Fascination|𝐴 𝐷𝑟𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑆𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦 (𝚈𝚎𝚊𝚛 3, 𝙱𝚘𝚘𝚔 1)

Chapter Five | Poker Face

Poker Face, by Lady Gaga

   Draco entered the Dark Arts classroom and grumbled. There stood Weasley and Potter in the front of the classroom, waiting for the new professor to begin his lesson. The perfect attendants. Draco scoffed. Since when? Scar Head and Weaselbee always made it a habit to be late. Draco shook his head. He didn't understand why a brilliant witch like Granger would choose to spend her time with the likes of Weasley. Though Draco knew she had feelings for the weasel, it did not explain her attraction. She was smarter than that, the weasel had less brains than a brick. It was obvious she cared for him, yet he was painfully oblivious.

Potter laughed at something Weasley said and Draco cringed. Though he was not much better than Weasley, Potter cared about Granger's feelings which made him at least decent in Malfoy's book. Draco couldn't say that he didn't envy him, that he hadn't wished to be in either one of their places. Even when his parents were dead, Potter had more than Draco ever had. And Weasley, even penniless as he was, his life had more value than Draco's own. Surrounded by friends and family, he had everything Draco had ever wanted. And he had Granger.

   Draco shook his head. It didn't matter. Draco didn't belong in that world, he could never have the life he wanted. Draco had always been destined for Slytherin, no matter how deeply he wished things had been different. No matter how many times he would dream about what could have been, had he been sorted into Gryffindor instead. Or even Hufflepuff, or Ravenclaw. Draco chuckled softly. Hufflepuff was not likely. Ravenclaw, though not impossible and less so unlikely, was most likely not plausible. His cunning came before his wits.

   Though Draco did often wonder why Granger had been sorted into Gryffindor. Her wisdom and knowledge obviously came before all else. She would never act upon a whim unless she had thought it through. That's why, though she may have courage, bravery was not her most amiable feature. Still, he couldn't help but wonder, what would have become of himself and Granger. Would she have cared for him the way she cared about Potter or Weasley? Would they have been friends? Or more? Who was he kidding? Draco Malfoy would always be a born Slytherin. He wasn't meant for anything else. A true Slytherin. Did he really think he could have passed for anything but? No. He was lower than low. Just like his father. And he could never change that.

   Before long, Professor Lupin entered the room and tapped is wand against the desk, bringing their attention to the front of the room. A large cabinet sat in the center of the room that Draco had not noticed before. It trembled and shook, it's hinges creaking. The professor smiled. "Intriguing, isn't it?" He rounded the cabinet. "Would anyone like to venture a guess..." he stopped in front of it. "As to what's inside?"

"That's a boggart, that is." A student Draco didn't recognize spoke up.

"Very good Mr. Thomas. Now, can anybody tell me what a boggart looks like?"

   "No one knows." Draco smirked. There was his little know it all. He knew she would be chiming in with her two sense soon enough.

"When did she get here?" Weasley looked at Hermione, his face twisted with confusion. She had appeared out of nowhere at the front of the class. Her sudden arrival was suspicious but Draco admired her ability to confound the weasel.

Granger looked a might different from their earlier encounter. She had taken the time to tame and roll her hair up neatly. Her face was unblemished and her lips were a new shade of pink. "Boggarts are shape shifters, they take the form of whatever a person fears most. That's what makes them so..."

"So terrifying. Yes, yes, yes." Lupin nodded to Hermione. "Luckily, a very simple charm exists to repel a boggart." He stepped in front of the cabinet. "Let's practice it now." Half of the class began to pull their wands from their robe pockets but the professor shook his head. "Without wands, please. Now. After me. Riddikulus!"