Woodgreen Academy Archive

Summary: Draco makes a mistake. Something begins. Something ends. Some things never change. But nothing in Woodgreen is permanent.

A/N: “When we collide we lose ourselves” is a line from Dishwalla’s “Collide”. All other notes are found at the end. There would’ve been more art in here but only one scene begged to be drawn. And the other scene that begged for illustration was something I’d rather leave to your imagination. XD Thanks for reading.

PS: Additional warning, I noticed it late. This part is shifty at least in terms of POV. Would’ve separated it by chapter but the collision theme wasn’t about two people only. Everyone’s involved.

==========

Draco was at a steady pace jogging back to his wing; the strange encounter that morning still in the back of his mind. He was a resident of South Wing for two years when he was moved to East before he and Weasley could tear the place apart the following year. Potter was originally a South resident also but he was moved to North in his sophomore year; likely to separate him from Weasley because the two of them together with Draco in the same roof was a war zone especially when Vincent and Gregory were with him.

There was relative peace during the third year with Potter and Vincent staying in North, Weasley and Gregory in South while Draco was in East. Draco hated it. Pansy was not with him either because she had been assigned in North from the very beginning. And because Draco was left alone, he was more vindictive and menacing during that particular year. Potter was a hard target because of the support: Weasley and Granger. Granger would’ve been easy but the redhead was always with her and if anything, he became a whole different person when protecting somebody. The three when together were untouchable and it grated on Draco’s nerves.

But when singled out, Weasley was definitely the easiest to hit, everything about him was mediocre. So Draco zeroed in on him, the bloody bastard. And yet, Weasley persevered. Beaten and bloodied, perhaps, but he never ran.

Draco stopped in his tracks, frowning at his train of thought. He walked the rest of the way back to his wing, still thinking.

Psychoanalyzing Weasley was a bad exercise so early in the morning but he couldn’t help it. Weasley ran away from South. Twice. And if he remembered it right, the redhead mentioned earlier that he had slept in the office before the night Draco first walked in on him. The both times that Draco poked fun in an attempt to wiggle out embarrassing information for future blackmail, Weasley managed to cut him off with silence or a non-answer altogether that made him stray off topic.

He was curious what was in South Wing now that could make Weasley turn around and walk especially when he had authority to wield. It was uncharacteristic. He felt something akin to envy along with the curiosity. Weasley wasn’t even ranting about his house, at all, when he would rant about Snape, and assignments, schedules and everything else on the very first day. Granger didn’t look like she knew the other prefect had been sneaking out at night or else she would’ve said something already. So there was something there, Draco knew it.

“Curious, curious. Bah.” Draco rolled his eyes and entered the building.

A few things happened all at once but what Draco registered first was the lack of noise, and movement from an otherwise populated lobby.

“What are you doing here?”

“This is my building.” Draco twitched when he finally recognized faces — faces that did not belong to East Wing. He was talking to the blond punk with the whisker tattoos.

“This is the South Wing,” said Uzumaki.

Draco knew that the second he recognized faces but now he had to quickly think of an excuse as to why he took the right path instead of taking the left that led to his wing. The paths fork and even if they were identical, Draco had been in Wings for four long years. He could navigate it with his eyes closed and get to his destination from muscle memory alone.

Mind set, Draco stood his ground and squared his shoulders. “Where’s your prefect? He’s breaking the rules.”

“What?” Uzumaki looked confused and then glanced at his pale companion, a girl Draco remembered as Hinata Hyuuga. Her cousin was in his wing.

“I’ll get Ronnie,” Hyuuga softly said and walked to the stairs.

Everyone else in the lobby who had been watching TV earlier remained silent, curious no doubt. The TV was also muted even though it was still showing some cooking show. Draco just waited, not bothering to make conversation with the blond who seemed intent on standing guard for some annoying reason.

A few seconds later, Weasley showed up led by Hyuuga. Behind him were a few people, namely Usagi already in her red uniform but her hair was still down. It looked like she had been dragged along in the middle of dressing up. Another officer was with her, Makoto Kino, looking displeased because she seemed to have been dragged out as well.

‘Were they expecting war?’ Draco thought, surprised.

Weasley looked irritated at the two officers then turned to him, “If this is about the coffee, Malfoy, I don’t know what I’ll do to you.”

“He said you’re breaking rules,” Uzumaki butted in and walked towards Weasley.

“We have to talk,” and that was the only thing Draco could think of then he walked out of the building, onto neutral ground.

——————-

“Okay, so what is this about?” Usagi whined, scowling at Ron.

“I’ve no idea, I swear.” Ron shook his head, running his fingers through his hair.

“I still have to do my hair and fix my uniform and etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. You know I can’t be late today.”

Ron rolled his eyes, “You’re the one who ran out of your room when Hinata said Malfoy’s here.”

“Heh. Well, I thought there was a fight so I was thinking I can stop it before it starts…” Usagi twiddled her thumbs and stepped back, closer to her taller friend-self-appointed-bodyguard, Makoto.

“And I was dragged along,” Makoto sighed, still toweling her wet hair dry.

“That’s my job around here.” Ron pushed the two back to the stairs. “Don’t be late to the meet or Yuy will start without you.”

“Don’t remind me! How can he do that, I’m the commander!” Usagi all but ran upstairs, dragging her officer along.

Every Tuesday and Friday all the JROTC cadets were required to be on the field by seven, sharp, to salute and attend the ceremonial raising of the flags and inspection. Then, proceed to the JROTC lecture set before the normal classes. It was a masochistic practice, and the seniors were all required to be cadets. Ron was glad he was a prefect. They were in a separate hierarchy from the JROTC so there was no need for him to wake up so early if he could help it.

Not that it mattered anymore. He was always up by six nowadays.

“Naruto, did he say anything else?”

“No,” Naruto shook his head. “Hinata and I just came back from the morning jog when I saw him.”

“We better prepare, too. Usagi might get away for showing up a bit late but Yuy-san would give us demerits as early as today.” Hinata was soft-spoken, but when she made a decision, she wasn’t going to let it go.

It was so different from the Hinata Ron knew from Prime. She was originally from West but was moved to South on the same year Naruto came to Woodgreen High. They had been friends since and it did wonders on the shy girl. Ron didn’t even know Hinata was capable of physical labor up until Naruto somehow got her involved in the JROTC. It was unfortunate that she hadn’t joined during her freshman year. She could’ve been an officer by the time she was senior.

“She’s right. Besides, you know what the rules are in this house. I doubt I’m breaking anything that Malfoy would put me in a bad position so early in the year.”

Naruto grinned and mock saluted along with Hinata who gave a small smile then they recited the general rules of South Wing, “Speak English. Food is holy. Ohana!”

“And no entering my room when I’m not around.” Ron saluted right back with a grin then left.

——————-

Outside, Draco finally came to a conclusion that it was his so-called muscle memory that brought him exactly where he was. He was originally from this side of the compound and had lived here for two whole years, after all.

“Talk, Malfoy,” Ron started, still a few feet away from Draco.

“You’re not supposed to be sneaking out at night. What if something happens here?”

“Who are you? Hermione?” Ron crossed his arms as soon as he was standing face to face with the blond.

“I resent that.” Draco grimaced.

They were both silent afterwards; Ron, waiting for something to happen, and Draco, trying to think of anything rational to explain an embarrassing situation.

“We both know you’re lying,” Ron finally said, “because you don’t care as much about rules either. So why are you really here?”

“I want to know what’s going on in South Wing.” When nothing else worked, it was time for truth. Draco wasn’t stupid enough to cover up lie after lie only to be caught unaware when his lies began to show holes.

“Why?”

There was no need to implicate one’s self, so Draco did not answer that. Instead, he went for the tried and true, threats. “Watch your back,” Draco snarled and began walking away, heading back to the fork where he made the horrendous mistake of turning right.

Ron was taken aback, more from the incredulity of the situation than the supposedly intimidating attitude of someone who gave him hell on earth the previous year. He was confused now.

“Hey.”

Draco continued on, steady in his steps as he walked away.

“Hey, Malfoy!” Again, but louder.

And again, Draco ignored it.

“Fine, damn it. Draco!”

Draco turned to give a glare that could make the devil cringe. “Since when are we on a first name basis?”

For his benefit, Ron did wince. “Got your attention, didn’t it?”

Heaven tried to help by blowing some wind to cool down the lawn when the glare intensified.

Ron turned away from the glare to spare himself from getting irritated, “If you’re worried I’ll do something incredibly stupid like get caught by the patrol, then don’t. I’m not the one who’s going to pull down our unit.”

In Woodgreen High, prefects were as high as they possibly could be in the chain and had free reign over their respective wing assignments. Governing the whole school, on the other hand, was a shared responsibility with the JROTC. Teachers were meant to teach and would not be the ones to keep students in line outside the classroom.

However, it didn’t mean the prefects answered to nobody. The more freedom they have, the graver the consequence when they themselves broke the few rules that presided over them. Watch your house was a simple enough rule and Ron couldn’t be doing that when he was obviously gone the whole time. South Wing was notorious by reputation as it were, adding in a missing prefect would call for a system change in a blink.

Anyone could get caught by the patrol and simply be delivered back to where they should be but not the prefects. Out of bound prefects were noted on paper.

Prefects had been removed before and always as a unit. Removed. Not replaced. If prefects were removed, the wings would each have fallback head masters and then it would be an iron claw on each wing for the rest of the term. Woodgreen started as a military extension after all before it became a private academy.

“Is that so?” Draco cocked an eyebrow. “Let’s talk about pulling down the unit, why don’t we.”

“Of course. You’re going to bring the games last year into this! Again! Why can’t you get over that?”

“Why should I? You shouldn’t either. It was embarrassing to have a losing streak because the goalkeeper somehow evades the ball coming his way. It looked like you were letting the other teams win on purpose.” Draco breathed but he was far from done, “Just because you somehow managed a few flukes at the tail end before the quarter finals doesn’t mean you’re not a risk. You do a mediocre job at everything, even as prefect. Maybe Granger was right when she said Potter might’ve been the original prefect but he’s already captain so you got the job.”

“When did she say that? You know what,” Ron’s demeanor had changed and covered the remaining space between them in two strides, “you’re going to get it.”

“If we show up black and blue in school, Onizuka will ask questions.” Draco, however, clenched his fists and already had one foot forward for balance.

“Oh, don’t worry. I won’t hit your face and we’re going to be wearing long sleeves today. White uniform.” Ron’s fist flew.

——————-

Back in East Wing, the hallways were buzzing with activity, of people running back and forth from their rooms and the common baths. There were twenty rooms on each floor and only two bathrooms with three shower stalls each. It was murder on everyone who needed to be anywhere early because no one wanted to wake up at near dawn.

But, on Tuesdays and Fridays, all the seniors were up by six, trying to outrun each other in the limited stalls. Normally, there was a schedule but that was when the first class was at nine and waking up was a bit leisurely done compared to a seven a.m. ceremony with Battalion Executive Officer Heero Yuy. The commander might let tardiness slide with an apology as long as it was not too often done, knowing who she was, but her XO would give demerits silently.

Those in the JROTC the previous year already knew of Yuy’s pragmatic behavior as inspector. They were the first ones to grab the stalls that morning while everyone else drummed fingers and tapped feet at the hallways.

Normally, also, Draco Malfoy wouldn’t tolerate that many people along the hallway because it prevented others from getting to their destinations fast enough. Either the prefect slept in late or he hadn’t been back from his morning jog, yet. Whichever it was, no one bothered to know more as they were still busy with the current dilemma of looking the perfect cadet for the morning inspection. If only they could get the showering done first, which was proving to be more difficult than properly folding their uniforms at each tuck.

Meanwhile, downstairs at the lobby that doubled as the house’s living room, Terry Boot and Theodore Nott were already dressed in their green uniforms and playing chess. Their comfortable silence was broken by the long tirade of a very pissed off Draco Malfoy who just walked in.

Terry raised dark eyes to stare at the disheveled friend. “I thought prefects were exempt from JROTC. You look like Yuy made you run an obstacle course.”

Draco just pointed his index finger at Terry, narrowing his eyes in silent warning of not uttering another word. Then he went up the stairs.

“What’s wrong with him?”

Theodore flicked the white king off the board and said, “Check.”

“I asked what’s wrong with Draco.” Terry picked up the white piece from the floor, annoyed.

“I don’t know but I know the second floor no longer has a line along the hallway.”

——————-

Ginny was on her way to the kitchen when she literally bumped into Draco because she had been talking to Colin and wasn’t looking. Seeing it was Draco, she didn’t bother to apologize.

Then she noticed that Draco clutched his side and winced, and took a while before he managed to snarl at Ginny for simply existing in the same space.

“What happened to you?” She raised an eyebrow and noted the dirt on his clothes, the rumpled hair with grasses on it, and more dirt on his red face.

Colin, too, was eyeing their prefect critically. “Need help?”

Draco snorted and rolled his eyes. “Go where you’re supposed to be going and mind your own business.”

Colin and Ginny just looked at each other, eyebrows raised, then at the retreating back of Draco.

“I bet he got in a fight.”

“With whom? It’s so early in the morning.” Colin continued downstairs.

Just then Duo Maxwell came bouncing down the stairs, long braid swinging along with him against his back. He somehow managed to look like a clown while wearing the usually stiff red uniform of the JROTC officers. It looked so bright on him with the sunlight from the window coupled with his cheerful smile enough to blind Ginny and Colin.

“He got raped, man. I can tell.”

“What?” Ginny looked horrified.

“No, no…not that. I meant… how to explain this. Have you two played in a MUD?” Duo placed both arms on their shoulders and they made their way to the kitchen.

“Mud?” Colin was now very confused. They had moved from topic to topic so fast he couldn’t recall if they finished one at all.

“Multi-user Dungeon, M-U-D.” Duo nodded, still using the two youngsters as his crutches while they walked together. “It’s a game and sometimes people kill each other and then steal each other’s equipment for trophies. We call it ‘raped’ when someone’s been ambushed.”

“So Malfoy was mugged?” Ginny frowned, “There’s someone running around mugging people on campus!?”

Duo just sighed. “Never mind. Let’s eat!”

——————-

Ron’s room was locked when Momiji tried the knob. He had wanted to ask if he could go to school with a slight variation of his uniform. He knew students were allowed to modify their black uniforms for a sense of individuality as long as it remained intact and not mangled beyond recognition. But he wasn’t sure about what he had in mind.

He tried the knob once again and frowned darker when it wasn’t his imagination that it was locked. He knocked. “Ron-nii?”

“Yes?”

“Can I come in?”

“I’ll be out in a bit. I just have to fix a few things here, Momiji. Is it important?”

“Not really.” Momiji tried not to sigh, “I’ll come back later, then. Have you eaten breakfast?”

“Not yet. I’ll meet you downstairs.”

“Okay!” He looked at the closed door one last time, wondering what was wrong but eventually decided he would ask about it later if his Ron-nii wanted to talk about it. Settled, Momiji left with a lighter heart.

——————-

Inside, Ron buried his face in his pillow. “Lav, you don’t have to do this.”

“No I don’t but I’m still your friend and no one else can fix you thoroughly when you’re this bruised. Harry will charge at Malfoy first and Hermione… well, will talk to you.” Lavender sighed, “And I’ve seen you before so there’s no need to be shy about it.” She tried to smile.

Ron had the decency to blush despite everything they did in the past. “Thanks, I appreciate it.”

“I know you do.”

He finally took off his shirt. “You might be late for the inspection.”

“Hurry up and take a shower. I’ll find your first aid kit somewhere in the mess of your room.” She pushed him into the bathroom and started looking in his closet.

It took less than five minutes and Ron was out. Lavender gave him a look. “That was too quick.”

“Well, I don’t want you late because of me. I can do the rest. Just do something about my back.” He sat on his bed, back facing Lavender and not bothering to wear anything other than the towel around his waist.

She ran her hand on the fresh marks on his back and poked the forming black and blues. “I can’t believe he scratched you.”

“ Me neither. Scratched when I try to stand up and bit when I manage to grab his wrists. That hurt more than the punches and kicks. I think I actually bled. My shirt was too thin.”

“I can tell when I saw you walk back in.” she shook her head and started her work. She had done this before and was used to helping Ron when the fights got too serious. Sometimes, she felt proud that she was the only one who could do this. Ron couldn’t always go to the clinic because everything was logged. Now that he was a prefect, he had more reasons not to make an appearance at the clinic.

Ron hissed every now and then but other than that, nothing else happened. Lavender didn’t say anything and Ron obviously didn’t want to talk about details. He personally did not like to be reprimanded over something he himself couldn’t explain. One thing just led to another and it was easier to just fight rather than think. Other than the prat had gone too close to what still drove Ron’s insecurities to incoherency.

He would never be angry at Harry for being better at things Ron could only dream of but it still hurt to be compared. He didn’t know for sure if Hermione really said anything because he only had Malfoy’s word for it, but what was painful was that it wasn’t out of Hermione’s character to question Ron at all. And again, that hurt so much it was so hard not to get angry. And Malfoy just simply loved to spell it all out.

“Ron, are you okay? You’re very silent.” She patted his back lightly, signaling it’s all done.

“Be honest with me. How am I doing as prefect?” Ron turned to look at Lavender.

“That’s kinda hard to answer when you’re almost naked in front of me…”

Ron blinked then laughed. “Thanks.”

“No worries. I’ll unlock your door now and then let’s see how ‘bad’ a prefect you are to everyone.” She smiled and stood up.

“It should never be locked anyway.” Ron snorted then smiled. He stood up and walked towards his closet. “I might as well get ready early. I’ll see you in class.”

She waved and left, and then someone walked in.

“Oooh, it’s true. You really did get into a fight. What is it with redheads becoming a magnet for this kind of thing?”

Ron looked at his Japanese co-worker. “You didn’t see anything, right?” He slipped on a white shirt and hissed as the fabric brushed against his sore body.

“Not a scratch.” Youhei Mito winked. “I’ll tell the others to keep the talking down before Onizuka gets wind of it. Tell me you didn’t lose, at least.”

“Can’t tell but I’m sure I gave as good as I got.”

“Yeah, Weasley is our king!” Youhei smirked. “Alright, the rest of us are leaving. We’ll see you later. Oh yeah, you going to work later? Those will hurt like a bitch.”

“Should be fine by afternoon. Later then,” Ron chose to ignore the first comment. Even if the chant had already shifted into something good, he wouldn’t forget its origin. If he could only think of something as equally degrading for Malfoy, life would be great.
TBC

notes:
[1] Ohana - Lilo & Stitch, anyone? XD Well, we’re in Hawaii after all. And for those who aren’t aware of it, “ohana” means family but it’s more than the literal term in Hawaii. It’s a philosophy/way of life and ‘family’ isn’t limited by blood.

[2] Weasley is our King / The Amazing Bouncing Ferret - gacked straight from JKR’s books so I’m just putting it here to disclaim it just in case