Chapter 5

Blaise and Dahlia watched Draco and Azalea glare at each other. It was quite awkward, actually. Draco was looking over Azalea as if judging whether she was worth being seen with in public. Her hair was gathered into a half ponytail and her long locks were draped over her shoulder. He observed that she was wearing a black lace dress with a V neck and an empire waist. It had a high satin belt. The A line skirt of the dress came down to her knees, sufficiently hiding her thighs. She had on simple black heels on her feet.

Draco decided that she didn't look hideous but she wasn't exactly "hot" either. She only looked pleasant and demure. She wasn't going to attract interest in a bar dressed like she was headed to tea with her mother. What the hell was she doing here? What the hell was she doing here looking like the way she did?

"What the hell are you doing here?" Draco demanded of her.

"What business is it of yours?" Azalea responded tartly.

Another angry stare down ensued. Bloody Draco, she thought hotly to herself. Why did he have to be here? Why did he have to be here now? She took a brief survey of what he was wearing. He was wearing a simple black turtleneck. He had on a classic mahogany colored, two buttoned, men's leather blazer that did nothing but make him look desirable. He wore dark pants that accented his strong legs. Why did he have to be here? Why did he have to be here looking so openly handsome? He looked so debonair in the simple, regal sense of the word. She still hadn't forgiven him for poking fun at her at the lunch table earlier that day.

Blaise and Dahlia watched their friends heave scowls at each other. Blaise wondered what got Draco so worked up over Azalea. From what Draco told him, Azalea hadn't exactly done anything to him. Draco was the one who irritated Azalea the most. Dahlia thought Azalea was overreacting. Sure, Draco was here. Why shouldn't he be? He was young and enjoying himself. Sure, Draco was an annoying prat, but that shouldn't prevent Azalea from having fun.

"Well, this has been sufficiently awkward," Blaise said with an uncomfortable sigh. "Do you want to dance, Dahlia, and leave these two to glare at each other in peace?"

"That sounds like a brilliant idea," Dahlia said, taking Blaise's hand.

"Dahlia!" Azalea exclaimed.

"Behave yourselves, now," Dahlia said and she and Blaise laughed.

Draco and Azalea stared after the two of them, annoyed. They looked back at each other, rolled their eyes, and looked away.

"I didn't think Mother and Father would let you out of the house," Draco commented off handedly.

"They're not my parents," Azalea retorted. "Why should they prevent me from doing what I want?"

"Well, aren't you the daughter they never had?" Draco taunted.

"Are you insulting yourself by implying that even you are not good enough for your own parents?"

Draco whirled toward her. She was looking at him with a leering face. "Shut up," Draco snapped at her. "At least I'm not in my room pouting everyday."

"At least I'm not in love with a girl," Azalea said, nodding toward Astoria, "who has no idea that I exist."

Draco fumed at her. How on earth did she know about Astoria? The only person he's told is Blaise. He wouldn't say anything to Azalea. Why would he? They're not even friends. "How the hell did you know that?" he demanded.

"Oh, please," Azalea rolled her eyes. "You're practically panting after her."

"You're one to talk, aren't you?" Draco muttered. "Who was the one who went to Bulgaria chasing after one bloke again?"

Azalea whirled angrily at him, a scowl already fixed on her face. What the hell?! "At least I had enough guts to say what I felt!" she said. "Look at you! Content with staring from a distance. Pathetic."

Draco ground his teeth together as he glowered at her. "I hate talking to you!!" he said loudly.

"Go away then!"

Draco banged his fist on the bar counter and stormed off toward Pansy and Daphne, intending to join them on the dance floor. Astoria had found a random bloke and was now dancing extremely close to him. This only added to Draco's foul mood. What gave her the right to insult him like that? What gave her the right to give painfully accurate assumptions about Astoria? To think that he actually put up with her blubbering when she was drunk and actually helped her into bed. To think that he actually made excuses for her at breakfast that morning and encouraged his parents to just let her sleep it off. Pfft, he wasn't going to be so nice the next time she gets smashed. Horrid woman, he thought, peeved.

Stupid Draco, Azalea thought angrily to herself. Who in hell told him about the Bulgaria thing anyway? Idiotic question, she decided. He was friends with Pansy Parkinson and Daphne Greengrass. Those two eat up gossip as if they were two obese gits who haven't been fed for weeks. Damn all of them! Why must he be so insufferable! What part of irritating her to the point of insanity does he find enjoyable? Merlin, she thought with a sigh, letting loose her aggravation in one breath, what am I doing here? She didn't belong here. Azalea looked over to the dance floor, sipping her Firewhisky gingerly. The place was packed to the brim with people without a care in the world. It was full of people who knew exactly what they wanted and they were well on their way to getting it. Well, at least some of the do.

"Lisa!" a fat man said with a hiccup, suddenly throwing his arms around Azalea.

"What the-ˮ Azalea exclaimed, pinching her nose. The man smelled like sweat. It was enough to make her retch.

"Thank Merlin I found you, Lisa!" he went on blubbering thickly.

"I am not Lisa!" Azalea said, annoyed and pushing the man away.

"But Lisa-ˮ he continued to drawl, placing a pallid hand on her shoulder.

"Don't touch me!" she squawked, thrusting him away. "I'm not Lisa!"

"Come on Lisa, don't be-ˮ

"Hey," Draco said, suddenly appearing beside Azalea and pushing the man off lightly. "Don't cause trouble, mate."

"How do you know Lisa?" the man muttered.

"Lisa? This," Draco scoffed, pointing to Azalea, "is the plague upon the wizarding society, not Lisa. Now, go on, bugger off."

Azalea openly glared at Draco as he watched the man walk off lamely, his hands folded over his chest. Azalea heaved out an aggravated sigh and turned back to her Firewhisky, hoping that if she ignored the Malfoy that he would go away. No such luck.

"You know the least you can do is thank me," he said condescendingly.

"Oh, gee, thank you ever so much, Draco," Azalea said, her tone dripping with sarcasm.

Draco rolled her eyes at her. "Why do you insist on sitting here at the bar like an idiot?" he asked.

Ignore him, ignore him, ignore him, Azalea chanted to herself.

"Is it because no guy would ever want to come near you?" he taunted as Azalea scowled. "Or is it because you're too afraid to talk to one yourself?"

"What I do is none of your business," Azalea snapped.

"Rude," Draco commented with a nasty smirk. "Maybe I should have let that bloke molest you."

"I didn't need your help," Azalea insisted. "I could have handled it just fine!"

"Whatever you say," he chuckled as Azalea threw him another glare.

Then he himself sat down on the bar with his back to her and ordered himself a glass of Firewhisky. Azalea wished his head would explode randomly and turned her back to him in a huff. Stupid idiot, she thought to herself. What did she ever to do to deserve a fate that involved Draco Malfoy? She shuddered to herself. She really needs to find a job and move out of the Malfoy Manor. Any more of his horrid company and she would soon go insane. Then she heard him wolf whistle. Knowing she would immediately regret it, she turned her head and looked.

Draco was staring at a tall raven haired girl with long legs who somehow squeezed herself into a micro mini black leather tube dress with a generous slit on the side. Draco proceeded to lick his lips as his eyes traveled up and down her body. Azalea's face immediately pinched into a disgusted expression.

"Wanker," she said to herself, taking a swig of her Firewhisky.

"What did you call me?" Draco demanded, a bit distracted by Miss Long Legs who was now giving him salacious looks.

"You're tearing her clothes off with your eyes!" she exclaimed. "It's disgusting!!"

"That's not a hard task," he smirked at the girl. "One little tug and that black cloth will be gone to reveal that utterly seductive body. Mmm…"

"Ugh!!" Azalea remarked with a repulsed expression, getting up and walking away from Draco and his wandering eyes.

Bloody wanker, she thought, shaking with revulsion. Not only was he an idiot, he was also a pervert. Damn her luck. She had no doubt that he'll probably be sucking Miss Long Legs' face sometime soon. The thought almost made her throw up in her mouth. Disgusting, she thought, pushing through the crowds, putting as much space between her and Draco.

As she was weaving through the throngs of people, she tripped over someone's foot and headed straight to the ground. Great, she thought, bracing herself for impact, a perfect end to a perfect day. She expected a splat or a thump or a crash. But none happened. She fell right into someone's arms. Her eyes snapped open and she looked up at a pair of gorgeous sea green eyes. His most prominent facial feature was his sharp cheekbones. He had full lips that seemed to have been pulled into a pout. He had a slight cleft chin and sweeping light brown hair. He was gorgeous.

"Uh…" Azalea stammered, staring into his dazzling green eyes.

"Are you alright?" he asked in a deep, smoky voice.

"Yes," Azalea said, pulling away from him and standing on her own two feet again. "If you hadn't caught me, I'm afraid the floor would have. Thank you."

"Perhaps you can pay me back by telling me your name," he grinned at her.

"Azalea," she smiled, charmed, "Azalea Vale."

"That's a beautiful name," he said and grinned wider at the slight blush that came to Azalea's cheeks. "My name is Alex Garrison."

"It's nice to meet you."

"The pleasure is mine," Alex replied smoothly. "So what exactly were you running away from?"

"I was just trying to get away from my… uh…"

What was Draco to her exactly? Calling him her friend sounded too intimate but calling him an acquaintance wasn't quite right either. So what exactly is he now? Her housemate? That sounded so trashy.

"Your what, sorry?" Alex asked, calling her from her musings.

"I was just trying to get away from someone that I know," Azalea said.

"Maybe I could help," Alex offered.

"I don't know how you could possibly," Azalea sighed.

"Well, perhaps not permanently," he laughed. "But I could manage to steal you away for a short while if you'll let me."

"How?"

"By allowing me to dance with you, of course," Alex said, flashing another brilliant smile.

"That sounds fantastic," Azalea replied and took his hand.

Draco was still irritated. Why in hell was he having such an unlucky night? Astoria and the bloke that she found on the dance floor had managed to disappear and when Draco asked Pansy and Daphne where she was, they giggled and said that they didn't know. They clearly did. Next, the raven haired beauty that Draco was eyeing earlier turned out to have a boyfriend who came to claim her before Draco could make any sort of move. Damn. Blaise had disappeared with Dahlia after escorting her to the dance floor a while ago. If he knew Blaise and he did, he didn't want to go looking for him when he was with a girl. As Draco sat at the bar moodily, he saw Pansy talking very closely to a random guy in the corner while Daphne was dancing very closely to a guy of her own. Bloody hell, he thought angrily to himself. Did everybody have a partner but him?

He scanned the crowd again for someone to throw his attention to. Where was Azalea? She had disappeared all of a sudden when Draco was ogling that raven haired girl. Perhaps she just left, Draco mused. Sad little thing didn't seem to be having much fun. That's when he heard a bell of laughter from the other end of the bar. He turned his head and was shocked to find Azalea talking closely to a bloke with brown hair. He seemed very intent on her face as if no force could compel him to tear his eyes away. I must be dreaming, he decided as he watched them. Even Heartbreak Queen could find someone? Geez, Draco sighed, looking away with increased irritation, the nights sucks.