Draco Malfoy strolled up to Roger Davies, and drawled, "Have you considered my proposal?"

Roger responded in his precise tones, "Yes, and It's a brilliant idea!" Then Roger looked at Malfoy a bit more skeptically. "A bit too good, if you ask me."

"And why would I do that?" Draco Malfoy asked coldly.

"Any reason you don't want the credit?" Roger spat back.

"There's about ten people in this school who could be remotely considered to like me." Draco Malfoy started out, his voice low and cold. People always hated Slytherins when they spoke truth, it was why they did it so seldomly.

"So, poor little Slytherin?" Davies asked, his tonality explaining that he was making fun of Draco's wealth not being able to fix everything.

"So, if you start it up, everyone'll join." Draco said.

"Not everyone, just people who like chess." Davies responded.

"In other words, the important people." Draco finished, crossing his arms and doing a fine job of looking haughty. His words summoned a genuine laugh from the dark-haired boy.

As Draco strode away, he carefully unwrapped his feelings, as if they were coated in a thousand layers of gauze, allowing just a ghost of a smirk to quirk his lips.

Up again, high where only the wind can reach me. Draco thought, spreading his hands into a Y above his head, letting the wind squeeze through his fingers.

There was some trouble with apologizing to the Hufflepuffs, he thought, I don't want to do it. No, no, this isn't just something like adolescent pique. I'm not ... I'm... perfectly serious. I have to do something, I know that... Harry's not going to be my friend just because I asked him to. That's not how this works. I know that too... but.

I can't apologize if I don't mean it.

I meant what I did then, and I'd mean to do it again today, if I didn't have any other solution.

... that's not what you apologize for!

That's what you fix, how you fix it - changing ideas for the better.

But those sorts of changes don't come with an apology.

Somehow...

Somehow, I have to make Potter and the Hufflepuffs understand.

And the ratbastards are hiding, as if they know I've got a deadline and they most certainly don't.

[a/n: Um, yeah. In general, people tend to write Draco like he doesn't apologize.

I can see a certain something to that approach, but this is a good deal more genuine (if still haughty and arrogant).

He can't apologize sincerely, because he's NOT sorry.

Now, you can feel free to review, or just write back speculating about what's been going on that Curt doesn't know about.]