"Enjoying your praise, Potter?" Draco taunts the scarred boy as he walks out of the shadows of Diagon Alley and into Flourish and Botts, causing both Potter and Weasley to visibly flinch at his presence. This causes their female compatriot to look on at both of them with concern written on her face. For a moment, Draco wonders why she too isn't scared, but he remembers, he hasn't broken her in yet. The spectacled boy is silent, not willing to answer the young Malfoy's provocations, lest he rile him up again, but unfortunately, the Slytherin King doesn't take let up. "Fame often comes at a cost, Potter, and yours…well it cost you your parents." An evil grin adorns Draco's face, as the Boy Who Lived twitches at his words, but still does nothing.
"Leave him alone!" Comes an unfamiliar voice, a female voice, one that has Draco take his focus off of Potter for the time being. Sure, the boy was being insufferable with his very existence, causing a stir at the normally quiet bookstore, but this girl is new, a new subject to rule over, a new victim to— Draco's thoughts are cut off as he sees her and loses himself for a moment. The red hair, the defiance, the…fire she shows him reminds him of a certain marksman who he may or may not have had a thing for in his past life. Was he that pathetic? That even a slight reminder of her moves his heart so?
"And who is this, Potter, your girlfriend?" Before the boy can respond, familiar cane makes its way in front of Draco's faced, causing the young boy to roll his eyes.
"Draco." His father, Lucius, interrupts. "Be nice to the young lady, it is what us Malfoys…do." Again, Draco rolls his eyes, but like a good son, he takes a (figurative) step back and allows his father to enter the conversation. With his father's inclusion the conversation quickly becomes utterly boring, with both Father and Potter posturing, Father for his so-called 'Dark Lord', and Potter showing his Gryffindor spirit and fighting against it with bravery that Draco himself hasn't seen since their duel. He's almost amazed that Potter can still be so brave towards the elder Malfoy, but maybe he assumes the father isn't quite as bad as the son…and he'd be correct in his assumption. But, more importantly than that, is this new girl: red hair, freckles, and fire. She's a bit young for him, but seemingly of age for Hogwarts, and he has to wonder, who is she? What gives her this fire? Will he see her again? And how should he approach her if he does. Usually he'd break her but…he finds that he likes her, and that is unfamiliar territory for him.
He's brought out of his musings as he notices his father slip a book inside of the young girl's cauldron, and he can only shake his head at his father's actions, because of course he would. Who better to frame with a dark artifact than a Weasley? And a young innocent girl at that? It's a devious plan, one that will not only save them some trouble, but besmirch the name of the blood traitors standing before them. A plan befitting of a Malfoy.
Draco looks on, bored yet somewhat curious at the message on the wall, written in blood, about the Chamber of Secrets. He isn't frightened, nor is he particularly excited, no he's wondering who could've done this, especially from his house, without his knowledge? It's impressive, really, and he has to control his face in order to suppress his trademark grin, not wanting anyone to associate him with…whatever or whomever this is, lest they do something unbecoming of the King of Slytherin.
That time of the year has come! It's the first day of Quidditch! Officially anyways. He's excited to once again be on a broom, experiencing something that he was new to only last year, despite his natural gifts at it. It's been a tough year already, courtesy of a certain house elf, a certain car and…and…and Quidditch is his escape! But then the first game is against Slytherin and there is no escape. Not really. Then again, Malfoy was only a Beater, not a Seeker as he feared he may be, so maybe there is?
Harry has his question answered almost immediately as a cured Bludger seems to make him its target. With no Beater behind it and no bat making contact, the brick-hard ball chases him throughout the stadium, determined to see him finished. Worse than that, and somehow more dangerous is one Draco Malfoy. He shouldn't be surprised, really, but he is, because compared to Malfoy and his targeted attack, the unmanned, ever-persistent Bludger is more of annoyance, like a fly buzzing in his ear, a fly that transforms into…a killer bee with Malfoy's help. Somehow, with accuracy that convinces Harry that Malfoy is cheating and using his magic somehow, the Slytherin boy manages to perfectly run him into the cursed Bludger nearly every time. Caught between a rock and a hard place, Harry is often forced to lean into the unmanned flying brick of doom, and take his lumps, lest he experience near-death at Malfoy's hands yet again.
He made the mistake of choosing Malfoy's Bludger once, to avoid the cursed one, and…he'd like it to remain just once, thank you very much. But still, despite all of this, Harry is determined to win. He won't let the two Bludgers of doom stop him from finding the snitch and doing his job as Seeker. His team needed him, and he intended to deliver. A grimace crosses Harry's face as he notes that his team hasn't scored even once, courtesy of one platinum-blond haired menace and his constant Bludger attack. How he found time to torment Harry and defend his goal as if he were Keeper, Harry will never know. Because of him, the team had lost two chasers already, and against all logic, their Keeper had even gotten hit. At this point, he has to wonder if there's anything Malfoy can't do. Following that train of thought, could it be that Malfoy was behind this rogue Bludger? Was Platform 9 and ¾ him as well? Harry is forced to stop to let Malfoy's Bludger go past, only to be clipped on his shoulder by the cursed one. And then he sees it, the score moves quickly, from 140-0 to 160-0, meaning that even if he catches the snitch, Gryffindor loses. Worse, it means that Malfoy no longer needs to defend his Keeper, he only has to take out Harry.
With the sunshine and rainbows that is sure to be a result of Malfoy's complete undivided attention, Harry grimaces as he looks to fly high into the air, in search of his target. Before he can climb all the way to his target height, he sees it, his chance to end this game of torture, this game of whack-a-Harry-with-Bludgers: the Golden Snitch. Expertly, Harry turns around and makes a beeline for the flying golden ball, weaving around the homing Bludger that tries to slam into him no less than four times on his way there, slamming through bleachers, making sharp turns, and nearly breaking his broom. Harry stays focused, keeping his eye on the ball, swerving back and forth to further dodge the chasing Bludger and he can't help but think he's forgetting something. Slowly, he closes in on the Snitch, moving closer and closer until it's within arm's reach. Inch by inch he outstretches his hand, going for the gold, going for glory, hoping to finally end this thing and—suddenly, everything goes black.
Draco smirks as he watches Potter struggle. Both sides of him disliked the would-be savior and sought to break him and keep him broken. A scowl passes over his face as he watches the unmanned Bludger chase the boy who he's designated as his prey. On one hand, he loves seeing Potter struggle, but he dislikes it when he's not the one doing it. Moreso, he dislikes that people might assume he's used such a cowardly method as cursing a Bludger, when he'd much rather do it by his own hands. Or bat. Or whatever this thing is. Keeping an eye on the game, Draco absentmindedly maims another chaser, sending his message quite clear in the first game of the season: None Shall Pass. And None Shall Live. Not while he's on duty. A sinister grin makes its way to his face, as he manages to strike the opposing Keeper as well. He's a bit rusty, physically, having not needed to use his vast abilities in his short life so far, but things are still working out. As they should. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Potter fly by and again he bats his Bludger at him, timing it so that Potter will be hit one way or another. He quite enjoyed the first time he aimed at the spectacled child, and the boy foolishly chose to take his Bludger in order to avoid the homing one flying through the air. Lucky for Potter, it was meant as a teaser, and thus it was only his broom that shattered into a million pieces and not his spine. And given the state of his…possessions, it was easily replaceable.
Another Bludger hits and stops yet another potential goal from Gryffindor…not that anyone can tell, because they haven't gotten a single shot off this entire game, and Draco is feeling quite proud of that. Of course, no one's quite celebrating, nor are they giving him praise due to his…status among the Slytherin House, as well as their uneasiness towards him, and more importantly, their fear. He continues with his routine until his team reaches 160 points, putting the game out of reach for even a surprise Golden Snitch catch. Once they do, he relaxes a bit and searches for his number one prey: Potter. He finds him rather quickly, but he has to suppress his urges and stay his bat. Potter is focused, going for the Snitch, almost lost in his own world, and Draco sees an opportunity. A cruel grin on his face, teeth shown to all, he devises his plan. Measuring carefully, he waits until Potter is only inches, millimeters from the Snitch, and then he swings, and boy does he hit.
THOOM! The Bludger hits Potter in his head, knocking him from his broom. THOOM! The cursed Bludger follows up, clipping the Boy-Who-Lived on the way down. THOOM! Draco practically chases another Bludger to further add injury to injury and increase his combo count. THOOM! The cursed Bludger possibly influenced by Draco's own magic, hits Potter in the shoulder, spinning him around. THOOM! CRACK! The final Bludger hits Potter in the spine, driving him to the ground of the pitch. Hard. There are screams of horror, and a terrible silence that follows, and Draco is again, all smiles.