"Remind me why I'm here again." I demanded as Blaise Zabini pulled me through the empty stands of the quidditch field.
It was windy and cold from the November weather. I was forced to rush out with only my sweater. I had a thin pair of jeans with flats. My hair was in a big messy bun and I wasn't in the mood for another one of Draco's attempts at friendship. This morning alone had consisted of a wake-up call by three first year girls carrying a huge breakfast platter for me, a Firebolt that I had no idea how to use, and a new dress. Now, I was being forced to do who knows what in the cold stands of the quidditch field. Blaise smiled at me.
"Just sit and watch. I've heard that you've never been to a game before. Draco saw fit to put on a little performance for you. You'll enjoy it, I'm sure." He zoomed away on his own Firebolt and left me mumbling to myself.
"I doubt it." I said as he whisked away and out of sight. I raised my knees, crossed my arms, and slouched down as far as I could go to relish the little bit of warmth I had left. Within about a minute, I saw seven figures pop out from all corners of the field. They were all hooded. They did various loops and spins, and, at some point, two people deflected some bludgers. Sure, they were good, but I hated show offs. After about five minutes, I got up and walked toward the exit. I felt a huge gust of wind as someone circled me and landed so we were face to face. His dark green hood flew off, and I could now see Draco's blond hair and taunting grey eyes.
"Leaving so soon?" He asked.
"Yes. I'm cold and hungry, and I want to be left alone today." I told him crossing my arms.
"Come on Emma. Is it that boring to you?" he continued shooting questions at me.
I rolled my eyes. "I don't care enough for me to decide whether or not it's boring."
"What do you want to do then? Anything you want."
"I want to be left alone. Can you do that?"
He glared. "I'm trying to be nice, Emma. You can try doing the same."
I rolled my eyes. "That isn't possible when I'm cold and hungry."
He didn't respond. I sighed and walked around him. I hadn't gotten anywhere with him the last few days. His persistence had just annoyed me. There was nothing to be achieved by Draco and I being 'mates'. I had to be sure to ask my mother about it in my next letter. The wind picked up a bit. I rubbed my arms as I walked through the courtyard. I felt someone touch my shoulders. With a jolt, I stopped and turned. Draco had taken off his quidditch robe and draped it on me. I snapped my head to him suspiciously. He glanced at me once before he shoved his hands in his pockets.
"Thanks." I mumbled. His eyes were the prettiest grey I'd ever seen. They seemed to have a certain hardness to them. It made him seem frightening. I knew better than that though. Yet, I found myself unable to concentrate at that current moment. The rest of the team caught up with us.
"Hey, I'm starving. Are we going to head to lunch, or what?" Crabbe asked rubbing his large stomach. I would've thought of Crabbe as a cute teddy bear if he wasn't so thick.
I ripped my eyes away from Draco and we all headed for the Great Hall. My arms found their way through the sleeves of his robe. I shrugged to myself. So much for the day alone. As long as I wasn't bothered too much I supposed I could at least flank behind the team.
Sitting at the Slytherin table was like a monarchy; everyone sat according to their importance. Everyone seemed to revolve around Draco. Personally, I didn't understand it. Draco sat in the middle. Crabbe and Golye and Zabini sat next to him. Next was the quidditch team and on and on. Pansy usually sat next to Draco, but I guess I took her place. I didn't think too much on that one at the present time. She now sat across from Crabbe with her friends shifting with her. Younger kids who were underlings to Draco sat across from him, waiting for him to give them an order.
I quietly ate my lunch as everyone chatted. I wasn't listening to anything until Draco broke my chain of thought with his yelling. I shot my head up to see a bickering Draco, Ron Weasley, and Harry Potter. I didn't need to know what they were arguing about to know that it was totally pointless.
"Give it a rest, Draco." I told him.
"Yeah, listen to your girlfriend, Malfoy." Ron shouted.
I coughed and replied indignantly, "I'm not his girlfriend."
They continued arguing. I might as well have been talking to a monkey. I then tried to block it out and finish my lunch when I heard my name.
"Emma, why would want to be friends with someone as thick as Draco Malfoy anyway?" Harry asked me.
"Potter, I swear-"
"Trust me, it's not by choice." I interrupted Draco.
"Your own girlfriend doesn't want to hang out with you Malfoy." Ron snorted.
"But, if it was up to me, I wouldn't be talking to any of you. You, Harry, or Draco. It's just a huge waste of my valuable time. I'd much rather be alone." I said the last word narrowing my eyes at Draco. Everyone was glaring at me. I kept my eyes on Draco.
"Really?" He asked after a long, awkward silence.
I shook my head and stood up from the table. If it was allowed, they all would've cursed me right then and there. No Slytherin ever insulted Draco Malfoy. It was just a big no, no. As I left the Great Hall, I felt as if there was a giant, ridiculously bright spotlight on me. It took every ounce of strength in me not to sprint away or glance back.
Once I was out of sight, I took a seat at the fountain. I summoned my little notebook and began writing. I swear it was only ten minutes before someone called me. I looked up. It was Pansy with her friends. She stood over me, glaring. I stood up and showed my teeth with the fakest smile I think I'd ever put on.
"Yes?" I asked trying to be nice. She, on the other hand, didn't have any intention of being polite. She looked back at her friends who were evaluating me. They seemed to find me amusing. A quiet unified cackle rolled through the group. Pansy, relief spreading across her face, turned around with a smug grin. It was like a pale imitation of Draco's smirk. What was wrong with these Slytherins?
"You better not try anything with my Draco," She spat.
I rolled my eyes. "You can have him. I've already told everyone-"
"If I find out otherwise, I swear you'll end up in the Forbidden Forest, naked and very, very confused."
Her friends laughed.
"I don't care-"
"Don't touch him. He's mine!"
"Ugh!" I threw my hands up and pivoted on my heels to turn. Honestly, I was surprised that they didn't try to follow me as I made trudged away from their hysterical snickering. I settled beneath a little tree overlooking the lake. I could still see the girls from where I sat, but I tried my best to ignore them. I leaned my back against the slim trunk and attempted write again. It didn't go well. I didn't get two lines in before someone else began bugging me. There was no way I was going to get anything done today.
"You shouldn't hang out with Malfoy."
"So I've be told." I responded sarcastically my narrowed eyes flickering up to Harry.
"He's a bad influence." He reasoned as he sat beside me, "and I can tell that he's been causing you all kinds of stress."
I laughed. "Yeah, Draco is known to cause stress."
"Draco just doesn't know when to let up." He laughed with me.
"Suddenly I just can't seem to get rid of him." I laughed again. And then I sighed. I wasn't being fair. Draco tried for days to get along with me, and it only took Harry Potter two minutes to get a laugh out of me. "Draco tries though. I guess. He just needs to see that things can't always be done his way- on his terms." I shrugged and smiled at him.
"You know, you can always hang out with me," He changed his words when he saw me glare at him. "I mean, use me as an excuse to be alone. We can go somewhere and you can totally ditch me there."
Harry held out his hand. I stood and held out my hand to shake his, but he turned it gently and kissed my knuckles. I blushed despite myself and exhaled the frustration building in my stomach. I don't blush. I looked away and caught sight of Draco leaning in the long entrance door. I held his angry grey eyes for a few seconds until he turned and walked back into the school. I scrambled to my feet, stomach still churning with some kind of feeling that I didn't recognize. I mumbled a small goodbye as ran to catch up with Draco.
I suddenly realized that I should meet Draco halfway on this friendship thing. It wasn't right to accept Harry so openly and then shut Draco down so completely. By the time I got to the double doors, he was gone. I looked around and ran towards the Slytherin house. I guessed that he would've headed back to the dorms.
Suddenly, someone clamped their hand on my mouth. It was stupid to try and scream, but I did. A large boy lifted me off the floor with his free arm and ran down another corridor. I could tell he was big, but I couldn't turn my head to see who it was. My eyes bulged as the boy bobbled us down some shifting stairs. The lanterns were all blown out, It should have been impossible to see, but the boy was nearly sprinting down the hall. I squirmed in his arms trying to get free. I was going to bite him, but I thought better of that. I didn't know where his hands had been. I didn't want to get sick or something. We ended turning out of the pitch black corridor and halted in a long, dark hall of dungeons. The only light was from the dimly lit torches that looked as if they would go out if a breeze happened to find its way through the maze of corridors. The boy slowed down; he was obviously out of shape. I nearly gagged feeling my back pressed against his. He carried me all the way to a tall mahogany door and finally set me down.
"You'll enjoy this. I love the meetings." He said excitedly as he pulled the hood of Draco's robes over my head. I peeked out to see Crabbe. He pounded on the door slowly to add dramatic effect to the eerie atmosphere. He smirked at me and shrugged his own black cloak hood on pushing me into the large room. It was full of about two dozen cloaked figures, students by the look of it. I felt out of place with my green and silver while everyone else wore black on black on black. "Just watch and learn. This is why us Slytherins are respected."
Goyle shoved me in line. I looked around. There was a single cloaked figure sitting in a small chair in the center of the room. I looked around in confusion and as I turned to my right, I saw Draco looking down at me, his mouth in a hard line. He looked away and signaled a cloaked figure at the end of the line. The person took off his hood and revealed himself to be Blaise. He walked over to the boy and yanked of the little boy's hood. I could now clearly see that he was a third or fourth year. I also noticed how scared he was. He was average height and very lean. He short black hair was dashing, but his hazel eyes seemed far away. The look on his face didn't soothe my nerves any.
My eyes followed Draco as he walked up to the boy. Someone pulled me over to a stone chair that was similar to a throne. I sat on the edge, refusing to relax. There were a few other seats like this fixed around the boy. They were all filled with people in black cloaks watching menacingly in the darkness. This did not feel right. Draco began addressing the younger Slytherin.
"Is Slytherin not good enough for you, Anderson?" He asked, his voice hollow and icy.
"No, it-it is." Anderson stuttered.
"We can all say that there are plenty of fine Slytherins in our house, isn't there?"
"Ye-yes."
He turned to glance at me. His eyes were on fire. I'd never seen someone so angry. "Then why would you, an heir, want to be with someone like Ginny Weasley, who is not only a Gryffindor but also a blood traitor?"
"It was only good fun, Malfoy. One night."
Draco laughed. It wasn't out of humor. It was more as if he'd gone completely insane. "Shame. How one night, one day, one hour can change everything. You know the rules, Anderson. You know the consequences."
Draco walked back over to me. He took a seat on the edge of my seat and glared down into my brown eyes. I knew he saw the confusion in them. I hoped he couldn't see the fear. Without taking his eyes away from mine, he signaled someone else.
I jumped when I heard a blood hurtling scream. I jolted to see a boy named Theodore Nott sticking a rod on the boy. It was an ageal. The weapon pulsed. I could almost feel the rays. Anderson screamed. He shook madly in the seat he was tied down to. I grimaced as I watched him writhe and screech in pain. I waited for Nott to pull away, but he didn't let up. I got up to help the poor boy, but Draco pulled at my arm.
"Are you insane? You could kill him." The screaking tone in my voice brought tears to my eyes. I blinked them away fiercely and pulled at my arm.
"He knows the rules." Draco said coldly.
"What rules? There are no rules."
"For heirs there are. No heir shall betray the Death Eaters." He shouted back, "No heir shall fraternize with the enemy."
I looked at him as if he were insane. He didn't look at me. "Fraternize... with the enemy? How was he doing that? How did he betray anyone?"
"Someone overhead him telling the Weasley girl that he loved her. He wanted to be with her forever." He chuckled to himself, "There are plenty of sensible girls around here, and he decides to shack up in enemy territory. He might as well become best friends with Potter."
His voice was even, but hard. He glared at me. I stared back with the same force.
"So, if he doesn't want be with a Slytherin, then he can't be with anyone... You're saying that you would rather him be alone?"
He looked away. "You seem to be fond of it."
I scoffed and ran into the center of the room. I ripped the ageal away from Anderson's neck and out of Nott's hand. I felt the waves of pain as I threw it across the room. No trace of its power could be seen as it rolled over behind the jail bars. It looked harmless from where it lay now. I turned and untied Anderson from the chair. I helped him up as I let out a rugged breath. I couldn't possibly imagine what he was going through if I was already in so much pain. Jolts of electricity ripped through my arms each I gave Draco one last glare and the boy and I walked out of the room. The door slammed behind us. Then, an uproar of voices filled the room.
"I can't believe they let you do that." He muttered. A tone of amazement rang in his hoarse voice.
"I'm new at this whole thing," I told him simply as we walked into the corridor to our dormitory, "but after what I just saw, there is no way that I'm going to be a part of that."
"We have no choice. We're heirs. You're one of the heads. Isn't your dad working alongside the Malfoys now? You can't just walk away... I'm betting that you and Draco will be the first to become Death Eaters."
I twisted my lips and frowned. I didn't say anything else. Is this what this was all about? I was supposed to somehow follow in my dad's footsteps as a Death Eater? Was I supposed to torture my classmates and run with the pureblood monsters? Was I supposed to ignore Harry and let Draco do with me as he saw fit.
Suddenly, everything seemed darker. It was annoying at first, but now I saw a glimpse into my future. What would the rest of the year be like? I had never in my life laid eyes on You-Know-Who, but when I went to bed that night, he haunted my dream. He branded me. He owned me.
I didn't see it before, but now I saw that Draco had given me exactly what I wanted. I was alone. The only difference was that there was a crowd making a spectacle of me.
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