Chapter 5- A Bargain
Four days after receiving a letter from his father and having that brief encounter with Hermione, Draco was comfortably seated in the armchair in front of the fireplace, his head buried in his potions’ textbook. Hermione was fast asleep in her room, and Draco made use of the peace and quiet to try to write his potion’s essay (Describe the various uses Jobberknoll feathers in potion making), but his mind seemed a complete blank.
Snapping his book shut, he rubbed his eyes and decided to he would have to write his essay tomorrow instead. It was after all the weekend. He would have plenty of time on Saturday and Sunday. He was about to stand up when he heard someone calling his name. He looked around, trying to locate the source of the voice.
“Down here, Draco!” he heard someone call again.
Draco looked down at the fireplace and saw his father’s head sticking out from the flames. Well, it wasn’t exactly Mr. Malfoy’s head. It seemed more like a hologram image of it. “Father, what are you doing there?” he asked.
“Didn’t I tell you in the letter that I’d be visiting you in a few days?” Mr. Malfoy reminded his son.
“I thought you would be physically present,” Draco said, amused by the sight of his father’s head. “And not just your head.”
“Enough of small talk, Draco,” Mr. Malfoy said impatiently. “I want to know how are things between you and the Mudblood. Did you use the love potion?”
“I tried, but the Mudblood saw the bottle. She immediately knew what it was and took the liberty to dispose of it,” Draco lied. “She’s too smart for her own good, I tell you.”
“That’s too bad,” Mr. Malfoy scowled, buying his son’s lie. “I’ll have to think of something else then.”
It was Draco’s turn to scowl.
“Anyhow, are the two of you getting closer otherwise?” Mr. Malfoy asked, his tone hostile and demanding.
Draco remembered how he had pinned Hermione onto the table a few days back. He decided that somehow constituted to being closer to her, even if it were for a short time and they weren’t exactly civil during that time. “Somewhat,” he replied after quite a bit of hesitation.
“I have no time for riddles!” Mr. Malfoy snarled. “What do you mean by ‘somewhat’?”
“Malfoy! Will you keep it down?!” Hermione’s voice came from the top of the stairway. “Who are you talking to in the middle of the night anyway?”
Draco could hear her soft footsteps descend down the wooden stairs and he quickly spun around, blocking off the view of his father’s head in the fireplace. “That’s none of your business, Granger,” he snapped when she came into view. He surveyed her from head to toe, a bit disappointed that she was not in her sheep nightgown, but in a plain, baby blue one. It meant that he had to miss out on an opportunity to taunt her about yet again.
Hermione placed her hands on her hips. “If you really want to have a midnight talk session with yourself, at least keep it down,” she said, frowning. “I'm trying to sleep.”
“I'm not talking to myself!” Draco exclaimed in indignation.
“Then who are you talking to?” Hermione asked, eyeing him suspiciously.
Draco looked around the room for an excuse, knowing that Hermione would not leave him alone until he gave her a reasonable one. Finally, his eyes rested on his potion’s textbook. “I was reading my potion’s book out loud,” he said casually. “Do you have a problem with that?”
Hermione raised her eyebrows in amusement, but she seemed convinced by his reason. She would never hamper anyone from studying, not even Draco Malfoy. “Lower your voice a little then,” she said as she turned around and headed back to her room, leaving him alone with the head of his father once more.
“Father, be quiet, will you?” Draco appealed urgently. He gazed up at the portraits of Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin, thankful that they were still asleep. “I don’t want you waking the portraits up. And I don’t want Granger to come down here again. She has a habit of poking her bloody nose where it doesn’t belong.”
“It did not seem to me like you were getting closer to Granger at all,” Mr. Malfoy seethed, disregarding his son’s request. “You lied to me, Draco.”
“I didn’t lie!”
“Yes you did.”
“OK, maybe I did. So what?! I refuse to be nice to her!”
“Keep your voice down, Draco. I don’t want the portraits waking up or Granger coming down again.”
Draco glared at his father.
“You will be nice to Granger or I’ll be forced to use a spell on you to make sure you carry out my orders,” Mr. Malfoy threatened.
Draco stood on the spot, thinking hard. He knew his father meant every word he said. Mr. Malfoy would most certainly use a spell on his own son if the need arises. “Maybe I’ll be nice to her if we can strike some kind of a deal,” Draco said as a snide smile slowly began forming on his lips.
“Spoken like a true Malfoy,” Mr. Malfoy said, both pleased and irritated by his son’s proposition. He had heard that line from Draco many times before. He was accustomed to giving in to her son’s demands. “What do you want now?”
Draco thought for a minute. “I want a new wizard’s chessboard. And not an ordinary one. I want the latest one, the one made of gemstones. Agreed?”
Mr. Malfoy, for the life of him, could not figure out why his son would want or need a chessboard made of gemstones. He just likes wasting my money on useless things, he thought with a sigh. Nevertheless, he agreed to Draco’s demand. He always did. Draco always got what he wanted, being the only precious son of the Malfoy household. “Agreed. And I take it that you remember your end of the bargain?”
Draco nodded. “Of course I do.”
“Then I’ll leave you now. And I want progress,” Mr. Malfoy warned before his head disappeared into the fire.
“I'm sure I’ll give you progress father,” Draco said with a cynical laugh after Mr. Malfoy left. “Now I'm going to get a new chess set and I still don’t have to be nice to the Mudblood.” He smirked. “Spoken like a true Malfoy.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The first week of school passed relatively quickly. By the second week of September, the seventh year students had homework that piled sky high. All the teachers talked about were the N.E.W.T exams at the end of the year. Through the whole September, they kept harping on the fact that it was the most important examination they would have to ever sit for.
“I'm going to turn the next teacher who reminds us of the N.E.W.Ts into a big, fat, ugly slug!” Ron announced one Wednesday morning after Professor Sprout had lectured them about the final year examinations.
“What if it’s Professor Snape who reminds us?” Harry asked as the trio headed for Charms lesson.
“Then I’ll turn him into a big, slimy rat,” Ron resolved. “That suits his personality better.”
“Twenty points from Gryffindor for wanting to turn me into a big, slimy rat, Weasley,” Professor Snape hissed as he breezed past the three of them and headed for the dungeons.
“Way to go, Ron,” Hermione said with a sigh when Professor Snape was out of earshot.
“How would I know that he was just behind me?!” Ron exclaimed.
“Still want to turn him into a big, slimy rat, Ron?” Harry asked with an impish grin.
“Shut up, Harry.”
Things between Hermione and Draco weren’t improving. In fact, it may have gotten worse, if possible. By mid-September, Hermione realized that Draco had finally managed to tell the whole Slytherin house about her sheep nightgown because every time she passed by a Slytherin, they would point at her and snigger. A few even made sheep noises and conjured dancing sheep. Some went as far as summoning several sheep, each hugging big, red hearts. As the sheep danced in front of her eyes, the hearts would disappear and pink pompoms would appear in their place. She supposed Draco had taught them how to do it and they seem to thoroughly enjoy themselves making Hermione miserable. Before long, students from other houses were able to see the sheep as well.
“Hermione, why do you have sheep dancing across your eyes?” Ron asked on a Monday morning. He, Harry, Hermione and Ginny were having breakfast in the Great Hall when sheep had popped in front of Hermione’s face all of the sudden.
Hermione watched the sheep skip joyously, shaking their fluffy bottoms and waving their pompoms into the air enthusiastically. “It’s a long story, Ron,” she said, clenching her jaw and shooting daggers at Draco, who was sitting directly across her on the Slytherin table, laughing his head off. She had to figure out a way to get rid of them. Or else she might just be forced to get rid of Draco instead. “It’s a very long story.”
Harry had been appointed the new captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team and he was elated about it. The problem was, Draco was the new captain of the Slytherin team and, owing to the fact that he was now both Captain and Head Boy, his ego had grown to about the size of Africa.
“Guess who’s going to beat you in Quidditch this year, Scarhead?” Draco had asked Harry as he, Ron and Hermione were walking to the dungeons for potions. Crabbe and Goyle grunted stupidly behind him.
“Not you, that’s for sure,” Harry replied calmly.
“You sure about that?” Draco challenged.
“You couldn't beat us even if half the Gryffindor team weren’t playing and the rest of us were blindfolded, Malfoy,” Ron snorted.
“Think you're so great, Weasel? Be prepared for the worst beating ever then!” Draco spat.
“We’ll see about that, Malfoy,” Harry said, his tone still composed.
“May the best team win,” Hermione added coolly.
“We will win, Mudblood,” Draco seethed as he marched into the Great Hall, his two cronies close behind.
Harry and Ron whipped their wands out and were about to start after Draco, but Hermione stopped them.
“Harry, Ron, it’s no big deal,” Hermione told them. “He uses that word so often that it isn’t even offensive anymore.”
Ron stared at her. “But Hermione””
Hermione held her hand up in front of his face. “Forget it, Ron,” she said. “One day, that ferret’s going to get it. He will eventually pay. I'm sure of it.”
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Author's Note: hey everyone! just want to thank all of you for reading and reviewing my fic. really appreciate it lots! just wanted to add that this chapter may seem a bit dry, but it is somewhat important to the development of the rest of the story later on.
dont worry, i'll be getting to the very interesting bits soon enough. once again, thank you so much for the reads and reviews! =D