Chapter Nine: Dreams and Jealousy

Two Weeks Prior

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Draco Malfoy sat scowling on the train ride to Hogwarts. He was terribly tired but for some reason he couldn't get to sleep. The best he could do at the time was pull back the covers to the bed and sit there shirtless for a moment. He finally decided that he best get some sleep before they arrived for he might be up all night listening to Pansy's riveting summer vacation stories. Sighing he finally rolled over and covered himself up, closing his eyes. All he could think of was the fight he and his father had gotten into the night before.

The night before

"I'm sorry but I cannot see my family's name go down in history as consistently losing to some moronic fame hoarding teenage Potter! You've shown me that you can't simply rise above the competition to become the best at that school; I've been tempted to pull you out since your third year! I'm disappointed in you Draco, you've failed me." Lucius Malfoy dug into his son's skin with heated words as Draco sat, arms crossed, in his father's leather client chair.

Lucius was pacing back and forth across the desk, arms poised behind his back and the fireplace shooting his shadow against the wall behind him.

"It's not my fault father! It's that stupid Harry Potter. He's gotten in good with Dumbledore and now whatever I do, whatever Professor Snape does," Lucius flinched almost unnoticeably. "Nothing, I can't get into good graces with that man. It's completely biased against me. I feel lucky the man even gave me the all holy right of prefect." Draco spat.

"Excuses boy, you're making those stupid excuses again. Why can't you just beat Potter? What sort of weakling are you?"

"I'm not a weakling!" Draco stood up, pushing the chair back behind him, it falling over with a loud crash.

Back to the train

Draco shivered in his sleep, a cold sweat covering his body. He hated his father deep down inside, if only he could admit it. The man was a complete idiot. An all around nitwit. He consistently put himself in harms way and practically plastered flyers across London of how he was a Death Eater. He should be happy he had the blessings of the Ministry. Or at least the Head of the Ministry.

Draco's dreams were wracked with the rage-inducing memories and nightmares so he could not hear when the door to his cabin was opened by an unsuspecting person. It took him finally until a case of panting drifted through the air and into his light sleep. He shook his head loose of it but it wouldn't go away. He opened his eyes and realized there was a silhouette against the wall he was facing. A… A female's silhouette? He blinked until he saw it turn slowly around.

Jumping out of his bed he grabbed the figure and turning it about he yelled out in his thick, sleep gritted voice, "What in bloody hell are you doing in here?"

It was Ginny Weasley. Draco could barely recognize her face from last year, she had changed a great deal, but the freckles and hair gave her way. For a moment, he could see a resemblance between her and the twins. He had almost admired the twins. They didn't care about authority. They were themselves whether they were appreciated or not. And they were.

It took him a moment to register her stuttering. Not knowing what to say he simply shoved her out the door, "You have no right to be in here you filthy weasel!"

As he shut the door he threw his back against it and began breathing raggedly through his teeth. He had no idea why he had reacted in such a manner.

Scratch that.

He knew why.

She had woken him out of one of the worst nightmares he had ever had and he was still jumpy. A big black shadow trying to suffocate you wasn't the best way to sleep. Once his breathing slowed he could hear her walk away and he felt all of a sudden very vulnerable. What if he had been scared? What if he had been crying? Wait, him? Cry? HA! But… he had been weak at that moment. And she saw it. Damn wench…

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A Few Days Later

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Draco sat down with Crabbe and Goyle at the tables watching the sorting take place. It was unbelievably dull watching all the younger snots being sorted into his house. He didn't quite think he was that bad whenever he was that age. He just knew he was better then everyone else.

And richer.

And smarter.

And cuter.

And stronger. Etc., etc.

He sighed and drove his elbow into the table cloth, lodging his chin inside his cold palm, glaring at the Gryffindor table. He was still sour about he and his father's… blunt conversation and wished his scowl could drive laser holes into Potter's head.

"Draco? What's wrong?" Crabbe asked with a chubby frown. Draco shooed him away casually and stood, stretching out his back. "Is it Potter again?"

Draco let out a haggled cough. "How'd you guess?" He cocked a thin eyebrow.

Crabbe let out a laugh and patted his friend on the back. "Cause you were staring over in that direction."

Draco sighed and he and Crabbe began to file out of the Great Hall, of course closely followed by Goyle and the gangly Theo Nott.

"I don't know what it is that makes him so great to everyone. If I could only get at one of his weaknesses and expose it to the world… that would be priceless." Draco barked.

Crabbe tapped a finger onto his chin as he looked around. He peered back into the Great Hall in time to see a small red headed girl throw her fork at Potter and he laugh at it, staring at her affectionately. Crabbe grinned and looked back to Draco.

Draco cocked his eyebrow once more. "What are you all smiley about, Crabbe?"

"What if you got that girl to like you?"

"What?"

"What if you got that one girl there," Crabbe pointed over in her direction. "To like you, cause Potter's obviously got a crush on her. Isn't that the girl who got caught up in the chamber of secrets?"

Upon closer inspection Draco saw that it, in fact, was Ginny Weasley. The one who had seen him weak. He frowned. That certainly wouldn't have been his first pick. He'd have first gone to Cho Chang or Parvati Patil. Of course, he was sure, neither of which would go for someone as classy as him. They had both already tried out Potter. At least Weasley had been there done that and gotten over it.

Which meant she was open for business.

Draco tapped his chin in the same fashion that Crabbe had done, pondering the thought. Once Goyle and Nott stumbled into the conversation and were filled in, they nodded in agreement. What a better way to get back at Potter then to steal his girl! It was perfect! There was just one problem.

She, Ginny, was a Gryffindor.

And he, Draco, was a Slytherin.

This meant a series of things:

1. They never saw each other. Well… rarely.

2. They were automatic enemies at birth. Or rather at sorting.

3. She was more around the "golden trio" then Draco and his comrades so she only heard the absolute worst about him.

4. Couldn't he do better then a Gryffindor?

He shook his head clear of these thoughts and looked back to his friends. "But that's absolutely nutty. Why would I want to waste my time on a Gryffindor weasel?" He meant this in the sense that if translated would be more like: "What would my father thought if he knew what I was doing?"

Crabbe, Goyle, and Nott exchanged a glance and turned back to Draco. In unison they all shrugged. It was a stranger moment for them that they all had the same reaction at the same time blah blah blah. That translated would mean: "How would he ever find out?"

Draco thought on the idea a little more. It was definitely intriguing. Especially if he were to get a Gryffindor to like him. Not only like him, hell, to fall in love with him? It was the most novel idea he had heard. "So glad I thought of it!" He exclaimed as a loud roar from the Great Hall announced that dinner was well over and the foyer the four were now standing in slowly became more crowded then Hogsmeade the week after Christmas. Draco and the rest made their way up the stairs, little did Draco notice (or care about) the small frown that quickly shown on Crabbe's features before he went back to his brutal normality.