( Next update for Chapter 2 coming: 12/26/2013. )
If he had thought his fifth year O.W.L. classes were tough, the sixth year N.E.W.T. classes were without a doubt ten times worse. The only good part is that he found that he had a surprising amount of free periods – he had dropped all of the classes besides the very basics despite the urgings of his advisor, and it was working out rather well for him. It had afforded him time to run to the room he would soon become very familiar with – Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.
Draco chewed his lip as he stood in the entryway to the bathroom, considering all of the things that could possibly go wrong. Everyone knew that Moaning Myrtle was a moping, stupid sop, but he wasn't sure how she felt about the Dark Lord. He didn't know if she would be alright with him brewing Polyjuice Potion in her presence. Would she rat him out or would things go over smooth if he made sweet with her? It would take the same thing it did with every girl – a bit of sweet words, batting eyes, and a good act.
There was no more time for hesitation. He stepped into the bathroom, casting one last glance back at the corridor to make sure no one had seen him enter. Almost immediately, he could hear the sound of a girl weeping quietly. The floor near one of the stalls was wet, seeming to be coming from an overflowing toilet bowl. The weeping stopped slowly, a head peeking out through the wall of the stalls.
"Go away!" The ghost yelled at him, her transparent cheeks glistening with tears. Her eyes looked puffy from crying behind her circle-lens glasses and her uniform was a mess, "This is the girl's bathroom." She told him, coming out of the stall completely to glare at him, "What are you doing in here?" Her voice rang with lack of trust and there was forever an undertone of sadness in it. Draco knew her story well, and he didn't take pity on her. She'd deserved everything she got.
And so the act began. "I… I needed a place to hide, if even for a moment." He said, looking down at the ground. He put a look on his face that showed sheepishness, maybe even a little bit of shame. He shuffled his feet a bit, glancing back up at her, "I thought that this place would be best… I heard about your story and I thought… No, it was stupid." He turned to leave, able to see her biting the hook before he'd even tossed it completely.
Hook line and sinker. "Wait," Myrtle had floated up next to him, her eyes wide, "I thought you had come to make fun of me… Like everybody else does." He stopped with the door cracked just a bit, closing it slowly. He turned to look at her, his face a bit hopeful, "No, I just wanted to get away from everybody else… You understand." He turned away from the door completely, walking over to the sinks. He ran the water, letting it run over his fingers slowly.
"People just don't get me." He said, cupping his hands and watching it pool in his palms, "They think that because my father is a death eater that I should be, and it's hard to live up to his legacy, you know? I'm not the man my father is—" He cut himself off, realizing that he had actually dropped the act for a moment and started to confess a little bit of something to the girl. Bad idea. He reeled himself back in, turning the faucet off. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to dump that on you. You have problems of your own to worry about."
Myrtle had been listening attentively while he spoke, her expression all understanding and care. "Oh, but I do understand. No one ever got me, either. They always picked on me. Moaning, moping Myrtle. They used to pick on me for my glasses and for how sensitive I was. I used to come here to cry because they would chase me everywhere else… I don't mind if you stick around here, too. You're not like the others." Success. She didn't even know how far she was from the truth, confessing her story to him like he cared.
Draco crossed his arms over his chest, hugging himself just a little bit, "It's just that I… Well, I've got an extra credit assignment I have to do and I was gonna use an empty classroom but I'm scared someone will find me there. No one ever comes here, so… Would you mind if I did it in here?" He asked, looking up at her with a faint smile. She returned it, if only slightly so, "I wouldn't mind… You're nice." She looked him over then, as if she were seeing him for the first time, the smile widening on her face. It admittedly made his stomach roll just a bit to be checked out by a dead girl.