The XanderCordelia Factor

just a reminder: all characters (minus Rachel and the Bugman) are Rowlings, Bugman is Joss Whedons, and Rachel is totally my character. The story itself is all mine, so booya

"FUCK IT!" the blond boy shouted, pounding his punch bag, not noticing when the seam started to split, and stuffing flew everywhere. He wiped the sweat from his face, and immediately magicked up another one. Throwing punch after punch, kick after kick, he let out his rage, anger and fear on the black piece of stuffed leather. He didn't notice the owl sitting on his window sill until it flew up to him and bit him in the arm. He nearly back-fisted it, but it flew to a safe place, namely the window sill, as he opened the letter. It was from the anonymous person.

Malfoy

you don't know me, but if you had my name you'd know who I was. But that really doesn't matter, does it? What does is that I know of your relationship with Granger, and your alias. I won't tell anyone if demands below are met and agreed to, if not, then by next week all shall know of your little scandal.

Draco didn't read any more. He didn't want to. It was sickening, someone using knowledge to their own sick and twisted gain. Mentally he slapped himself, reminding his anger that he used to be like that. Throwing the letter and demands on the fire, he tied a reply to the owls leg - the bribe money. He then shut the window, cursing in all the languages he knew. Pantera pounded in the background, enraging him with the aggressive guitars, drums and lyrics. He got up and resumed his pounding of the bag, imagining a shadows face laughing at him, hiding behind the enigma of anonymous letters.He finished, breathing deeply, and went to shower. There was a shower in his room, connected to the bedroom. As the cold water splashed over him, he put his hands on the wall to steady himself as he reminded himself of who he was: he was the Big Bad at Hogwarts, with ties to everything good and bad, money and looks. And nobody, no fucking body messed with him. He was going to exhaust all his resources to find out who the little shit was, and he was going to find a way to silence them. Feeling more confident with himself, he turned off the shower, toweled off and dressed for the seventh-year dance. This year the theme was masquerade, which pleased him. This way he and Hermione could go together, and no-one would know, due to the masks, of course.

He dyed his hair, black, so someone would just assume he was another person, not Draco Malfoy. He threw on a Zero tee, with a skull in the center of the all-black fabric, and slipped on some dark blue jeans, faded at the thighs. Without another thought, he tied on his pinstripe Chucks, making sure that he had black laces on them instead of the red ones he'd foolishly ordered them with. He looked everywhere for his camo jacket, then remembered that Hermione had it. Artfully he combed his hair to look like Sonny Moore's, then attached a four-row pyramid stud bracelet to his right arm, and a hand warmer on his left hand and wrist. Looking in the mirror, he magicked himself a black mask that covered only his eyes and cheeks. It was pinstripe as well. He proceeded to fly down to the Great Hall, where the dance was being held.

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Hermione stood looking herself over, admiring her dress, sent to her from Rachel. It was custom made from Hot Topic, a black pinstripe miniskirt with a matching sleeveless vest. The black and white striped tank had already been Hermione's, and the flip flops had been in her closet for ages. Her hair had been straightened, and cut a little, so it no longer resembled Evra Larvenhur's long, long hair. It fell to her shoulder blades, and fanned out a little. She'd put in new blond highlights, adding a lightness to her hair that she'd never had time to put in. She applied her make-up, a little bit of eyeliner and some lip gloss, put in new earrings and strode down to the Great Hall, remembering her checkerboard mask. She couldn't wait to see Draco, and she definitely couldn't wait to see the looks on her friends's faces when she revealed "Brett" to them. It had been planned: Draco would pose as Brett, a "late bloomer" in the magical sense, and they would be able to be together right under their friends's noses. Not like that hadn't already happened, mind you. Then they'd go to the lake, and lie in the grass and look at the stars, and no-one could stop them because no-one would know Brett was actually Draco. The blackmailer came to her mind, but she repressed the thought, determined to have fun.

No sick-ass pervo is going to get me down tonight. Tonight's the Masquerade, and Draco and I get to be together in public for once! She thought, smirking as she walked down the stone steps towards the Hall. A nice looking boy with jet black hair and a totally hot outfit was walking towards her, and she frowned at the thought of turning him down. However, when he whispered to her, she realized it was Draco.

"Shall we?" he asked, his breath tickling her ear. She took his hand and they strode in, just as the band struck up a song. The boy frowned for a minute, obviously thinking. Then his face lit up, a sight on him that Hermione always loved.

"A-HA! This song's by Cold. It's a slow song, and it's depressing. Care to dance?" he switched the subject so fast that Hermione sighed with envy. She took his hand once more, and they proceeded to the floor. There, the boy slipped his arms around her waist, and she put her hands around his neck, and they swayed for a few seconds before he brought his lips to hers, at the climax of the song. They paused for a few more seconds, enjoying the kiss, before slowly coming away. The song ended, and she walked off, him following. They grabbed a cup of punch each, and immediately noticed it was spiked. They gagged the little bit they'd drunk down, and threw the rest away. Hagrid came bumbling up to them.

"Aww, 'Mione, what'd you do that fur? That was me own SPECIAL-"at this point, the half-giant hiccuped, causing the two to giggle quietly. "Me own SPECIAL design of punch. Yeh don't think I put too little firewhiskey in? I think personally meself that it could use a little more, spice it up a bit, yeh know?" Alarm blared in the couples eyes, and they ran forward to stop the man.

"No, it tastes just fine, I think it doesn't need anymore special tampering!"

"Really good stuff, but we're all good, we don't need more flavor! Honestly!" They had said it at the same time. Hagrid just rolled his eyes and let out a giant "PFFT!" he then peered down at them before walking away muttering about how boring humans were, how they had weak taste buds. Sighing with relief, Draco and Hermione stared at one another.

"OI! GRANGER! WHO'S THE BUTT MONKEY?" Ron's voice echoed through the hall, and it became apparent he'd had too much of Hagrids "Special Punch". Draco stiffened.

"Y'know, even when I didn't know him, he got on my nerves." he whispered, his eyes grey with annoyance. Hermione nodded in agreement.

"OI, GRANGER! I ASKED YOU A FUCKING QUESTION, I 'SPECT YOU T' ANSWER! WHO IS THE BUTT MONKEY?" The couple spun about, and Hermione was tempted to yell back Draco's name, but restrained herself.

"That 'butt monkey' Ronald, is Brett Banks, my boyfriend." she hissed, grabbing the red-heads arm in a tight, circulation-cutting grip. Malice shone in Ron's eyes, and he took a step forward.

"Well then, 'e shouldn't mind a big welcome from Ron Weasley, 'ogwarts greatest Keeper, then, should 'e?"

"Actually, I do mind, and watch yourself, everyone's staring and you're making a complete idiot out of yourself." Draco's voice rang in the silence, but it was different, like someone else's voice. Brett Banks had taken over. His muscles coiled, ready to fight if needed.

"Well, no-one asked you, you arse-wipe, so why don' you jus' go siddown and lemme talk with me girlfrien'? 'Kay, fagarse?" The redhead attempted to shove the shorter boy out of the way, but Draco held his ground. Ron took a swing, and Draco blocked and countered with a swift punch to the kidneys, leaving the taller boy breathless and in a world of pain.

"She's your EX, smart one, and the name's Brett, not ass-wipe. You'd save yourself a lot of pain and me a lot of trouble if you just remembered those two things." his voice was cold, his eyes colder. Hermione walked up to him, and took his arm, aware of the too many people that were looking at the would-be fight.

"Come on, Brett, let's go somewhere else, please?" she asked, holding the boys arm.

"THAT'S NOT BRETT, THAT'S DRACO MALFOY!" someone shouted, and the crowd parted to show...

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The blackmailer watched the whole encounter, while sipping some very strange tasting punch. Slowly the senses began to blur, and the room started spinning. The person just barely made out the form of Ronald Weasley falling to the ground, and the black haired boy -Malfoy - standing over him, and Granger clutching the arm.

"They 'aven't paid up..." the blackmailer mumbled, the words coming out twisted. Taking a step forward, the person shouted out their best attack:

"THAT'S NOT BRETT! THAT'S DRACO MALFOY!" Immediately the crowd parted to show the person the couple, and dimly the blackmailer was aware of the shock and pain showing on the people's faces.

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"Pansy Parkinson!" the whisper spread throughout the room, incredulous onlookers exchanged shocked looks, and Draco's face twisted beneath his mask into a face of anger, hate and betrayal. The pug-faced girl strode up and ripped the mask off of Dracos face, exposing the tell-tale facial characteristics. Hermione stood frozen, fear and anger confusing her basic motor functions.

"She's been goin' out wiv 'im since the school whuss attacked (hic) vey been meetin' in the Room of Requirement since ven, (hic) and I've been tellin' vem vey need to schtop, because vey aren't made fur each other!" Pansy was obviously as drunk as Ron, if not drunker. Hermione ran away, sobbing. Draco slapped Pansy, causing her to fall to the ground.

"SO WHAT? THE ONLY REASON WE NEVER TOLD YOU ALL IS BECAUSE YOU'D STARE, MUCH LIKE YOU ARE NOW! WE'D BE JUDGED BECAUSE EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU IS PREJUDICED AGAINST A SLYTHERIN AND A GRYFFINDOR EVER GETTING TOGETHER! WELL GUESS WHAT, WE DID, AND I'M NOT GOING TO LEAVE HER JUST BECAUSE YOU ALL THINK THAT IT'S WRONG! I'VE PAID MORE ATTENTION TO HER THAN YOU ALL EVER WILL, AND I'VE GIVEN A FUCK ABOUT HER, UNLIKE HER SO CALLED 'BEST FRIENDS'. LOOK AT RON FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! HE'S DOING THE WHOLE 'CONTROLLING STALKER EX BOYFRIEND' THING! WE ARE GOING OUT, YES, AND IF YOU CAN'T DEAL, FUCK YOU!" His tirade finished, he rushed out to find Hermione.

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She was crying softly beneath the willow near the lake, slumped near the trunk. He rushed to her, and cradled her head in his arms, stroking her hair and whispering comfort to her. He was only interrupted by the occasional kiss to the head, and he held her while she cried. When she raised her head, her eyeliner had dripped, and her eyes were all red and puffy.

"Don't look at me like this, I'm ugly." a choked sob. The boy raised her face to his, kissed her soulfully, and cupped her face in his hands.

"You are beautiful, Hermione Granger, no matter if your make up runs or your eyes are puffy. You are beautiful, no matter what they say, don't let tonight bring you down. Look at me, look at me, shhh..." she'd started crying again, and he kissed her forehead, the slowly kissed her nose, and then even slower kissed her lips, long, graceful and slow yet full of passion.

"You are beautiful in every single way, and I love you, remember that. I don't care what they say about us, just as long as I have you, because as of late, you are my everything. I love you, Hermione." This only caused her to sob harder, and when she finished, she looked at him with haunted eyes, and when she spoke, her words came out shaking.

"I'm sorry Draco, I just c-c-can't do this now, now that it's out. I'm so s-sorry, I wish I w-were stronger, but I'm not." her eyes teared up, and she started crying again. Draco stared at her, his face a mask of shock and pain.

"Are we - are you - shit I don't believe this...are you and I breaking up?" he asked, only years of training keeping tears at bay. The brunette couldn't speak, so she just nodded. Her whole world had been turned upside down because of a stupid party, in just under thirty minutes. She couldn't take it; she jumped up and ran away from Draco, leaving him sitting on his knees, shock paralyzing him. The full moon became hidden behind black clouds, and all life seemed lost from the castle and lake, when five minutes earlier it had seemed alive with jubilance and festivity.

Draco stared at the sky, tears slipping down his cheeks.

Hello dears, I'm so sorry it took so long to update, but the internet is FRIED at my house, courtesy of a lightning bolt which hit our satellite (yeah, satellite internet, sigh) and now our router, modem and a bunch of other shit is messed up, so no internet. But it gave me time to tweak this chapter a bit, and work on T&ToaS, so I'm not mad. Well, I'm actually suffering internet withdrawal (LOL) but other than that it's all good. And yes, they are in seventh year. I altered a few things, but yeah. Seventh year.

G2g, love you all!

Shorty