CHAPTER STATS:
Word Count: 2257 (including notes).
Letters from Draco: 10.
Letters from Harry: 5.
s.t.b. says: Please note that soon this fanfiction's rating will be going up to R (M). I'm still deciding just how far I want to go with everything that's coming, so it's up in the air for now. I CAN tell you that eventually the rating WILL be R, but I'm not exactly sure when things will take a turn in that direction.
Thanks for everyone's reviews. Onward.
EDIT (5:30 PM, Sept 28, 08) : Okay, there were some major changes made to the letter sections of this chapter; I uploaded a version of the chapter that was not recent the first time, so ya'll will definitely want to go back and reread things.
EIGHT - Responses to Letters 11 - 15
(EARLY NOVEMBER '96 – EARLY DECEMBER '96)
Written on November 6th, 1996 in response to November 6th, 1996
What the fuck do you mean, HOPELESS?
Written on November 9th, 1996 in response to November 7th, 1996
Ha ha, VERY FUNNY.
Tell me; are you always such a snarky bastard?
Written on November 24th, 1996 in response to November 10th, 1996
It took me a bit to decide whether or not I was going to answer the question in your previous letter. And then it took me even longer to decide whether I wanted to actually send that answer to you, hence the many days without a response.
And then the owl stopped showing up every day, so I had to go look in the owlery, which let me tell you…was not an easy task. I think I was up there for almost two hours before I finally recognized the owl you've been using. All in all, I had a very difficult time in writing and then getting this response to you, so I hope you take that into consideration.
Let me make things very, very clear: I LOVE my friends. I really don't know how I would have made it through the years here at Hogwarts, let alone all the confrontations with Voldemort, without them. Everything written in the Prophet after the showdown at the Ministry last year was blown way out of proportion; I did almost nothing. People seem to forget that I had friends there with me, willingly sacrificing their lives for what could have been nothing. And even more people seem to forget that these friends did more than their share of the fighting. Ron, Hermione, and the rest seem at times to understand me better than I myself do.
That said, they have a way of not understanding, too.
For instance, they'll never understand how incredibly scared I am all the time. And how completely angry I get when people think that I don't know how to be afraid. They see me like others do, just to a lesser degree; they can deny it all they want, but they'll never see me as just a normal bloke.
To everyone, whether I like it or not, I'll always be the Boy Who Lived – and it drives me completely mad.
Written November 27th, 1996 in response to November 25th, 1996
So. You watch me.
I should be surprised, I think, but I'm not. I'm sure you mentioned something like this in a previous letter, but I can't really recall what was said on the matter.
Maybe I should look more carefully when staring off into space at meals.
Friday…Friday…oh, wait. I remember.
Ron and Hermione have started to date. I really should have seen it coming, but we just haven't been as close as we used to be as of late. It came as a bit of a shock; I'd always thought they'd eventually end up like this, but I suppose I haven't really been paying enough attention.
Written December 1st, 1996 in response to November 29th, 1996
Enthralling is a bit fervent, I think. More like fumbling…confused…trying so hard that it makes me insane.
Those adjectives feel a bit more fitting.
I really don't know what to say to this; I'm confused by you and your words and by you watching me, as though I will look back deserve to be watched.
NINE – A Scene of Importance.
Harry turned into the hallway, seeking solitude and a place to think.
The last letter he'd received from his anonymous 'pen pal' had sent his emotions spinning into a whorl of confusion, hesitancy, and something else he couldn't quite place.
Harry knew that people watched him. In fact, he was used to being stared at on a regular basis; it sort of came with being Harry Potter, he guessed. It had bothered him for a year or so, but he'd soon grown used to the unwanted attention and learned to ignore it.
But he'd never had to deal with something like this; he had grown accustomed to being able to stare right back at his watchers. To know that there was someone watching him, taking pleasure at his presence…but that he couldn't see them back, or worse, that he could see them but didn't know…
He wasn't making any sense, even in his head. Harry crossed the stones and made his way into the courtyard, banishing his thoughts ineffectively.
Intending to make his way to the benches past the nearest wall, Harry approached the edge of the building, but stopped in his tracks at the sight that met him just as he rounded the corner. Draco Malfoy sat on his anticipated bench, scribbling away furiously at a piece of parchment, an odd look on his face. A school owl sat just behind him on the steel back of the bench, preening and continually ignoring the blond Slytherin it waited on.
Dark ink stained the other boy's fingers, which gripped a quill that moved furiously across the parchment in his lap. For a moment, Harry simply stood and stared, confused by the strange, niggling feeling in the back on his mind; it was as though his head was trying to tell him something the rest of his body just couldn't quite understand.
Unwilling to start any conflict just then, especially when his mind was so heavily preoccupied with more important matters, Harry decided to just leave the blond to his letter.
The parchment that had been held so firmly against Draco's thigh slipped a bit as Harry turned and left the courtyard, flashing the words "holidays will be starting in a few weeks, Harry" to the rest of the world, before the blond absentmindedly smoothed the parchment flat once more.
TEN - Letters 16 - 20
(EARLY DECEMBER '96 – LATE DECEMBER '96)
December 3rd, 1996
Fervent it is, but not untrue.
I wish you knew just how much I really stare. So the holidays will be starting in a few weeks, Harry. Do you plan on staying here once more or do you return to the dreaded relatives?
In hindsight, I don't think you've ever not stayed at the castle for a holiday; but then again, I'm not really an expert, seeing as I've never not gone home at Christmas.
December 5th, 1996
Excited is not exactly the word I'd have chosen, Harry.
I love my family – don't get me wrong. Lately, however, their expectations have become…impossible. They want things for me that I definitely don't; our dreams for my future, once so in sync, are now completely different.
But I'd rather not dwell on my parents' expectations; what are you planning on doing at Hogwarts while everyone else is away?
Something that would be delightfully interesting to recap in a letter, I hope.
December 11th, 1996
I hate to venture off subject, but I just must bring up the…occurrence (?) at the last Quidditch match. Just what, exactly, was going on there, Harry?
I can understand getting distracted in all the boredom. If the Quaffle had been throwing a fit for more than an hour, I'd be doing a bit of my own daydreaming. But really, Potter, just where was your head? Didn't you hear the whistle blow? Didn't you realize that the game had begun? To lose a game (and to Hufflepuff, for Merlin's sake!) because you didn't notice that the game had started is rather, and I'll not mince words with you, pathetic.
…Hufflepuff, Harry!
December 13th, 1996
No, Potter, I'm not a Hufflepuff. I'd sooner be a toad.
And this recent spawn of inactivity on Malfoy's part just may be a reformation in character; you never know.
Maybe he's changed.
Perhaps the reason you feel so enraged lost confused is because you're so unwilling to see change in other people.
Despite what you may think, Harry, you're not the only person who has gone through transformation of character; I, myself, find that I am almost a completely different person compared to the child who attended Hogwarts last year.
We are at the stage of our lives where everyone is changing and assumptions can only get us in trouble. I suggest opening your mind to the possibility (and inevitability) of change.
December 20th, 1996
I'm glad you've decided to give him a chance.
You never know, he may be as open to peace as you are.
ELEVEN - Responses to Letters 16 - 20
(EARLY DECEMBER '96 – LATE DECEMBER '96)
Written on December 4th, 1996 in response to December 3rd, 1996
Fortunately for me, Dumbledore allows me to stay at the castle during winter holiday. You're right, by the way – I've never gone back to the Dursleys at Christmas. It's bad enough having to leave for the summer.
Are you excited to be seeing your family in a couple of weeks?
Written on December 10th, 1996 in response to December 5th, 1996
Unfortunately, I get the feeling that this holiday is going to be pretty unremarkable.
Ron and Hermione have decided that they're both going home (to their own families, respectively!) for Christmas. They each of 'em offered me a place for the break, but I turned them down. For some reason or other, I'm just not up to a few weeks with either the Weasleys or the Grangers.
On the one hand, we have my favorite people in the world: red-headed, wild, loud, and practically MY family as well as Ron's. I know that if I decide to spend Christmas at the Burrow, things will be a never-ending whorl of fun and untamed. But I'm not really up to it now…I'd rather things be calm for once, for that craziness to just stop for a while – which means Christmas with Ron's family is out.
On the other hand, we have the Grangers: a respectable Muggle family with a grandiose love for dentistry (the way Muggles take care of their teeth.) To spend Christmas with Hermione's family would definitely be calm, but I've never really met her parents before, and I get the feeling that despite everything 'Mione might do, I'd be pretty uncomfortable. Holidays with the Grangers? Definitely out.
So my only option is to stay here at school, and hope for a comfortable, quiet holiday alone.
Written on December 12th, 1996 in response to December 11th, 1996
Oh shove off! I've just been so out of sorts lately; I'm not really sure what's going on. It's hard to pay attention in classes, to my friends, during games…
I think it's all got something to do with the odd behavior of a certain Slytherin as of late. I'm not sure if you know who I'm talking about, or perhaps you've heard of the…tense…situation between Draco Malfoy and me. Well, maybe tense isn't really fitting – I hate the bugger. He's the biggest wanker in the school, and he usually loves to take every available moment to make sure that I never forget it.
Lately, though, he's been acting almost…civil.
Not that I'm really even sure Malfoy knows HOW to be civil, but he's certainly acting quite different. Would-be confrontations are instead turned into dismissals of my very presence; I'm not certain if I'm happy with this turn of events, or if I'm disappointed.
And it's not just ME that he no longer torments; I don't think I've seen him spurn a Gryffindor or start a fight with anyone in at least a month (AT THE VERY LEAST.)
I think he's plotting something.
PS – So you're not in Hufflepuff, evidently.
Written on December 15th, 1996 in response to December 13th, 1996
After being in school together for five years, I've come to believe it impossible for Draco Malfoy to change in any way, shape, or form.
You're probably right. My brain understands that it's very possible for Malfoy to change, but my logic is refusing to agree. Maybe I should give the prat another chance…maybe.
Written on December 21st, 1996 in response to December 20th, 1996
I think it's probably better that I at least wait to see what happens before I jump to any conclusions. Thanks for keeping me straight.
So holidays start tomorrow; will you continue to write or should we wait?
END OF PART THREE; TO BE CONTINUED.