Harry's Downfall

Trickery and Deceit

r & r please

italics

means thinking!

WARNING!!!! DO NOT READ THIS STORY IF YOU WANT HARRY TO WIN, BECAUSE, I’M WARNING YOU, HE WON’T!!!!

I do not own Harry Potter, or Draco, or Hermione, or Ron, or… well… you get the picture. I, however, do own Terra Delain, as she is a character from my imagination.

Chapter 6 ~ Misunderstandings

Terra did not know what to do. She could burn the note and forget anything ever happened, she could return the note, or she could tell Harry Potter and the Famous Trio. But which one to choose was the hard part. Then came the even harder part, should she do the morally right thing, or the one that would most benefit her? I don't know what to do! Wouldn't it embarrass Draco to death if I returned a letter that talked about his 'pathetic attempts to charm the Delain witch'. Or maybe it wouldn't.

She lounged about the Common Room. It was Saturday so she did not have anything to worry about until Monday, since all her homework (including that 2 foot long essay on the uses of Monkshood) was finished. Deciding to look for Draco, she opened a door and walked into the Slytherin Common Room. Since both Head Girl and Head Boy were in Slytherin, only one door was needed to instantly take them to their house Common Room. However, only the Head Boy and Head Girl could open the door.

Walking into her old Common Room, the other occupants of the room looked at her because she was hardly ever in there, even when she actually lived in the dorms. Her chocolatey eyes flicked around the room, obviously looking for someone when Pansy walked up to her. She opened up her mouth to speak when Terra held up a hand to her mouth, "I did not come here to listen to rambling idiots."

She turned beet red. "Yeah..." she stuttered, "well... at least I'm not... a, um, uh, a Mudblood's whore!"

Terra turned to look at her ugly classmate and smirked. "At least I don't try to be Draco's whore."

Pansy looked as though she could kill Terra. "So you are his whore?"

Her eyes flickered green as she looked at Pansy. "Why? Are you jealous?"

Neither of them had noticed Draco standing slightly in the shadows of the hallway that goes to the door of the Common Room with his arms crossed. He watched their spat with interest.

Terra frowned. "You haven't answered my question. Are you jealous?"

"Why would I be jealous of a little slut?" she growled.

Moving close to Pansy, she whispered, "Because I can have any guy that I want, including your Draco." With that, she turned and went back to her Common Room.

Although she had whispered, everyone in the Common Room had been quiet enough to hear it. Pansy looked up to see Draco smirking at her from his position across the room. She let out a sob and ran to her room, locking the door. All eyes were on him as he crossed the room to follow Terra.

When he got there, Terra was sitting on the floor in front of the fireplace with a scrap of parchment in her hand. She slid it into a pocket as he neared. He sat down on the floor next to her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. He always trys to pull stuff like this, but he knows that it doesn't affect me, she thought.

"How did you become my whore without my knowing it?" he asked.

She shrugged. "You're pretty thick I guess."

He grinned and lightly brushed his lips on her neck. "If you're my whore, why haven't I even received a single kiss?"

"Because you're pathetic attempts to charm me haven't worked," Terra stated.

Draco pulled slightly away from her, trying to seem unaffected by her words.

She smiled. "What's the matter? Is daddy not pleased with you?"

He jumped up and fumbled for his books. Flipping through them, he quickly became frantic. Terra seemed hardly affected when he glared at her. "What the fuck did you do with it?" he screamed.

"With what? Daddy's letter?"

He roughly pulled her to her feet. "How did you get it you pilfering little bitch?"

She shook her head at him. "I didn't steal it. You dropped it."

"Nonsense," he huffed, "I don't drop things."

The smile left her face and her eyes changed to green. "Then give me Veritaserum. I don't care. I did not steal it."

He reached into his pocket and withdrew his wand. Waving it in her face, he threatened her, "Give me the letter."

Terra snickered. "You think you have much of a threat? How do you know I haven't told Ginny? Or Harry? They could know of this little attempt to get close to him and they can easily prevent it. What could you do to that?"

"But you didn't."

She looked at him. "What would make you say that?"

It was his turn to snicker. "I was a breakfast up until that little fight with Pansy and I did not see you there at all."

"Ah yes. But see, Draco, that's the wonder of having a window and an owl in your room."

"You wouldn't," he growled.

She raised an eyebrow. "Why wouldn't I?" Circling him, she continued, "You couldn't possibly have anything to offer me that I already haven't had. What do I have to gain from helping you?"

"What do you have to lose?"

"Dignity. Respect. After all, I would be stooping so low as to help a Malfoy. Besides, wasn't it you who told me that you never need help?"

He frowned. "You wouldn't be helping me, you stupid bitch. You'd be helping yourself. I mean really, my family was much higher in the ranks than yours, I can easily ask for you to be killed, and nobody would hesitate."

Her light, airy mood instantly darkened as she whipped out her wand and waved it menacingly in Draco's face. "What the hell would you know about my family? They served Voldemort fearlessly, and what did it get them? Nothing! Don't start with me about Voldemort and his inner circle, I couldn't give a flying fuck and I am not scared of him."

"Don't piss me off, Terra," he drawled.

She shook her head as she walked up to the portrait to her bedroom. "No, Draco. Don't piss me off."

Draco stormed out of their Common Room and ran off to find the Famous Trio.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Harry had piled his plate up with eggs and was starting to dig in when an envelope dropped onto the table in front of him. He looked up to see a small owl flying away. Curious, he pulled open the envelope and read:

Harry ~ Pass the note around to the other Prefects... I wish to hold another meeting about the Yule Ball. We need to do more planning now that we have the date set up for it. I would tell the rest of them myself, but my hand is already tired and I cannot make other copies of this, so it would be very helpful. The meeting is right after lunch in the DADA room. Make sure everybody is there.

Terra

He turned to Ginny and Hermione who sat there gaping at his plate. "There's a meeting today after lunch in the DADA room to make more preparations for the Yule Ball. Can you tell the other Prefects when you see them?"

Ginny and Hermione nodded silently and went back to picking at their own breakfasts.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Draco sprinted through the hallways searching for the Dream Team. He just had to know if any of them got a letter from Terra. Only slightly winded, he found them coming out of the library, with Hermione carrying three large, heavy books. "Hey Potty, did you get a letter from Terra?"

Harry glared at him suspiciously, "Yeah."

Draco turned on his heels and ran back to the Common Room. He closed his eyes and walked up to the snake portrait, pounding on it. "Terra! Get the fuck out of your room! I know you sent Potter a letter this morning, now get the fuck out here!"

The portrait dissolved to reveal her standing there with her arms crossed. "You pounded?"

He grabbed her neck and pulled her out of the hallway, allowing the picture to reappear. Shoving her against the wall, he whispered menacingly, "Do you know what you have just fucking done? I could be killed!"

Being pinned to the wall had not phased her, she smiled maliciously. "Pity. I'll miss you."

He yelled and picked up her bookbag and threw it across the room. Turning back to her, he said, "You..."

"Did you even think to ask what was written in that letter?" she interrupted.

Draco stared at her in disbelief, "You sold me out! What more is there to know?"

She tried her best not to laugh. "That there's a Prefects meeting this afternoon in the DADA room."