26. Chapter 26: Draco

I opened MSN the morning after updating chapter 25 and WHOOOM! I had 30 new messages. XD And all, except 4, were reviews! I don't remember ever getting that many at once. Thanks so much, everyone. I appreciate your support!

This chapter ends slightly more seriously than typically. That's cos 10WtKDM is nearing the 'climax', I guess you'd call it, when Draco and Hermione really start to fall in love. And I say near, because she doesn't love him just yet. You know Draco, he falls in love much faster than Hermione. ;) Hopefully he won't fall out of love with her, though. Hehe!

& to infinity and beyond...

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10 Ways to Kill Draco Malfoy

Chapter 26

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DRACO

I think I'm becoming a bit too attached to a certain Gryffindor girl.

Not that I mind, but it's her bloody friends I'm worried about. Sure, Harry Potter and Ron Weaselly - no, Weasley, are no match for Crabbe and Goyle's punches, but they're definitely more intelligent than them. Though that's not saying much, since those two are possibly the stupidest students in school history to ever manage to scrape passes for their end-of-year exams.

Anyway, back to the point. The thing is, Potty and Weasel can make my life a living hell if they ever find out. And don't approve. I don't think that Hermione really cares what they think, but that's easy for her; she wouldn't have to endure another full year of torture from those freaks. But I do.

That's only if, and I emphasize if, the two of us get together. Which, at the moment, seems pretty likely, by the way we're progressing, but I don't understand these missions of Hermione's where she attempts to murder me with some kind of weapon or poison. I thought she'd gotten over my bullying her in the previous years?

Obviously not, I realize now, as Goyle lays there on the ground twitching like he just had a heart attack. "Fuck it," I mutter as I shake him violently to try and get him to wake up. "Goyle, what's wrong? Did your drink taste weird?" I have a funny feeling that the aforementioned girl is at least partly responsible for this.

"Coming through," Snape's cold voice floats over to me. I look up and see him parting the students and finally stopping in front of Goyle's body to stare at it. "Who did this?" he says in a dangerous voice. He looks at me. I put on my best innocent look and his gaze sweeps away from me. I sigh to myself in relief. When no-one says anything (well, they wouldn't really want to put themselves in mortal peril, would they?), Snape tuts softly. "No-one is going to own up? Then I assure you, when I catch the culprit, the punishment will be much worse than what you might get now."

I peer around for the Gryffindors. Most of them are still hanging around, shooting nervous looks at the body and Snape. They all know that they are number 1 on the suspect list in Snape's very biased mind, and I don't blame them for feeling frightened.

"Oh man, is that Goyle?" I hear whispers flitting around from one person to another. Snape has gone to fetch Professor Sprout, since he identified the poison to be some kind of plant juice. I have a suspicion that it might be Mandrake potion.

"Yeah, that stupid, big one." I suppress a smirk as I hear that comment. Looks like Goyle's idiocy is famous.

"So, Draco, what now?" Crabbe asks me, looking scared and a tiny bit worried. "Goyle is KO'd-"

"In a bloody coma, not knocked out," I snap quietly, even though they basically mean the same thing. I just feel like correcting someone to make myself feel more in control. This 'attack' has shaken me a little. Hermione would go this far to get at me? "Did you see a phantom fist swing at him out of nowhere? 'Cos I sure didn't."

"Right, coma," Crabbe corrected himself. "Do we take him to the Hospital Wing?"

I glance at Snape as he has a quick word with Sprout. "Nah. Leave him. Snape'll get a stretcher or something and he'll get carried to the Wing." Even as I speak, Snape does just what I predicted. "See? Told you."

"Wow," Crabbe says, looking impressed. "You're so smart, Draco."

You don't really need to be a rocket scientist to figure out what a Hogwarts teacher will do after someone's injured, because accidents happen so often here. Even more so, I heard a 7th year say to me in my 3rd year, after Potter arrived. I guess he's some kind of Harbinger of Doom, minus the big cape and crap. "Er, right, thanks. We should go back to the common rooms, then. I still have Prefect duties." I frown as I try to remember who I'm with on my shift. "Fuck, I'm with Weasley," I mutter angrily. Anyone but him - that snivelling little idiot. To be honest, I'd hoped it would be Hermione. It would be a good chance to talk this through with her.

A little more seduction couldn't hurt, either, though I think I've done quite a lot of that to her already.

I guess what makes me like her is the fact that she doesn't fall at my feet at the slightest hint of interest that I show - not like most other girls. She plays hard to get, and these days, for a guy with my looks, girls who willingly and naturally play hard to get with me is uncommon.

Very, very uncommon.

An hour later, I stand calmly inside McGonagall's office. I don't know why it's always her that we have to report to - why not Professor Snape or someone? Maybe it's because we don't normally do duties with the other Prefect from our houses, but instead with one of another house's. But still, I don't see why we have to report to a Gryffindor teacher, of all houses.

"Weasley's late," I remark casually. McGonagall throws me a dirty look. "Whoops, look, there goes the minute hand. He's 3 minutes late now. He should really get a detention to learn about promptness."

"Mr Malfoy, kindly be quiet," she barks. "I'm trying to mark some essays here, so if you can keep silent I would be very grateful."

Bored, I drag a chair around the wooden floor, making loud noises. "Mr Malfoy!" McGonagall yells. "Shush!"

I open and close my mouth a few times, like a fish, and stare at her with big eyes.

At that moment, Weasel finally arrives. "Sorry-I'm-late," he gasps, clutching his side. "Ran from the common room. I nearly forgot I had duties! Hermione reminded me." To my pleasure, McGonagall looks at him sternly, obviously not pleased at his excuse.

I make a big show of looking at my watch and shaking my head. "Tut, tut. Weasley, you're exactly 7 minutes and 38 seconds late. I'm thinking you should make up for your tardiness by staying after duties tonight." I smirk at him. "I suppose you can call it a detention."

He glares at me. "Shut up, fe- I mean, Malfoy," he snaps. "Being a Prefect myself, I use my right to refuse to do this detention because it's totally stupid." He scoots closer and mutters very quietly, "And I wanna have a word with you later."

"Hmph," I say to both his comments. "We'll see."

"Alright, you two, please be quiet," the Professor said loudly. "Tonight you are to patrol the second floor area. Make sure no-one passes you after 9pm - lights out time. Including your friends," she adds, with a very obvious emphasis on 'including'. "I'm sure you're all familiar with this routine now, so you may go." She waves a hand at the door dismissively. Weasel and I trudge out unwillingly. Man, this is going to be a loooong and very boring night.

I am right about the boring part. Mostly we just walk around in silence, me looking around and him humming random tunes under his breath. After an hour he finally pipes up. "Malfoy, was that Hermione sitting next to you today? On the bank of the lake?"

I freeze. "Where?" I ask, to buy more time. So he knows - probably he was the one Hermione saw when she looked around. That's why she left so suddenly. Well, at least now I know who she was talking about.

"On the bank of the lake," Weasley repeats. "Under that oak tree. I know you know what I'm talking about."

Honesty is the best policy, I think as I open my mouth. So out with it! "Yes. It was. So what?" Weasley stops in mid-step and slowly raises his gaze to glare threateningly at me. I turn to face him, a sneer on my face. "What, are you going to fight me for her?"

"So you do like her," he says in a soft voice. He assumes a fighting pose. "Well, I'm not going to let you have her, of all people," he snarls.

Oh, that hurts. Me? What's wrong with me? At least I'm better than that piece of weasel shit. "Bring it on," I smirk, dodging nimbly as he swings at me to officially start the brawl. "Oohh, you're serious?"

He responds with a low kick. "I'm always serious when it comes to Hermione," he says, breathing hard with anger. This one nicks my shoe but I manage to get away from the worst of it. Time to fight back. I take a jab at his stomach and land an easy hit - he was too occupied trying to hit my face to realize I had found an opening. He grunts and staggers back a little.

"Come on, let's stop before you get internal injuries or a few broken ribs," I say cajolingly. Obviously, I am the better fighter here, since I have been in more physical arguments than he has. But I also remember how bloody stubborn Weasley can be. I decide to list a few more things that will happen to him, should he keep fighting. "Or maybe even a busted bladder, kidney or internal bleeding. A concussion, if you're unlucky."

"..." he stops for a moment. I smile victoriously. Since he forfeited, I guess this makes me the winner. But I am unprepared for the punch on the cheek as he suddenly swings a fist forward out of nowhere. "You bastard! I'm not giving up now!"

I glance at him, wiping blood from the corner of my mouth. I hope he didn't dislodge any teeth. "Well, if you wish," I say with a shrug, and smirk. "Let's go."

Half an hour later, the two of us lie down on the ground, bleeding in various places from cut lips or from being slammed into the stone wall. "Damn, it hurts," he says, groaning in pain. Weasley is clutching his side. I raise an eyebrow. I probably snapped a rib there or something. "Why did you punch so hard?"

I snort derisively. "You wanted to go all out. In case you forgot, I gave you several chances to stop during these last 30 minutes, but you just kept going." I bite my lip and instantly regret it as more blood trickles out. "Ouch." I sit up against the wall and put a finger to my mouth. "Fuck."

"So, who won?" Weasley asks, staring at me.

I stand up uncertainly. "I can still keep going, if you want to fight more," I say, wobbling a little. He got my ankle, that little rat. So now the best I can do is hobble around like an old lady.

He laughs weakly. "You don't look very convincing."

"Probably not," I agree, sitting down again. "Phew. That's better." Looking over to the redhead, our eyes meet. "So what are we going to do about this whole Hermione thing?"

Weasley smiles. "You can have her," he says softly after a pause. I detect the sadness in his voice, and wonder what it took for him to blurt that. Gee. I can't believe I'm actually feeling respect for the hotheaded idiot. "You fought me for her, so it's obvious you really like her. Or even love her," he says, barking a laugh. "All I can say is that you deserve her more than me, at least."

"I don't love her," I say irritably.

Or do I? It's hard to tell, sometimes. I didn't know when me liking her crossed the border to me loving her, but I don't think I have crossed the line. Yet.

It's so weird. I don't think I've felt this way about a girl before.

Man, that sounded so stupid and corny. Like I'm some kind of lovesick fool or something. A Malfoy, thinking something like that? Jesus. What is the world coming to? "Stop it," I mutter to myself.

"Er, Malfoy? What are you mumbling about?" Weasley's curious voice floats into my thoughts. "You'd better be serious about Hermione - if you only fought me for the sake of it, I'll be happy to take her back."

"Nothing, nothing," I say absently. "Of course I'm serious. I just don't love her, that's all. I like her. It's just like another one of my previous relationships, except this time I don't like her just for her looks."

Weasley raises an eyebrow, grinning. "Ooooh, lovey-dovey boy!"

"Fuck off," I say, grinning in spite of myself. "Look at you, you're the same."

"So you like her even though she's trying to kill you," he says matter-of-factly. "Well, I'm satisfied. She's on her 7th mission, you'll only have to endure another three before you can properly admit your feelings to her."

I glare at him. "I'm not going to 'admit my feelings'. I'll ask her out and that's that. No hassle, no fuss."

He returns the glare. "That's just like you did with Pansy! Except it was the other way round, of course. But still. You have to tell her you love her or she won't say yes. Maybe 'like' will do the trick, maybe it won't. But she'll need proof that you're not kidding around. She's not like most girls - as you probably know by now. And if you don't take Hermione seriously, you can be sure Harry and I will beat you up - every day."

"Man, you sure seem to know about how Hermione's brain works," I say, rolling my eyes and ignoring the last part. "Weren't you guys together at one point? Hey, I know! So that's why you want her too. She dumped you, right? And you still love her?" I smirk. "What a sad ending. Too bad you won't be getting her back."

"Shut up," he says hotly, a blush rising to his cheeks. "We were never together - I wish, though - and I didn't get dumped."

I nod. "Right. Whatever you say."

The next morning, I wake with a big headache. Maybe it is because of that talk Weasley and I had last night, about Hermione. Most likely, however, it is probably because of the fight. After we both stopped talking, I'd taken him to the Hospital Wing. Pomfrey had to be woken up by me banging outside her door and howling like a maniac. Weasley gave me a funny look when I was doing that. Dunno what that was about. Maybe it reminded him of Lupin or something.

Anyway, eventually the woman got up (finally) and told Weasley to stay the night at the Wing. "What happened to him?" she'd asked. I told her he fell down and she looked apprehensive. "Right, and the ground gave him a black eye, a cut lip and two broken ribs," she said drily. "You may leave now. He'll be back for duties by tomorrow. Mending bones won't take too long." She also gave me some potions to drink, since I didn't look too good myself. Lastly, Madam Pomfrey healed my ankle with a tap of her wand.

After that I staggered back to my dormitory, dead tired and fell into my bed after undressing.

"My head," I mumble as I sit up slowly, my tongue feeling like sandpaper. Quickly I duck into the bathroom and wash my face in cold water. Ahhh. That's better. Now I feel properly woken up. The headache recedes to a faint pulsing behind my forehead.

I decide to get some breakfast. Glancing at my watch, I see that it is only 6:15am. Being a Saturday morning, hardly anyone is up at this ungodly hour. Sighing, I walk very slowly down the boys' dormitories only to be ambushed by a certain girl with a big chest and black hair. "Draco-darling! How are you today?"

I pry Pansy's hands off my shoulder and glare at her. She shrinks back a bit, but still looks enthusiastic. "Not too good," I say, coughing fakely. "Atchhooo! Whoops, oh, I have a cold. You'd better not hang around me or you'll catch it too."

"Awww, I don't mind getting a cold from my darling!" she coos and gives me a full-on snog. My eyes widen and I nearly throw her off me. She staggers back, surprised at my force. Hurt dawns in her eyes as she stares at me, confused. "What's wrong, Draco? You must really be sick to not enjoy a kiss from me. Here, lie down," she says, acting like a mother. "I'll get you some water.

"Thanks," I say as she quietly walks towards the common room kitchen.

What made me push her away like that? Normally I would have just let her kiss me and take it as another snogging practise. But now... it's strange, but it's almost like I don't want to kiss anyone else, now that I've officially made my affection for Hermione known to one of her best friends, albeit the most angry one. Like I'm feeling that I shouldn't kiss anyone else now that I'm in - like with her.

Oh, what the hell. It doesn't matter whether I kiss another girl or not. I'm Draco Malfoy. I can't just let a stupid girl tie me down. Especially someone like Hermione. Ha! What a joke.

Fuck it. Who am I kidding?

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I'll leave you guessing as to what the last line means. But I'm pretty sure you guys all know, lol... man, I'm so predictable... XD

Responses to a few reviews:

Jinenji: LOL! I think I'd run out of ideas by the 35th feat. :D

Animagious-White-Tiger: Thanks for your insightful reviews. Maybe I'll look into the points you said for my next fic. For now, I'll be writing this in my own style and pace. I appreciate your criticism, though. And LOL! I really doubt Dumbledore did it on purpose, but who knows what's in that man's brain... O.o

w1nd3y: Ehh... so YOU were mystery... lol.

true-slytherin05: Thank you for giving me the longest ever review I have gotten in my life! XD It was fun to read, and I'm happy you took the time to read all 25 chapters and liked it. -Glomps-

moony's number 1: Hahahaha! Sorry! Didn't realize. -Is too lazy to change it- But I'll keep that in mind for the future. XD Croonies... that's probably cos my friend told me that was how you spelt it... blame her! -Runs- I really can't imagine Crabbe and Goyle 'crooning', hehe... my mistake...

chadick: I'll try not to make them OoC. Sorry if they're already OoC (which I think they very much are...). :P

And this goes for EVERYONE: please, do not leave reviews saying (in response to the first chapter) 'it's called the Sorceror's Stone, not the Philosopher's Stone'. I'm sure you're right, but here where I live (New Zealand) the book is published as 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'. I have heard of the Sorceror variation, but since I am more familiar with the former title, that was the one I used. Sorry if I sounded arrogant, but I've had about 3 or 4 reviews saying that, and it really gets on my nerves. D:

Thanks, minasan! -Drowns everybody in hot chocolate- Yum! X3 And I apologize for OoCness. Ron probably isn't likely to be not hateful to Draco, but I need this... otherwise he'll just be the angry best friend again.

One last thing... the talk between Draco and Ron is VERY OoC, but yeah. Kick me if you must... I'm not changing it. :P