Title: Watching
Summary: Someone watches Harry and Co.

***
My eyes can't help but wander to their table. I try to avoid looking at them. I hate them with every fiber of my being. But curiosity wins tonight, and I watch.

There they are.

They sit near the center of the Gryffindor table. Each one of them smiling, talking, while those around them smile as well. Their happiness mocking the shroud of dark and hatred I've so carefully wrapped around myself.

Potter, Weasley, and Granger. Each one of them the living embodiment of everything I've been brought up to hate and look down upon. The good, the poor, and the mudblood. But still I watch them.

I watch as others from their house join their conversation. People from every age group squeezing themselves into the fringes of the group surrounding them, trying to get as close as they can to the famous Harry Potter and company.

Everyone likes them, though for my part, I'm not sure why. The three of them seem friendly enough to others, but if you look closely, you can see it. They put off an almost invisible air of superiority. Perhaps it isn't a conscious thought, but it's still there. Almost as if they can't help but feel that they are better than those around them.

I can see it because it's the same air I put on daily. Only I intend it to be seen.

But whether they believe they're superior or not, they are still open with those around them. Their friends and those they don't know. They're still friendly.

There is no one in my house I can call a friend. Even the two closest to me are only servants. You can't trust anyone. Each person has his or her own agenda, and keeps it a secret. Lies, deceit, and betrayal rule in the common room.

Weasley says something, and everyone around him laughs. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to have friends like that. Friends you know won't betray you when someone more powerful comes along.

I watch as Potter, Weasley, and Granger get up and leave the Great Hall.
I hate them, but part of me still wonders what being in that circle would be like.

I'll never know.

I go back to listening to the people around me. I'll stay where I am, pulling that shroud of dark and hatred back over me. I won't think about them. And I certainly won't wish I was one of them.

Because Malfoys don't envy those they hate.

*END *