MARVEL [draco malfoy]

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven: How the Story Begins.

~*~

The sun was well up in the sky when Emma awoke the next day. It was the first Sunday of term, and she was looking forward to a quiet stroll beside the lake by herself, and then the completion of her homework. Pansy wasn't in the bedroom when Emma woke up, but there was a note left behind that told her she was going to be at the volleyball game some of the older students were playing beside the lake. Well, there goes her stroll.

While Emma took a shower, she thought about home, about Nelly, and about everything else. And when she got out, she realized that she'd woken up in a good mood yet again. As she dressed herself in a deep maroon round-necked t-shirt, and dark wash jeans with white converse, all thoughts of what happened yesterday were gone from her mind, and all thoughts of Draco Malfoy, the boy who hated everyone, were also gone.

But that only lasted until Emma was stepping down the stairs to an empty common room. The fire in the hearth wasn't burning, but the air still seemed a little warm. It was one of the last days of the fleeting summer. Hogwarts would only be cold from now on. Emma decided then and there that she liked it better when the common room was empty, so she made a quick run to the great hall, and got herself some food, before she came back to the still-empty common room.

Emma found it odd that every single person in Slytherin had decided to go to the game, when it really wasn't that big of a deal, but she didn't think too much about it. Instead she settled on one of the chairs in front of the large window, with a book she'd pulled down from one of the shelves. It was a novel titled, 'Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher' written by a Muggle author, and Emma was infinitely surprised to find it in the small library inside of the Slytherin common room.

But without further ado, she flipped the novel open to the first page, and began a reading session that she was certain would last throughout her breakfast.

And it truly did, Emma had finished her breakfast sandwich long before she'd even read half of the book. In fact, she'd only gotten to the part where Jeremy finds out that the marble he bought from the 'Magic' shop isn't really a marble, when a voice called for her attention, and she looked up from her book.

She could've expected anyone in front of her, but not Draco Malfoy. And that's exactly who she got. He was standing a few feet away from the table, where she sat, and he looked a little disheveled. His hair was all kinds of messed up, and he was wearing a striped long-sleeved shirt with pajama pants, and Emma assumed that he'd only just woken up. To anyone who hadn't been observing Malfoy with a hawk's eye would have thought he looked like a normal, harmless pre-teen boy. But not her, she knew he was hateful as all hell.

"Hi." he said, rubbing his eyes. "Where's everyone?"

Behind him, Emma finally noticed that the common room was still empty, save for the two of them. "Hi. I'm not too sure, but Pansy left a note that said the older students were having a big volleyball game down by the lake, and that she was going there. I'm assuming everyone's there."

"Hm." he replied, nodding slowly. Then he began to walk away, "thanks."

Emma didn't reply to him, and didn't call after him either, she didn't need to. Instead, she dog-eared her book and closed it. She intended to take it up to her dormitory, right after she returned her plate to the great hall. As she carried the plate towards the portrait hole, she noticed that Draco had gone back up to the dormitories, if the door swinging shut was any indication.

So she was a little surprised when she returned and saw him flicking through the book she'd left on the table. He was dressed now, instead of the long-sleeved shirt, he was wearing round-necked white t-shirt, and jeans. She stopped in the pathway of the portrait hole, frowning. Apparently, Malfoy hadn't heard her approach, so she began making her way towards the girls' dormitories, rather than towards the book.