113Written for: The Christmas Collection Competition on the HPFC forum
Prompt: #3 (word) Family
Pairing: fem!Harry/Draco
December 2nd, 1991
Monday
Draco hates her.
She's so annoying, always acting like a hero. So what if she's the Girl Who Lived? She has no right to walk around the way she does, with all the simpering Gryffindor idiots falling at her feet.
He has no idea why she is friendly towards that redheaded pauper and that bucktoothed Mudblood. She's supposed to have been his friend.
How dare she choose them over him?
The owls swoop in, to deliver parcels, and he notices how once again, she seems to have no boxes or letters from home. Was she trying to play up her 'orphan' image?
He watches, as she makes her way out of the Great Hall, without her Gryffindork entourage. It's the perfect opportunity, to tell her how much she must be hated by her family, if they don't send her anything.
He hurries out, after her.
"Potter! What's the hurry?"
"Malfoy," she says coolly, before walking down the corridor, without waiting for him.
He walks faster to catch up with her, when she speaks, her voice unusually frosty.
"To what do I owe this pleasure?" she asks, stressing on the last word.
"Just wanted to offer my condolences."
She doesn't stop walking, but she narrows her eyes.
Draco feels victorious. He isn't going to stop now. So he continues. "It seems like once again you haven't received any packages or letters from home. Your family must really hate you."
He doesn't know why all his elation bursts like a balloon when she looks at him woundedly, her green eyes bright with some unnamed emotion.
Holy Morgana! Is she going to cry?
"You had to come all the way to tell me that?" she asks, her voice slightly breaking at the end. It's an impressive display of her acting skills, though it's obvious she's trying to stop her voice from shaking.
Without thinking, Draco asks her, "Your family hates you?"
Now that he's asked her that, he feels foolish. He doesn't deserve to be in Slytherin. He has just acted like a stupid Gryffindor, asking a question impulsively.
"Family is something that is made of people who love you. Just because someone's related to you, it doesn't make them family."
Draco stops walking. He never expected such a deep answer from Pottyhead.
She continues walking, but pauses to throw him a glance over her shoulder.
"To answer your question, my family loves me. I need no letters from them, because I see them every day."
She walks away, but Draco makes no attempt to follow her.
He stares at her retreating figure, still marvelling over the wisdom of her words.
Family.
What she has said has put things in a totally new perspective.
He decides to head back to the Slytherin Common Room and write that long overdue letter to his mother.
Word Count: 474
AN:
2 down, 29 to go!
Reviews are love.