by Aurora Lynn Rose

A/N Not a Draco softie fic, not a Draco angst fic, not a Draco slash fic. Just a fic involving Draco. I think chapter 1 is a bit boring, but it will get more exciting, dun worry.

Everything was silent in the Malfoy Manor; everything but the clock. Draco rubbed his forehead in frustration at the tedious ticking. His father was reclining in his favorite chair reading the Daily Prophet. Both Malfoys sported identical looks of concentration; a moment later the expression was wiped off of their pale faces when a loud rapping at the door interrupted the quiet. Lucius glanced at a painting that depicted the front door of their house and swore.

“Damn it all, Draco, it’s the Weasel! I didn’t expect him so early… ah well, take that box down to the study, will you? I have some business to take care of.”

With this Lucius swept out of the library to answer the door, and Draco quickly obeyed. He could hear his father’s composed but impolite greeting as he shut the trapdoor in the living room floor. Whipping out his wand, he performed the spell that would seal the secret study from all outsiders. Once this was accomplished, he placed the box of illegal books in the dark corner and walked over to the fireplace. Above him he could hear footsteps and voices. A wand tapped the floor accompanied by a string of incantations. Draco smirked.

Idiot, he thought, You’ve overlooked Father’s study for years… what makes you think you’ll find it now?

As he prepared to step into the empty fireplace, his elbow brushed up against something on the shelf next to him. To his horror, it started to fall. With a colorful phrase and lightning quick reflexes that he never seemed to possess during Quidditch matches, he caught the spherical object. For a split second, blinding white light filled Draco’s vision, followed by a blazing red eye. However, a moment later everything returned to normal and Draco decided he must have imagined it. Anyway, no one upstairs had seemed to take note of the event, and that was all that mattered. Draco shook himself and gently placed the red and black orb on its shelf. With the stealth of a lone wolf in the night, he exited through the secret passageway that led into his own bedroom.

~*~

Dinner that night was pretty normal, considering the three-person family sat at a table fit for 100, and their waiters and chefs were tiny pillowcase-clad house-elves. The clinking of silver against china and crystal served as their dinner music, occasionally accompanied by a cough or a suppressed burp. Conversation was not an option until after dessert.

“So, Draco dear,” his mother started between sips of tea, “Are you looking forward to school on Wednesday?”

“Of course,” came the mechanical response.

“And I assume that your homework is all finished,” his father stated. Not a question, a statement.

“Yes, Father,” Draco answered. Except for that Divination chart that I’ve got to finish on the train, Draco added mentally, but you don’t need to know about that, do you, Father dear?

The talk turned to Draco’s appointed goals for the year: How he was going to win the House and Quidditch cups, how he was going to excel in every class, how he was going to torment as many Mudbloods as possible without getting in trouble. Well, at least he could easily live up to one expectation.

Draco tried not to leap and twirl out of the dining room when he was dismissed for to get ready for bed. He took his time performing each task and almost tripped over his packed school trunk on the way to his four-poster. Slowly he drifted into sleep. Suddenly, a flash of white light invaded the peace of his dreamless state, and a blazing red eye loomed before him, threatening to wake him up. But, it went as quickly as it had come and was soon forgotten.

A/N Was it too boring? HEY! Wake up! Grr. Like I said, it’ll get better. So shush with ya.