Different Perspectives

Draco

Draco notices a Hufflepuff girl with short curly hair and green eyes looking at him. He looks back at her. She rushes to look away, which amuses him. He looks away and gives her a few seconds to look back, which she does, then he looks at her again and smiles. She turns a bright red, which just boosts his confidence even more, and looks down and smiles to herself. This small, seemly innocent exchange brings a bigger smile to his face. Not a lot of people smile when he shows them attention. He looks down, then carries on the conversation he was having with Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle.

Crabbe, "I hope Potter gets kicked out." then stuffs a bite of chocolate cake into his mouth,

"He deserves it," says Goyle and then in a sarcastic tone, "For hurting the poor tree."

Draco laughs, "How much trouble do they need to get into before they throw 'em out?"

Goyle shakes his head, "Hopefully, this will be the last straw for Dumbledore."

Draco scoffs, "Probably not, and he loves Potter. He won't ever tell him to leave."

Draco looks over at the Gryffindor table. Little Ginny Weasley is sitting with the rest of the Weasley clan, "There's the last of the bunch." he points her out to Crabbe and Goyle.

Crabbe shakes his head and scoffs, "How were they're parents allowed to have that many kids?"

Goyle agrees, "Yeah, there should be a law of how many kids poor people can have. Actually, poor people shouldn't have children at all. Rid the world of their kind."

That's a bit far, Draco thinks but decides against saying it to the rest of the table.

The following morning, Draco exits the Slytherin common room and walks down the hall by himself. He notices a weird feeling in the pit of his stomach. He is rarely without Goyle and Crabbe. He feels unprotected like if he gets into trouble, no one will have his back, he's afraid to admit it, but he isn't as confident as he acts. As he walks down the hall, trying to look smug and confident, he sees the Hufflepuff from last night. The one with green eyes and curly hair. She's walking in the opposite direction than he is and is doing so at a brisk pace.

She meets his eyes, then, once again, quickly looks down. She walks past him, and Draco sharply inhales, then spins on his heel and walks alongside her. She notices and gives him a questioning look.

He raises his eyebrows, "Hello," he says, "I'm Draco Malfoy." The girl blushes, and Draco smiles. After a beat, he asked, "Are you ever going to tell me your name?"

The girl looks up slightly, "Amy Ryan." in an American accent.

Amy Ryan, he thought, How do I know that name? "Well, Amy Ryan," He says out loud, "May I ask what you are doing going the opposite way of the Great Hall?"

Amy scoffs, "What are you talking about?" she turns to Draco. This is the first time he has seen her full face at this distance, and he notices that she is, hands down, the most beautiful girl he has ever seen, "This is the way to Great Hall."

Draco, still in shock from her beauty, shrugs to himself to get his nerves to ease. He laughs slightly, "Sorry to tell you, darling," He pulls her to a stop and points, "but the Hall is way over there."

Amy sighs, "Shit," she runs her fingers through her hair, "Why is this my life?" not asking anyone in particular.

Draco exhales, "I shouldn't have said anything. I'm sorry."

"What?" she shakes her head, "If it weren't for you, I would've walked all the way to the end of the building and missed breakfast." She starts walking toward the Hall.

He hangs back for a moment to watch her, then catches up with her.

"Why are you following me?" she asks,

Draco smiles, "Just trying to help out a fellow student."

"We aren't even in the same house." she points out, "And I hear that you basically spit on anyone who isn't Slytherin.

He looks at the grounds and speaks quietly to himself, "That's a bit dramatic."

Amy meets his tone, "Is it, though?"

Surprised that she could hear his whisper. He pinches his eyebrows together, "I guess you've already made up your mind about me."

She grabs his arm gently, he makes eye contact with her, then she lets go, "That's not what I'm saying," they are getting closer to the Great Hall, and he feels as though they shouldn't be seen together.

"Then what are you saying?" he grabs her slightly, and they stop walking,

She sighs, "I'm saying you already have your mind made up about the people in the other houses." she pulls her arm free, "And all you care about is your reputation. That's why you don't want to be seen walking in the Hall with me." She turns and walks away, leaving Draco in her dust.

"Guess you were right, Draco," Crabbe points to Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, "Professor loves them too much to kick em' out."

Draco nods, but he's only half-listening. He is too busy picking at his eggs and watching her as she sits quietly at the Hufflepuff table. She is surrounded by people, but none of them are talking to her or even acknowledging that she's gracing them with her presence. He stares at her hard until Goyle says, "Mail time!"

Draco looks up, owls flying every which way. He sees Ron Weasley has gotten a Howler.

Draco laughs and elbows Goyle, "At least Weasley's mum will put him in place."

Ron opens the letter, and the room fills with the roar of Mrs. Weasley's, and laughter follows. Draco almost feels bad for them, and then he notices that he also has a letter, but not the kind Ron got, thankfully, but instead, a plain white envelope with a red sealing wax button. He picks it up, folds it, and shoves it into one of his pockets. He does not dare open it in a room filled with people, it's from his father, so it's either about hating Dumbledore, muggles, or Draco himself.

Draco stands outside Professor Lockhart's classroom, waiting for Amy. He hears screams and considers going in, then the bell rings, and most of the class exits the room in a rush; Amy is in the mix of the students, so he grabs her arm and pulls her into a dark archway so that people won't see.

Amy pulls her arm out of his grip, "What do you want?" she says, but he suspects it didn't come out as fierce as she wanted,

Draco exhales a laugh and shakes his head,

She looks taken aback, "What's so funny?"

He looks her up and down, "It's just... Why are you so quiet?"

"I don't think that's the reason why you wanted to talk to me," she points out,

"Your right," He stands up straight, "I just wanted you to know that I wouldn't mind being seen with you."

She laughs, "Is that why you dragged me into one of the darkest places in the castle?" she gestures around them,

"Look, I have this reputation to uphold here," He says, "I'm a Malfoy. I have to show power."

"Why did you feel the need to track me down and wait outside my classroom?"

"I don't know," he starts, "There's something about you, I don't know what it is, but I feel like I need to be with you.

Amy sighs, "Fine. I'll be your friend."

He shakes his head, "I didn't say that."

"Well, it's what you're going to get."

"I'm not really sure if Goyle and Crabbe are really the types of people you'd hang out with." He laughs nervously,

She smiles sweetly, "I'll only be friends with you; no one has to know about our friendship."

Draco lets out a sigh of relief, "Thank god."