BANALITY : Draco Malfoy

80

My name is all over Witch Weekly even though I'm only mentioned on the opinion pages of The Daily Prophet. It seems that Witch Weekly is a less reputable gossip rag, and they've been having a field day. Parvati Patil's name shows up in an interview, where she mentions seeing me out and about with Pansy Parkinson. One article speculates that Pansy Parkinson and I were secret lesbian lovers, and Blaise tampered with my memory because he secretly was in love with Pansy Parkinson. They don't explain why he went through the trouble of altering my memory instead of obliviating me or murdering me outright.

Another article goes over people's thoughts of me in Hogwarts. One of the people interviewed is Mandy Brocklehurst, who has turned herself into the ministry. She alleges that I am the one with ties to Death Eaters and that I framed her because I was always jealous of her relationship with Anthony Goldstein since he picked her after going to the Yule Ball with me. I roll my eyes at her ridiculous fucking suggestion. She also says that I am a lesbian who was in love with her. Someone else corroborates the story that I disappeared at odd hours from Ravenclaw tower. It's absolutely ridiculous.

I find out from Colky, who is stained with rainbow glitter, that he is opening the hate mail addressed to myself and Pansy. A photo of myself on Pansy's grounds surfaces in Witch Weekly on the Saturday edition of the paper and then things start to escalate. On Sunday, we have to call in a healer to help Colky reattach three of his fingers after a letter has a particularly nasty explosion. It makes Pansy mad because it means she has to delay her lunch plans by an hour.

"Can you stop going outside?" Pansy asks in the doorway of the guest house on Sunday afternoon. "Every time someone photographs you on the grounds, another flurry of letters come in. It's quite difficult to find a good house-elf. I'd hate to waste this one on your letters. We just had the house-elf replaced last year, and we've already broken in Colky quite well."

"That is a repulsive way to talk about him," I say. "You know, they have feelings right? He's not a pair of hiking boots. Muggles treat their dogs better."

"Well, I'm not going to take advice on how to behave from muggles," Pansy retorts, nearly snorting.

"You know, I am embarrassed that people think we are lesbian lovers," I shake my head. "They must think I am an incredibly nasty person, or very shallow if they think I'd ever be capable of having sex with you."

Pansy smirks a bit. She scrunches her nose and bites her lip, "so you think I'm sexy?"

My lips press tightly together and I turn my head.

Yet, nothing seems to stop Pansy, "please, how do you think I feel? I actually have a public reputation. It's horrid, to think people think I would debase myself by fucking a mudblood."

I fire a curse at her, my wand snapping before I really am able to think about it. She blocks it, but the spell ricochets. It shatters a vase, and one of the chunks slams into the wall, cracking it. The glass doesn't shatter, instead staying imbedded in the plaster.

"You're a bitch," I finally manage.

"I can see why Blaise enjoyed torturing you. Your reactions are quite over the top," Pansy actually steps into the room. She peers at the wallpaper, running her finger over the dent. Her hand grazes the glass, and she yanks her arm back. I can see her palm bleeding. "I can also see why Draco enjoyed your company."

"He's not that much of a masochist," I say. My wand is still in my hand, ready to strike. I know she cannot hurt me, no matter how much she wants to do so. I suppose that is what makes me feel so bold.

"No," she agrees. "Just the right amount of masochism. I meant that you are clever in your bravery. That's the thing we all hate about Gryffindors, you know. They are so self-righteous and sure of themselves that they become blundering idiots. You're not stupid."