Here's some more! I hope you like it as much as the first chapter!
Disclaimer: Harry Potter does not belong to me!
The Game
Chapter 2: Oh, The Irony
"Master Draco? Master Draco! Is time to be waking, sir!" A nervous house elf said. He tentatively lifted an arm up to shake Draco awake.
Draco jerked and sat up fast. "What? I'm up!"
"Your Father is wanting you ready in 30 minutes to meet him in his office." The house elf informed.
Draco sighed. "Alright. What time is it?"
"It is being 7 a.m., sir."
"Thank you."
Draco took a second for himself, for that was all he was allowed (if he was lucky), to prepare himself for the day. He already knew what his Father wanted him for. Draco was just glad that today he was returning to Hogwarts. If he had to go through anymore training with his Father he would seriously start thinking about suicide.
Summer for Draco had been hellish as usual. Actually, hell would have been a pleasant place compared to the Manor. He was actually glad it was time for school again. Especially this year because not only was it his last year and he was Head Boy, he would not be going home for any holidays. Hogwarts was just so much more warm and friendly than his house.
At the beginning of the summer holidays, Draco's Father wasted no time in starting his training for his Death Eater initiation. It was supposed to be held on his 18th birthday, but with a lot of quick and hard thinking he convinced his Father that if he waited until after his graduation he would have more time to focus on serving the Dark Lord. His father hadn't been too pleased that Draco wanted to put off his initiation, but Draco put on a show that had finally convinced his father. Draco had told him he could start planning now so that it would be most fantastic. And Lucius Malfoy bought it. Draco was just hoping that going back to school would be a relief from his family life.
But since then his Father had been even tougher than normal in his training. He wasn't happy at all with Draco's decision to wait.
Draco was ready in 20 minutes, which gave him enough time to get down to his Father's office with a minute or two to spare. Outside the large wooden door of his Father's office Draco drew in a deep breath to compose himself, and then knocked on the door.
"Come in." His Father called out from within. Draco opened the door and stepped through.
There was Lucius Malfoy, in all his glory, sitting behind a large, wooden desk. Every wall in the room had bookcases against them, every space filled with books of dark magic and all sorts of dark magic items. A chandelier, holding candles, hung from the ceiling, casting out the only light in the room, giving it a scary, forbidden look.
"There you are, Draco." His Father spoke, not looking up from whatever he was working on. "Sit down, son."
Draco did as he was told, sitting on the chair provided in front of the elder Malfoy.
"Your last year of school begins today. You are ready, I suppose. Your things are packed and you've finished all of your summer work?"
"Yes, sir."
"Good. And your Head Boy badge? Do not forget to put that on. Well, you know what I expect from you at school. Please do not embarrass me again by coming in 2nd to that Mudblood." He spat out the word, like acid on his tongue. "It's bad enough that she is Head Girl. And don't think that just because you are at school you can slack off on your training. You're getting much longer to train for your initiation than normal. It better be perfect. Am I understood?"
"Yes, sir." Draco replied. He kept his face calm and showed no emotion. What he really wanted to do was scream and punch the man who called himself his Father.
"Alright then. I will see when school is over. I cannot come with you to Hogwarts Express. I have a meeting I must attend. Do not disappoint me, Draco. You are dismissed." Lucius said, with a wave of his hand.
Draco stood and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. He let out a sigh and prepared his mind for the return to school.
Outside there was already a car waiting for him with all of his things inside. His Mother was also there. She would be riding with him to the train station.
"Good morning, Draco." She greeted him with a kiss on his forehead. He was nearly 18 years old, but he would never stop his Mother from doing this.
"Good morning, Mother. Did you sleep well?" He asked, kissing her cheek.
"Well enough." She replied. Draco opened the car door for her and she got in, Draco following. "What did your Father have to say?"
"Oh, just the usual." Draco's Mother did not know about his opposition to the Dark Lord, although Draco wouldn't put it past her that she already knew. He didn't tell her anyways. But she did know that he did not like his Father, which she could understand.
The rest of the ride was silent, both Mother and son deep in thought. Draco wondering how he was going to survive the year, and Narcissa worrying about her only child.
When they reached the train station, Draco and his Mother got out of the car, while the driver gathered Draco's things from the trunk. Draco thanked him and said he could take it while he waited. His Mother stayed with him.
Draco looked around the station to see if any of his friends had arrived. His gaze fell onto the Golden Trio. Harry and Ron were hugging Hermoine, while she, it looked like, was hanging onto them for dear life. She was crying.
A strange look crossed his face as he looked on. Of course he knew why she was crying, why the whole last two months of school she had walked around like a zombie. He hadn't yet seen her cry though.
He had heard about it all summer from his Father. How a group of Death Eaters had killed her parents. How his Father hadn't been with the group, but every day wished he had been. Strangely, Draco was relieved by the knowledge that his Father hadn't been apart of the murder of Hermoine's parents.
Soon it was time to board the train. Draco snapped out of his daydream, and turned to his Mother.
"Bye, Mum." He said, hugging her and kissing her cheek.
"Have a good school year. Write me as often as you can." She kissed his forehead. "I love you."
"I love you too, Mum. You write me too." Draco replied.
"Of course I will. I'll see you at graduation." She said, and pushed him to the train so he wouldn't miss it.
Draco turned back to where the Golden Trio had been standing. The two boys had led their mourning friend onto the train already. In the empty compartment, Hermoine had cried herself to sleep, while Harry and Ron just sat quietly across from her.
This year Draco didn't meet up with his friends or roam around the train like normal. Instead, he went in search for an empty compartment for himself. He knew that sooner or later his friends would find him, but until then he didn't want to talk to anyone.
As luck would have it he came across the Golden Trio. He stood in the doorway and looked in at them.
Ron noticed him first. "What do you want Malfoy? We're not in the mood to pick fights today." He said.
Draco said nothing as he just stared at him, then Harry, then finally his gaze fell onto Hermoine's sleeping form. He stared, quietly, at her for only a moment, looked back at Harry and Ron, then left without saying a word. The two boys just shared a confused look.
Draco sighed as he fell into a seat. Just as he began to doze off the door slammed open. Startled, he jumped.
"Oh, Draco! There you are!" He heard the obnoxious, and overly fake voice that Pansy used when around other people. Sometimes she forgot to turn it off.
Draco opened his eyes to find she was not alone. She entered the compartment, followed by Crabbe, Goyle, and Blaise Zabini. Draco sighed, and closed his eyes again not saying anything.
"How was your summer, Draco?" Pansy said, speaking normally now.
"The same as every other summer I've had. Only worse." He said, eyes still closed.
"You should have come and hung out with us, mate." Blaise said.
"I wish I could have. Father had me training every day. He wasn't too pleased when I convinced him to put off my initiation until after graduation." Draco informed.
"Oh, man, I'm sorry." He said. They all knew of Draco's dislike for the Dark Lord. They followed him, so no one else knew. Supposedly Draco was to be Voldemort's heir or something and they would be his followers. And seeing as he was not going to take Voldemort's place they weren't going to follow in the footsteps of their Death Eater parents.
"It's alright. Hopefully, by the end of this year Potter will have gotten it right and there will be no more Voldemort and I can tell the Death Eaters to bugger off." He said.
Pansy decided to change the subject to a happier one. "So, I heard that you're Head Boy this year, Draco! That's great! Congratulations."
Draco nodded his head. "Yes, thank you."
"Who's Head Girl?" Crabbe asked. Contrary to popular belief, him and Goyle were not as stupid as they put off.
It was something the five of them had started when they had first started at Hogwarts. Almost like a game, but they had been doing it so long it was almost second nature. They all came up with a personality that would be typical for their social status. Draco had come up with the idea when he finally came to the conclusion that he would not become a Death Eater. Crabbe and Goyle, always having been on the larger side, decided to go for the dumb bodyguards. And obviously Draco was the cruel leader, Blaise the best friend, and Pansy the annoying rich girl.
Draco sighed. "Hermoine Granger."
"Oh, what happened to her parents was so awful." Pansy said.
"Yeah, at least my Father wasn't the one who did it." Draco said. "I would feel so guilty."
"I guess she wouldn't be up to having us hang around in your Common Room. Besides the fact that she hates all of us." Pansy said.
"Who cares? I'm not staying in my room by myself if I don't want to." Draco informed.
Silence filled the compartment and they all lost themselves in their thoughts. A woman came through with a cart full of goodies. They each bought something and ate in silence.
As the train was coming to a stop Draco couldn't help but want to stop time so he didn't have to go out into the real world and see people, mainly the people that he was supposed to 'hate'. It was so tiring pretending to be something you weren't. The only reason he acted the way he did was so his Father wouldn't ask questions.
The five friends got off the train and found a carriage. When they reached Hogwarts they followed all of the students into the Great Hall where they went to the Slytherin table to sit. On their way there who would they happen to run into but their three favorite people.
"Watch where you're going, Malfoy." Ron said.
Draco just rolled my eyes. "Grow up, Weasley. I've got better things to do than argue with people." With that he walked off, noticing Hermoine giving him a strange look. He just ignored it.
Draco was serious. He didn't want to take part in petty arguments with the Golden Trio. He had realized over the summer that his Father did things like that, and he had decided that he didn't want to be like his Father so that meant no quarrels.
He basically ignored the whole sorting. The song was too long, the list of new kids was too long and everything else was too long. He was just hungry and tired. He wanted to eat and get out of the crowded Great Hall. Finally, Dumbledore gave the word that they could eat.
Even though being away from his house and his Father, and being with his friends again, the first day back at school had not been the relief he was looking for. He really just wanted to curl up in a dark corner and die. That would solve all his problems. But he couldn't leave his friends behind. They needed him to lead them. Without him they would be forced to serve the Dark Lord, and they never wanted to do that either.
Draco looked up from his plate of food. He had thought he was hungry, but after only a few bites he was full. Across the Hall he looked for Hermoine Granger. What was that look she had given him? He noticed that she wasn't eating at all, just pushing the food around her plate with her fork. Harry and Ron were trying to get her to eat, but with no success. Finally, she stood up and left.
Sighing, he turned back around. He felt Pansy look at him and give him a concerned look. He met her eye. The question in her eyes was 'Are you okay?' He gave her a small smile and nodded. She smiled back.
"I'm out, you guys." Draco informed. "I'll see you in the morning."
"Alright, good night Draco." Pansy said. Blaise, Crabbe and Goyle all responded much the same and Draco left.
Professor Snape had given him a little map to find his room, and he found it without too many problems. The portrait was of an older wizard who was looking considerably bored.
"So the Head Boy finally decides to show up. How wonderful." He said, sarcastically. "Do you have the password?"
"Veritas." He replied, and was let in to see his new Common Room.
The theme of the Common Room was dark red and purple. To the left was a fireplace with a couch, two chairs, and a table. Directly in front of him was a little study area with a small library, complete with a large wooden desk. To the right was a staircase. Assuming it went to the bedrooms he headed upstairs. The first door he came to was open so he peeked in. It was Hermoine's room. She was putting the things from her trunk away.
"Hello." Draco said.
She looked up. "Hello. How are you?"
"Ever feel like you just want to die?" He asked, leaning against the doorframe.
She gave him a slow, sad smile. "All the time." She relied, and continued to hang a sweater up.
She sounded like he felt. "I'm sorry." He offered.
"It's okay." She said. "Unfortunately, I'll live."
"Oh, the irony." He said, smiling half-heartedly.
"Oh, the irony, indeed." Hermoine replied.
"Well, good night." Draco said, and turned to go to his room.
"I suppose." Was her only response.
Well, you know what comes next! Review!
A/n: Yeah, Draco's going to be ooc as well as Hermoine, but that's the way the story is and if you don't like it read another story! But I hope you like my story anyway!