Love or Revenge [Harry Potter & The Half Blood Prince Fanfic]

Chapter Sixteen: Let the Games Begin

No matter how many times Crabbe and Goyle asked, Draco wouldn't tell them his plan, and yet they blindly followed his orders. Because of the previous walk-in incident, he stole some Polyjuice potion from Slughorn's office and made the two goons drink it. They took on a different identity every time he went into the Room of Requirement and stood outside the entrance. If someone was in the hall, Crabbe or Goyle would drop whatever they were holding to warn him not to come out.

"But if Jane Rodgers comes by, you make yourself scarce and come back when she's nowhere in sight," Draco ordered.

"Why is she an exception?" Goyle asked stupidly.

"Because I said so, you insufferable git,"

Besides that, he was making no progress on the mending. The damn thing was so temperamental! When he fixed one thing, something else went wrong. He took one step toward victory, and ended up two steps back. He couldn't eat, even though he was starving, he couldn't sleep, even though he was dead tired. This cabinet was taking up all his energy. Draco thought about quitting a few times. But Malfoys don't quit. On anything, especially not on taking down their enemies.

With the Vanishing Cabinet on his mind, as it always was, Draco walked into History of Magic twenty minutes late. No one noticed as he slipped into his desk, not even Jane, who had her eyes half closed and her chin resting on her desk. He could skip this class and no one would notice. At the scrape of his chair, she blinked out of her reverie and turned her head to look at him, the side of her face pressed against the wood. She rolled her eyes before closing them, "Aww, I thought I was gonna have a nap in class today,"

"And you can't do that with me here?" he murmured, arching a fine white blonde eyebrow as he flashed an amused smirk.

Jane yawned and rubbed the lower lids of her eyes, "No, cause nothing is peaceful when you're around,"

"As it should be," Draco sighed contently as he kicked up his feet, "I bring excitement with my presence alone,"

"The only excitement you bring is when someone punches you for being a dick,"

Draco's eyes narrowed into slits and he spat at her, "Blood Traitor Assassin,"

"Ignorant pureblood," her insult didn't sound as threatening as it should have been with her slurred voice. Her eyes fluttered completely closed and in a few short minutes she was sound asleep. Draco slumped in his own seat and leaned his head back to stare up at the ceiling. This was a complete waste of his time. He shouldn't be here. He should be fixing that cabinet. He should be getting on with his mission. Draco glanced over at Jane from the corner of his eye. She'd been to the Room of Requirement a total of six times. Jane knew he was fixing the cabinet. But she had no clue he was plotting her assassination. He smirked at the irony.

Seeing as there was no point in sitting there any longer, Draco gathered his things and walked out of the class. No one noticed him leave.

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"Oh my Merlin, he is just the sweetest boy I've ever met," Lavender swooned, stretching out over her scarlet covers, "You know, he told me I was the most beautiful girl he's ever seen?"

"Congratulations," Hermione muttered under her breath, "You're the fifth girl he's told that too," Jane suppressed a snort and cast her friend an incredulous look. She'd never heard Hermione make a sarcastic remark. Jane's attitude must have been rubbing off on her.

"Lav, you are so lucky," Pavarti sighed.

"She's lucky alright," Jane whispered, "Lucky I don't beat her. Can't they talk about something else besides boys?"