contact with his dark and scary side and turned Draco into a pile of ash in front of the entire school.
It would be an amusing spectacle, at the very least, Draco thought. Snape would of course have to murder Potter and would be taken away to Azkaban without delay. Weasley would be thrilled to comfort the newly widowed Granger and Filch would be called in to mop up Draco's charcoaled remains.
Draco wondered if she ever intended on telling her friends. Probably not. She undoubtedly thought herself a paragon of virtue. Her squeaky clean image would be in tatters if word ever got out.
It was always the quiet ones, as Pansy often said. Girls like Granger always had a few skeletons in their closet. Draco didn't really know why, but the thought of being afforded the status of mere 'skeleton' didn't sit too well with him.
In his opinion, he was certainly unscrupulous enough to earn the title of bonafide Closet Monster, at the very least.
When the entire mess was sorted out, he wanted Granger to remember. When she was old and chubby with an attentive husband and three brats to occupy her days, he wanted her to lie awake at night remembering how she had been bonded to him, Draco Malfoy, even if it was for only two weeks.
It was his sadistic side, he supposed. He had long accustomed himself to the fact that he had one. It was inevitable, what with being a Malfoy and all.
She didn' t look too much out of sorts since they returned from the Manor. Pale, yes, and her smiles were a bit too bright. Her grooming was still atrocious, but it wasn' t like a weekend bonk with him was likely to change things. A sense of style was apparently not transferable via osmosis.
Other than her absences at meal times, however, no one would have guessed that something was amiss.
He had nearly caught her yesterday.
It was near the end of lunch and as expected, she was not seated beside Scar Head and his daft and many minions. Draco did however note that Ginny Wealsey had walked into the Great Hall carrying two, empty plates.
Ah-hah.
Edward Knox, a Slytherin sixth year, had delayed Draco on his way out of the Great Hall in search of Granger. Such were the numerous pitfalls of being devastatingly in demand.
"Malfoy, would I be able to get a copy of your sixth year Charms project?"
"You might. If that new broomstick servicing kit your father gave you somehow found its way into my room."
"Aww! I just got that!"
"I scored a hundred and twenty percent on that project Knox," Draco had reminded.
"Fine."
It had been a pleasant day outside. A tad too warm, but thankfully it didn't take too long to find her. Granger was lying on her back on one of the wide stone benches scattered around the edge of the lake. No doubt the granite had soaked up the warmth of the sun through the afternoon.
She had an opened book, an advanced Charms manual, placed over her face to shade her from the sun. From the sounds of her breathing, she was either extremely relaxed or at the cusp of sleep.
He knew what he would see if she removed the book and looked up at him. There would be dark shadows under her eyes, tiny blue veins just below the surface of the pale skin of her face. Her Cupid's bow mouth would be neither pursed nor worried. If he woke her now, she would squint up at him, would blink at him in confusion for a few moments.
Perhaps she would lick her lips.
Draco sighed.
He knew what it was like to crave sleep so badly that the small pockets of uninterrupted relaxation in the daytime was all you had to live on. Half the student population at Hogwarts was sleep deprived.
He had opened his mouth, then shut it and with a frustrated look towards the sky, stalked back to the castle in a fouler mood than when he had left.
What he really wanted to do was to shake her awake and plan their eventual meeting with Emmanuel Borgin. Borgin was a busy man and it would be necessary to make an appointment at least a few days in advance.
It had been small surprise that Lucius had volunteered Borgin for the task. The man was well connected and more knowledgeable about the movements of illegal merchandise than the Ministry would have been comfortable with.