Story: Hidden in the Shadows

Chapter Title: They're All Out to Kill Me

Summary: There was nothing that Juliana loved more than chocolate and Hogsmeade. Wait, oh yeah. There was something- her life. Entry for Broken Gold's Love and Laughter challenge.

Genre: Humor, kinda-sorta-not-really drama

Prompts Completed: #1- Chocolate, #3- Hogsmeade

Juliana loved Hogsmeade. It was one of her favorite things about the magical world. Whenever there was a Hogsmeade weekend, she was the first one there and the last one to leave; often forcing her one friend to drag her back up to the castle.

And there was one thing that Juli loved almost more than Hogsmeade.

Chocolate.

Juliana would do just about anything for chocolate, so having both chocolate and Hogsmeade at the same time was simple heaven to her.

And Juli made it very clear that no one was to ever look at her chocolate

That's why she was only a little bit surprised when she woke up the morning of the first Hogsmeade visit in December to find a box of chocolates and a note waiting for her on her nightstand. Juliana only shared the dorm room with two other girls; Miranda Puller and Holly Kerr. Both were late sleepers so Juli didn't have to worry about them seeing the package. She got up, took a shower and changed, grabbed her gift, and walked down to the common. She looked around and saw no one. Not a single person. No 1st years running around like a chicken with its head cut off, no 7th year couple making out on the couch by the fireplace (a couch which Juliana tried to never sit on if it was possible), no nothin'.

It was actually pretty scary.

So to distract herself, Juli went down to the Great Hall. She walked there and sat down at the Slytherin table, chewing her chocolate ever so slightly as to make it last longer. She took a seat in her general area (at the far end of the table closest to the entrance). Less then 30 seconds later, she was joined by her best friend.

"He's looking at you, you know," Holly Kerr said as she helped herself to Juli's eggs.

Only moving her eyes, Juli took a look at who was at the table with them. She noticed Landen Griffin, the sixth who wouldn't stop asking her out, Graham Pritchard, who was a year younger than Juliana herself, and Draco Malfoy.

Juliana turned her head towards Holly. "Which one is it?"

"Well, it's not Graham," Holly whispered between bites. "And it's not Landen. He might keep asking you out, but you've scared him away from actually becoming a stalker. I hope." Holly swallowed the eggs and drank a swig of pumpkin juice. "So, who does it leave?"

Draco Malfoy. Juli groaned. Ever since the day during Potions when she blew Ashford's potion up, he seemed to be watching her. Her eyes looked up towards the Heavens for that was what the Great Hall's ceiling was showing at the time.

'Please stop him from looking at me.' She asked. She stood up in her spot and looked at Holly. "Ready to go?" she questioned. With a begrudging look, Holly got up and followed her out.

"He's stalking us," Holly said shortly later that afternoon. She was miffed because Juli had stolen all her chocolate that she had bought. The two were now walking aimlessly around Hogsmeade. "Seriously, he's stalking us."

Juli, thinking that Holly meant Griffin, turned around looking for him. Seeing that he wasn't there, Juliana turned back around to give Holly a slap to the head when someone else spoke out.

"Hello."

Juli looked in the general direction the voice came from. Draco Malfoy was walking out of the shadows that the trees overhead had cast. She could see how she missed him before; he blended in perfectly with the show.

"Hello." Both girls said in unison. And awkward silence followed.

"Well, I think that I'm going to leave. Like, now. Really, really fast," Holly said and darted away before Juli could yell at her. More awkward silence followed. Juli was just about to make up an excuse to leave when Draco opened his mouth.

"Did you like the chocolate?"

"Wait, that was you?" Juliana exclaimed. She saw a flash of hurt cross his face before he put on a scowl.

"I hate chocolate and I wanted to get rid of it. Don't get used to it Hellsten." Without another word, he stalked off, leaving her all alone and confused.

'Let me get this straight, Malfoy gave me chocolate on a Hogsmeade weekend. Something's not right here…'

Left alone with her thoughts, Julia continued to wander around Hogsmeade with her chocolate until she came to a single, solitary conclusion:

Draco Malfoy was out to get her.

He knew that she was the one who blew up Ashford's potion. They were all bloody Death Eaters together. She went against one of them and now they're all out to kill her.

Oh, crap.

Sooooo, how do you like it? Sorry for the extremely long update. Starting high school has given me time for nothing but trying to pass. Please tell me what you think.

Lub,

Jillian