The Right Choice

Chapter Two

Draco had a hard time believing Granger wouldn't tell Potter and Weasel about the state she found him in this morning. He had simply had a bit of a breakdown. He felt he was allowed it considering the Dark Lord had ordered him to murder Albus Dumbledore. Anyone who was under that sort of pressure would surely burst one way or another. If Draco were caught in even an attempt, he would be carted off to Azkaban, like his father. But if he failed, him and people he loved would pay whatever price the Dark Lord would hand out.

Granger had dared to enter the boys' lavatory, probably because Draco had been a bit loud. He thought for sure it was someone who would tell the entire school what they had seen, and for some time he thought he was right. He expected to endure taunting and laughter, but she hadn't told anyone. He would have spread it far and wide if he had seen anyone like that, especially Granger or one of her friends.

Throughout the lessons that Slytherin had with Gryffindor, he could not help but look at her out of the corner of his eye to see if she were telling her friends. But she never did, and he became mesmerized by that. He was astonished that she had kept what she saw to herself. Draco was grateful he didn't hex her like he had been considering, but he did wish he had wiped her memory. Instead he had stared like a fool and then left the bathroom as quickly as he could. He was just too shocked to do anything.

And she had shown sympathy, something he hadn't been given in a very long time, and not very often throughout his life anyway. Of all the things he expected her to do, speaking to him as if he were a friend, even using his first name, was the farthest from his mind.

One afternoon, he was hiding behind a statue, wanting to be left alone, particularly by Pansy. The older they got, the more she seemed to expect them to be together officially. He didn't mind the attention when he wanted to show off to his friends, but she wanted to be around him all the time.

He was practicing wand movements when he heard Granger and Potter nearby. He stopped to listen to what they were saying. Perhaps Granger had told them and sworn them to secrecy.

They were talking about the new potion's masters interest in Potter, at which Draco rolled his eyes. He leaned back further into his hiding place as they stopped directly in front of him. He raised his wand, with the intent of modifying her memory so that she would not remember what she had seen Draco doing this morning. The words were on the tip of his tongue, but he stopped at the last second. He sighed as he lowered his wand and waited for the corridor to empty before moving from his hiding place.

He wasn't sure why he was unable to do it, this morning he would have done it in a heartbeat if he could only get her alone. He'd finally had the opportunity and he hadn't taken it. He supposed it was the pressure he was under, and that he just needed some firewhiskey to lighten up and get it done, both his assignment and taking care of Granger's memory.

He had every intention of going back to the common room and going to bed early after that shot of firewhiskey, he didn't care much for dinner. If he got hungry he would just sneak down to the kitchens. He was nearly there when the last person he wanted to see found him.

"There you are, Draco. Hiding from me?" Pansy said with a smile. "Come, dinner is about to begin."

She took his arm and pulled him to the Great Hall, much to Draco's dismay. He rolled his eyes and groaned inwardly. He knew what Pansy expected of him, and he had no intention of continuing the pure blood line with the likes of her.

He ate his dinner in silence, Pansy buzzing in his ear like a very pesky fly. He wasn't even paying attention when he felt he was being stared at. He looked up and met the eyes of Hermione Granger, who looked away immediately. She looked concerned for him, or maybe he was just imagining things. He wished he hadn't looked up at all.

"Draco, what is it?" Pansy asked in a falsely sweet voice. She looked in the direction he was and caught Hermione looking down. She made an ugly face that made her look even more like a pug.

"Pay no mind to that mudblood. It's no surprise that she's eyeing you, every girl with good taste does." she said, gripping Draco's arm.

"Right." Draco responded, going back to staring at his plate. Why had she been staring right at him, and right in front of her friends, if she were caught it would raise all sorts of questions from them. He was surprised Pansy hadn't yelled to their table, asking what she was staring at him for.

When they were finally dismissed from dinner, Draco managed to escape from Pansy in the crowd leaving the Great Hall. He was almost out of the door, ready to rush to his bed when he bumped straight into someone.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I wasn't quite looking where I was going."

Draco froze, it was her again. He looked at her, she looked back. They stood still for a moment before he broke their eye contact and walked to his dormitory as quickly as he could without drawing attention to himself. He rushed to bed and closed the curtains around his four poster.

He had to get her out of his head, move past that incident. He had a task, in addition to his school work. He had to remain focused and hopefully he and his family would make it out of this whole bloody mess alive and mostly intact, and with their precious honor and dignity that his father keeps talking about.