Transfixed: A Draco Malfoy Fanfiction

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"I'm so excited for all of this year's classes!" Hermione exclaimed to me as I pigged out in the Great Hall. "Slughorn is the new Potions teacher. He's worked here before, and now he's coming back. Harry was telling me about him actually...." All of her words started to string together as I zoned out.

Zoning out when I got bored was just another thing that made me socially inept. I just couldn't stop thinking about Malfoy. I glanced over at him at the Slytherin table. His face was cupped in his hand, a faraway look in his eyes. He gave a sickly look at his food, which he hadn't even touched.

Before I knew it, his head whipped up, his eyes locked with mine. Panicking, I looked away. Smooth, Audrey, I said in my head. Why did I always have to be so awkward? Trying to be discreet, I looked up again, only to see him smirking with his eyebrows raised. I glared at him, trying to contort my puppy-dog eyes to look angry. Having eyes that naturally slope down a little is great if you're trying to look innocent, but horrible if you're trying to look mad. Another one of the traits I inherited from Dad. Malfoy chuckled watching me try to look angry, which made me even angrier.

".... and then finally Dumbledore convinced him to come back! Apparently Dumbledore thinks that he will be useful for something, but we're not sure what. What do you think, Audrey?... Audrey?" Hermione sighed, exasperated, as I had a silent war with Malfoy from across the room. "Are you even listening to me?!" she cried as I broke eye contact and snapped back to attention.

"Yes, absolutely! I have been listening this whole time. And yeah! It's totally weird that Slughorn is back," I said as I tried to make it sound like I heard everything she had been saying. Unfortunately, she wasn't fooled.

"You know, once in a while it would be really nice if you could listen to me for once! Should I even try to talk to you, or should I just watch you think to yourself?" she cried. I raised my eyebrows, letting her know that she crossed a line.

"Alright Hermione, you and I are about to have a problem, " I snarled, my voice soft and low. My voice always got quiet when I got mad. She immediately broke her stare, knowing that I was much tougher than her, and had no problem creating a "scene" as she called it.

"Look, don't get all worked up here, we can talk about it later," she said, panicked, as I opened my mouth to argue.

"Nope, you know, actually I would like to talk about it now," I started, anger building inside me. "Yes, okay, maybe I have a small ADD problem and zone out sometimes, but you're the one who keeps going off with Harry and Ron, totally leaving me out." She looked away, knowing that it was true.

"Yeah, you're right," she said quietly, swirling her mashed potatoes around her plate with her fork. "We have been excluding you. It's just... a lot is going on right now for Harry, and he doesn't want to hurt you."

"Oh come on! Is he ever going to lose those feelings for me? We dated last year, hasn't he moved on? He doesn't have to protect me. I want to fight!" I said.

"Yeah, he knows. He's just worried about you," Hermione said, her voice distant. I recognized that distant tone. She knew something.

"What is it, Hermione?" I said slowly. "You're hiding something, I know you are." Hermione let out a small groan in frustration.

"It's... about your dad." she whispered. My fork dropped to the floor, my heart racing. My dad worked for the Ministry of Magic in the Department of Mysteries. Things there had been pretty crazy now that The Dark Lord had returned, and Dad had been more secretive than ever. I knew he wasn't safe there.

"Hermione... tell me. What is it?" I asked, trying to stop the inevitable shaking in my voice.

"We're afraid that he's working with... Voldemort," she whispered, her voice barely audible. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "And we don't think it's just him!" she said quickly. "We think that he might be threatening lots of workers at the Ministry."

"Oh, is that what you think!?" I cried, my voice starting to echo throughout the great hall. People turned to stare, but I didn't care. I guess this was one of those scenes that I caused. Even Cassady, who had been previously snogging her boyfriend Sean, looked up, alarmed but not surprised at my outburst. I was furious. Who did she think she was, accusing my dad of doing such a thing?

"Wow, some friend you are, accusing my family of that!" I cried. "And I'll have you know that he would never do that! He would fight!" I ran out of the great hall, tears stinging my vision. I didn't know where I was going, but I wasn't going to stop.

I eventually collapsed and began to cry. He couldn't! Dad would never succumb to Voldemort. I focused on steadying my breathing, reassuring myself that Hermione was mistaken. To my horror, I heard footsteps coming towards me. I frantically wiped my eyes with my sleeve, not wanting anyone to see me in such a state. One rule I always lived by was to never show vulnerability. Maybe anger, maybe even hatred, but never vulnerability. I thought about running, but realized that the footsteps were too close. 

"Great," I muttered, trying to look nonchalant.

"Audrey?" I head a male voice call. I breathed a sigh of relief, thinking it was Timmy, my boyfriend.

"In here!" I called back. I heard the footsteps coming closer. I relaxed a little, not so worried about him seeing me. "You have no idea how happy I am to see..." my voice came to a halt as I looked ahead of me, staring at the person that I least wanted to see.

"Didn't expect me did you?" Malfoy's cold voice said.