When Draco Met Spike

Draco, dressed like a vampire, stormed out of the Halloween party in Theo's Chelsea flat and pounded his fist into the wall.

He was hurting. He was humiliated. And as he had forgotten to eat at the party while nursing said hurt and humiliation, he was now very hungry.

Granger, dressed as a Greek Fate with hair twisted up and a pair of scissors ready to cut the thread of Life, was there with McLaggen. The great oaf had asked her to the party first and was dressed as a troll. Granger didn't look happy, but whenever Draco tried to talk to her, McLaggen seemed to turn his enormous body to block him.

Draco ripped the costume from his body, casting aside a black cape with a red lining and a high, dramatic collar as well as a ruffled cravat. He hadn't bothered with fangs as he still wanted to look remotely fanciable. Underneath he simply wore a dress shirt and trousers, and as he slid down the brick wall he knew he'd find red streaks on his shirt the next day.

On top of his growling stomach and Granger being lovely and unattainable under the eye of her troll bodyguard, a poem Draco had been working on for her — a rough draft, he'd have you know — had been filched from his pocket and read out loud by Pansy.

The first stanza was a bit of a giveaway, but respectable:

Your giant hair glows like a crown

I wish that you would let it down

The second was rather lovely, if he said so himself:

And I should mention that your eyes

Are fire agates in disguise

But the fatal lines came next. What was deeply unfair was that he had not yet finalized the wording.

Resplendent is your bulging brain

Its contents lovely and arcane —

"Bulging" was a placeholder when "swollen" and "bloated" were clearly not options.

The whole party burst out laughing, except for Granger, who simply looked ill. McLaggen, who wouldn't recognize fine art if a marble bust fell on him from the sky, roared. Pansy sneered and dropped the poem at his feet before stalking off. She was still upset about their breakup fourth year, even though they'd all been graduated and living in London for two years now.

Draco picked the paper up and everyone went back to talking, which gave him hope that his humiliation would be forgotten by the end of the evening. Perhaps, he thought, everyone will think I was mocking Granger rather than wooing her. Given his behavior over most of their school career, that might well be possible. But given the moony eyes he'd been giving her lately, it seemed closer to impossible.

Draco let his head fall back and was taking deep breaths to calm himself when he heard a voice come out of the shadows.

"Got it bad, don't you love," said the voice, a rough cockney. "She must be a real fine one."

Draco looked up, irritated. And then intrigued.