Between the Malfoy Brothers - Dramione

Chapter 2

Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson sat in the train compartment most of the fifth year prefects had already vacated, her arm over his shoulder as she whispered in his ear.

"Yes, Draco," she said. "The only boy at school interesting enough to throw a girl off a Malfoy brother is ANOTHER Malfoy brother. I need you to get Ronald to move on from Granger, by distracting her with you."

He rubbed his ear to clear her whisper away. "Pansy, I don't know how you and your sisters get on, but I'm not about to go to war with my one and only brother over a girl who has only ever annoyed me."

She sat back, pouting. "Come on, Draco. Help me."

"You don't need my help getting boys' attention," he laughed. "Look at you. You're a stunner. The problem is Ronald, not you."

She scooted away from him, her voice getting louder. "Spare me your false compliments. If I was really so attractive you and I would still be together."

At this, the remaining prefects stopped chatting to gawk at them. Draco ignored it, scoffing at Pansy. "What is the matter with you? You're acting like we're not well past this. There's more to dating than just -- "

"Oh, don't start," she said, standing up. "Goldstien, get up and come patrolling with me."

Anthony Goldstien's eyes darted around the compartment, as if he couldn't believe she wasn't looking for someone else before he hopped up to slide the door open for Pansy and follow her out.

Finding herself left alone in the compartment with Draco Malfoy, Padma Patil tossed her head and scowled out the window. Padma had been the object of Ronald's consolation snog after his row with Hermione Granger after the Yule Ball last Christmas, and now Draco was the object of her silent treatment. He sighed heavily and stood up to leave, jamming his hands into the pockets of his trousers as the door slid closed behind him.

Inside his pocket, something was warm against his fingers, the signal galleon his father had given him after the quidditch world cup last year. Ron had been forced to attend the cup with the Weasleys and didn't know what had passed between Lucius and Draco during that time. Ever since then, Lucius had been drawing Draco closer, discreetly grooming him to come into his own as the Malfoy heir when he came of age less than two years from now.

There was no doubt that Ronald would be well-provided for his entire life, but there was also no doubt that he wouldn't be the one to inherit the family lands and fortune. There was old blood magic in Malfoy Manor, right down to its foundations, and though the manor seemed to respond to Ronald as if he was a natural born son of the family, it was better to be safe, and to make sure it passed to a true Malfoy son bound to it by blood. Draco had to be the one. Ronald seemed to expect and accept it -- which was another good reason for Draco to return the favour and respect Ronald's claims when it came to things like relationships with girls.

Draco pulled the galleon from his pocket to read its message, wincing a little, reading it with one eye closed as if to protect himself from it. The messages on the galleon were getting stranger every week. At first they had been instructions about which of his classmates to build a network with -- encouraging him to spend less time with Crabbe and Goyle and more with boys like Nott and Zabini. Building alliances with girls was important too, especially the Greengrass sisters. Astoria was only thirteen but Draco was expected to start courting her in the next year or two. She was pretty enough, but in a little girl way that was decidedly unsettling in a romance.

The newest development in the galleon messages was their sudden shift toward Harry Potter. For the first four years they'd been at school, Lucius was content to have Ronald carrying home tales of Harry Potter's business -- the mundane, the fantastical, and the stories that had to be bald-faced lies. Whatever Lucius thought of them, he didn't try to colour Ronald's perceptions of Potter. He smirked, tutted quietly, sneered secretively at Draco, and let it be.