Then He Opened His Mouth
Blackmail on the Hogwarts Express
Blail oil on the Hogwarts Express
It had been a week since I had received the blackmail attempt from whom I could only assume was one of Harry\'s friends. I\'ll admit it, at first I was caught off guard when I got the letter, and felt as though my future happiness was being threatened. It was a horrifying thought, and for all of a moment I had even considered walking away from this astonishing thing that for me, has grown from enmity into a burgeoning romance. But after giving it signifigant contemplation, I became absolutely infuriated. There was no way I was going to sit idly by and allow myself to be threatened out of what I felt was the most incredible thing to happen to me ever.
Odds were not in the Weasel\'s favour as being the author, as he simply lacked the intelligence to figure out that \'Glenn deWedlour\' was an anagram for \'Dungeon Dweller\'. No, my money was on Granger. The reasons that Granger would stoop to blackmail eluded me, however. And signing it \'A Lusty Offer,Own\Own\' was truly pathetic, in my opinion. What did she think she was playing at anyway? I wasn\'t sure, but I was not about to buy into her little game. It would be a cold day in hell before a mudblood got the best of a Malfoy. Not if I had anything to say about it, anyway.
So it was with this attitude that I stood on Platform 9 3/4 waiting to board The Hogwarts Express the morning of September 1st. Granger had to know that her threat did not scare me in the least, so I had something planned that would make that clear to her. Although I had serious doubts that she would even follow through on her threat. It was time to put that theory to a test.
The train slowly began filling with students, and it wasn\'t too long before I saw Harry arrive in the company of the Weasel and the little blackmailing, mudblood bitch. Harry looked wonderful, and I noticed him scanning the platform, no doubt looking for \'Glenn.\' I caught Granger\'s eye and sneered at her, just so she knew that I knew what she had done. She had the good sense to pale and look quickly away, but not before I saw something else register on her face. Bloody fucking hell! \'A Lusty Offer, My Own\' indeed. The bitch was jealous! She wanted me for herself and couldn\'t stand the fact that it was Harry I d fod for, Harry I desired and only Harry I wanted to be with.
I quietly boarded the train, taking my seat in the prefect\'s compartment, trying to keep an eye on Harry and his friends. I looked out of the window at the clock on the station wall. Quarter of eleven. It wouldn\'t be much longer now, and I had a feeling that I would soon find out if Granger was serious about her threat or not. Right on cue, Psyche swooped in with a letter, heading directly for Harry. His beautiful smile spread across his face, lighting up his eyes as he took the letter in his hand. Psyche perched herself on Harry\'s shoulder as though the two were old friends, and he gave her a treat before she departed for Hogwarts, where she would wait for me in the owlery, per my instruction.
I pretended to be reading a book as my little owl delivered the message to Harry, but there was no way I could miss the absolutely nefarious look that the Granger bitch threw in my direction once the letter had been given to Harry. This completely confirmed my suspicions that she was the author of the poison pen letter I had received just a week prior. She couldn\'t have picked a worse person to cross, and I relished the thought of having a good, long talk with her. I wasn\'t the progeny of Lucius Malfoy for nothing, you know.
I did have to smile as I watched my Harry smiling broadly as he read my letter, and the thought crossed my mind that this was going to be a very good year.
Ron, \'Mione and I got to Platform 9 3/4 twenty minutes before The Hogwarts Express was scheduled to depart for our journey back to school. Although things at the Dursley\'s had gone relatively smoothly for the most part, I was glad to finally be heading back to what I considered to be my only true homeHogwarts. Of course it didn\'t hurt that Glenn was on his way to Hogwarts as well, he might even be on the train right now. I scanned the platform to see if I noticed anyone who looked as though they could be watching me, but saw nothing or no-one out of the ordinary. Malfoy was already here, but he was on the train and absorbed in a book, which helped dispel any thoughts I had concerning the possibility of him being Glenn.
I was beginning to wonder if I might never hear from Glenn again when Psyche flew into the station with a letter, which she gave to me. My heart soared, and I looked around again for anyone who might be the mysterious Mr. deWedlour, without any luck. It didn\'t matter though, as he had sent me a message before we left for Hogwarts and I couldn\'t be more pleased. I reached into my pocket for a snack for Psyche, whom had come to rest on my shoulder. She accepted it, then flew away, leaving me to wonder where she was going and if Glenn was there waiting for her. I hurriedly boarded the train because I couldn\'t wait to read Glenn\'s latest letter.
Ron had saved a compartment for us, so I took a seat next to him and began to read the parchment that I had juscievcieved. Glenn\'s words brought a smile to my face, and I had a feeling that he was close by and could see how happy his letter had made me.
To My Dearest Harry,
Even though I have not stepped forward to reveal myself to you yet, it does not mean that you are not in my thoughts constantly. I have a really good feeling about this year, don\'t you?
I\'m just waiting until the time is right...
Your Glenn
I thought for sure that my letter to Malfoy would dissuade him from persuing Harry any futher, but apparently I was mistaken. Why couldn\'t he understand that it just would not do for him to be involved with Harry? My objection wasn\'t that they were both male, that made little or no difference to me, to be honest. My main concern was that this was HARRY that Malfoy was interested in. Malfoy, whose father was a Death-Eater known to have tried to hurt Harry on any number of occasions and, given the opportunity, may do so again. Yes, even in Azkaban, the elder Malfoy could definitely pose a threat to Harry\'s safety, so I simply could not allow this to continue. Of course, there was that little voice in the back of my mind that told me that this reasoning was a load of codswallop, and that I was just being selfish. Selfish, because I had decided that I wanted the blonde Slytherin for myself. Part of me felt bad for trying to sabotoge Harry\'s happiness, but what about mine? Didn\'t I deserve the chance to be happy as well?
I was the last one to board the train. Being a prefect this term, I wanted to make a quick tour to make sure everything was in order before I went to the prefects compartment. I saw Ron and Harry as I passed the compartment they were seated in, noticing that Harry was reading the letter that Malfoy had just sent him, a dreamy smile upon his face. Ron was just sitting there, looking at me with the strangest expression on his face. I gave them a quick wave, and continued on my way up the aisle toward the prefect compartment, which was occupied by none other than Draco Malfoy.
Malfoy was the only person seated in the compartment at the time; his toadies congregated in another area with the rest of the 6th year Slytherins. I red red the compartment a bit warily and sat down opposite him, and began to get worried when he performed both locking and silencing charms on the room.
\"Granger.\" Malfoy\'s lips curled in a sneer as he addressed me in that haughty manner of his. I was determined to remain calm and not be intimidated by him today, but there was a sick dread settling deep in the pit of my stomach, and I got the feeling that he knew that I had sent him that letter last week.
\"Malfoy.\" My voice did not betray what I was feeling inside, although I was not so sure that my face did not tet\'st\'s own story. He remained quiet for the longest time, just loo at at me as if there was something he wanted to say.
Then he opened his mouth.
\"I know it was you, Granger, so don\'t even try to deny it.\" I began to shake then, because he did know, and I was afraid of what he might do. \"I can\'t imagine why you would try to blackmail me out of caring for Harry. You\'re supposed to be one of his best friends, yet you want to take away the one thing that has made him happier than he\'s been in ages. Look at him, Granger!\"
I turned to look back at Harry, who appeared to be lost in his own little world, and I knew that he must be thinking about Malfoy, even if he was not yet aware that it was Malfoy he was dreaming about. I felt a rush of shame for thinking that I could interfere with Harry\'s happiness. I turned back around to face Malfoy. \"How do I know that you are not out to hurt Harry? Or worse still, gain his confidence only to turn him over to Voldemort or his followers?\" I was shocked when he appeared hurt by my accusations.
He slammed the book he\'d been reading as I had entered shut. The sound it made startled me even though I had seen it coming. \"Let me get this straight, Granger.\" His voice was dangerously low and sinister. \"You think that I am doing all of this in order to hurt Harry, or to turn him over to Death-Eaters? That\'s rich, coming from you, his so-called best friend.\" His eyes narrowed as he looked at me, and I could feel waves of anger radiating off of him. I watched as his grip on the book tightened until his knuckles were a bright white. \"The best friend, I might add, who\'s blackmailing me so I will stop contacting him. Didn\'t you stop to think that your actions might hurt him worse than I cou could? Now who do you suppose he would be more upset with, Granger? Me, for breaking things off with him, or you for blackmailing me to stay away from him? And for what?\" His eyebrow raised considerably as he continued speaking. \"Some misguided attempt at what you consider protecting him, or is it really because you are jealous of him and want me all for yourself?\"
His words slid home like a sharp knife, twisting cruelly inside me and I realised how utterly thoughtless and selfish I had been. \"I\'m sorry, I just thought...\"
\"No! That\'s the problem, you didn\'t bother to think! You just acted without giving a thought to Harry or his happiness. Look, I am going to be brutally honest with you now, Granger. There could never, ever be anything between us, and it has nothing to do with bloodlines or any of that crap. I fancy blokes, all right?\" He closed his eyes then, and took a breath and hrip rip on the poor, abused book lessene\"No\"No, that\'s not entirely true. There\'s only one bloke I fancy.\" He opened his eyes and fixed them on me. \"Certainlgirlgirl as smart as yourself can see that I\'m in love with him?\"
As soon as he said it, I knew it was the truth. Draco Malfoy, sworn enemy to all things Gryffindor, was in love with Harry Potter.
TBC