Innocence That I Hold Dear

Innocence That I Hold Dear

Chapter 1

Draco stood half-naked in front of his mirror to study his masculine features. He looked with pride at his muscle-defined body to find that he was extremely good looking. He held no shame for admitting it to himself either. While flexing the muscles in his arms, Draco imagined himself being in a one-on-one fist fight with Harry Potter. He had been dreaming all summer of the immense satisfaction that would easily come to him if he could just pound that despicable Potter's face in one time and leave him to be incessantly jeered at by his fellow classmates. How great would it be to have "the boy who lived" be known as "the boy who was beaten senseless by the brave and invincible Draco Malfoy." That one thought kept him at ease all summer long.

The seventh and final year of Hogwarts was approaching and Draco knew that the time of their inevitable, physical confrontation would come and he would be waiting. Wands couldn't do what Draco was planning to do. Draco wanted to inflict pain on Harry with his own two hands and the time would come when it would surely happen.

He relaxed his muscles and turned away from the mirror, putting a black, silk shirt on. It was 11:00 at night and Draco was starting to get tired. He pulled back his dark green, satin sheets and climbed into bed. He blew out the lit candles on his nightstand and gazed out the window. The moon was full and the dark sky was pinpricked all over with bright stars. More thoughts about the upcoming year at Hogwarts began to stream endlessly through his mind. One thought in particular, however, seemed to trouble him. In all of his years at Hogwarts, he had never had a girlfriend. In all honesty, he never even considered the prospect of having a female companion until now. He knew many girls fancied him, but he never felt the slightest bit attracted to any of them. For a minute, it seemed strange to him that he never desired the company of his gorgeous admirers, but it soon occurred to him the reason why. They were all just too damned annoying, always following him around, babbling constantly about things too stupid to think about, and demanding attention every minute of the day. He didn't want that kind of girlfriend, but he realized that those were probably his only options.

"To hell with it." Draco thought out loud. He soon gave up on trying to think of women actually worth his time and went to sleep. Tomorrow, he would leave for Hogwarts.

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The next day at the train station, Draco boarded the Hogwarts Express and prepared himself for the long ride. He chose the compartment where Crabbe and Goyle were anxiously waiting for him, and he sat down opposite them. He really didn't want company right now, especially theirs. The last thing he needed was those two talking to him about how they managed to eat themselves full of cupcakes and how they tested each other to see which one could keep their food down the longest. It wasn't exactly a very intellectually stimulating conversation, but he decided to stay anyway. That was until they started talking about their interesting experiences with their extremely unattractive girlfriends over the summer. That was where he drew the line. He just didn't feel like picturing Crabbe and Goyle snogging all over their women. Finally having heard enough, Draco stood up and abandoned Crabbe and Goyle. He began walking at a fast pace through the aisle, trying to find a peacefully quiet retreat. While walking, he looked through each compartment hoping for a vacancy, but failed to find one. He stopped walking and turned around quickly before bumping heads with a frantic Hermione Granger.

"Ouch, watch where your going, Malfoy!"

Draco looked at her while rubbing the spot where his forehead was throbbing. He observed that her behavior towards him was more hostile now than it usually was. She always despised Draco. Especially ever since he started calling her a mudblood. However, she seemed really tense about something other than the mere presence of Draco.

"Get out of my way, now!" she demanded forcefully with an angry voice.

Draco looked at her eyes more closely and noticed that she had been crying, something that Draco had never seen her do before. The sad look in her eyes triggered an unfamiliar emotion in him. Sympathy. Whatever she had been crying about must have been really horrible. Even though Draco always looked down on her for being a mudblood and for associating with Harry Potter, he always recognized her for her ability to think quickly, absorb knowledge like a sponge, and stick up for her friends whenever they needed her. She was always strong no matter what, but now she seemed weak and vulnerable. For the first time around Hermione, he actually had nothing to say.

Instead, he stepped aside and watched her walk quickly past. He continued to stare her down until she was out of sight. Afterwards, he continued to walk back to the compartment where Crabbe and Goyle were. Only this time, when he returned, he found them both arm wrestling each other over a chocolate frog. Well, at least they weren't talking.

Draco was deeply wandering in his thoughts for the rest of the trip. He couldn't keep his mind off of Hermione. What had she been so upset about? He racked his brain for an answer, but didn't know her or her situation well enough to come up with a reasonable one. He actually felt genuinely sorry for her. He snapped back to reality and cursed himself under his breath.

"Draco, what the hell are you doing feeling sorry for a mudblood for? She is insignificant and doesn't belong in Hogwarts or around pure-bloods. Get a hold of yourself!"

He shook his head violently to try and rid himself of the sympathetic feelings he was feeling towards Hermione, but he couldn't. He moaned and leaned his head back against the wall, eyes tightly shut. What was he going to do? He had never had these feelings before and he wasn't sure what was going to happen. He shook his head again in disgust. His evil conscience was ringing in his ears.

"Terrific! Way to go Draco Malfoy. You've managed to care about the simplistic and boorish issues of a teenage mudblood. What do you have to say for yourself?

If your father ever found out you were feeling sorry for anyone, a muggle-born at that, he would disown you. Pretty soon, you'll be feeling sorry for Harry Potter and whatever is bothering him.

At this, Draco jerked up out of his seat and yelled so loud, it made Crabbe and Goyle stop arm wrestling and look at him quizzically.

"Me feel sorry for Potter? Yeah, when hell freezes over!"

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