Better Luck Next Time, Prince Charming

Chapter Two

Sweetheart, You Are Sadly Mistaken

"Oh God," Ginny groaned, shaking her head. "I'm not staying here with you all night. I'd rather reschedule my detention."

Draco chuckled softly and eyed her. "You can't reschedule a detention, you twit. Snape has specific instructions for you to follow tonight, and I will see to it that you do them."

Ginny glared at him. "Of course. I should have known he would pick his favorite," she snapped angrily. "What do I have to do? The sooner you tell me the sooner I can do it and leave your sight."

He stood and came toward her, a piece of parchment in his hand, and a scowl on his face. "You know, Weasley, you're really starting to get on my nerves. Just take this and do what's on the list, and leave me alone."

Ginny blinked at him, grabbed the paper that was shoved at her, and turned around. She looked around the room, found the first thing on the list, and then she groaned.

"I'm not doing that!" she said, whirling around to face Malfoy.

"It's just cleaning the tables," he snapped. "Why are you being so difficult?"

"Without magic! That'll take forever."

"Stop complaining and just do what you're told!" Malfoy snarled, dragging a hand aggravated down his face. It was like he was talking to a goddamned five-year-old. "Like you said, the sooner you're done with this, the sooner you can leave my sight."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Why did he pick you to be here?" She glanced at the bucket of water and the rag hanging from it. She bent down, scowling, and started to clean part of the table. "This is just degrading," she muttered.

"I thought this would be quite suiting for you, Weasley," he drawled, smirking. "And to answer your other question, Snape trusts me."

"That's it?" Ginny said, her eyes narrowing as she scrubbed one of the other legs of the table. "That's a horrible excuse."

"I think I'm a perfect substitute," he said, glaring at her. "I know far more about Potions than anyone else."

"Yeah, because you're Snape's pet," said Ginny angrily as she stood up. "You can never do anything wrong. It's disgusting how stupid he is to actually trust you."

Draco's lip twitched slightly and stepped closer to her, his fingers seizing a lock of her red hair, and pulling slowly. He smirked at the furious look she shot at him and let go. "Trust is valuable."

"You don't deserve it," she said, frowning slightly. She put her hair behind her ear and sighed. "You don't deserve anything."

He stared at her, his eyes widening.

She blinked at him, at his expression, and her hand flew to cover her mouth. "I'm sorry," she mumbled. "I didn't mean to hurt-"

"Hurt?" he said, chuckling. "Do you even know who you're talking to? I don't feel hurt by anything you say. Your words are worthless to me, just like your existence."

It was her turn to look startled.

"You're a bastard," she said quietly as she picked up her things. "You can clean this mess up on your own."

She left in tears before he had a chance to reply.

***

He stared at the ceiling of the Slytherin common room before he heard the entrance door open and two voices flooded in. He listened and gritted his teeth at the noises he witnessed. They, whoever they were, appeared to be drunk as they stumbled to the couch. He made a quick move to sit up, to give them privacy, when he stopped.

They stood with their hands around each other, their lips pressed against each other's in a passionate kiss. The boy had his hands on the girls back, and they were drifting lower. They hadn't heard him.

His gray eyes widened briefly then narrowed, and before he knew what had happened, he leapt up and seized the other boy, tackling him into the ground. He could hear the girl shrieking behind him and he cringed.

"What are you doing?" she said, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. "Draco, get off him!"

He stopped once he heard the satisfying crack of a broken nose. He turned his head slightly to the girl, his hair falling over his eyes, his voice hollow as he said, "We're done."

He slammed the door to the hallway shut and stalked down the corridor. He took a breath as he leaned against the wall and slammed his fist into the granite, a hiss escaping his throat as he closed his eyes.

It wasn't after he started laughing did he realize how horribly ironic this situation was. He never really developed any sort of serious feelings for Pansy; it was more of a relationship of complete convenience for him, because she was always willing to give herself to him if he asked.

He felt the rage ebbing away slowly as he sank onto the floor. What goes around comes around, he thought to himself. He glanced down the dimly lit hallway and stood. Maybe a bit of studying would take his mind off of things since he was prepared not to step foot in the common room tonight.

It had taken him a few minutes to get to where he wanted to go. When he realized that there was no one in the library, he tugged the door open and stepped inside, shutting it behind him. He cursed, remembering that he had no books with him, and sat down at one of tables.

A sudden noise in the back of the room startled him. He spotted a bag and several books on one of the tables behind him and stood up. As he neared the back of the library, he saw something move out of the corner of his eye.

Something, no someone, was curled up behind out of the bookshelves. Cautiously, he peered into the darkness and caught a glimpse of red. She stirred and whimpered, then was still once more.

He sat on the ground, cross-legged, his eyes on her as she moved in her sleep. He vaguely wondered what she was doing here and why she wasn't back in her common room, like he should have been.

"Bastard," she mumbled suddenly, her red hair falling across her face, her eyes snapping open as she looked at him.

He frowned slightly. "Sweetheart, you are sadly mistaken."