imprisonment

Chapter 4; D

"This is Crabbe and Goyle, and I'm Malfoy, Draco Malfoy." Draco extended a hand to Harry with a grin on his face. He could already imagine all the fun the four of them could have together. His father would be so proud that he made a friend on the first day of school.

His thoughts were interrupted by the red-headed boy laughing at him. This caused Draco's smile to fade from his face. He wasn't used to being laughed at and it embarrassed him more than he would like to admit. He wanted Harry to be his friend, so he decided to repeat what he heard his father saying about the Weasley's around the house.

"Think my name's funny do ya?" Draco said with a glare on his face. "There's no need to ask yours, red hair, and a hand-me-down robe. You must be a Weasley." Draco looked away and turned his attention back to Harry. He knew he probably shouldn't have been so rude, but he was caught off guard and felt like he was being made fun of first.

"You'll find out that some wizarding families are better than others Potter, you don't want to go making friends with the wrong sorts. I can help you there" He said in a last effort to persuade Harry into joining his friend group. He had only meant to offer him a spot into what his father called the sacred families. Whatever it was called.

His hand lingered extended in front of Harry, but he never took it. "I think I can tell the wrong sort for myself thanks," he said to Draco.

That night Draco realized he was wrong. Something other than his father could ruin his night. It wasn't his fault that he wasn't the best at making friends. His father wasn't the perfect example of friendliness. Lucius taught him that it was better to be feared than liked, and that was exactly what he was going to do. Draco refused to be embarrassed and laughed at. From that day forward he decided to make Potter regret it.

***

Draco sucked in a deep breath. He never hated Harry, he was just tired of being compared to him. Lucius was never satisfied with Draco's accomplishments. His father would always rattle off how Harry was the chosen one, making Draco feel discouraged and hurt. After quidditch games, his father would simply say "Harry did well today," making Draco fume. No matter how hard he tried he was never good enough, so it wasn't a surprise when he took the dark mark to make his father happy. That's all Draco wanted; to make his father proud. And he failed at that too.

For so many years he was taught to be cold and menacing. It was so hard to keep up the façade, but it was all he knew. He didn't know who he was without it.

***

Days passed since the shower incident and Draco was bored. He had already counted all the bricks in the wall, practiced occulemency, and stacked the rocks on the floor in piles. He had never been so bored in his life. As much as he couldn't stand Granger, he was going to go mad if he didn't have something to do.

"Granger..." he called into the vent. No response. Maybe she was asleep, but Draco didn't care. He moved closer to the vent and decided to try and get her attention.

"Graaangerrr....." he said louder into the vents. He began to get annoyed. He knew that she was on the other side of the vent. It's not like she had anything better to do.

"Bollocks, don't ignore me." He demanded at her. Draco would be damned if he was going to be ignored by someone like her.

"What do you want," Hermione said in an irritated tone. He swallowed his pride knowing this was giving her some form of satisfaction. He refused to be cast aside and ignored.

"I'm bored," Draco called into the vent. His voice wasn't as fierce as before. He decided to drop his facade for a moment. They were trapped in here so he might at well concede.

"And I'm supposed to care why?" Hermione snapped back at him. Good one Granger he thought. A smirk crept on his face.

"Entertain me."

"Malfoy I'm not some house-elf you can call at your will," Hermione retorted back. He could tell she was still mad about what happened in the shower, but he dismissed it.

"I know, but let's talk about something, anything. I will lose my mind if I have to spend another day without anything to do." Was he begging? No, he was just using her in order to rid himself of boredom.

"Malfoy, what would I want to talk to you about. You're a prat," Hermione said through the vent. Draco decided to push a little further because arguing was better than silence.

"Pretend I'm someone you like," he said through the vents willing her to ignore all his mistakes, his appearance, his identity. He willed her to just imagine he was just a lone voice echoing through the vent. He wished he could pretend he was someone else too, just for a moment.

A/N
Yes I have written four chapters in three days. I expect to update this fic several times a week. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter.