Chapter 1

Year Three

"Foul, Loathsome, Evil, Little Cockroach"

"What happened, Mister Malfoy?" Severus Snape asked as he breezed through the infirmary door.

Pulling his face away from Madame Pomfrey, Draco's scowl became visible to Snape. "Nothing serious, Severus. Mister Malfoy is just fine. There was just a little blood from the fall, but he's all cleaned up now." With that, Madame Pomfrey left the two Slytherins alone to chat.

Snape lifted an eyebrow questioningly. "A fall? She believed that?"

Snorting, Draco adjusted his seat on the infirmary bed. "She's an idiot. Malfoys do not fall!"

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Snape asked, "Well then, what really did happen? And why was it so important that Nott and Crabbe had to come fetch me?"

"That blasted Gryffindor Mudblood is what happened!"

Snape flinched slightly at the word, but Draco took no notice.

"She hit me! Can you believe that? Granger hit me! She put her filthy hands on me! Can you believe how barbaric that is? She pulled out her wand first, but probably realized she couldn't perform the jinx correctly so instead she maimed me!"

Ah, Miss Granger is why he is so riled up.

Throughout the year Snape noticed things. Little things. Things that every other person noticed. But it was these little things that raised our dear Professor's concern. He noticed the way that Draco always seemed to target Miss Granger in her little trio of friends. He noticed the way he would steal glances at her in the Great Hall; some hateful, others not. He noticed the way Draco would glare daggers at the back of her head when she answered a question correctly, without being asked, and would comment on her inability to keep her mouth shut.

Everyone saw these things. The professors, the students, the friends of both parties. But he saw something that they did not.

Last year, when Miss Granger had been petrified, he caught a young, remorseful Draco at Miss Granger's bedside. He knew Malfoy had not been there long, and judging by his rigid stance was not planning to stay. Hiding himself in the shadows, Snape listened in on the one-sided conversation. It wasn't a particularly long conversation, but it was enough to make Severus worry about what the future would hold.

"Forgive me, Granger."

"I still cannot believe she had the audacity to insult me! 'Foul, loathsome, evil, little cockroach.' That's what she called me! Can you believe that? No one's ever had the nerve to insult me like that, let alone put their hands on me. That Mudblood did both." Malfoy's voice became quieter as he began to fiddle with the end of his robe. "Completely unbelievable."

And there it is, Severus thought bitterly. There is that mild admiration that could bring her very insult to life. If Mister Malfoy's admiration grows he will become a foul, loathsome, little cockroach. Not evil, though. Draco Malfoy will never be evil. If his admiration grows, he will become spiteful and more obnoxious to her than ever simply because he can never have her. He will become angry and frustrated and he will take it out on her. He'll become bitter. He and Miss Granger will never be permitted to be together with their lives being what they are.

"And why was my presence needed here, Mister Malfoy?"

Draco snapped out of his thoughts and straightened up to look at his professor. "Points." A sly grin slipped onto his grin. "I thought you might be happy to know that you can deduct points from the Gryffindor house for aggravated assault."

"Thank you, Mister Malfoy, I am delirious with joy."

Draco didn't take the sarcasm to heart as he knew Severus Snape cared more for him than he let on. "Serves Granger right. But don't go spreading around why you're deducting points. I don't want the world to know that she contaminated me with her germs."

Snape nodded and Draco hopped onto the floor.

"Goodnight, Professor."

"Goodnight, Mr. Malfoy."

He watched Draco out of the hospital wing. He knew Draco would be going to find his lackeys and they would head off to the dorms and spend the remainder of their night badmouthing members of the other houses, and even some from their own.

If only other things in Mister Malfoy's life were as predictable.

...

A/N: Hello, and thank you for reading! So, I thought I'd explain the setup of this story. The next couple of chapters will be set in years four and five, focusing on observations made by Serverus and an interaction with Draco. Much like this chapter. The actual plot line begins in sixth year.

Regarding updates, I can't promise consistency. I will update when I can, and I really feel guilty about leaving you guys with nothing more than a prologue for so long. I will try to update more often, but my workload is probaly going to be more heavy this quarter. In fact, I really should be working on my Grapes of Wrathoral presentation since I will be going a week from today. But it's spring break and I needed to write something for pleasure.

Okay, enough of my rambling. Thank you all for reading! I will try to update more before my break's over.

(Ha, that awkward moment when your author's note is almost as long as your chapter. Don't worry, the chapters will get longer once we hit sixth year!)