Well, this is my first true fanfiction. I feel pretty good about it, actually, and I'm hoping it can develop into something like one of the wonderful stories that I love to read. I've been reading D/Hr stories for over two years, and I figured it was time to put my own stories into the circulation and contribute my own thoughts on just how this ship should sail. I hope everyone enjoys chapter one of Keep Your Friends Close, But Your Enemies Closer.
Chapter One: Sleeping on the Job
I would like to open this with a few remarks. Well, they're more of clarifications, but they're important if this story is going to get anywhere at all. I am not a misunderstood nice guy, my parents do not abuse me, I am not 'tortured from within' by anything, nor have I never been told 'I love you' by my mother. I mean, I'm not exactly You-Know-Who's right hand man, but I also don't spend my weekends working for animal rights and helping the elderly cross the street. AND, I am not a 'sex fiend.' I never have been. Yes, I have been down the good road a few times, and I enjoy the occasional snog here and there, and yes, I've had by share of girlfriends, but I am not driven by sex. Whoever told you that is the sex fiend in the situation. I also never participated in any sort of bet or dare that I could get every blond/brunette/redhead or whatever in the school to snog me. These are all rumors started by people that hate me, an organization that seems to be growing in numbers daily. But I don't really care. Call it arrogance, call it confidence, but whatever it is, I'm not narcissistic. I just happen to know that I didn't get bypassed when good looks where handed out. I'm saying nothing more on that subject. But go ahead and call me a rich snob, or an ignorant fool, or even a bloody sex fiend. I'll only come up with something better to call you, trust me on that one. Glad to have that cleared up, please, kay, thank you.
I suppose the entire evening started out quite normal enough. I mean, the normal avoidance of homework, the drama of the hallways, the stuffing your stomach on food at dinner. Typical evening for me.
Except this was one of the ones I hated. After Transfiguration, McGonagall had held me back for a moment, putting a damper on my evening with the news that Hannah Abbot had had a bad run in with some sort of nasty plant in Herbology, and was going to spend the night in the hospital wing. Why would I care, you ask? Well, it was her night to patrol with one of the other prefects. So McGonagall informed me I could fill in. How thoughtful. There goes my evening.
So now I find myself preparing to stay awake most of the night patrolling the cold corridors looking for those suffering from whatever kind of 'insomnia' forces them to, well, wander the corridors themselves. To think I'm being forced to stay up all night when they practically are volunteering. Perhaps I will be lucky and find myself a few unsuspecting Gryffindors heading for the Astronomy Tower to do a bit of late night 'studying.' Too bad Hogwarts doesn't offer Anatomy. They'd be star students.
Anyway, the corridors seemed rather lifeless and empty, except for perhaps the occasional ghost floating about. I stopped, leaning against a nearby wall heavily, a yawn escaping from my mouth. I quickly stifled it with the back of my hand, gazing lazily through the darkness.
I must have dozed off for a moment, because suddenly--and rather rudely I might add--there was a wand in my face. "Figures it's you," I heard a female voice say. I was blinded by the light of their wand which was effectively dilating my pupils, but I didn't need to see her to recognize it was Granger's voice. "What do you think you're doing wandering the corridors at this hour? Causing mischief of some kind, I can only imagine what." I could just hear the satisfaction in her voice.
"Calm down, Granger," I replied coolly, lifting a hand to move her wand from my face. I mean, I'm not stupid, and I know that I don't want to be on the receiving end of any of Granger's spells, especially in the face. "I'm here for Abbot. Don't get your knickers in a knot."
My eyes readjusted to see her face screw up in anger at my comment. "Believe me, Malfoy, you have no effect whatsoever on my knickers," she snapped back at me.
I smirked at her words, which only seemed to make her angrier. She was easy, Granger was, and I can't begin to describe how much joy I received from setting her off balance. I seemed to be one of the only ones that could do it. Yes, I suppose that was quite an achievement, being able to upset Hermione Granger, female member and rock of the Golden Trio, gracing us all with her 'feminine beauty and charm.' Wow, as if those words don't make me want to gag.
"You can be such a cockroach!" she suddenly exclaimed at me, bringing me from my thoughts. To think, this reaction and I hadn't even said anything.
I decided to play on that note. "I didn't even say anything to you," I said, leaving all form of emotion out of my voice, before letting it drip with just a touch of malice. "You're the one insulting me for no reason. Ah, which reminds me, I haven't called you a mudblood in over a week. You seem to be overdue."
I watched her brown eyes go even darker with a glare that would kill a kitten. "One would think you would have outgrown that childish insult by now," she said, her voicing just dripping with daggers. More satisfaction on my half.
"So now it's immature to just speak a true statement?" I asked her innocently, giving her one of my well-practiced pathetic looks.
"One would also assume that you would have learned your lesson three years ago when you got slapped by yours truly for such provoking," she continued, undaunted.
I smirked. "Ah, well, one assumes wrong it seems," I chided. "Some of us just never learn, I suppose. And anyway, I'd just hit you back now."
"Well, that's definitely a mature reaction," she said sarcastically. "And I thought you were supposed to be the 'gentlemen.'"
"Guilty as charged," I said, throwing my hands up in a feign of surrender, the smirk never leaving my face. "But then, you wouldn't really be on my side to know that."
I could see her fingers turn to a white knuckled grip on her wand, and saw her take a deep breath, but she didn't reply. "Well, it's been loads of fun," I finally said, breaking the tense silence between us, "but it's hard to tell what kinds of things I'm missing. Snogging sessions in the Astronomy Tower for instance or those too lazy to climb to the top and are just hiding behind a statue. So I'm afraid I must be on my way, Granger." I nodded to her, then made to walk away.
"You can be so…infuriating!" I heard her yell after me, but I didn't turn and just continued to walk away, feeling all the more powerful.
I was true to my word, for I turned towards the Astronomy Tower, absently twirling my wand between my fingers. But I couldn't seem to stop letting my mind wander back to Granger, replaying our conversation over and over again, line for line, in my head. It was odd, yet strangely satisfying in a way to recall all the expressions that crossed over her face and played across her eyes. But it was more confusing than anything else. I mean, really, it's not like I don't spend half my time arguing with one member or another of the Golden Trio. Why is it that I can remember every detail about Granger's face and clothing from most of them? Like the fact that her tie had been loose three weeks ago in Potions when she threatened to turn me into a spotted toad. Or that she had her hair pulled back the last time she tried to break my nose. I feel like a poet remembering every detail about the world around me to later put into some of my inspirational writing. Not that I have any inspirational writing. It was just a simile. Anyway, that's off subject. Back to Grang—wait, why am I even wasting time remembering about how much I remember her? Madness, really. This is all madness. Sometimes I just feel like beating my head of the wall.
Anyway, I came to the Astronomy Tower, and toyed with the fact of actually putting forth an effort to climb the 579 steps to the top. I mean, it was coming up on midnight, and I was feeling a bit drained. But it might be worth it to break up some snogging sessions that the members of also had to climb up the 579 steps to perform them. Ha, only to have them broken up. It sounded somewhat satisfying, and I was rather bored anyway. With three more hours before my patrol was complete, I started wandering up the stairwell, loosing count after about 25. I usually counted the entire way up to keep my mind off of my heavy breathing—from the stairs, mind you, don't have a dirty mind—but it started becoming like counting sheep, and by the time I got to about 60 I knew I would be asleep where I stood. I didn't really want to have to explain that. After all, I do have at least a bit of a reputation about me, and I don't think that will look good in the middle of it.
After what felt like a very long time, I stepped off the 579th step and into the Tower. Sure enough, there were several couples up there snogging the heck out of each other. Many knocked house points and a few scowls and death threats later, I found myself alone in the highest part of the castle. I walked over to the edge, resting against the low ledge and looking across the lake and the forest. I can't begin to describe how tired I felt just then, and how relaxed, but to make a long story short and because I'm not much of one to take in scenery, again I dozed off. I really need to drink a shot of fire whisky next time I have to patrol this late again.
I was awoken from my dreams from the same voice of earlier, with the same statement of 'Figures it's you.' Again. And I stress that. Again. Someone needs to have a new scriptwriter or…something. Anyway, I awoke from my stupor if you could call it that to turn and see that bushy haired brunette standing in the doorway of the tower.
"Taken to following me now, Mudblood?" I asked her coolly, trying to cover up the fact that I had indeed been dozing off when she discovered me. "Just couldn't get enough in the corridor, could you?"
She smirked this time instead of blowing up, though I admit it wasn't as satisfying to have someone smirk at me when, well, I'm usually the one doing the smirking. "Sleeping on the job, Ferret?" she asked me smoothly, avoiding my comments. That was probably smart on her part, but it just irritated me. I come up with a good cover-up to get her off track, and yet she still just picks at my faults. And there was more. "I believe the first time I found you tonight you were doing the same thing," she said, the smirk on her face becoming more and more satisfied itself. "Poor Draco, not getting enough sleep," she then cooed sarcastically.
I paused, thrown off-balance by the use of my first name. I pushed to the back of my mind the knowledge that I knew I would be plagued by that for some reason in the future, thinking of my own witty comeback to her comments. I could find none. Granger, of all people, had actually left me completely speechless. I'm never left speechless. How…odd.
She noticed my break, and took it to her advantage, laughing. At me. Despicable, really. And yet the sound—I'm doing it again, aren't I. What I wouldn't do for that fire whisky at this point. I'd probably go so far as to chew of my own arm. Well, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, but you get my drift. I wasn't happy. I'm still not happy. But I did finally find my words, anything to not be left silent. "Sorry, Granger, but I've already cleared everyone out of the Tower," I said, glad for anything to change the subject from my sleeping habits. "I know how much you like to see them snogging, since you know you're not going to get any of that soon." I stopped, feeling much more accomplished with this statement. Definitely need to remember that one for future reference.
It worked, as she stopped laughing and stared at me, defiance in her eyes. "Not all of us want to be like you, Malfoy, up here snogging the entire female population of the school," she snapped. "And I have caught you a few times, mind you." See? Now she was practically calling me a sex fiend. What kind of rumors are these? I bloody hate the organization of people that hate me. Ha, how ironic, that I hate them for hating me…I bet they even have membership cards and special passwords and…I'm getting off track again, aren't I. My apologies.
I had to think of a fast retort to such a vial accusation. "Considering you were only up here to catch me, and you said I snogged the entire female population, yet I never snogged your mudblood face," I paused, letting my own accusation sink in. "What have you now practically called yourself?"
Her face turned bright red, spreading down her neck and over her ears. "Malfoy, if I wasn't a prefect and I didn't know I was a better person than this…" she stopped, shaking her head angrily at me.
"You'd what?" I prodded her. "Throw me off the Tower?"
"That's not a bad idea," she snapped at me. "Don't provoke me." We were both silent, using the moment to glare into each others eyes.
I had a thought just then. I now look back and realize it was probably a bloody stupid one, and I know I'm going to be paying for it in the not so distant future, but when you're tired and have just been pushed to your limits, the human brain seems to dysfunction, and you just start to act without any thought process at all. That's definitely what happened to me. I started towards her in the doorway, curiously watching as he made no move to back down and leave the way she came. She just stood there, which made me continue with my plans. "Why don't you prove that you are a girl under that loose fitting robe and those tomboyish actions?" I asked her with a sneer.
I could see her eyes widen, but she still didn't move. "You're sick," she finally spat at me, her eyes shooting ice in my direction. "I can't believe you even just said something like that." She looked to her feet.
I sensed her discomfort, and it was obvious in her change of stance and tone. "What's the matter, Granger?" I pressed, egged on by her reaction. "What are you afraid of?"
She looked back up at me, a look of unexpected confidence burning in those brown eyes. "I'm definitely not afraid of you," she snapped. "I'm not going to be added to your collection of girls." She then turned and walked down the stairwell as calmly as can be, leaving me standing at the top of the steps.
"Its not like I wanted you anyway!" I exclaimed after her defiantly, surprised by her sudden change of mood. "I was never serious," I then added more silently. I didn't care, she was a mudblood, and I wasn't in the mood for anything like that. It wasn't like this was a let down…then why do I feel so disappointed when I think about it? What have I gotten myself into? Granger isn't one to forget, and a comment like that…I'm probably in for it now.
Well, there it is. Hope it wasn't too bad of a start, I feel pretty good about it. I hope you all enjoyed and come back for Chapter two! I can hardly wait to start writing. xD
Be sure to check out the best D/Hr story I have ever read, and my inspiration to start writing this one: 10 Ways to Kill Draco Malfoy by Drakulya
