Defiance

Chapter 4: Christmas Spirit

I had been going to Hogwarts for a few months at the time this event took place. It was December and the Christmas spirit in Hogwarts was really something to witness. 

My father had always commanded our elf, Dobby, to decorate the Malfoy Manor for the guests to come over. While our manor never failed to look splendid, or at least I thought it did, those decorations are nothing compared to here. 

The Hall looked spectacular. Festoons of holly and mistletoe hung all around the walls and no fewer than twelve towering Christmas trees stood around the room, some sparkling with tiny icicles, some glittering with hundreds of candles. 

But of course, Hagrid was the one setting up the decorations. Most of the wizards were complimenting Hagrid on his work, including the most annoying of all, Harry Potter. He had become Hagrid's friend super quickly. There was really nothing wrong with Hagrid as far as I could see but my father warned me that he was not someone you wanted to be around. And predictably, I followed my father's words to the tee, terrified of the potential consequences had I done otherwise. 

As he was setting up a tree in the Dungeon hallway, I decided to tell him to move out of my way. That Weasley kid, Ron I think his name was, decided to defend him so I insulted Ron as well. As you can expect, he decided to yell back at me but unfortunately for him, Professor Snape overheard and took points away from Gryffindor. Mission accomplished I guess.

But as I walked away from Harry, Ron, and Hagrid, I realized that I wasn't happy with what I just did. Yes, points being taken away from Gryffindor was great for me, and I had listened to my father's advice about Hagrid, but insulting people isn't exactly the best way to make friends. I decided to ask Goyle for advice and he told me that I don't even need to be friends with these people. I guess he's right so I just brushed off the temporary feeling of regret in me as we went to eat. I had better things to concern myself over. 

Everyone was talking about all the Christmas presents they would get when they got home and how they missed their parents so much. While I wanted to be filled with the Christmas joy of going back to my family, I didn't really want to see my father again. I knew that the only present I would be getting from him is a secret lecture about how I'm supposed to act. When our guests would come over, they would always talk about something called becoming a Death Eater. I had no idea what that meant at the time but my father always told me that I had to follow all his rules in order to become a Death Eater and that I would be in very big trouble if I didn't do just that. While I had been fine with it every year, this time I just wanted to stay at Hogwarts because even though I hated most of the people here, they brought a spirit of happiness that I never felt before.

Especially one person. That one girl that had caught my attention the first day on the train. The one girl I still haven't introduced myself to. That one girl that would go on to change everything.

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Author's Note: Who do you guys think is the girl that caught Draco's attention? And who do you want it to be?

- Lina