Artificial Love (Dramione)

Chapter 2 - The Leadup

The next morning, the Slytherin common room was abuzz with activity. Tryouts for Quidditch took place after classes, and nearly everyone would be there, whether it be for watching or trying out for the team.

Draco had a double herbology class that morning, but after that he had a free period. Since he hadn't been on his broom at all in the past week, he had been planning on taking it out for a practice run. It never hurt to get ahead of the others, and once everyone else arrived for tryouts, he would be all warmed up and ready to go.

He made his way down to breakfast without a word to anyone, even though the entirety of Slytherin house was abuzz with gossip. It seemed that people were already placing bets on who would make it onto the team that year.

"I reckon Flint will have an easy time ratting out the phonies this year. We'll probably just have the same team as last year. Barely any of them graduated."

"There's that second year that's been showing off a bunch this year; the one with all the freckles and the dreadlocks. I've heard he's trying for seeker." That comment caught Draco's attention, and he turned to the side so that he could better hear the two fifth-years conversing off to his left.

"He's descended from a long line of professional quidditch players, from what I've heard. But just because it's in his blood, that doesn't mean he's automatically a prodigy."

Right, Draco thought to himself, but I'd better keep my eye out for the little twerp either way. I won't be taking any chances.

Sure, his father had stepped in last year to help him get his spot on the team. But that was only because it was nearly impossible for second years to get on the team unless they were basically prodigal or rich enough to throw cash in everyone's faces. Draco fit into that second category, buying the entire team the newest and fastest brooms at the time. But now that Draco was a third year, he was sure he would be able to get in with talent alone.

It also helped that he had been on the team the year before, and his teammates had grown to accept that Draco actually knew what he was doing when it came to Quidditch.

He grabbed a piece of toast and stared off into space as he munched on it, thinking about the possibilities for the Quidditch season. Gryffindor had particularly strong beaters in the Weasley twins, and their captain would be trying extra hard to beat out the other teams since it would be his last year at Hogwarts. Their chasers were average by the standards of a Malfoy, but it was Harry Potter that worried him the most.

But it seemed as if Potter would be going through another difficult year at Hogwarts, judging by his encounter with dementors on the train ride to school. Another adventure would keep him busy; maybe even busy enough to disregard quidditch and give Slytherin the chance to beat his team and the rest of the school as well.

Ravenclaw was always pretty good since they knew the best plays to make and were always twenty steps ahead of everyone else. However, even intelligence could be beaten out with a surplus of skill. They wouldn't be much of a hassle, as always.

Hufflepuff had been done alright for the past few years, but they would be getting a new captain this year, and from what Draco had deducted, no one really accepted the new leadership. That would play a part in tearing the team apart. And, of course, if the team had no teamwork, they definitely wouldn't be able to beat people bent to beat them.

Draco took quidditch very seriously. He took his studies seriously and, of course, he did wonderfully in school. But quidditch was in a close second in importance to him, because when he was in the sky, he could fly away from all the problems of the world. Quidditch pulled on his competitive strings, which were much more plentiful in him than could be found in the average fourteen-year-old student.

It soon came time for the beginning of herbology, and Draco found himself going through the motions of class. They had been working on getting to better understand the way a rhododendron acted when in the presence of muggles compared to wizards or witches for the past few classes.

His group had already figured out the differences; it was quite simple, really. Amongst magical people, the flower could change colors all across the spectrum. When muggles were present, in terms of the colors of the rhododendron, they would see a pure white or a pink. The white was because the muggles couldn't handle the rapid change, and so all the bright colors blended together into a white. The pink usually occurred because rhododendron usually opted for a bright red coloring in front of magical beings, and sometimes the red would overpower the other colors for muggles, thus tinting the white into a slightly redder or pinker hue.

It was elementary, really. Even a muggle could figure it out; well, that is if they knew it was actually happening right under their noses.

Draco looked over to his left, where Potter, Weasel, and Granger were working. Granger seemed to be fighting with them about something. Draco shamelessly listened in, not caring if he was caught.

"You didn't get anything done while I was out, did you? This is simple, you guys! You need to start studying more! I don't even know why Professor Sprout gave us multiple days to figure this one out." She went on to say the exact same explanation that Draco had figured out already.

Weasel scratched his head, "Well, I guess it's possible."

"What confuses me is how that's possible. Can anything just be accepted outright in the wizarding world, with the explanation of just 'magic'?" Granger had gone above and beyond, as always. She had already answered the question after only one class of gathering evidence, and now she was jumping the gun and asking yet another question.

Draco rolled his eyes. What an overachiever.

He turned back to his own seat, bored with the Golden Trio. Granger had been missing for the past few classes, and Draco, of course, had noticed how little work ethic the other two had without her egging them on. What would they do without her?

It felt like forever before it finally came time to pack up and the students were released.

It was finally time to fly.