(Draco)

Draco pushed open the heavy wooden door which led to the Boy's lavatory and closed it with a firm and steady hand. From the safety of the dark cloakroom, he took an apprehensive glance at the dank, high-ceilinged room before him. All of the stalls were empty.

He thanked Merlin for the small gift, of which he did not deserve, and undid the top several buttons of his shirt with shaking fingers. After smoothing his shirt down, he paced across to the sinks on the opposite side of the room whilst attempting to unknot his tie, kicking over a stand with tissues and various other toiletries upon it for good measure. Glass bottles of aftershave and scent shattered as they hit the floor. The fragments of glass scattered on impact and sweet aromas from the liquids that pooled in the middle of the room diffused into the air.

Upon reaching the set of sinks, he gripped the stiff silver tap marked H, which warmed from the heat of his hand. He turned it hurriedly until the water that gushed from it turned from yellow to clear - and promptly vomited a greenish, goopy liquid, devoid of any signs of nourishment, into the porcelain basin beneath him.

The sense of pure, unadulterated relief that came from upturning the contents of his stomach did not last long. He groaned, lowered his quivering head and rested his cheek against the edge of the cold sink in an attempt to find solace from his troubles. He closed his eyes, and long, white lashes brushed against the sallow, violet hollows beneath them. Beads of sweat laced his forehead and gave his skin – which would have made Snow White turn green with envy –a sheen that would not have been out of place on a feverish old man.

To any onlookers he would have bared some resemblance to a dreaming child – minus the innocence and happiness that so many childhood dreams contain. Breathing slowly, he tried to clear his head of the bad thoughts and memories that swirled around inside, to no avail. The sickly-sweet, acidic smell coming from the sink below, made worse by hot water which intensified it brought back that familiar feeling.

He clutched his sunken stomach with both spidery hands as a sour taste crept its way into his mouth and his head began to pound again. He bucked forward uncontrollably and his hands flew up to grip the sink. Blue veins bulged with strain under his ghostly skin. He glanced at the mirror.

And for the second time that day, Draco Malfoy threw up.

Exhausted from lack of sleep, emotional trauma, the overwhelming amount of energy it took to stay conscious and the searing, white hot pain in his stomach and throat, the Slytherin collapsed. He fell, ever so gracefully, to the cracked and yellowing tiles below him, and emitted a lamentable sob. It put Fawkes to shame.

His slow and quiet mews turned into heart-shattering cries, which gradually increased in volume for the several minutes – which seemed like aeons – he lay on the floor. They echoed around the room and mocked him. At that moment Draco was utterly full of loathing for himself and for the despicable weakness he was showing. With all the strength in his bruised and battered body, he raised his head and pulled his hawthorn wand from his trouser pocket and muttered an incantation which he hoped would dim the noise of his sobs - he would not allow his humiliation to be increased by some cretin wanting to know what the cause of the noise in the bathroom was.

The spell did not work – his voice was far too raspy and unintelligible. He cleared his throat and tried again, and again, and again, becoming increasingly agitated with every failed attempt. Finally satisfied that the spell had had the desired effect and wearied from the toll that casting it took on his body, his head lolled to the floor and hit it with a dull thud. Stars bloomed and clouded his vision and his wand slowly slid from his hand.

At long last, he had found the sweet oblivion he had been looking for. He lay spread-eagled on the lavatory floor, allowed his frantic heart to slow down and his breathing to deepen and decelerate. He forced his mind to steer clear of dark, morbid thoughts, and instead concentrated on meditation – something his father would, for definite, have scoffed at. Nevertheless, it worked, and when he was sure he was serene enough, he opened his eyes and blinked a few times to clear his vision. The arched, intricate ceiling of the toilets was a pleasant sight to awaken to.

Draco took another deep breath and sat up; resting his weight on his hands, and tested the proverbial water. He did not flop over, which he took as a sign of his recovery, and proceeded to push up onto his knees. He swivelled around to look at his reflection in the ironwork mirror screwed into the sink, and to his comfort he did not vomit at the sight of himself this time. In an attempt to improve his appearance, he straightened his shirt and made several absurd, slightly comical facial expressions which relieved muscle tension. After this he cupped his hand below the tap, which was now producing water that was steaming hot, and let it pool in his hand, ignoring the pain. He brought the water up to his face and splashed it over himself, and then repeated the process several times.

After finishing his little task, which kept his mind busy and free of undesired thoughts, he took another lengthy look in the mirror. Everything seemed to be in order; his attire was neat and his was face no longer red and blotchy from tears. He exhaled and ran a hand through his damp blonde locks, rooted around for his wand with his free hand and took a final glance into the mirror, and into his own eyes.

Looking into grey he eyes of the boy who would soon be a killer, who would have been the murderer of an innocent girl, – albeit a Gryffindor – the eyes of a servant of the Dark Lord, the eyes of a Death Eater, the eyes of one who had committed atrocities which no man should ever have to commit, the eyes of –

It was all too much for Draco to bear.

He sneered in disgust at his reflection, drew up his wand to mirror level, flicked it with malice and shattered the glass of the mirror before him and others which were adjacent to it. The glass burst forth, pieces of it glinting in the light, and with lightning speed Draco ducked down in an effort to escape the blast and save his handsome face, which was really all he had now his father was a convicted criminal.

Despairing, he let out a guttural wail, dropped to his knees and hastily rolled up his left sleeve. With all his might he tossed his wand across the chamber. It hit a window, bounced off it and fell to the floor like a rag doll. Screaming in rage, Draco began an assault on his arm, using his fingernails and teeth in a maniacal attempt to try to scratch away the magical brand which marked him as a life-long servant of Lord Voldemort. He did so until his arm was red raw, screaming and wailing until his throat was the same. All the while the serpentine mark stayed unaffected – it was even more pronounced against his red, aggravated skin – and it twisted and turned, mocking the desperate boy.

Draco jumped up, scanned the room, ran forwards to the toiletry stand which had not been knocked over and began to hurl anything and everything that came to hand to the wooden door in the opposite wall. When everything had been destroyed but a plush toilet roll, the door creaked open.

A disembodied feminine head, bushy haired, pale and lovely, worriedly poked its way around the door. Draco's eyes widened. How in bloody hell had he been disturbed? Had the muffling charm he had cast been so weak it had betrayed him before his little fit reached its natural conclusion?

The head belonged to Potter's bitch – the know-it-all, mudblood, Gryffindor bint, Hermione Granger. She slowly edged round the door, her sympathetic, brown, doe-like eyes just as wide as his own, and opened her pouty little mouth.

'Draco? Draco Malfoy?'

--

Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed my story so far! Chapter two was a little longer than my last and I pray you enjoyed it, I really loved writing it for you. Those of you who take the time to review are absolutely wonderful and I hope more of you will review in the future! I'll hopefully update later today or tomorrow, I am really loving how this is playing out so far and I hope you, my readers, are too.

Laura