Snake

Chapter Two

"Hurry up!" Draco yelled, pounding on Nayyah's door.

"Drake, honey, don't scream. It's most unladylike," Narcissa murmured, passing by and fixing his collar.

"Well, I'm not a lady. And she is late."

"I'm soooo sorry! I discovered a stain on my yellow shirt at the very last minute and could not find anything else to match with my green pants!" Nayyah stepped out and observed with some satisfaction that Draco was staring. Her extra effort on her clothes had certainly not gone unnoticed.

"Well, let's go. My car's here."

"Certainly. Please accept my most humble apologies."

"I have, I have..."

They sped down the stairs and out the door. In minutes, they were on the inner streets of London, heading to Diagon Alley. Nayyah carefully put her purse on her side to avoid wrinkles and cast a cursory glance at Draco. He looked as bored with life and as calm and cool as he had yesterday, but she didn't let that get her down. She'd already seen the more human side of him that morning.

This day is going to be good, she thought happily, pushing the thoughts of her parents out of her mind.

Draco pulled up to the curb with a flourish, the car perfectly aligned with it. The Ministry had recently put up another magical entrance to Diagon Alley to draw suspicion away from the heavy traffic on the one commonly used.

They stepped out, checked the locks, and went into the department store. Nayyah admired Draco's sleek silver Alpha Romeo racecar through the window before discreetly stepping into a shelf of cereal and into Diagon Alley.

"Wow! The Gorgon's Pathway in France is nothing like this!" Nayyah exclaimed, looking at the cheery bustle of the very English magical street.

"Come on. I need to buy my books, refill my potions supply, and have enough time to talk to the guys." He strode towards Flourish and Blotts and heard her jog after him. In the store, he watched her leaf through a book of runes as the assistant searched out all his books for him.

"Anything else, Mr. Malfoy?"

"Yes. Add a standard weight of parchment and two pots of ink. Throw in a handful of eagle-feather quills, the fine-pointed kind."

The assistant scurried to obey, and Nayyah joined him, looking at the packages with interest.

"Potions? I sincerely detest potions," she said with feeling, and put Potion Making for Students right back. He opened his mouth to say something but then saw Pansy Parkinson walk in, simpering.

"Draco! What a pleasant surprise! I couldn't catch you all summer! It was simply horrendous without you!"

"Help." He groaned and tried to escape. He couldn't see Nayyah anywhere.

"Draco! Hermione is saving some seats at that cute café." She ran towards him but jerked to a stop when she saw Pansy.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know you were busy." Thankfully, she caught the desperation in Draco's eyes and turned her attention fully to Pansy.

"What a nice shirt! I'm quite sure I saw the same thing on an Italian model, but I imagined that no one would want to wear it. Obviously, I was mistaken. It really looks nice on you." He snorted and picked up the books. He had never heard a more barefaced lie. He left her to her devices and went to Fortescue's.

"Hey! How's life?" He dumped his purchases on the ground and sank into a seat.

"We saw Pansy recognize your car and run to find you. I'm surprised you escaped unscathed," said Harry.

"Nayyah rescued me. Fortunately, she stepped in and told me about your arrival."

"I suppose she's going to need rescuing soon," Ron said, looking over the menu. Just then, they noticed her walking towards them, victory apparent on her face. Harry snatched a seat for her from a neighboring table, and they all made room for her.

"Tell us all the gory details," Ron said, and put his elbows on the table.

"Ron!" Hermione exclaimed.

"What? I just want to know!" He raised his hands in defense.

"You're...you're just..." Hermione couldn't find words to express her dislike for Ron's crudeness.

"Ron?" Harry suggested, and passed Draco the menu. They placed their orders and started discussing the DA in the code Hermione had invented. Nayyah started reading through Hermione's books and finished her milkshake.

As the rest of them looked over the spells they had done, Draco cast occasional glances at her and admired her strictly Muggle clothes. The black logo t-shirt went well with the loose green cargo pants and showed off her slinky body. Her hair was in the perpetual perfect cascade he had always seen it in, falling gently over her shoulders. He noticed that she was bored. She was always bored when she was with him and Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

She sighed loudly and finally left. They only noticed her absence when they saw her march into the bookshop again.

"You know, we have been kind of ignoring her," Hermione said softly, looking around at everyone. They had nothing to say and instead watched Nayyah fill out a postcard at the counter and say something to the assistant. They watched him nod and hand her an owl. She stepped out into the middle of the street and fastened the rolled-up card to its leg and let it fly. She followed its progress for a while and then came back to them.

"Sorry! I just had to tell my friend something. She doesn't use mobiles," she explained, and rearranged some loose change in her purse.

"You use mobiles?" Harry asked, shocked.

"Sure. Just because I'm a witch doesn't mean that I have to be ignorant about everything else!" She flipped her hair and handed him her phone for inspection.

"We have to go. Father will be expecting us." Draco got up, and Nayyah followed.

"See you on the train," Hermione said, and waved them off, wondering why Draco suddenly veered into Madame Malkin's.

"Go ahead. I'll be back in a minute," he yelled back to Nayyah, and turned to the jewelry section.

"Malfoy's been weird," Ron commented thoughtfully, and followed a pretty Ravenclaw with his eyes. But the only one who noticed Draco slip a box into his pocket was Hermione.

"Yeah, weird."

* * * * * *

"So, what are we going to do?"

"What?"

"Oh, you're hopeless," she said sadly. She slammed the car door with more force than was merited and dashed inside the mansion.

"What did I say?" he asked, and followed suit, only applying more grace and manliness to his flight.

"Nayyah?" he called up, and found her sitting at the table, looking murderous.

"It's not fair. I want to go home. You are always busy with your friends, and my parents frankly don't care about me."

"It's not as bad as you think."

"Really? I just took my M.A.G.G.O.T.s, the most difficult and accounted-for test that Durmstrang offers, and they don't know what result I got or if I even took them!" Her eyes looked strangely feral and dangerous.

"Oh, come on! You're their only daughter. They have to care!"

"They regard me as a trophy. I am something to show around to people and tell them how good I am at studies and things. No one cares." She hugged her knees to her chest.

"I care," he said with sudden emotion.

"Are you sure?" she asked with some amount of irony, and stood up. "Or do you prefer that Pansy creature?"

"What?"

"She really likes you! And you are obviously infatuated with her."

"And you believed her?"

"Hell no! I saw the look of extreme pain on your face and instead told her that she'd look better with someone who was a little shorter than you and had as awful taste as she."

"And she let you live?"

"Well, I didn't say it as flatly as I did now. She was still scratching her eyebrow when I left."

"Thank God for you!" said Draco.

"Just because I have the presence of mind..."

"I'd have done something stupid like ask her out or something if you hadn't come. She has mastered the art of cornering someone in a public place where the only way to get out with your skin and reputation is to do exactly what she says."

"She sounds most agreeable."

"You have a demented sense of agreement."

"Love you, too."

* * * * * *

"I really hope you two are physically and mentally prepared for your training," Lucius said, dabbing his mouth gently with his napkin after dinner.

"What training?" Draco asked, sampling a brulée.

"Well, since you've both come of age. Well, I think you've both come of age. Natalie, have you bled?" Narcissa asked matter-of-factly. Nayyah turned a bright shade of red and muttered something unintelligible.

"What was that, dear? Didn't quite catch it." Narcissa was apparently completely oblivious to the embarrassment she was causing.

"Yes!"

"Oh, that's good. You will start with precision training tonight. Be ready, please." And both parents left the table.

"Um."

"Shut up, Draco."

"Right."

"It isn't your time, is it, Natalie dear?" Narcissa called out, and Nayyah would have gladly melted into her seat.

"No."

"Even better! Which means we can start your physical training, too!"

"Ohhhhhhhhhh. This is worse than Durmstrang."

"What can be worse? No wait. I don't think..."

"They made you announce in the assembly when you'd be incapable of extreme outdoor activities, and the teachers would write it down on a large calendar in the corridor."

"Oh."

"Talkative, aren't we?" she said scathingly, and downed her drink.

"Touchy, aren't we?" he replied in a tone just as cruel, and vacated the table.

On his way to his room, he felt the gentle weight of the small box in his pocket and felt an unfamiliar tingle somewhere in the pit of his stomach.

Changing his clothes, he settled down to do his homework. Pulling a fresh roll of parchment towards himself, he started an exceptionally vile Potions essay.

"Four feet! He's insane."

But by the time he finished, he discovered he was three feet beyond the required amount.

* * * * * *

Nayyah copied the last transfiguration spell and its properties and sat back; looking at the scrolls she had placed on her desk to dry. Sighing deeply, she was about to start rolling them all up when a gentle tap on the window stopped her. Looking out, she saw four owls waiting patiently on the sill. Opening the window, she let them in, and they fluttered down on her desk, hooting companionably.

Recognizing the sleek eagle owl as her parents', she ignored him until she had relieved all the other owls of their letters and sent them on their way after a generous offering of treats. The eagle owl held out its leg and shed the letter with a quick jerk, and with not so much as a parting hoot, spread its wings and flew out.

"For an owl with no name, you sure have a lot of cheek," she shot at its retreating tail, and gathering her letters, she ran out on the terrace. The cool air whipped around her and lifted her hair off her head momentarily. She went over to the railing and leaned over, looking at the extensive Malfoy estate. She unrolled the first letter.

* * * * * *

Draco stretched, feeling the relaxing pull in his muscles, and glanced out his window. He felt his heart pause and his head grow warm at what he saw. Nayyah leaned against the railing, reading a piece of parchment, a smile upon her face. Her skin was slightly pink from the cold, and a blush crawled up her neck and colored her face. She laughed and put the letter in her pocket, taking another one out. This one was apparently shorter, and she was through with it quickly, laughing. She took out a third letter and was about to unfold it but then seemed to think better of it and put it away.

He watched, rapt, as she looked across the estate and then, pulling her hair back against a sudden gust of breeze, went back inside and out of his view. Some of the heat left his body, and he looked with distaste at the book that had gripped him intensely moments before.

"I seem to be doing a lot of watching these days," he told his quill, and then hurled it into the wastepaper basket.

* * * * * *

Nayyah!

You are actually living under the same roof as that hunky, gray-eyed, gorgeous wizard! I'm soooo jealous, you couldn't believe it. Granted that you have Rick eating out of your hand...but Draco Malfoy is so much HOTTER, if you know what I mean.

Are you going to go for it? I saw a picture of him in What Wizard. Those SHOULDERS! And well, every other inch of him...

His eyes look sad. Maybe you can cheer him up! Muah ha ha ha ha. Yes, this calls for a celebration as soon as you come back to Drabstrang. I swear if it gets any colder, my underwear will freeze permanently on me.

You didn't need to know that.

Keli

P.S. If you get to make out, I want details. You've got to do something for all the time you'll be there. And watch out. Rick is almost on fire. He doesn't want competition. But hey, Malfoy and Hargitay? Malfoy, of course!

Dearest Natalie,

Keligra told me the most horrendous thing I've heard so far. You've gone to live with the Malfoys? That is a potentially dangerous step for someone as delicate and sensitive as you. Be careful.

Rick

P.S. Who the hell is Draco????

Natalie dear,

I suppose you've figured out that we don't want you to go to Hogwarts just yet. But anyone can visit you any time they want. Perhaps next year, we can transfer you to Hogwarts so you can start from the beginning of the term. You can use the owl. Just call, and you can use him. Your father and I will be in South Africa.

Taylor

And give this letter to Narcissa or Lucius. We don't have a lot of time to write them a separate letter. Don't tell anyone just yet.

* * * * * *

"You commence your training today," Lucius said. "On that table, you will find darts. The darts must hit at least two inches around the target to prove your caliber and precision. I expect nothing but perfection." He left them in the hall. Nayyah was shivering and looking with some amount of apprehension at the number of small, cruel-looking darts.

"Is it just me, or is it freezing?" she asked, a tremor of cold apparent in her voice.

"Let's get it over with. Do you see the target?"

"You mean that tiny dot on the wall thirty feet away? Oh sure." Sarcasm dripped from her statement.

"Whatever." He picked up a handful of darts and threw them. He felt his strength flow through his arm and knew that at least one of the darts had hit true.

Nayyah followed suit, and they both went to the facing wall to see how they had done. Three of the darts had pierced each of the dots and had penetrated the wall well.

"We can't pull them out. Father will come and see them in the morning." He saw her yawn and pull the silk shirt of her pajamas close around her, defining her figure perfectly. Her hair was tied loosely in a braid with a few strands falling over her face. He groaned inwardly and went back inside. She followed him, and he was painfully aware of the rustle of silk behind him. She fell in step with him.

"What's the point of this?" she asked, running a hand over her head.

"To make sure we won't snuff it quickly when Voldemort sends a bunch of Death Eaters to kill us."

"Oh. Good night. Why would Voldemort want us dead?"

"So he can end our line. What protects us is our blood."

"Exactly my question. Why does he want us dead?"

"We are a threat to him. We might suddenly wake up one morning and decide that we want to kill him."

"Right. What do we do tomorrow?"

"What do you mean we? I have to pack so I can go to Hogwarts the day after. You have to keep yourself busy." They arrived at her bedroom door, and he waited until it closed behind her and continued on to his own.

Why did she have to look so damn beautiful even when she had been awakened in the middle of the night?

* * * * * *

"Do you have to go?" she whined.

"Get off my trunk." She slid off, and he dumped impeccably folded robes in.

"Why must you go?"

"You sound like you are four." He added his books.

"I'm sixteen. Do you have any idea what I'll have to do if you go?"

"Why are you in my room in the first place?"

"You forgot your quills."

"I'm going tomorrow. I still don't know why you care."

"Because you have the neatest notes I've ever seen, and I can use your owl. And, well, you are not thirty years older than me," she said. "But anyway, you do know that there is a party tonight?"

"Really? Boring."

"I give up." He gave her a look that would have reduced Crabbe to tears, but the only effect it had on her was that she put a magical shield around her and changed the color of his bed sheet to blue. Then she left.

He saw her again later, when volumes of eminent wizards and witches flooded the grand hall. He noticed that her parents had arrived and were showing her off to the others.

"Natalie can cast a Makevo very easily," Taylor Malfoy announced, mentioning an extremely difficult tracking spell. He watched her, comfortably concealed behind a fat count and listening to every word that fell from her parents' mouths. Nayyah herself was resplendent in robes of rich lavender with tiny sequins on the hem. The sleeves were long and loose enough to hide her thin hands. Her hair hung loose with one strand colored a brilliant and defiant red.

She was bored to death. She hid behind her father as often as she could to escape Viscount Hugh. Draco loathed the guy. He was the same age as him and as dashingly handsome as the stupid teacher Gilderoy what's-his-name. And he had fallen for Nayyah.

Back off, Hugh, she's mine. He saw her sigh, murmur something to the witch she was talking to, and slip off to the balcony.

"God, she's pretty." He turned around to behold Hugh. He was almost overwhelmed with the urge to punch him. "I would like to marry her. She's completely hot!" Hugh continued, oblivious to Draco's painfully obvious distaste of his company. "So how's life, Drake? Any girlfriends? Oh yeah, sorry! Hogwarts is a little stiff on the sleeping together stuff. So was Durmstrang. But there's nothing like body heat to warm you up! Now I go to Beauxbatons. The silk uniforms look great." Draco spun on his heel and left the repulsive creature.

He hung around the table for a few minutes before walking out on the balcony. The sight of Nayyah leaning against a baluster froze his heart. He had completely forgotten her whereabouts when that prat had come to talk to him.

Steeling himself, he strode purposefully towards her. Her surprise was evident, and so was her relief.

"So, how's life?"

"Could you do me a great favor and kill that viscount for me?" She asked him in a tone so normal, he thought, as if she was asking him if she could borrow his owl.

If asked later the reason for what he did, he might just tell the person that he had gone temporarily insane. Perhaps it had been the sight of her face, slightly shadowed, or maybe the depth of her onyx eyes.

He stepped forwards, gripped her shoulders, and kissed her. Her lips had momentarily frozen. But then she appeared to melt into his embrace. She took hold of his forearms and leaned into him. He moved his hands to the small of her back and her neck. He kissed her hard, afraid of bruising her lips but not being to control himself. He gently pushed his tongue into her mouth and ran it over her teeth. Her lips were hot against his and desperate. The cold air made them more aware of the heat of their bodies. He pulled her closer and knew that the only thing that separated her body from his were their clothes.

They broke apart when they heard Hugh rattle the balcony door and pass out on the floor.

"Typical sod," he growled, and felt his heart warm when Nayyah put her head against his chest. He fingered the red strand of hair and heard her giggle.

"Mother nearly died when she came to my room and saw what I had done."

"I think it looks great." He bent and kissed her neck and took her earlobe in his teeth. She groaned and put her arms around his neck.

They weren't really sure when the party ended or how they managed to make it off the balcony and bid everyone (including her parents) goodbye. They were only very aware of each other. The family had a frugal (by Malfoy standards) dinner of shrimp scampi, and each retired to their business, leaving the house-elves and servants to clear up. Draco and Nayyah went to the tiny lounge on their floor and settled in front of the fire, silent.

"Do you have to go?" she asked.

"Yes."

"Curses."

She lay against him, her feet neatly curled up under her. Her hair glinted occasionally in the firelight, and he observed the fine pattern of the veins on her arms.

"Do you have an owl?" he asked.

"Most of the time. But I can call her whenever I want her."

He grunted in response and then they both fell silent, lulled into a stupor by the soothing crackling of the logs. When he realized that she was half asleep, he suggested going to bed.

* * * * * *

There was no training that night, for Draco's sake. He lay on his bed, staring up at the black canopy. His clock proclaimed three o'clock. His mind was in a whirl from what he had discovered. He wondered if this was what was called "love." Hermione spoke often of emotions, telling all three of them how they had no feelings or sense of romance. Then Ron would say something particularly insensitive, and Hermione would smash her schoolbag into his shoulder.

He thought again how to keep in touch with her and struck off owls. Many visits by an owl were sure to attract attention, and he wasn't sure if he wanted Potter and his friends to know about it yet. He couldn't Floo her, in any case. He couldn't--

He leaped out of his bed, out of his room, and into the library. He pulled out a dozen books and flipped through their pages, searching for the incantation he had seen the other day.

"Yes!"

* * * * * *

"Nayyah, wake up!" He smashed open her door and realized his mistake. Nayyah climbed out of her bed and looked at him as if he had grown scales.

"I'm going to ignore the fact that you've caught me at a disadvantage if this is something important." He flushed when he saw that her nightshirt was half off her shoulder. "Sorry! But look what I found..."

And she ignored her disadvantage.

* * * * * *

They went early to Platform 9 3/4 in Lucius' Mercedes, Draco's trunk resting in the boot.

"You have the ball?" Draco asked.

"Yeah."

"All you have to do is tap it you say, I can hear."

"How do I know if you say something? I mean, what if I'm in class?"

"You'll know." He smirked.

"Okay. I think."

"Listen, there's something I want you to have." He felt very awkward and handed her the tiny box.

She pulled her hand out of her sleeve and took the box from his hand. She was about to open it but stopped.

"You know, if there's anything I did that offended you or anything; I'm really sorry." He looked at her sitting across from him, her black cashmere sweater perfect against her gray pants.

"No. Just don't..."

"Forget you?" she said, a hint of irony in her voice. "Is that possible?"

He laughed and saw the grin spread across her face. She opened the box and gasped.

"Oh my God. When did you buy this?" She held up the filigree bracelet and saw the sunlight catch it and throw the gold glint over the car's interior. She clasped it over her wrist and hugged him. "Thank you." And those two words meant the world to him. The cold of the bracelet felt great on the back of his neck as well as her warmth against his body.

"Don't forget."

"I won't. Have fun." They climbed out and went through the wall to the train. The train was chugging slowly, warming up on its theme. He turned and saw the driver load his trunk on to the train. He looked at her and saw her looking with some amount of sourness at the bright exterior of the Express.

"We can still meet for Christmas," he said, in hopes of cheering her up.

"We aren't allowed to go home for Christmas." And that was that. Seeing no one around, he bent and kissed her. It was harsh and would have been seen by anyone else to lack love.

"Don't forget."

"If you tell me one more time, I will forget." She stepped back and watched as he went in and chose a compartment. He resolutely stared forwards and knew that she was staring the other way, too. He heard her greet Hermione and bid her goodbye. Hermione came inside and looked at him slouching in his seat, looking at his feet.

"Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah, sure."

He loves her, Hermione thought happily.

"Have you noticed how love affects people?" She saw with satisfaction that his head snapped up, and his gray eyes bored into her head.

"Women actually blossom and get more beautiful by the minute. Guys, on the other hand, seem to get their wits addled and look weird."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." He felt his face get warm.

"Harry and Ron will be here in a minute. Come on, you can tell Hermione," she coaxed.

He dropped his head in his hands. "I've never felt like this before, and now I don't know what to do."

"I understand. I suppose you don't want me to tell Harry and Ron?"

"Hermione, you're irreplaceable."

"Tell me, have you kissed her yet?"

"Hermione!"

"She's awfully pretty. And I overheard that by the looks of her, she's a great kisser."

Draco stared, speechless.

"Fact remains that I've heard that you're a great kisser," said Hermione.

"I...what...who?"

"Draco Malfoy, incoherent and speechless early in the morning. This is going to be a great day," Hermione said happily, and extracted Crookshanks from his basket.

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Ron? Hermione? Harry?

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Harry? Hermione? Draco?