Underneath the Willow Tree

by Elani Wrapdon
 
 
 

Draco Malfoy woke early one Monday morning, clearly before anyone else in the Slytherin house. He pulled his body out of bed and went to shower, sighing at his miserable life. His friends were bumbling idiots, his parents were mean, and everybody hated him. What else was new?

Draco left the empty common room and strode nonchalantly to the Great Hall. He suspected he was the first student in the Great Hall, but that didn’t surprise him; he usually was. He sat down at the Slytherin table, a plate filling up with food. He ignored it- he wasn’t hungry. He just sat, thinking about how many days, how many months, how many years it would take him to get out of Hogwarts. He was only a fifth year, and the school year had just started.

Perhaps he would drop out of Hogwarts…nah, that was a terrible idea. His father would hunt him down, not to mention that Draco didn’t think he could make it in the wizarding world with the lack of skills he had…he was only fifteen for goodness sakes.

He sat at the Slytherin table, picking at his food, until the Great Hall had completely filled up. What was going on in the Great Hall was a mystery to him, like always. He looked around…everyone was so damned happy. Yeah, right, he thought, life is so great. Why don’t we all just sing a happy song, and get it over with?

His eyes landed on the Gryffindor table, where Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley were all chatting easily. He glared at his enemies, then stopped…what was the point? Draco got up and left the Great Hall, and he felt a tug on his arm in the hallway.

He turned quickly, only to face Pansy Parkinson. "What do you want, Pansy?" he asked tiredly.

"You seem so unhappy all the time, Draco! What’s the matter with you?" she questioned, annoyingly prying into everyone’s business as usual.

"Nothing that particularly concerns you, Pansy," Draco replied snidely, and walked solemnly back to his house, gathering his books from his dorm, and waiting in the common room until it was time to go to Potions.
 

~~~******~~~
 

Hermione Granger watched Draco leave the Great Hall. She felt bad for him…she really did. He seemed so miserable, even though he had everything he wanted. She smiled snidely. Draco Malfoy is a twit, anyways, she thought. A rude asshole…that’s what he is. I’m glad he’s unhappy…finally getting what he deserves. She turned back to face Harry, who was animatedly having a conversation with her and Ron.

"…Quidditch match on Friday night. Can you believe it’s against the Slytherins? We’ll kick they’re lousy…" Hermione stopped listening, not really caring about Quidditch. It was Harry and Ron’s thing mostly.

She glanced down at her watch. "Shoot. It’s time for Potions," she said to Ron and Harry, who weren’t really listening. "Hello??" she said desperately, sighing because she knew she would get no answer. "Whatever, guys," she mumbled. "I’m going to Potions, bye!"

Nobody cared as she walked out of the Great Hall, carrying her books tightly. Nobody ever cared, it seemed! Ron and Harry were good friends, sure, but they never paid attention to her when they were having "guy talk." She sighed deeply, feeling a deep pang in her chest. She wished she had some girl friends. At least then she wouldn’t be abandoned for talk about Quidditch.

Hermione was surprised when she arrived at the Potions classroom. She hardly knew she had been walking there, she had been so absorbed in her thoughts. She looked around and glared when she saw Draco Malfoy laying lazily against the opposite wall. She was not in the mood for Draco and his horribly snide comments.

"Good morning, Mudblood," he spat rudely, not managing to drop his horrible drawl.

"Shove it up your ass, Malfoy," she said with the same tone of voice as him, and looked away. Hermione glared at the wall she was staring at…why did it feel like everyone hated her? She curled her hands up into tight balls, then released them with power.

Hermione smiled venomously. "You’ve looked pretty depressed lately, Malfoy. Your goonies listening to Parkinson instead of you? Or is your daddy just not delivering?"

Draco winced, his eyes suddenly becoming sad. "None of your business, Gangly."

Hermione was just about to retort with an equally rude comment, when Harry and Ron walked into the hallway, the rest of the class not far behind. Professor Snape was just coming from the other side of the hallway, and he quickly unlocked the door.

"Well?" he said, glaring at all the Gryffindors. "You may go in now!"

"We’ll finish this conversation later, Malfoy," Hermione said, with twice her normal spite. Draco turned pale, and brushed the comment away.

"Whatever, Mudblood."
 

~~~******~~~
 

"Hey, Hermione," Harry said, Ron tagging at his heels. "Whaddya say we all eat our lunch outside today? It’s a beautiful day."

"I guess…but where will we sit? There aren’t many shaded places outside, and it’s pretty hot out."

"Let’s worry about getting our food first, ‘kay?" Ron said, looking hungrily around the Great Hall.

The trio proceeded to do so, grabbing their food and walking outside. Hermione looked around the lawn, scanning for a tree.

"How about there?" she said, pointing. "Underneath the willow tree?"

Harry and Ron shrugged, and they all walked off towards the tree. No one noticed Draco Malfoy looking at them from inside the Great Hall.

"At least she has friends," he whispered painfully, his eyes as tiny as dots.
 
 
 

Well, what did ya think? =) I hope everyone liked it! I think I’ll leave the rest to your imagination…just kidding!!!!!! I would never leave a story like that! Think the willow tree is going to be a big part of the story? Well, you’ll only find out if you review, because I solely promise not to write a sequel to this unless I get reviews. Oh yeah, and my e-mail is perfectly open to everyone, it’s GirlyGurl17@aol.com and I would like everyone to e-mail me with their feelings, too! I’m open to flames, as long as you tell me what’s wrong with my story. Please don’t get mad at me because I put Draco Malfoy in…as I said before, he’s my favorite character. How do you think this is going to end up? =) Please do review, though! As I said before, I promise I won’t write more unless I get reviews. Well, REVIEW, and I’ll see y’all later!