Draya Malfoy

27 - Beef Stew and Dumplings

"... cannot afford mistakes, Draya, because if you are expelled-"

"Oh, shut it!" I interrupted angrily, "I'm doing my best, okay?"

I turned away from my once favourite professor, driving my hands exhaustedly through my hair.

"And then why is Potter sniffing around you?" Snape snarled, "he clearly suspects something."

"Ha!" I laughed, wheeling back round to face him. "If Potter is my biggest threat then I'm laughing! What's You-Know-Who threatening to kill me and my family over a pathetic four-eyed, Muggle loving orphan?!"

Snape closed his eyes, looking exhausted himself.

"Listen to me," he said slowly, his voice low, "I am trying to help you. I swore to your mother I would protect you. I made the Unbreakable Vow, Draya-"

"Looks like you'll have to break it, then, because I don't need your protection! It's my job, he gave it to me and I'm doing it. I've got a plan and it's going to work, it's just taking a bit longer than I thought it would!"

Snape's eyes widened just a fraction. "What is your plan?"

"It's none of your business!"

"If you tell me what you are trying to do, I can assist you-"

"I've got all the assistance I need, thanks, I'm not alone!" I crossed my arms over my chest with an air of defiance.

"You were certainly alone tonight, which was foolish in the extreme, wandering the corridors without lookouts or back up. These are elementary mistakes-"

"I would've had Crabbe and Goyle with me if you hadn't put them in detention!"

"Keep your voice down!" Snape spat. "If your friends Crabbe and Goyle intend to pass Defence Against the Dark Arts O.W.L. this time around, they will need to work a little harder than they are doing at pres-"

"What does it matter? Defence Against the Dark Arts - it's all just a joke, isn't it, an act? Like any of us need protecting against the Dark Arts-"

"It is an act crucial to success, Draya! Where do you think I would have been all these years, if I had not known how to act? Now listen to me! You are being incautious, wandering around at night, getting yourself caught, and if you are placing your reliance on assistants like Crabbe and Goyle-"

"They're not the only ones, I've got other people on my side, better people!" I said, inwardly cringing at the childishness of my voice.

"Then why not confide in me, and I can-"

"I know what you're up to! You want to steal my glory!"

A pause as Snape's black eyes glittered. "You are speaking like a child," he said coldly. "I quite understand that your father's capture and imprisonment has upset you, but-"

I did not stay to hear him finish. Instead, I marched across the classroom he'd dragged me into and left, making sure to slam the door behind me.

Rather than storming up to the seventh floor, however, I continued down the corridor, not stopping until I was a good safe distance away from Snape.

I stepped into an alcove before I spoke. "You can show yourself, Potter, I know you're there."

Silence.

Sighing, I placed my hands on my hips. "Just take the fucking cloak off, Potter, and stop pretending that you're not following me."

All of a sudden, the Gryffindor appeared before me, his hair messy atop of his head from where he'd pulled the cloak free.