NOVEL NEXT Chapter 15: Chapter 15
Her glare flickered with the glaze of oncoming tears, but she fought them away before he could notice. "Then just stay in your room-
"No," he interrupted arrogantly, placing his own hands on the counter and bringing his face to her level. "No, I find watching you squirm too amusing, Mudblood-
"Do you honestly think that silly little word bothers me any more?" she questioned with lowered eyebrows. "Do you really believe I care what you think?"
"I think you care a lot about how people perceive you-
"You are not people!" she barked, smacking her palms down on the surface again. "You are just...You're just-
"Go on, Granger," he encouraged, his voice deceptively inviting. "How exactly do you feel about me? I'm curious."
She paused and panted out a couple of hot breaths as her glare roved over his sharp and expectant face. His pebble-grey eyes were as hard as quartz; cold and illegible. They didn't waver, just waited for her answer. He wanted to know? Fine, it had been writhing under her skin for longer than he could comprehend and she could stand.
"You're the most spoilt and selfish person I've ever known," she told him quietly, annunciating each tangy syllable. "You have done nothing in your entire life but bully people and you wouldn't know a real friend if they slapped you in the face, because you're too busy looking down at everyone to give a shit-
He snorted. "I'll have you know-
"I'm not finished!" she spat, aiming her wand at him for good measure. "For years you have just managed to avoid becoming exactly like your father; evil-
"You will not talk about my father!" he shouted, too enraged to consider the wand by his chest. "You have no FUCKING right-
"You wanted my opinion!" she retorted. "I always knew you were a vile little bastard, but I never thought you would become so twisted that you would become a Death Eater! Harry knew! Tried to tell us, but no! For some stupid reason, I thought you had a small dose of decency left in you, and I was so wrong-
"First time for-
"And you turned into what everyone expected," she ignored him, pulling away and pacing a few angry steps to the side. "Follower to Voldemort and pathetic excuse for a human, because you couldn't even do that right!"
He growled. There it was, being shoved in his face again; his failure. "Are you quite done?"
She sent him a fierce scowl, and he noted it was so much more intense than any look she'd ever dared to flash him before. Good. Getting her all riled up was bloody hilarious.
"You are sick and spiteful," she hissed, feeling her magic crackle between them as she tried to steady her sparking emotions. "And you always will be, and I find that very sad. You want to know know what I feel for you? Pity. That you could allow yourself to become what you are."
Another guttural rumble quivered at the back on his throat. "Predictable as ever, Granger," he slurred. "Always convinced there's good in everyone-
"Not everyone," she hushed him, and she almost sounded forlorn. "Not you. Not any more."
"Well, at least you're learning not to set yourself up for disappointment," he shrugged his bored shoulders, cocking an eyebrow when she took some more steps away from him. "Where are you going?"
"Bed," she muttered, sparing him another golden-spiced glare. "I am done with this-
"Hold on now," he protested, marching to block her exit. "It's my turn-
"I thought I made it very clear," she mumbled past tense lips. "That I didn't care about your opinion of me-
"I didn't care about your opinion of me," he said slowly straightening his back to loom over her.
"But you asked-
"Because I thought it would be amusing," he revealed, indulging in a cruel smirk. "And I was right-
"I know how you feel about me," she argued, trying her hardest to act nonchalant. "Mudblood this, bookworm that. You're rather predictable yourself, Malfoy-
"I may surprise you."
Merlin curse her curiosity for shrouding her commonsense for the umpteenth time. "Fine," she grumbled, eyeing him warily and tightening the fingers coiled around her wand. "How do you feel about me, Malfoy?"
"You repulse me," he sneered with sudden hostility. "The fact that we have to breathe the same air makes me want to vomit. You're disgusting; a rancid smear across the Wizarding World. You don't deserve your magic-
"Repetitive nonsense," she forced her eyes to roll. "I'm going to bed. Move, or I'll make you-
"I'm just building up," he promised darkly, and something untamed and severe flared behind his stony eyes. She shifted her feet but refused to look away. Needed to keep eye-contact. Control.
"I don't-
"You know you don't deserve your magic," he continued, baring his ivory teeth in an accusing snarl. "And that's why you work so hard, isn't it? That's why you spend all your pathetic time studying-
"I happen to like reading-
"But you feel the need to prove yourself," Draco silenced her with a confident and condescending tone. "Because you know your magic isn't rightfully yours." Uncertainty mingled with honey, and he relished his victorious grin. "Because you know you're inferior."
Her lip twitched. His smirk stretched.
"And that's why it still kills you when I call you Mudblood," he finished with delicious smugness, bobbing his head with a proud nod. He could see that Gryffindor tenacity fighting to control her tongue, so he stepped aside and headed for is bedroom door, satisfied that she was suitably rattled. Well, at least the revolting Muggle-spawn had successfully managed to provide some entertainment for this dull-as-dust day.
His fingers had just grazed the brass of the door-handle when there was hot push against his spine, propelling him forward. He smacked head-first into the adjacent wall and released a grunt of discomfort as he slid down the cold surface. The impact was still buzzing across his skin, but he knew the pain would replace it within a heartbeat or hum of breath.
He raised his head with every intention of charging Granger and smacking her into the wall, but he barely caught her blurred shape ghost into her room, before the shrill bite of a blunt door deafened him for a moment. The pain subsided after a few seconds; just a little bump to his head and an ache in his back. He quickly gathered himself to his feet and his eyes did a slow scan of the room, his dilated pupils focussing on the bookshelves again.
Ah yes, his previous distraction before the Mudblood had returned.
He had always been good with numbers, and had decided that counting would be the thing to keep him sane.
Granger had one-hundred and one books in her sitting room; fifty-six of which were black, forty red, three blue and two green. Across all the spines were a total of four-hundred-and-sixty words, excluding the authors' names. He had double-checked this and stored the information away in his head, and Draco's stare recommenced roaming around the room; searching for his next counting project for tomorrow. His next sanity-preserving task.
But his eyes automatically fell to her door, and he felt the rage bristle along the fine hairs coating his body and sink into his pores. Entertaining or not, the girl made his temper churn. He would find something else to count tomorrow.
.
Hermione slumped against the door and hastily murmured the silencing charms before she released a gargled sob. Dear Merlin, she hated him. Hated him! She roughly smudged away her treacherous tears and stumbled on shaky legs as she made her way to her bed.
She was denied a blink of sleep all night, and the witch's anger at the slimy Slytherin niggled at her until the birds came with the navy morning. She despised the birds.
And that was day one.
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