1

- No, that's just impossible!

- Draco, calm down...

- I'll only calm down when I get what I want! Tell me, Blaze, how would you react if a hippogriff shit on your head?!

- Hey! I'm eating! You should, too, because you're about to become more transparent than Crybaby Myrtle...

- Answer the question!

- Let me think," Blaise frowned deliberately. - I'd probably just curse and then do some sort of nasty spell on my abuser after I'd smashed his face across the floor.

- Exactly! - Malfoy exclaimed. - That's how any normal, sane person with any sense of dignity would react! So why did that jerk, with a muffled "aww," get up, put on his cleansing spells, and leave without so much as a word to me?

- Wait... Did you spill it...?! - Blaise coughed, choking on his sandwich, then laughed. - Malfoy, you're killing me. Where's your originality gone?!

- Come on..." Draco muttered angrily.

He smiled back, crossed his eyes, then announced the diagnosis in a kindly doctor's tone:

- Insanity. Merlin, bless us!

- Zabini," Malfoy began menacingly.

- "That's it, that's it, I'm shutting up. We'll think of something. You'd better eat or the Slytherin dungeons will have a new ghost on their hands.

Draco swore under his breath, continuing to reluctantly pick at the contents of his plate with his spoon. His lack of appetite was of little concern to him. The main problem was now sitting at the next table, gorging on oatmeal with gusto. Bloody Potter! Laughing, spouting something to his friends with his mouth full, like he was the happiest man in the world. Draco glowered.

In fact, nothing criminal had happened between him and Potter in a long time... That was the problem - why in the hell had nothing criminal happened between them for so long?! Why has Golden Boy stopped paying attention to him?! That is simply impossible! The first time Potter had ignored the snide remark a few weeks ago, Draco had only shrugged it off - well, maybe the man wasn't in the mood. But when it happened a second time and a third time... At first it had annoyed and made Malfoy a little nervous, but the annoyance gradually turned into a real frenzy. The Slytherin was bent over backwards to revive Potter's initial fervor. The standard outrage was no longer effective, and the Slytherin taunts became more subtle. The hapless Gryffindor had recently undergone a dozen spells, from the trivial tickle to the vile curse that caused the boy to be covered in disgusting pus pimples. Potter seemed to notice nothing - he went to Madame Pomfrey, obediently smeared himself with all sorts of equally disgusting ointments, skipped class, but never complained to anyone. The effect was always the same, zero.

For example, a couple of days ago Draco had cast a transformed tap dance spell on the Gryffindor, which had Potter dancing for half an hour on the teacher's desk in front of Dumbledore and company. So not only did the brat not get angry at the amicable laughter of the whole school, but when he finished, he bowed happily to the audience, earning a standing ovation. Everyone, including Potter, knew that this was Draco's doing, but Malfoy never got a response, not a word, not even an oblique look in his direction. Sometimes I just wanted to walk over, grab the damned Gryffindor by the chest and give him a good shake! What right did Potter have to ignore him like that?!

Much as he hated to admit it to himself, Malfoy was deeply hurt by Potter's indifference to his own person. Where had the rage in the green eyes gone? The irritation, the hatred, the contempt, the stubbornly clenched fists? Draco... missed all that. He'd always taken some sort of aesthetic pleasure in the Gryffindor's violent reactions. Neither Granger or Weasley interested him at all, though Draco insulted them at every opportunity, but without Potter around, who instantly lost his temper at the slightest attack on his friends, Malfoy wouldn't even look at them; he would simply consider it beneath his dignity. But Potter... Potter was a worthy prey. He couldn't just forget five years of feuding and bickering! He just couldn't! Draco was determined that he would not let Potter spoil the established order of things. Unacceptable, wrong, impossible!

So Draco Malfoy needed a plan, an exclusive plan to piss off the obnoxious Boy Who Survived. It would have to be something completely unique, would have to make that stubborn bespectacled boy finally respond to Draco with dignity. But just what...

- Earth to Draco Malfoy! Earth summons...

Draco broke away from his contemplation of the black shaggy head, and Blaise's smirking face reappeared before him.

- Did you say something?

- Yes, I did. At first I thought you were obsessed with Potter, but now I realize you're not. You're just in love.

- What?" Draco gasped in indignation as he felt his ears redden. - Zabini, are you out of your fucking mind?! I'm in a bad mood and I have no desire to listen to your stupid jokes! And stop smiling so stupidly!

- Relax, mate! I'm just stating a fact. Besides, he's quite attractive. - Zabini clicked his tongue, giving Potter an appraising look.

- I'm not attracted to skinny specks!

- I agree. I'm not. Only one.

- I hate him, okay?! It just pisses me off... It pisses me off..." The words got lost halfway through the sentence.

- Ignoring you pisses me off, I get it. Which just goes to show that you have a thing for him.

Draco was about to give his mate a good slap on the cheeky face, but he hastily held up his hands.

- Don't growl, my Dragon. I think I've figured out what I can do to make Potter hate you again.

The fist flying into Blaise's jaw stopped.

- I'm listening," Malfoy said coldly. - And pray to God your idea turns out to be a good one. Because I've been racking my brain trying to think of a way to get that four-eyed misunderstanding off my mind!

- Trust me, you won't regret it.

****

That night, going to bed, Draco smiled happily - for the first time in weeks. Finally! Soon he would have all the Potter hatred back in full, and life would be interesting again, not just for him, but for the whole school. He had managed to find that bespectacled boy's weak spot, and why hadn't he guessed it himself?! Potter's shyness and aversion to privacy was well known, and the mere word "sex" made him a red-faced, babbling creature. He'd been given a magical aphrodisiac to slip into Potter's drink, but then what would happen... Draco had experienced the effects of such a thing once, he'd done it willingly for an experiment, but after the experience he would not repeat, even if he was threatened with Avada. The experience was enough to last a lifetime. The Gryffindor shy is going to have a hard time! Potter will feel the full range of sexual desire, from mild lust to animal passion, his cock will stand like a bayonet, and no medicine will help him, except, of course, healthy sex. And as for Potter having the latter, Draco doubted very much. It was no secret to anyone that Hero didn't even have a girlfriend, and looking at his embarrassment and blushing cheeks when interacting with girls, Draco could tell with almost a hundred percent certainty that the Gryffindor was a virgin. So the Golden Boy was going to have a very hard time. For the first few hours a regular wank might help, but soon he would urgently need a partner. It will become increasingly difficult to restrain his desires, and he'll attack the first person he can get his hands on. Embarrassment, embarrassment, shame, ridicule from others would instantly make Potter vicious and... Draco even felt sorry for him for a second. But only for a second. This is going to be an amazing show! And of course Draco would openly mock him, making him the laughing stock of the entire school. After that, Potter would probably not just hate him, but rather try to kill him. Finally! Thank you Blaise, that's a bloody good idea!

The "X" day was set for Monday - two pairs of four were at the Slytherins along with the Gryffindors, giving plenty of opportunity to observe the "object". Well... Two days, just two days to go!