Chapter 6 – Breaking the Rules

Finally, we're done with training for the day and I, right away, change into something more comfortable before heading down to dinner. All day, Pansy seemed to be shadowing me. I don't know if it was because she didn't want Harry near me or if she was trying to protect me from Goyle. No offence, but I don't think I need a girl as my body guard, and as far as Harry goes, I don't think he wants anything to do with me after our mishap on the train – which I still feel kind of guilty for. We're about to kill each other and I'm sure the last thing he needed to hear was me making fun of his dead parents. Aside from that, training went well. I'm exhausted though, since I'm far from use to that kind of exercise.

I meet Pansy at the foot of the stairs and we go to sit down at the table. I'm not too hungry – I just want to sleep. Maybe later I'll come down at night, or something, and pick around.

"You're not eating?" I hear Goyle say while he piles up his plate again.

"No, but clearly you're about to eat the whole table…"

"I'd rather eat a lot than be as skinny as you, having no energy what so ever."

I try not to laugh. Is he for real right now?

"If I looked like you I'd-"

Pansy kicks my leg under the table, trying to shut me up. Who cares? Snape and Umbridge are here; Goyle won't do anything but yell at me.

Although, he looks like he's about to bend his fork, the way he's looking at me right now. "Watch it, Malfoy. Everything you say only gets you closer and closer to your funeral."

I'm about to snap back at him when Pansy butts in, "In case you weren't watching him today, he's got the speed of a rabbit. You'll never catch him if you tried, Goyle! So stop picking on him and go back to stuffing your face!"

Goyle looks between Pansy and me for a moment before a smirk snakes on his lips. "I see what's going on here…"

"Wow! Really!?" Pansy says, "You're so stupid, I'm surprised you actually know something! My God, Draco, did you ever think you would see the day…?"

"This will be great for the Games!" Goyle says, completely ignoring what Pansy just said. Her and I look at each other, a bit confused. What is he talking about, now?

"Wait until the Capitol finds out you two are in love!"

"What!?" I say, almost jumping out of my seat. "We're not-" I look over at Pansy and see her with her head down. From what I can make of it, she's blushing.

"Come on, Goyle, leave them alone." I hear Blaise say.

"Quiet, you, or you're next." Goyle says. Blaise just sinks in his seat.

"This is great!" He laughs, putting his hand on Pansy's shoulder. I suddenly feel a rush of anger. He better not lay another hand on her or I swear – "Just wait until I kill your precious little boyfriend right in front of you, Parkinson… That'll really drive the crowd wild."

Pansy shoots up out of her seat, roughly pushing his hand off of her, "Goyle, I swear if you hurt him, I'll be the one to kill you!"

"Oh, really!?" He looks at me, "And what do you have to say about this, Malfoy? You're being awfully quiet."

Pansy steps in front of me, blocking Goyle from view, "You have nothing to say to him."

"Parkinson, sit down!" Snape snaps from across the table, "I've had it with this between you three. Save it for the Games, then you can kill each other however the hell you want to!"

I sink in my seat. I just want to hide in a hole, right now. "Oh don't worry." Goyle says, shooting his small eyes at me, since Pansy's now sitting down. "I plan to."

It's a good thing I didn't eat because now I feel nauseous. Why did he have to bring this up? I only feel even more confused then I felt at the parade. Wait until the Capitol finds out you two are in love! Are we in love? Well, maybe not love, but I know I feel something for Pansy, and I'm only realizing it more now that it was brought up. But… Harry… I know I feel something for him too… Ah! I want to yank my hair out – I don't know what to do! Am I torn between both of them? And why does it even matter? Three of us can't live, so I'll never have the opportunity to choose…

"Alright there, Draco?" Umbridge says. I guess she can see that I'm lost in thought.

"W-What?" I look up at her and nod, "I'm okay."

"Good! Everyone to the living room." She giggles before pulling Snape from his chair out of pure excitement. Now, we need to watch the Reaping and the parade. This'll be fun. I guess I can just stare out into space… this isn't something I would want to relive.

I sit down on the sofa and scotch over when I see Pansy and Blaise walking over. Good, at least, Crabbe, Goyle and Marcus won't sit next to us, but that doesn't stop Goyle from giving me the eyes. I'm really getting fed up with this, and for some reason I feel angrier than ever. Maybe it's because of what he said at dinner. I look away from him and ball my fist up against my lap. I can't even pay attention to the TV, but I try. I don't want Goyle to know this bothers me.

"Draco." Pansy says.

"What?" I sound a lot nastier than I intend to.

She looks taken aback, "I'm just… wondering if you're okay is all."

"Ginny Weasley!" Oh, great, this is when Ron volunteers. I sigh before leaning on the arm of the sofa, looking at the wall – boredom and sever aggravation taking me over. I can hear Goyle laughing when Ron jumps out of the crowd.

"Not funny." I say through gritted teeth, not speaking to anyone in particular, but it's meant for Goyle to keep big mouth shut before I shove my fist in it.

"Yes it is!" Goyle answers back.

I roll my eyes and groan.

I hate everyone right now.

"Draco, it's not that bad, just ignore him." Pansy whispers. Something about her tone tells me she's irritated as well. I don't know if she's aggravated about my whining for the fact that Goyle is an inconsiderate git.

I ignore herand when I hear Umbridge say, "Gregory Goyle!" I jump up from my seat and laugh hysterically! The whole room gets quiet and everyone is gawking at me, Pansy is pulling on my shirt for me to sit down, Goyle looks shocked, and Snape looks ready to kill us all.

I'm still laughing and pointing at the TV. This must look so childish and Goyle can probably tell I'm forcing this laughter. I just want him to know I'm so fucking pissed off!

"Draco! Sit. Down!" Pansy says, still pulling on my shirt.

Now Goyle is standing up, "Yeah, Malfoy, you better listen to your little tramp before-"

My face goes straight, any sign of fake humor fading completely at his comment, "What did you call her?"

"Oh my God…" Pansy sighs and sinks in her seat, "Draco, it's not a big deal-"

"You heard me." Goyle says. "And stop trying, it's not working."

I snicker, "Apparently it is, since you're confronting me about it…" He doesn't answer, "Awww, what's wrong, Goyle? Upset you got picked for the Games? Was it not funny? I think it's hilarious!" I must look insane to him.

"Stop it!" Pansy shouts, jumping to her feet and standing between us. She turns to Goyle. "When will you learn to leave him alone!? Just drop it, Goyle!" Now Snape is leaving the room mumbling, "I'm done with this lot." under his breath. That leaves Umbridge alone with us but she seems to be enjoying the show so she doesn't separate the fight.

"You're on my list, Parkinson." Goyle says.

"Oh, I'm terrified! You know what, Goyle, you're just scared! You know Draco will win so you want him out of the way! You lousy coward!" I'm smirking at this because Goyle looks like he's just seen death. Suddenly Pansy turns to me and my smirk drops, expecting her to yell at me nest. I'm about to say something, but I'm cut off when she grabs the back of my head and presses her lips to mine.

Whoa, what!? Why is she kissing me!? I'm so shocked by this that I attempt to back up, only to land on the sofa with her on top of me. What is happening? We've kissed before but this time it just cuts me way off guard. For a moment I forget we're not the only ones in the room and I'm actually melting into this. Yeah, we're probably being filmed but – you know what? I don't care. We're about to die. If by some miracle, I do win, I'll never even see her again. From now until the moment I'm ripped apart, I live by a new rule: Live in the moment. And that's exactly what I'm going to do now.

I feel her smirk against my lips as I shift from under her a bit. She lets out a soft giggle and pulls back to look at me. "I'm sorry. I just couldn't wait anymore." Her face is bright red and she turns away to try and hide it. I smile softly and pull her face back to look at me. "Don't be sorry." I say, leaning her in to kiss her again. I'll admit, I'm confused as hell right now, between her and Harry – they're both running through my mind, but in this moment it's just Pansy. I'm about to lose her and I pull away at the thought. "Draco?" She says softly, placing her hand on the side of my face. I look up at her sadly. "What's wrong?" She sounds concerned. I try to swallow down my emotion, tears are burning the back of my eyes and I pull her closer to me. "I don't want you to leave me…" My voice is starting to break, so I bury my face into her shoulder not wanting anyone else to see me cry.

The others seem to be ignoring us since they turned their attention to the TV. Umbridge on the other hand, is looking at Pansy and me. Kind of creepy, but again, I don't care. However, I can hear Crabbe, Marcus and Goyle talking and laughing silently together.

Pansy sniffles. She's crying too, I know it, "I love you." She says in my ear through soft sobs.

I hug her tightly, shutting my eyes. I want to tell her I love her back, but I don't know I'll be lying. "Draco." She says. "You have to win."

I try to calm down. "I will. For us." I know it's a lie… but I just say it to calm her nerves.

I have a hard time sleeping tonight. Every thought possible is going through my head. Harry, Pansy, Goyle, dying, how I'll die, how they'll die, fighting Goyle, getting killed by Goyle… I can honestly go on forever about this, and I actually feel like I'm being stabbed in the heart. There can't be two victors so there definitely can't be three. Even if I do choose either Pansy or Harry, I'll never have that chance to be with either one of them. But I at least want to choose just so I can tell them before I die. I've lost all my friends in one shot, and that's hitting me too. It hurts… in ways you can't imagine… sometimes I feel more afraid for them then I do myself.

Sighing, I turn over in my bed and pull the covers close. The last thing I can remember before I see black is my promise to Pansy. You have to win.

I will. For us.

I'm on my way out of the shower when I hear knocking on my door. I'm not even dressed yet and all I'm wearing are boxers, not to mention my hair is dripping wet. If it were anyone else at my door, I'd ignore it but I can make out Pansy's voice, "Draco? You awake?"

"Yeah. Coming, hold on." I say before grabbing a towel for my hair so it doesn't drip in my eyes. When I open my door her face flushes up immediately; she's staring at me a bit oddly. Maybe it's because I'm not wearing a shirt… Hey, it's not my fault; she's the one who decided to bug me while I was practically naked…

"H-Hey…." She says, her voice is cracking, while her eyes grow wide as they trail down my torso, "My gosh…"

I can't help but laugh. "Pansy." I say, snapping my fingers in her face before her eyes go down too far, "I'm up here."

She shakes her head, "Yes, you are! I'm so sorry, I wasn't looking – I mean I didn't mean to – I don't want you think-" She sighs to catch her breath, "Hiiiiii!" She says, waving awkwardly.

"….I can go get a shirt if you're too distracted…"

"No! Noooo, you do not need one!"

I laugh, "Soooo, why are you here?"

Her eyes are going down again. "….Pansy?"

"I'm sorry, did you say something?" She says, looking up at me.

"Yes. Why are you here?"

"Huh….? Oh! Uhm… Why am I here?" Again, her eyes trail down. I roll my eyes, not even bothering to make her look away.

"Okay… I'm gonna go get some clothes now…"

"Huh?"

"I'll meet you downstairs." And I shut my door without turning around. The last thing she needs to do is stare at my ass.

"Girls are so weird…" I whisper to myself before going to find my jumpsuit for training. After getting eye fucked by Pansy I feel naked in this thing. I finally come to notice that it's really tight, which is probably why Harry was looking at me yesterday. I turn red at the thought.

As soon as I get downstairs, everyone is gawking at me, including Pansy, but not as much as she was five minutes ago. "…What?" I say a bit nervously, looking around the room at everyone's curious faces.

"That was some show last night, Malfoy!" Goyle says. "That's enough!" Snape snaps.

I roll my eyes and sit down, taking a piece of bacon off of Pansy's plate since there's none left.

"…Classy." Pansy says.

"I know I am." I say to her with a smirk.

"So, Malfoy." I hear Goyle say. I try to ignore him as I munch on the bacon imagining it's his skull breaking between my teeth. "I was thinking you and I can have a little duel today." I almost choke, "What!?" I cough.

"Uhm, Goyle, I don't think that's such a good idea…" Pansy says.

"I wasn't asking you, Parkinson."

"I don't care! You're not dueling Draco!"

"That's not for you to decide, now, is it?"

"Fine." I say before Pansy can put another word in.

"Fine!?" She echoes, "Draco–"

"Don't worry, he can't kill me…" I whisper. "Sure, we'll duel." I say louder, so Goyle can hear me. He smirks and goes back to his breakfast, which involves a lot of eggs…. I hate eggs….and Goyle… now all I can think of are rotten eggs…

Pansy sighs before pushing her plate in front of me, "I'm done. You can have the scraps."

"Awesome." I say before picking up a piece of toast that she didn't even touch. Next to me, I hear her groan in aggravation. Looking at her, I notice she's scratching her elbow. "Pansy, you alright?" I say with a bit of a laugh.

"What? Oh, yes. I'm okay. My arm is just – forget it!"

I look at her arm and see a long thin bump. It's thicker near her elbow but as it trails down her arm it looks thinner. Whatever it is, the jumpsuit only makes it obvious that something is hidden in her sleeve since it's so tight. But, I'm not going to ask questions – I'm hungry, so I'm just going to mind my own business and finish eating. I don't want any more trouble. Everything I say only turns into an argument anyway…

"When you all are done, get to the Training Center." Snape beings, as he gets up. "Deloris and I will meet you all there."

"Okay." Pansy says awkwardly, trying to hide her arm under the table.

Once I'm done eating I push the plate away from me. "Ready to go?" Pansy asks. I nod. "Sure."

As soon as we get up, the others follow us to the elevator that's nearby. "Now, don't chicken out on our duel, Malfoy." Goyle says, pushing Pansy out of the way so he can stand next to me in the elevator.

"Oh, I'm not planning on it, Goyle."

All of the houses are already training when we get to the training center. I'm about to follow Pansy to the weaponry when Goyle grabs my shirt, "Ah, ah, ah. I told you, no chickening out." I look at Pansy and she shakes her head. "Let me just get a weapon first." I say as I look back up at Goyle. He gives me this look like I'm about to trick him before letting me go roughly. I stumble slightly and roll my shoulder, where he grabbed me. Cautiously, I head on over to the weapon rack. Harry's looking at me from the obstacle course with suspicious eyes. He's panting and looks tired, like he's done that course a few dozen times already. I give him this desperate look that calls for help and pull my axe off of the rack.

Now, I'm beginning to have second thoughts about this duel. When I turn around to make my way back to Goyle, his arms are crossed across his big chest, and he's smirking deviously at me. "Okay…" I say nervously. "I'm ready."

"Good." On the corner of my eye I can still see Harry looking over. It's like he's looking to see if there's any rule breaking. Suddenly I feel Goyle grab my shirt, and I let out a yelp of shock as he pulls me forward. Harry's eyes widen at this and he jolts forward like he'd ready to jump in to help me but stops himself.

"What are you looking at, pretty boy!?"

"N-Nothing!" I say, trying to pull back from him. Goyle glares at me for a moment and pushes me away. "Go to the duel section. I'll meet you there."

I flinch when he swipes a hand up, like he's about to hit me, but doesn't. Goyle laughs, lowers his hand to his side, and starts to walk away to get his weapon.

I swallow down my fear and look over at Harry. He has this expression of complete worry on his face, like he can tell I'm being abused. I hope he can read me. I'm terrified right now.

Stiffly, I stand on the mat, waiting for Goyle to arrive. I see him push a young Hufflepuff out of the way just to get to the weapon rack to retrieve his sword. When he has it in his possession he starts making his way to me with an evil smirk on his face. I back up when he gets closer.

"You look scared, Malfoy."

Because I am! I'm scared to death of him right now!

Looking back at Harry, I'm pleading for help with my eyes.

Pansy was right… I shouldn't have agreed to this.

I swallow hard when Goyle and I stand face to face with our weapons raised in front of our faces like swords.

He's smirking at me and I know I must look petrified to him. "On three," I say, "then we fight…"

"On three…" He repeats with a smirk.

"One…" I say cautiously.

"Two…" Goyle says.

We both look at each other for a long time before Goyle's smirk grows into an evil sneer, "Three!" My eyes widen in fear! He swishes his sword at me and I can't block fast enough! My axe almost slips from my hand and I stumble backwards and hit the mat beneath me.

He's coming at me, sword raised! I roll out of the way just in time for him to bring the sword down, only to miss me and hit the mat. "Stay still, Malfoy!"

"Goyle, you can't do this! You're breaking the rules!"

"Just like I'm about to break you!"

I'm still on the ground, too scared to attack him with my weapon. I back up, frantically until my back presses against the wall. "Goyle, stop!" He's holding his sword up, like he's about to stab it through my chest! I shut my eyes, and pull my arm across my face; waiting for my blood to spill. Only, nothing happens. Suddenly I hear Goyle's voice, "Out of the way, Potter!"

What? Potter? Slowly and cautiously, I open my eyes, and remove my arm from my face. Sure enough, Harry is actually standing in front of me, with a weapon aimed at Goyle's chest. It looks like a spear.

"I said move!" Goyle says, attempting to push Harry out of the way, but Potter only presses the pointed end of his spear at Goyle's chest making him freeze in place, "Don't come any closer."

"You'd give your life for him!?"

I look up at Harry with complete and utter fear, begging him not to let Goyle kill me. He looks over his shoulder at me with a softly smile. "Yes. I would. Now back off, Goyle, or I'll dig out your heart!"

"You little-" Goyle rises up his sword, but before Harry can even react I hear a loud, "Sectumsempra!"

Goyle yells in pain as his body hits the wall next to me, and lands, soaked in blood, on the mat. I'm frozen in fear as I stare down at his unmoving body, watching at his blood begins to form a trail to me. I finally turn away and look up at Harry is shock – even he looks scared. Looking past him, I see Pansy with her wand pointed. Harry lowers his spear in shock and backs up.

"Pansy…" I say in a small voice.

That's what was up her sleeve before – it was her wand! But why? They're going to kill her!

Goyle's breathing heavily next to me, his blood forming a puddle around his body. I know what that feels like… Harry once used that spell on me, but I don't think he knew what kind of damage it could have caused. Judging by the look on Potter's face, it's brining back awful memories.

Everyone in the center is staring at us and suddenly an alarm goes off. Something overhead is causing the Training Center to emanate in red, flickering light – like an emergency signal. Five Game Keepers burst over from a back door near the bleachers, and grab Pansy by the arms, yanking her wand away. She's screaming and thrashing her body to get away. Two of the Game Keepers hoist Goyle's unconscious, bloody body off of the floor, while the other three are taking Pansy away.

"You made a big mistake, missy." One of them says. Pansy keeps screaming. I need to do something! They'll kill her if I don't and I can't lose her yet!

"No!" I jump up and try to fight them off of her. One of them elbows me so hard in the rib cage that I feel a bit winded at first. But I still won't let them take her!

"Draco!" Pansy screams. They're pulling her to the opposite side of the bleachers, to a different door then the one they recently came from. God only knows what they'll to her in that room.

"No… Stop!" I'm not letting this happen. I run after them, forcing these people away from her. "You can't do this!" One of the three Game Keepers let's Pansy go and grabs my arms, wrapping them behind my back to restrain me. I yelp in pain at how rough he's being, but still managed to say, "Stop! The Games haven't even started yet, you can't kill her!"

"You don't make the rules, boy!" The Games Keeper says, yanking me back harder as I try to get my arms free.

"It's not fair, please! She was just trying to save me!"

The two Game Keepers holding Pansy suddenly stop to look at me like I might actually have a point. I look up at them desperately. "Please. Don't kill her…" Pansy is crying and breathing heavy. I've never seen her so scared and it hurts to look at her like this, "Take her wand if you have to but don't hurt her! I'm begging you, give her a chance…" The Game Keepers look at each other for agreement. "Let them go." One of them says at last, looking back at me.

As soon as we're released, Pansy runs into me, crying. I hug her tight and I can actually feel her body trembling against mine. "This better not happen again. You're just lucky the Games haven't begun." One Game Keeper says. He snaps Pansy's wand in half, making bits of dark sparks emanate from the broken wood, like waves of black fire.

When they walk away, the tributes in the center slowly go back to what they were doing.

"Draco…"

"It's okay, it's okay." I say, trying to calm her down. "God, Pansy when will you stop trying to get killed?"

"When will you stop trying to save me?" She says through sobs.

I hug her tighter, "Until the moment I die." I catch Harry's eye. He must have been watching us this whole time. He smiles sadly and I can't do anything but just look at him. Great, now Harry knows about Pansy and me. I want to thank him for saving my life, but it looks like I'll never get that chance.