Connected

Draco had not had a good night. As soon as Scorpius' dot had disappeared behind the trees and clouded sky he had crawled into bed, shut his eyes and tried to relax, but his insides were so tangled up with horror at what he'd just done and he soon gave up the idea. Sleep was not going to work tonight, he thought resignedly. Instead he just lay there looking up at the flickering stars on his ceiling which his mother had charmed when he was little, they had lulled him to sleep so many times before, why couldn't it work tonight too... But Draco couldn't get rid of that creeping, gnawing feeling that somehow, someway, someone had decoded the letter and tomorrow would be his final day on this earth. He suddenly felt incredibly stupid, for what was he risking it all for anyway? Just a chance meeting with a boy he hated who might, just might have the answers he needed; stupid, stupid. He rolled over and picked up his wand from the side table; the law stated that he couldn't use magic until he was of age, but how would they know? This was his father's house after all...

The stars danced and swirled before his eyes as he flicked his wand this way and that, forming together then falling apart again like twirls of smoke. After a while he set his wand back down on the table, and all the stars flicked back into their gentle orbits.

* * *
“Draco? Draco?”

Draco grunted and rolled over, my eyes staying firmly shut.

“Draco if you don't get up this instant I will perform the Aguamenti charm all over you,” the voice said in a more authoritative voice. She definitely wasn't going to give up easily this time.

He opened one eye hesitantly, frowning slightly; seeing his mum's pale face grinning down at him.

“Wake up sleepyhead!” she chuckled.

“Whatimezit?”

“Half twelve, and we have luncheon with the Crawfords today, so you need to be dressed in half an hour.”

At this piece of news Draco fell back down on my bed with another massive groan. How could he have forgotten, lunch with the Crawfords, and a whole two hours of the scintillating company of their daughter. His mother always denied any scheming on her part, but he knew she was mostly responsible for the amount of visits to the Crawfords, and the scary amount of time he had to spend with Charlotte, possibly the most boring and unlikeable person in the entire world. Apart from Potter, but then you could hardly call Potter boring, a selfish prick, a melodramatic arse but not boring. That was another problem with Charlotte, she never failed to remind him of the boy he hated most in the entire world.

Once Draco had mulled on the similarities of hate and love, which he thought, were virtually the same sentiment, just dressed up in a different guise. He considered whether his obsessive hatred of Potter actually meant he was concealing a passionate desire for him, but since this idea had made him physically sick as soon as he'd thought it he really didn't think that that was the case. But the group of Gryffindor girls that never failed to show up and giggle raucously whenever he said anything to Potter, -even if he just asked him to pass the salamander blood- really didn't help. They had attached themselves to Potter in fifth year although the disgustingly selfish fool didn't seem to mind them.

“Twenty minutes Draco!” his mum yelled from somewhere and he groggily pulled himself up, then a wave of dizziness hit him and he froze, eyes watchful and blank- but it wasn't the right kind, he'd just got up too quickly. He let out a flood of breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. The sooner he sorted out this issue the better.

By the time he'd had a shower, dressed in a shirt and jeans and combed his hair a soft knock at the door proclaimed that it was time to face the demons.

“Come in?” he said distracted.

A small deft looking girl with messy brown hair tied in a loose bun peered around the door. The half-blood servant girl Sarah, mudbloods were cheaper of course but his mother couldn't stand the sight of them. Her skin was a tanned olive, not deathly pale as everyone's seemed to be in this house thought Draco inconsequentially.

“Yes, are my parents waiting for me Sarah?

She smiled nervously. “Yes Sir, Mr. And Mrs. Malfoy are waiting downstairs for you and Mr. Malfoy wanted me to tell you that if you keep them waiting any longer he'll come up to your room himself Sir.”

Draco grinned, “ well, I suppose I'd better get down there then. And don't call me Sir, I have a name for a reason you know.”

“But I must call you Sir, to remember my place,” she said with a grin.

“Why don't you sit down and forget your place for a while then?” Draco replied smiling.

He was fully aware that he was flirting with a half-blood, he was also fully aware that he didn't care in the slightest. There was no harm in it, Sarah would lose her job if she told anyone so he was safe.

“Not now Sir, your parents are waiting,” she said, her voice quavering.

“Of course.”

“DRACO, IF YOU DO NOT COME DOWN THIS MINUTE I SWEAR I'LL-” but the rest of the sentence was drowned out in placating noises from Narcissa Malfoy.

“I think that's my cue to leave,” Draco chuckled and he left the room, Sarah following him and closing the door.