Killer (Draco Malfoy)

3 - Sweet blackmail

Draco was on my mind. It was hard not to think of him when he was sitting at the table next to me in potions, tapping his finger viciously on the table. I kept wondering what he wanted to go to Hogsmeade for. Who knows, maybe he just fancies a butter beer now and then.

Oh, who am I kidding? He's up to something and I want to know what.

Let's add "relentless curiosity" to my list of curses.

"Class, please open your Advanced Potion Making book, and turn to the index, we'll be going over everything we're going to cover this semester," Horace Slughorn spoke, the new potions teacher. Snape had finally been granted the position he'd longed for for years; Defense Against The Dark Arts. I hadn't had the class yet, but I knew it was going to memorable. "Make sure you all have your required equipments: A Cauldron, Brass Scales, Phials, Mortar and Pestle, and the various ingredients list I sent out over the summer."

I heaved my textbook onto the desk, opening it to the index. My fingers laid on the page and my eyes glanced over to Draco. Pansy Parkins was whispering to him and smiling flirtatiously. Her short blonde hair flowed just above her shoulders as she giggled, a rather painful sound. I tried to figure out why that was bothering me but Slughorn cut off my thoughts.

I forced myself to pay attention, since I'd worked so hard last year to be able to take this class. How the bloody hell did Pansy make it? She was as daft as a pumpkin. I'd just barely made the cut.

The next time I sneaked a glance at Draco his eyes met mine. I wanted to avert them but we froze like that for a moment, as if trying to read each other's thoughts. He was probably patting himself on the back for discovering my secret so he could blackmail me. What a very Malfoy thing to do.

Slughorn droned on for the rest of the class, which felt like an eternity because Advanced Potions was a double class, meaning 3 hours. I kept my nose to my textbook and tried to focus as much as I possibly could, eventually losing myself in a rhythm of listening.

Eventually he went on the different methods of potion preparation and the right use of ingredients, which I expertly made little diagrams and images for in my notes I would remember it later.

When class was over I took my time getting my things together, hoping Draco and Pansy would scurry away and leave me in peace since this was the last class of the day. The room emptied besides Slughorn and I dragged my feet to the door. Outside I was disappointed to see Draco waiting for me.

"So, Wraith, when are you going to show me this tunnel?" He took a place beside me walking down the hallway.

"You certainly don't waste any time," I snarked. "It's the second day of school, I'm a bit busy. You should be too. I've already been given more homework than I had all of last year combined."

He scoffed. "C'mon, it can't take that long. You wouldn't want anyone to find out your little secret, would you?"

I stopped walking, glaring hard at him. "I don't think anyone would believe you if you told them. It wouldn't be the first lie you've made up just to slander someone you don't like."

"Maybe they would, maybe they wouldn't. It doesn't really matter, everyone already knows you have secrets." He paused, as if having an after thought. "I never said I didn't like you."

"And how would Dumbledore feel if I went to him with information that you were trying to find a way to Hogsmeade?"

"Probably not much better when I tell him you already know a way there."

Damn.

I sighed, wanting to have something else to use against him. The truth was, I hardly knew him and had no idea what his motives were. We'd never gotten close in my previous five years at the school. I hadn't gotten close with anybody aside from Autumn, Bella and Kali. "What do you want in Hogsmeade?" I asked sternly.