At First Sight

Whoever didn't believe in love at first sight was a fool, Draco Malfoy thought bitterly, as he watched an all too familiar red head disappear around a corner with a pang that had become second nature to him. A damn lucky fool. Draco had been in love with Ginny Weasley since the moment he first laid eyes on her. And all it had done was make his life a living hell.

He had been only eleven then, too young to fall in love. Oh, if only that were true. It was his first day at Hogwarts. He was sitting on the train, shifting restlessly in his seat, ready to be off. That was when a glimpse of fiery red had caught his eye out the window. And it had happened, just like that. A little girl, she was ten then, stood on the platform, clutching her mother's hand.

"Oh, Mom, can I go on the train and see him, Mom, oh please..."

Harry Potter. That had been whom she was talking about--she clearly idolized him. And Draco hated him immediately. Sure he had defeated the Dark Lord, but what did an eleven-year-old care about that? She liked him, and that was all that mattered. Still, he had used the Dark Lord as a cover up when he had tried to make friends with Potter. He wasn't about to tell him the real reason. Really he couldn't have cared less about the Dark Lord, he was just acting instinctively on a vague notion that if he could become close to Potter, he could get close to her. He had burned with jealousy when they were pulling out of the station and she chased the train, laughing and crying. He had thought she was crying for Potter.

He hadn't even known her name until second year. That year had been one of the worst. Her adoration of Potter was glaringly apparent. The first time he saw her was at Flourish and Blotts when he was buying his books for the year. She had been with Potter. Of course. He had had to talk to her. The image of her running after the train--the only time he had ever seen her--had haunted him for an entire year. On the pretense of taunting Potter, he had gone over to her. The first thing she had ever said to him had been an angry defense of Harry. That had hurt. He had tried to cover up the pain and jealousy her words had caused.

"Potter, you've got yourself a girlfriend!"

They didn't know how much it cost him to say that. He couldn't bring himself to actually sneer at her. Then Weasley had come up and he had known that she was his sister and he had hated Weasley twice as much after that. A Malfoy should hate a Weasley, they were poor muggle-lovers--every thing the Malfoy's stood against. But he could not hate her, so he hated him, again.

On Valentines Day, when someone had sent Harry a musical valentine, he had known immediately who that "someone" was. It had been painful to laugh, but what choice did he have? The valentine was horrible, but if it had been for him, he would have cherished it. He couldn't resist yelling after her that Potter hadn't liked it. Partly because he hurt and wanted her to hurt too, because that was the way he had been brought up to think, and partly because he wanted her to see that Potter was not worth it. But she had covered her face and run away and his heart broke. He wished Harry had not stopped Ron from cursing him, or better yet, hauling off and punching him. He had deserved it.

When the Chamber of Secrets was opened, Draco had naturally been thrilled. What Malfoy wouldn't like to see a little Mudblood torture, after all? It had almost killed him when he learned Ginny had been taken into the Chamber. Then Potter had rescued her, and he had never hated him so much. After that she not only adored Potter, she worshipped him. But that was not the worst part. He was thankful to Potter. And he could not stand that.

After that, he had tried to avoid any actual confrontations with her, Virginia--the most beautiful name he had ever heard. But he watched her constantly, and he hated himself for it. Draco hated a lot of people.

And now it was his seventh year. His last chance to keep doing absolutely nothing to get the only girl he could ever love...