BAD INTENTIONS - [D.M.]

Eight

Aliya's POV
London - December 1996

Dad dropped me off at the station. I look after him as he leaves. He doesn't even wave goodbye. He is so broken. Christmas was a disaster. We barely talked and if we did we fought because he wants me to stop looking for hints and I want him to put more pressure on our lawyer to have the investigations keep going. He is so different now. Cold instead of loving. Quiet instead of talkative. The complete opposite of the person he was before my mother died. He wouldn't have slept for days if he had a case like that before the murder. The train starts to move. It's so empty. Daphne convinced me to come back for New year. She told me they have a huge feast and a big party every year. Since nothing holds me back at home, I decided to come. The door of my train compartment opens. I hoped to be alone.  "Well, well, hello there," smiles Malfoy at me.
"Let me sleep, Malfoy," I groan.
"You sure?" He holds up a bottle of wine.
"I told you, I won't drink wine with you-"
"I know, but it's Romanee-Conti," he says casually. My jaw drops. This wine costs more that my whole life. "So?"
"Leave the bottle here, before you go back to your seat," I answer.
"Oh, come on," he slowly sits down beside me.
"Why are you trying so hard? I will not tell you anything, even on this wine my mouth is shut." He opens the bottle and pours some into a glass.
"We'll see about that," he whispers and hands me the glass. I hope he isn't trying to poison me or something. I watch him as he takes a sip from his glass. I figure it's not poison when he drinks it. "Why are you going back so early? You won't enter the New year with your family?" He asks.
"My father and I just fought," I blurt out. I didn't mean to say this. I wanted to lie to him. I look at Malfoy with wide eyes.
"Yes, Baker. Veritaserum is in this wine."
"But- but, you drank it too?"
"No shit, Sherlock," he mocks me and takes another sip. "We can clear things up now, without lying."
"Exchanging secrets, so you can blackmail me with them? Yeah, that won't happen." I stand up to look for another seat.
"You would have something against me too," he announces. "I am telling the truth too, remember?"
"I would love to know all your secrets," I mumble. I intended to lie that I am not interested in his secrets. Shit.
"See? After this conversation, we will never talk about it again. In fact, we will never talk to each other again. I will never bother you again." This offer sounds tempting. I stop myself from saying yes right away. I sit down again.
"We spill everything here, right now? We will never talk about it again?" I ask to make sure. He nods confidently. "Can I obliviate you after that?"
"No, of course not, then I want to obliviate you too," he protests. I stand up and lock the door. If he tricked me here, I can trick him too, so then I'll obliviate him. That won't be too hard.
"Everything that's said here, stays here," I announce.
"Alright, go on." He leans back and sips his wine again. I copy him. The wine is good.
"Why do you hate me?" I start.
"I don't, at least not anymore," he frowns.
"Why do you act like it?"
"You constantly remind me of my father." I think he realizes what a bad idea this was.
"Why-"
He cuts me off, "My turn. Why did you transfer?" Shit.
"My mother was murdered." He looks into the empty wine glass with wide eyes. I believe he is impressed. I would be too.
"Why did you hide the death of your mother?"
"I had to, the lawyers told me to."
"Does Daphne know?" I shake my head at the question.
"What else do you want to know?" I ask him.
"Everything about you," he says quickly. I spin the wine glass so the liquid spins along aesthetically. I empty the glass and he pours more wine into our glasses. "Who murdered your mother?" He asks.
"I don't know," I mumble. I wish I knew. He remains quiet now. "How did you get the Centaurs to kidnap Adrain?"
"Paid them," he explains.
"Smart move," I admit. "But why did you do it?"
"I was mad at him and curious what you would do if you thought I killed him."
"Funny, almost like you care about me, huh?" He doesn't look at me. He doesn't smile back, he just nods slightly.
"Do you wear the necklace?"
"Every day." Hell, this was a bad idea. He chuckles a bit like he is proud. "What about Pansy? I thought you both are a thing."
"She is amazing in bed." He answers dryly.
"Nothing else? That's all you know about her?" He nods. "I thought you were a bit more serious."
"Hell no! She might think that," he explains.
"What a gentleman," I scoff ironically. He raises an eyebrow at me but doesn't answer. "Alright, I am going to sleep this out, but first, let's finish the wine." He picks up the bottle and pours a huge amount of liquor into my glass. I feel how my cheeks get hot from the alcohol.
"You going to the party tonight?" He asks and takes a big sip. I nod and raise the glass to do the same. "You already have someone for your new years kiss?" He chuckles. I believe things like that are ridiculous, but back in America, we took them very seriously.
"No," I say into the glass. "You?" He shakes his head. I put the wine glass on the seat across from me and lean against the big window.

Draco's POV

Her eyes fall closed. I whisper a "good night" and rest my head against the headrest. I can't believe I said all this to her. Maybe, I should just obliviate her in her sleep. I can't believe I made her confess all the things she's been hiding. I mean, I got my answers, and we made a deal, but it feels wrong now. Shit, I hate guilt. Why the fuck couldn't I hold my noisiness back? I squeeze the wine glass between my palms. It cracks a little, but I ignore it. I wanna throw it against the window, along with her glass and the bottle. Fuck. The glass shatters in my hands. The pieces are big as I glance at them. One of them cut my hand. "Shit," I whisper.
"What?" She mumbles.
"Keep sleeping, Aliya," I mutter and head out to get rid of the shattered pieces. I close the door behind me and realized how I just called her. Aliya. I called her Alyia instead of Baker.
I. Can. Not. Fall. For. Her.

Aliya's POV
Hogwarts - December 1996

"We have arrived," says Draco and moves. My head tilts away as he gets up. Did I sleep on his shoulder? I remember he got up one time and returned soon later, but nothing else. I rub my eyes and he gets my luggage down.
"Thank you, gentleman," I tease him.
"Last interaction, before we go separate ways. I thought I could be nice once," he answers dryly. I forgot about that. Hearing him say this, makes me kinda sad.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. We still have class," I remind him.
"Yeah, right," he says without looking at me. Then he heads out. He doesn't look back, he doesn't walk with me, and he didn't even say goodbye. What did I do?

"Hey! I missed you so much," Daphne squeals and pulls me into a warm embrace. I tell her I missed her too, and she instantly starts talking about Christmas. Honestly, that's the last thing I want to talk about. "How was yours?" She asks.
"Fine," I lie. Good that the Veritaserum doesn't work anymore.
"You ready for the big party?" The excitement is written on her face. I share that feeling, I am really excited too. I nod with a smile.  "What are you wearing? Oh no! More important: Who will you do tonight?" She smirks at me and pulls me to sit on the bed with her. I look at her confused. "I heard that Nott is interested in you-"
"Hell, no-"
"Hear me out," she starts, "I know, he is not the relationship guy, but you already danced with him once, wanted to make out with him and besides Adrian, with whom you didn't sleep, you had no male interaction here. New year, new luck?" Daphne, you have no idea, why I didn't want male attention, I think to myself. The whole thing with my mother is hard on me and Adrian maximized my disgust of men.
"We will see, what the night brings," I try to end this conversation.
"Yeah, but I mean, you could try to hook up with him. He hooks up with so many girls, no one cares if you are one of them and you seem tensed for the past month, maybe it would be a good relief for stress-"
"Daphne, just stop, I can decide on my own with whom I sleep and with whom I don't," I rant at her. She leans against the wall disappointed. "I am going to have a shower," I announce to escape this weird situation. I never fight with her, not even small fights.
"Will we get ready together? Otherwise, I would go over to Cedric-"
"Yeah, go, I don't mind. We always get ready together, it doesn't matter if we don't do it tonight," I cut her off. She looks down at her hands and twists on her ring. It's new. I bet Cedric got it for her. Is she disappointed I said that? I slowly stand up to make my way to the door.
"What I wanted to ask you," she pauses. I don't face her anymore. I squeeze my eyes shut. Shit. What if she knows something? At this moment I realized I live in fear, even around my best friend. "Where did you get the necklace?" I release the air I just held back.
"A friend got it for me," I answer slowly. Friend? Yeah, right. Friend.
"From America?" She asks again. I turn around before I open the door to nod and smile at her. It's time to leave, this here feels weird. I hate weird feelings or any feelings.