Draco POV
Placing my bags above my seat, I settle into the seat to find Blaise staring at me. Unfortunately, Pansy slides into the booth next to him and smirks at me.
"Welcome back, Draco. Aren't you excited to be back at Hogwarts? This year is going to be amazing," she flirts. Keeping my poker face on, I ignore her subtle gab at me being at Hogwarts without Briar and Pansy thinking she has a chance at winning me over.
"Hogwarts, what a pathetic excuse for a school," I say to Blaise ignoring her completely. "I'd rather pitch myself off the Astronomy Tower if I had to continue for another two years," I say. Looking out the window, I try to think of anything aside from Goyle's smirk from the table to my right.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Pansy's annoying voice reaches my ears and I turn to answer before going back to my plan of getting her out of my social circle. After her proposal for a marriage contract between our families, I spoke with my mother and she thought it would be a great idea to stay as far away from her as possible so she doesn't become a problem.
"Let's just say I don't think you'll see me wasting my time in Charms class next year," I sneer. Blaise chuckles and I have to hide my smirk knowing he's clued in to the plan as well. Him and I may not see eye to eye often, but he has been my closest friend here at Hogwarts for years. Somehow his family got him out of being a Death Eater, but he knows of my…situation.
"Amused, Blaise? We'll see just who's laughing in the end," I trail off. What Pansy doesn't know is that Blaise has been helping me research the Vanishing Cabinets since his father has many rare books in his possession. During the two weeks Briar barely spoke to me due to Goyle, I was at Blaise's Manor to dive head first into research. Blaise also knows of my plan to get rid of Pansy and thankfully, he very enthusiastically agreed.
Snapping out of my thoughts, I can feel Goyle's stare so I turn my head to meet his eyes. I pretend to be confused even though I know he's gloating silently about getting to Briar. Thankfully, my girl is smart and didn't reveal I know she's still alive. It definitely gives us an edge over him. After a few moments, my returning smirk of fake comradery is interrupted by an annoyed voice calling my name.
"Draco," Pansy says in an exasperated voice. She rolls her eyes when mine look at her with a glower. "Did you hear anything I just said?" I stay silent and turn my annoyed gaze to Blaise who places a hand subtly over his mouth to cough so she's not alerted to his amused chuckle.
Taking my silence as her answer, she huffs before leaning forward to get closer to me. I lean back into my chair to get farther away from her.
"I was saying, we should sit together in the Great Hall for dinner when we arrived to Hogwarts," she finishes with a smirk.
"And why would we do that, Parkinson?" My patience is quickly running out and it can be heard in my tone very distinctly.
"Because we're going to be engaged, of course!" She reaches a hand across the time and settles it on mine which is resting on the table. Quickly pulling my hand back as if she burned me, I can feel my anger and frustration at her overflowing. Leaning forward closer to her with my hands in fists on my lap, I speak in a low, menacing tone.
"You listen to me very closely, Parkinson. I will neverbe engaged to the likes of you or even be remotely fond of your presence. With that being said, you should leave," I finish and watch her face fall into a pout. I don't know if she thinks it's an attractive look, but it makes her lip jut out in a way that reminds me of someone with an overbite.
"But, Drackie," she whines before I cut her off.
"Leave!" My response is harsh and has a bite to it that causes the table next to me to settle into a hush to try and eavesdrop on our conversation. She pouts before standing and walking towards the back of the compartment. A few seconds later, the seat is occupied with Crabbe and I find myself genuinely chuckling along to the conversation between him and Blaise a few moments later.
Over the years at Hogwarts, I've come to realize that while Crabbe is quiet and is normally seen eating; he's amazing at easing tension and bringing light to new developments around Hogwarts. In other words, he's a gossip and Blaise and him feed off of each other, but being around them always reminds me I'm 16. I'm still a kid and it's alright to chuckle every once in a while…Okay, fine, it was Briar that knocked sense into me, but still.
Before we can get too caught up in our conversation, I notice my bag being nudged to the side a little bit.
Potter, I think venomously.
After a few more minutes on the train, it slows down and everyone starts to gather their belongings before standing to leave. Crabbe and Blaise stare at me in confusion as they see me sitting in my chair still with my hand under my chin in thought.
"You two go on. I wanna check something," I mutter as I stay seated in my chair. They both nod and mutter a quick "See you at dinner" before they leave with the crowd. Standing to cross to the door, I slide it closed and close the blinds once I'm the only one left.
"Didn't Mummy every tell you it was rude to eavesdrop, Potter?" Turning my head over my shoulder, I throw a hex up where I think he is settled.
"Petrificus Totalus!" With a thud, he falls to the ground. I walk towards his frozen body and reveal him under his cloak. His eyes stare up at me blankly. "Oh yeah, she was dead before you could wipe the drool off your chin," I sneer.
Raising my foot, I bring it down on his nose and hear a satisfying crunchemanate throughout the compartment.
"That's for Briar. Enjoy your ride back to London," I growl before throwing his cloak back over his body. Turning to retreat from the compartment, I grab my briefcase, slide open the door, and look back where I know he is laying one more time. Closing the door behind me, I walk to the door that will open up to the platform. Opening the door, I look to the left to make sure no one sees me exit before walking off towards the groups of students strides ahead of me.
Waiting for Filch to go through my luggage is like listening to fingernails running along a chalkboard. He takes a long time and questions every little item I have, including my walking stick that used to be my father's. Snape tells Filch he can vouch for me before I rip my walking stick out of Filch's hands in annoyance. Turning my head, I see Potter and Lovegood standing and watching the entire scene.
"Nice face, Potter," I sneer. His look of annoyance makes me smirk. I turn to walk into the woods that lead to the main entrance of Hogwarts and hear Snape's feet following me. Before I can even blink, my back is slammed against the trunk of a tree after we're a little way into the shrubbery.
"You need to watch yourself, Mr. Malfoy," Snape sneers in my face. I stare at him in defiance even though I can barely mask my shock at him pinning me against the tree trunk. I brush his arm off of me, but he quickly replaces it with the other to keep me pinned against the trunk.
"Release me, now," I growl. He stares at me emotionlessly and refuses my request.
"I took the unbreakable vow to protect you and I will not be put in positions just because you can't stop being childish when it comes to Mr. Potter," he sneers. I go to open my mouth to respond when he continues talking. "Don't mistake me taking an unbreakable vow for you as a way of easing your mind should you fail your task. I took it for Ms. Griffin as she worries for your safety because of your inability to not be a pigheaded, childish, and ignorant Pureblood." I stare at him in shock as I see a glare settle on his face.
"How dare you…"
"Stop talking," he scoffs as he releases me. I brush the front of my suit off in anger and stand with my arms to my sides in fists.
"Briar put you up to doing the unbreakable vow? Unbelievable," I pout.
"No, your mother did. I took it because I knew Ms. Griffin would be more at ease during her training with her protector if she knew I was helping you." My ears perk up when I hear mention of her mysterious protector who I have yet to be introduced to.
"And who would that be exactly?" My question is petulant and slightly moody, but I don't like that Briar has been keeping his identity a secret.
"That is privileged information as it could put both Ms. Griffin and the protector's lives at danger so I'm not going to tell you," Snape says dismissively as he walks away. I stare at his retreating form in anger and storm after him to get to Hogwarts' front entrance. It will be time to eat dinner soon and I'm famished from not eating this morning since I chose to find Briar during her training instead. It has only been a few hours, but I miss her already. I huff and push my legs to move towards the Great Hall faster in an attempt to rush through dinner so I can go to bed and see her hopefully in my dreams.
Walking into the Great Hall, I stride towards the group of Slytherins, but keep my distance and sit a few steps away from them. I'm too busy eating and trying to start formulating a plan to repair the Vanishing Cabinet that I barely see everyone streaming out of the dining hall. I had been so lost in my thoughts that I thought through the entire hour of dinner.
The first day of classes whizz by and I don't even pay attention. Standing in Potions with Professor Slughorn is torture as Granger drones on and on about the potions. Taking a deep breath, I find myself halting mid breath as I smell vanilla and sunshine. Briar.
Glancing up, I tune into Granger talking about the potion in front of her, Amortentia, which happens to be a love potion that can cause extreme infatuation or obsession. I smile a little that the potion is causing me to smell Briar before I tune back out. I barely even realize that Potter came into the room and is now wrestling with Wesley over something in the closet. I have too much to consider and think about to even get petty about him being here.
Of course, Potter waltzes in late and gets all the attention. The same Potter who almost got Briar killed with his stupidity. Stupid Scar Head.
Okay, maybe not too much to consider being petty towards him. The rest of the instruction flies over my head until I heard Slughorn's explanation about Liquid Luck.
"One sip and you will find that all of your endeavors succeed," Slughorn says. I find myself glancing up at him in interest. I notice Potter has an interest in his words too interestingly enough. "At least until the effects wear off," he finishes.
Quickly turning to the page he indicates, I start skimming over the potion we're to make today. I grin smugly when I realize this is a potion Snape showed me during a summer session we had years ago. Over the years, Snape has notices my interest in potions and took it upon himself to teach me what I wanted to learn. Living Death was one I didn't request, but he said I could never be too careful as learning how to make it also taught me how to avoid being poisoned by it. I learned it has a very distinct smell like black licorice.
As the class progresses, I'm almost done with the potion when Slughorn calls us all to the front to congratulate Potter on finishing the potion. Growling quietly, I march to the front with the rest of Slytherin house and find my classmates are just as annoyed at Potter as I am. Standing silently, I tune out Slughorn talking about how Potter once again is able to do no wrong and is being rewarded.
Storming through the hallways after class, I find myself standing in the meadow in the Room of Requirement. Sitting on the soft grass, I wrap my arms around my legs as I let myself think about this year. I won't be able to play Quidditch per Snape's request because he needed me focused. I won't have Briar here physically to help me. This year is going to easily be the worst if I fail the task, but even if I don't fail the task, I find myself thinking about murdering Dumbledore. I may not be his biggest fan, but I never thought about wanting him dead and now that's all I'm supposed to be thinking about.
Wrapping my arms tighter around my legs, I feel a pit in my stomach that claws its way up my body. Settling in my neck, I gulp at the tightness in my throat. It's only the first day and I'm already feeling lonelier than I have in a very long time. I haven't felt this lonely since before I met Briar. Sitting up straighter, I realize how much I've come to rely on her presence to make me strong. Just her sitting next to me gives me strength and I now understand why Snape kept her being alive from me so long. The devastation I felt when I thought she was dead was real. It was all consuming. I wanted to die without her.
Tilting my chin up in determination, I set my jaw and push my sadness away. I need to finish this task. The faster I finish it, the faster I can get back to Briar and we can go back to being in our own world away from Death Eaters, Potter, and The Order. We can go back to building a future together that didn't involve Voldemort. I can go back home; Briar.
Standing up, I brush my clothes out and turn to leave the room with a new purpose and resolve in place.
Time to kill Dumbledore and repair the Vanishing Cabinet so I can go home.