The Pillow Takes a Beating

The Pillow Takes a Beating

He pitched over on his right side and punched his pillow twice, then a third time for good measure. He all but threw his body back down on the bed in an attempt to find what his mother had once coined the "sweet spot" on the bed. Apparently there was one spot in every bed that guaranteed a peaceful slumber for anyone in any mood. All that remained was to find it.

Every time he closed his eyes, he was faced with the image of the fullest pair of lips he had seen on a fifteen-year-old witch. As soon as he would manage to tune out the sounds of wizarding England's wide scope of night wild life, his ears would ring with her Gryffindor laugh. Gryffindors had a very specific way of talking, walking, and even laughing. Whenever she laughed, he swore he could hear an undertone of misplaced bravery and worthless Potter-worship. Anyone who cared to deny that she still fancied Potter was in serious need of a Headhealer.

"Stupid distracting thoughts," he snapped at himself under his breath. He then took purchase in his Egyptian cotton sheets, clenching his fists to fight the temptation to beat himself free of the half-dreams. His only reward was a pitiful reminder of how soft her bright copper curls felt running through his fingers when he had tried to grab her in punishment for that bat-bogey hex...

"Draco!" Bellatrix Lestrange screeched only a few short hours after Draco had finally found sleep. Draco fought the urge to look for the dogs that must be on their way, having heard her high-pitched wailing.

"Yes, Aunt Bella. I'm right here," he forced out.

"Oh, you're hardly here at all. You must be more foolish than I'd imagined if you thought you could show up to your first occlumency lesson with only half a brain. I told your mother not to spoil you so."

"Aunt Bella, please, spare me the dramatics. I'm here, you have my attention, let's just get on with it," a sleep-deprived Draco all but ground out.

"Watch your tongue, boy. With your father in as much disfavor as he is with the Dark Lord, you should step a little lighter." There was a tick in Draco's jaw that threatened to explode in his rage if properly provoked. "Well, all of that aside, we should 'just get on with it,' as you say."

Bellatrix moved across the expansive room to stand in its center. With a wave of her wand, a wide circle appeared around her, and she called Draco into the center.

"Here are the rules, young Malfoy. I will try to break through your mind and you must block me. For every successful attempt of mine, you take one step towards the boundary. You end up outside the circle, and this lesson is over." Bellatrix narrowed her eyes with a devilish grin that told Draco she promised much more than the end of a lesson.

Despite the two and a half inches of height Draco had on his aunt, fear burned beneath his surface. Eyeing her wand, Draco knew it was not the cruciatus curse that had him worrying. Nor was he concerned about the whip that he knew was hidden in her robes. Years of aspiring to follow in his father's footsteps had acquainted him with the physical pain of being a Death Eater. The months following his father's "failure" had taught him to school his features in the face of Voldemort's thinly veiled punishments. The boy standing before Bellatrix Lestrange was the picture of indifference. At first, or even second, glance Draco resembled a six-foot-plus statue. Yet an internal turmoil boiled away at his insides.

Please don't let her see my only weakness...

Draco snapped himself back to the present as he felt her presence start to intrude on his psyche. He immediately threw up his walls and returned to his stony shelter. Bellatrix was pushing hard at him, but Draco only pushed back harder.

There's no way I'm letting her see. I'd rather die than let her see my twisted little fantasy of -

The simple precursor to the thought of her name was enough to make Draco falter. He felt himself slip for a fraction of a second before recovering. A fraction of a second too late.

"One step, boy!" The Death Eater bared her teeth and forced Draco back none-too-gently with the tip of her wand. "I would say I expected a less pitiful attempt, but truth be told, I didn't expect anything from a boy raised by a mother as weak as my sister and a father who has failed the Dark Lord time and again."

Draco stopped hearing her words, solely consumed by hatred. Thanks to Potter and his silly sidekicks, Draco was forced to endure such asinine comments form witches and wizards alike who mistakenly thought they knew his father. Lucius Malfoy dedicated his life to the Dark Lord. If there was a time when he seemed to have given up on Voldemort, it was only because that wreckage of a dark wizard had gone and gotten himself destroyed. By some silly bint with tainted blood, at that. In some pathetic attempt to save her son. How dare Bellatrix Lestrange speak of his father that way? Didn't she know what the Malfoy name meant?

"Round two, Draco!" Draco barely heard her over his internal tantrum. Something in the back of his mind told him in vain to concentrate on the present.

"He deserves to be punished, Cissa. That mission was very important to the Dark Lord. Perhaps you don't realize that."

"Of course I understand, Bella! Lucius did not produce what was asked of him, but must we pay with our only son? My family is being torn apart!"

Draco could still hear his mother's anguish. He wished he had never overheard that conversation, if only his mother's laments would stop haunting the dark recesses of his mind. Draco vaguely supposed he almost understood what Potter was prattling on about when it came to the Dementors. Almost.

Focus, Draco! Focus! He screamed at himself, but his anger could not be reigned in. Waves of violent rage were rolling off of Draco so heavily, they were palpable. Before long he felt Bellatrix's presence in his mind, causing him to nearly scream in frustration.

"Temper, Temper," Bellatrix clucked. "What good will you b e to anyone if you cannot even control your emotions?"

You don't even know the half of it, he idly thought as he took one reluctant step backwards. Turning slightly, Draco saw that he was positioned precariously close tot eh edge of the circle.

"Once more and you're done, Draco darling!" Bellatrix cooed, far too excited for anyone's good.

Draco schooled his features once more and braced himself for another onslaught. He threw his walls up once more, just in time to feel her pushing at him. The simple fear of the unimaginable consequences Draco would face if his secret was ever found out gave him strength beyond his years.

"Oh, it looks like someone's learning," mocked Bellatrix. The air was now crackling with the fire of their battling minds. "What could the little Malfoy be hiding from his dear, sweet Auntie Bella?"

Draco felt her testing his boundaries, rooting around for a chink in his armor. Draco drew within himself to fight her off, knowing any mistake he made now would be his last. Suddenly he was overcome by what felt like a stampede on his lungs. Within a flash the oppressive sensation was gone, but it was enough to distract him. Draco's thoughts started spiraling out of control. Images of him throttling his aunt raced before his eyes. Angry words shouted at the portrait of his father surfaced, only to be immediately replaced by the sight of Voldemort praising him for completing his mission and redeeming his family name. Before he could prevent it the girl - that infernal wench - flashed through his mind. Draco could feel Bellatrix reel with shock, but he was beyond helpless at this point. Her laughing face zoomed by once more, too fast for recognition. But the heat was unmistakable. It was a culmination of lust, dizziness, and the pain of an itch that can never be scratched. Draco recovered quickly enough to throw Bellatrix from his mind, but she had already begun to retreat.

A sudden force vaulted Draco out of the circle. He looked up in time to see his aunt's seething face loom over him. The last thing he remembered hearing was a distant cry of Crucio!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The train ride back to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry brought its own share of despair and satisfaction for Draco. The coming year put him ahead of all his Slytherin schoolmates. After all, he had more important things to worry about than N.E.W.T.s and O.W.L.s. All the rest of them were still suffering under the delusion that Dumbledore was actually more than a batty old wizard. I'll show them just how wrong they are, Draco smirked to himself as Pansy stroked his blond head. This was how it should be: Draco holding court in his Slytherin throne.

Then that insufferable Weasley had to come up in conversation.

" - and Longbottom, Potter, and the Weasley girl," finished Zabini. That had to be the most pathetic group of Gryffindors Draco could have imagined.

"Potter, precious Potter, obviously he wanted a look at 'the Chosen one," Draco sneered, "but that Weasley girl1 What's so special about her?" Gods, will she never leave me alone?

"A lot of boys like her . Even you think she's good-looking, don't you, Blaise, and we all know how hard you are to please."

Draco was satisfied to let Zabini field that question.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Draco Malfoy was stalking through the dungeons of Hogwarts, trying to work off the temper he had been in after getting thrown out of Slughorn's party.

Who does Snape think he is, trying to interfere? He's just jealous that the Dark Lord gave me this task.

Draco chose to ignore the niggling feeling that he would have probably traded places with Snape if given the opportunity. But he also knew that he would succeed; he had to. Failure was not an option when his family's life rested on his shoulders. He toyed with Snape's words about hiding something from the Dark Lord, and silently thanked his Aunt Bellatrix for scaring him into never failing at another occlumency lesson.

Draco's footsteps were tracing a path on one side of the hall, when his eyes were instantly drawn to a corner on the opposite side. Pausing momentarily, he was contemplating how to deal with the darkness that seemed be breathing, when one Ginny Weasley emerged from said darkness.

Well, this is ironic. Ginny was hurrying towards him with the look of someone who unabashedly knew what she wanted and how to get it. A smirk was playing across Draco's lips and a snarky comment was teasing his voice box when a hand suddenly clamped across his mouth.

"Shut up, Malfoy." Ginny ignored his scandalized expression, even though he had made no attempt at removing her hand. She continued doggedly, "Don't Make this any worse than it has to be."

Before he could ask what that meant, Ginny had mashed her mouth up against his. Perhaps he should have felt violated since she just took full advantage of his already open mouth, but bugger it all, Ginny Weasley was kissing him!

Ginny had thrown her arms around his neck and was pulling at his lips with her own, as if asking him to show her what he was made of. Draco needed no more invitation. He threw his body weight into her and wrapped his arms around her waist. A tentative tongue snaked its way into Draco's mouth and he pulled her closer. One hand smoothed up her back to muss the mane atop her head. The other hand had inadvertently found its way inside the folds of her jumper and was setting fire to the skin at the small of her back.

Bracing her hands on his shoulders, Ginny lifted herself on her toes in order to improve the angle of their kiss. All she succeeded in was eliciting a growl from Draco that took birth in his throat and buzzed its death on her lips. their proximity still not close enough for him, Draco leaned further into Ginny. She stumbled back from the force of him, and in several rapid steps the pair had crossed to the opposing wall. with Ginny's back pressed tot he wall, and Draco's mouth still devouring hers, he lifted her at the hips. She slid up his body until they were the same height. Draco's hands roamed frantically up and down her sides as he pressed her even harder into the wall. The muscles on his back bunched and relaxed under Ginny's skating fingers. She almost cried from the need for air, and when he finally released her lips, she thought she might scream.

"Why Weasley," Draco rasped into the curve of her neck, "I never knew you had it in you." He firmly wedged one knee between her legs before shifting his back.

Ginny thought she might be persuaded to say something when she felt his tongue trace a path to the hollow just behind her jaw. She all but yelped when he bit down.

"Do us all a favor here," he drawled as he clamped a hand over her mouth. "Shut up, Weasley."

Ginny barely had time to squawk before he resumed the assault on her mouth. Draco plunged his tongue into her mouth in a desperate fury to consume all of her in this one ephemeral moment. Groaning her name in frustration, he nipped at her lower lip before thrusting his hands up her jumper. Ginny thought she heard him mutter what vaguely sounded like "not enough" over and over as his lips branded every inch of exposed skin. Once Draco was satisfied with his tasting of Ginny Weasley, he pulled back slightly. One of his hands was comfortably settled above her knee, and when she slid to the ground, it found its way up her thigh, his fingertips teasing the elastic of her knickers. Still encased within the walls of his arms, Ginny's eyes were shifting from side to side, trying to decide on the best mode of escape.

In between peppering her neck with licks and bites, Draco managed to ask her the reason for this pleasant attack.

"Just wanted to know what it was like. Testing out a theory and such," was her only reply. Draco's head shot up to stare her straight in the eye. How she could not even be breathy when he was having trouble convincing himself that he was indeed standing and not swimming, was beyond him.

"Well, Weasley?" Draco finally drawled out after several beats of silence. "What have you learned today?" He punctuated his question with a pinch to her thigh. Spying Ginny's blush, Draco leaned in again to capture her lips in a probing kiss. He only pulled back when he realized those were not moans of pleasure, but Ginny's attempts at talking with a Malfoy glued to her face.

"I said," she spoke into Draco's incensed face. "It looks like there <i>are</i> boys who know how to kiss a girl.

If a Malfoy was ever to squeal in indignation, Draco would have been the first when Ginny ducked out from the shelter of his arms. His only satisfaction was the slight wobble in her step that belied her unaffected facade.

Draco simply turned and continued towards the Slytherin common room, wondering how many times he would have to punch his pillow tonight.

A/N: This story was a response to a challenge posted on portkey by chuya, who asked for a fic with:

- Draco's 1st occlumency lesson

- Bellatrix breaking into his mind

- Draco trying to hide his crush on Ginny Weasley, and

- Bellatrix seeing some of what is hidden

The "sweet spot" I actually, sad enough, thought of thanks to my freakish memory and an episode of Full House that I saw as a pre-adolescent.

The scene on the train ride to Hogwarts consisted of quotes from HBP, with my own add-ins.

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