romance, Madame Padfoot, Jackie, Ally-sama, Caroline, Linnie, hermioneG89, Redundant Goddess, imlosnoches, Em, SugarShortys23, DrAcO*AcErbuS, Selena, Cascade of Darkness, mousie, Hermie13, lauriena, Fire Goddess, mysticalcancer, Krystle Nicole, DarkIllusion, Adris, Mrs.Amanda Malfoy, Dragona, stewy & lastly wearenotamused (Hi Ellen ;).
Once again, thank you all so very much . . . & please continue to read & review.
Draco paced around the room aimlessly. This is stupid, I really should have waited until detention, but I need to know how much damage control I'll have to do. Damn Potter & Weasel.
"Ummm Draco?" He spun around at the sound of her voice. "We don't have much time. People will be coming any minute now."
"Yeah, I know. I just wanted to make sure that everything was ok with you."
She looked at him with an ironic smile of her lips, "Well, I'm fine at the moment, but by the end of the day who knows."
"So I guess you talked to Potter and the Weasel."
Rolling her eyes, "Well they tried, I think, but I just walked off. I can't deal with all this shit."
"Are you ok, seriously?" He looked at her, noticing the dark circles under her eyes and her still too slight of a frame. "Ummm, here," he turned away to dig into his bag where he had stashed the croissants and handed her the little package, "you'd better eat these."
She smiled at him gratefully.
"Hmmmm, how cozy. A little get together I see. And Hermione, on the very day that Potter and Weasley return to school?!? Tut tut tut. Whatever would people think?" a snide voice asked. Draco and Hermione turned to see Pansy leaning up against the doorframe, a bitter sneer twisting her features into an even uglier expression then usual.
Fuck! Why? Why can't I ever get a goddamn break!?! Draco's head tilted upwards for a moment as he tried to gather his thoughts. Looking over at Hermione, he saw she had gone pale bone white. Putting the package into her hands, he leaned in close to mummer in ear, "Here, just take this and I'll see you later in class. Don't worry about Pansy, I'll take care of this, ok?" He looked up to see her eyes tremulously looking into his and smiled confidently, until she tentatively smiled back at him. Keeping a hand firmly in the small of her back, he guided her out the door. "I'll talk to you later, ok?" he said gently, while glaring at Pansy over Hermione's head in satisfaction as Pansy's smile fell.
Grabbing Pansy roughly by the arm, he cast a hasty glance around the surrounding hallway, before hauling her into the empty classroom.
"What the fuck is your problem, Parkinson?" he demanded to know as he shook her.
"My problem? What the hell is wrong with you? What are you dating the little mudblood!?!" her voice dripped with scorn, "Is that it? Are you going to make her your little pet?" She laughed manically.
Draco took a deep breath before releasing her with a hard shove against the wall and watched as Pansy fell back, hitting the wall, before slumping to the floor. Her stupid mouth fell open as she stared up at in shock. Fuck!!! Taking another deep breath, he decided on his course of action.
"Who the fuck do you think you are to challenge me on anything I do, hmmm? Do you forget who I am? I am a Malfoy. Do you even begin to understand what that means? I could kill you so easily at this moment."
He watched as her eyes began to fill up with tears. Great this is all I need. Did I play it too heavy? Time to backtrack, yet again, dammit. I am not having a good day and it isn't even 10 am yet. . . . He sighed before he sat down on the floor next to her.
"I'm sorry Pansy, maybe I overreacted. I didn't mean to be so rough with you," Draco forced his voice into something resembling a soothing tone. Can't let her know, how much I would really love to put a lovely curse or two on her right now, it's simply not the done thing, he thought to himself, one corner of his mouth quirking up into a sly half smile.
"I - I don't understand, Dra-Draco. Why are you bei-being nice to that mud- " she began, giving him a hesitant look, "that muggle. Don-don't you want to be wi-with me?"
"Of course, I want to be with you," he was practically gritting his teeth as he forced out the words. I can't believe she won't let this obsession go!?!? Why me? "But the thing with Granger, well, it's complicated."
"You like her," Pansy gasped out horrified.
"No, no, of course, I don't like her. It's - it's all part of my plan to get at Potter." He paused for a second, before continuing. "I mean what better way to hurt to hurt Potter then to isolate him from his friends. Now having to deal with the Weasel, well that would just be sheer torture, aside from the fact that he wants to kick my ass. Whereas Granger is the brains of the operation and thanks to that whole "we're dead, no just kidding, we're really alive" bit that Potter and company fucked up, she is totally vulnerable and ripe for the plucking. Not only is this going to drive Potter and the Weasel absolutely insane, it has the added benefit that without her help in schoolwork and a little bit of luck they both might fail out of Hogwarts." He ended with a brilliant smile, because, after all, it was his brilliant plan.
"Oh, so you don't really care about her?" She smiled vacuously when he nodded in the affirmative. "But wait a second, they only just announced that Potter and the Weasel weren't dead yesterday at dinner and you weren't even there?" She looked at him suspiciously.
Great now she has to start thinking, he stared at her through narrowed eyes, while gleeful images of strangling her darted through his mind.
"Ok, come on for a minute and think Pansy. I'm Draco Malfoy and my father Lucius Malfoy is in Voldemort's inner circle. Now logically, if Voldemort had really killed Potter, don't you think that I might have known about it? Hmmm? I knew Potter was up to something and I was planning on being ready for him when he came back. Which by the way, may I add; you might have just fucked up beyond repair by sneaking up on me and freaking out Granger. Do you have idea any how hard I had to work to get her to trust me in the slightest, before you barged in and possibly destroyed all of that?"
Her eyes grew wide listening to his tirade, "Oh, I'm sorry Draco, I didn't think."
"Yeah, obviously." He stood up and ran his fingers through his hair, "look just do me a favor, walk out of here and pretend you didn't see anything and we haven't had this conversation, ok?
"But, I can help you Draco!"
"Help!?!" he scoffed, "you've helped enough. Seriously, leave this to me and I'll fix it, ok." He began pacing again until she finally nodded in acceptance. Thank God, one more problem solved, he thought as he watched her walk out of the room.
He turned his back to the door as he gathered up his things for class.
"So that's what going on, you son of a bitch." Draco winced as he recognized the fury in Potter's voice and his hand slid into his pocket to firmly grasp his wand as he turned to face Potter. "You bastard, do you really think I'm going to let you get away with this?"
"Actually, Potter, I really don't think you've got a choice in the matter. I do what I want to do, and I think Hermione will agree. So you'd best learn to deal."
TBC
Here's the list of those very wonderful people who continue to read & review me.
allee kat (who has to be my most faithful reviewer, thank you ;), Hermione, Caitie, DaZeD, Linnie, cad, sandy, Book-Lover-210, Megan, scythe_fire, Alanna, Angel, ViEiRA, hdsagjyaf (my very first reviewer ;), Sucker For Romance, Madame Padfoot, Jackie, Ally-sama, Caroline, Linnie, hermioneG89, Redundant Goddess, imlosnoches, Em, SugarShortys23, DrAcO*AcErbuS, Selena, Cascade of Darkness, mousie, Hermie13, lauriena, Fire Goddess, mysticalcancer, Krystle Nicole, DarkIllusion, Adris, Mrs.Amanda Malfoy, Dragona, stewy & lastly wearenotamused (Hi Ellen ;).
Once again, thank you all so very much . . . & please continue to read & review.