New Year Ahead =OPEN=

[Daphne Greengrass]

Another year, another chance at various things. School, Quidditch, boys, friends, clothes, you name it. It was a new start, a new beginning. Well, as new as your sixth year could be. It was nicely resembled by the sun rising over the Black Lake. The meager sunlight that managed to stream through the early morning fog clouds glinted off the water and into Daphne's eyes. Shielding her sight from the brightness, Daphne was ready for whatever this year would throw at her.

Perched on the stone ledge jutting out from a window, Daphne reached up and slowly started playing with her hair. This was what she did when she was thinking about things. Twirling a strand over and over, she was lost in thought. Her eyes probably looked filmy and clouded over, for she wasn't in the present. She was just reliving her boring summer, combing it for a sliver of fun. Echoing footsteps snapped her out of her reverie. Daphne looked up, wondering who else was up at this hour.

[Draco Malfoy]

Draco was on his way from somewhere to the Great Hall. He was starving. He had skipped breakfast for some odd reason and now his stomach was rumbling. And, big time. Jeez. He never thought he'd ever be this hungry. He only skipped one meal! Draco just shook it off. Who cares about the reason why he's hungry? He just is.

As Draco was walking to the Great Hall, which was all the way downstairs, he couldn't help but wonder why Kale had stopped snogging him. I mean, it's not like he's a bad kisser. He's pretty good. But, if that's can't be the reason, what is? Draco shook his head, shaking those thoughts to the back of his head. It didn't matter. Or, so he told himself.

Draco was about to start to go down his first fight of stairs, when someone caught his eye. Draco stopped dead in his tracks and changed direction completely. "Hey Greengrass." He greeted. He talked to Daphne a bit. They were pretty good 'friends'. If that's what you would like to call those who are higher than acquaintances, but not quite someone he would tell his heart and mind to.

[Daphne Greengrass]

"Hey Malfoy," was Daphne's lame reply. Her eyes quickly flitted over his face. Though they weren't extremely close, Daphne knew Draco well enough to tell when something was troubling him. "Something the matter Malfoy?" Though he probably wouldn't tell Daphne, she felt like she needed to ask. "No need to answer," she amended quickly.

Dropping her hand from her hair, she let her fingers fall gently into her lap. Wonder what he's been up to. Wow, it's been a while since we've talked. Daphne hated letting friendship strands just dangle. It bugged her. Seizing this chance to build up their friendship even more, Daphne smiled at him, waiting for an answer.

[[Gah, this post sucked so bad, I'm so sorry! ]]

[Draco Malfoy]

Draco leaned against the wall, next to the window Daphne was at. When she asked him if something was the matter, he wondered if he was really being that obvious. "No." He lied. "I'm fine." Draco wasn't one to just share his thoughts and feelings with anyone. He held it in most of the time. Unless there was a time when he really had to tell someone, he kept his mouth shut. He didn't need others helping him through his problems. ...Scratch that. He didn't want others helping him through his problems.

"What have you been up to?" Draco asked, changing the subject. "We haven't talked since we got out of school last year." He pointed out. Draco had to catch up on his friends. He wanted to know what they have been up to. What was new with them. Anything really. Mainly because he was nosey. But, he also took some interest in it. Sometimes, the things his 'friends' do are interesting. Well, most of the time. He may not show it, but he is interested.

[Daphne Greengrass]

After Drace replied indifferently, there hung an awkward silence between them. Daphne didn't know quite what to say; she never did in these situations. Whatever it was, he certainly doesn't want anyone to know. Serves me right. Quit being nosy Daphne! At the sound of his question, she was thankful for the subject change.

"You're right, we haven't talked since then. Well, my summer's been pretty boring. Quidditch, guys, siblings, shopping, you know, the usual. Not much. And you?" It wasn't like Daphne didn't want to tell Malfoy what she had been up to, but her summer actually had been quite uneventful. Nothing major had happened. Nothing exciting had occured. Not many things other than her regular routine had commenced. A very bored Daphne had almost died of ennui, and she was grateful for the return back to school.

[Draco Malfoy]

Draco nodded in understanding as Daphne told him about her summer. She wasn't being very specific, but he wasn't going to read any further into it. He wasn't in his nosey mood. When Draco wants to be, he can be very nosey. If he is truly concerned about something, he would try to get all the information on it he could. Being nosey is one way to get the information. He would annoy you by asking questions until he was satisfied. But, Draco wasn't feeling too great at the moment and didn't feel like asking many questions.

"My summer was...the usual, as well." Draco replied to Daphne's questions. "You know, just hanging out with people and getting into trouble." It was very easy for Draco to get into trouble. He would do things he's not supposed to do and would get yelled at and such not. But, nothing too bad ever happened to him when he got into trouble. He was rarely grounded. He is bullied sometimes, but not because he disobeyed, but because he didn't do something right. And, it's never too hard. Draco is actually rather spoiled. But, he's not complaining.

[Daphne Greengrass]

Daphne smiled slightly, in a only vaguely interested way. His short description did nothing to satisfy her curiosity, but she let it drop anyways. "Trouble, huh? Still as rebellious as ever, I guess?" Daphne and Draco had often gotten in trouble together, but not too much. Just enough so they could still stay in the teacher's favors, but still enjoy their share of fun. There was this one time during the summer when Daphne had hexed her next-door neighbor so hard the she had boils for a week, but that wasn't too rare, so it wasn't exactly 'exciting'.

Hearing her own stomach grumble, she winced embarassingly. "Sorry. I'm kinda hungry. Haven't had a meal yet. Want to go to breakfast with me?" Daphne hopped nimbly off the ledge and landed firmly on her feet. Glancing down at her outfit, she grimaced mentally. "Ah, sorry. Excuse me. Quick outfit change!" Waving her wand, Daphne's outfit quickly changed from a large T-shirt and sweats into a green halter with a rhinestone star in the bottom left-hand corner, a jean, frayed miniskirt, and some green flats. Looking back up at Draco, she smiled. "Ready?"

[Draco Malfoy]

"Ah yes. Some things don't change." Draco said. He was always a rebellious person. Draco liked being slightly different from everyone else. He knew he was already higher than everyone else, or so he thought, but he liked also being different than them in other ways. It gave him individuality, which is something hard to have when he also wants to be liked and accepted.

"Sure. I'm starved. I haven't eaten as well." Draco said, relieved that Daphne was also as hungry as he was. He waited patiently as Daphne changed her outfit. He didn't see the problem in her previous outfit, but this one was fine as well. "Ready." He replied as he started to walk down the corridor once more. He then stopped to see if Daphne was coming with him.

[Daphne Greengrass]

"Yup, I agree. Some things never change. But then again, some change incredibly fast. I guess it just depends on the thing that is changing." Daphne was talking in circles, relatively, and she realized it. So she shut up. It wasn't really hard, mainly because the conversation wasn't flowing as smoothly as she had hoped. Aiming to speed it up some more, Daphne looked around for inspiration. There wasn't any.

Mentally sighing, Daphne trailed after Draco, hoping for inspiriation to strike. Glancing up as he turned to look back at her, she hurried up to walk beside him. Though she didn't find a subject for their conversation, she did notice the temperature change. It certainly had warmed up since the morning. Daphne was glad, her current clothes didn't quite protect her from chilliness. Crossing her arms unconciously, Daphne finally thought of a topic. But it was totally random, so she wasn't quite sure how she thought of it. "So, I heard you made Head Boy. How're you liking it?"

[Draco Malfoy]

Draco started walking again once he saw Daphne was with him. He noticed the temperature change. It was feeling much better in the castle, however, he atmosphere has changed drastically. The atmosphere used to be acceptable, but now, it was tense. Tense, meaning he was forced to think of something to say, or this was just going to go badly. He looked around. The paintings were all the same. Plus, what was there to talk about in a painting? Nothing really.

As if Daphne had read his thoughts, she brought something up. He looked down at his badge. It was showing proudly on his robes. "Eh..." He thought about it for a moment. "I guess. It's not what I had expected." Even though he was wearing it proudly, it didn't mean he was liking it. He was proud of himself. He has gotten more power than the normal student, which was good. But, the responsibility...that was murder.

[Daphne Greengrass]

"Not what you expected? I bet. I guess it comes with experience. So what's the best part? Or the worst?" Daphne wondered what it would be like being able to boss people around, give them their what-for. She hoped for a position with power like that. But, like the saying, great power came with great responsibility. The tension and pressure was probably really really bad.

Walking along, the two reached a flight of stairs. Daphne's mischeivious side showed up. She always seized a chance to have a good laugh and a good time. "Up for a challenge Draco?" she said, raising an eyebrow.

[Draco Malfoy]

"The power I have." Draco replied with a small smirk. "If I wanted to, I could give anybody detentions. Of course, I would have to have a good reason for doing so. But, the imagination is a wonderful thing." If Draco really hated someone, he could say they did something, even if they didn't, and give them a detention. Draco loved having that power. This was going to be a very fun year.

Draco looked at Daphne quizzically, then smirked. "When have I ever backed down from a challenge?" He tried to think of a time when he did. He'd rather not have Daphne answer that. "What do you have in mind?"

[Daphne Greengrass]

Smiling, she tilted her head, imagining the ability to give someone a detention for even just bugging them. Daphne knew that that wasn't a good reason, but she agreed with Draco on the powers of imagination. "Well, have fun. If I have someone I need to punish, I'll be sure to come to you!" she said with a wink.

"When did you back down from a challenge? Easy, that time I dared you to ask Hannah Abbot out. Of course, you refused that. I mean, who'd date a Hufflepuff? But, yeah, you did back down then," Daphne replied cheekily. "Well, this challenge isn't quite so dramatic. It's a big distance, but I'll race you to the Great Hall!" Daphne said quickly, and took off helter-skelter down the flight of stairs. She was grateful for her running skills, and her athletic body. Laughing as she reached the end of the stairs, she started flying down the next corridor.