If the whole world was blind, how many people would you try to impress?

- Baoona Mohamed

"So, I heard you and your friends are throwing a little party tonight." I looked up from my essay, straight into Adrian's mesmerizing green eyes.

"My friends are, not me. Prefect duties", I shrugged.

"Aha, your turn tonight? You'll miss all the fun. Can I sit?" I nodded and put my quill down. My essay suddenly wasn't interesting anymore.

"Well to be honest, will there be any fun when I'm not there?" I smirked, making him chuckle.

"Fair point, I had kind of hoped you'd be there." I squinted my eyes, trying to figure out what his deal was. Was he flirting? He knew very well that I was unavailable.

"And why is that, Adrian?" I asked, trying to screen his reaction.

"No particular reason." He threw me one last wink before he left me alone. I looked at my watch. Just ten minutes before curfew. I stuffed my books in my bag and left the library.

On my way to the common room, I bumped into my two friends, who had gone absolutely mad. They both were on their way to the common room from the kitchen, both struggling to hold everything they had brought, which was mostly Firewhiskey.

"You are fifteen years old ... That's a terrible idea", I sighed.

"Oh are you going to snitch on us, little miss prefect?" Tracey grinned. I shook my head with a sigh and entered the common room. I decided to freshen up a little before going out and patrolling the hallways.

When I came down, most older students had already gathered in the common room. I was a little bummed that I would miss all the fun, but there would be other parties and I could not miss my first night of patrol.

I noticed Malfoy sitting in one of the couches, surrounded by some of his goons. He did not seem to have any intent of leaving the spot. A fourth-year girl kindly moved out of the way as I reluctantly made my way to the group.

"Malfoy, you realise we've got patrol, right?" I said, crossing my arms. He looked up and almost immediately rolled his eyes.

"Oh, you got a date with the Selwyn girl, Malfoy?" Goyle smirked.

"I suggest you shut that mouth of yours, Goyle", I snapped. "Or I'll make sure you understand the real meaning of my last name."

Goyle shrugged, taken aback a bit, and slowly backed away.

"Using daddy's last name to impress people now, Selwyn?" Malfoy said, rising from his seat. I hated that he was much taller than me, because he often used it to his advantage.

"My last name, thank you very much", I sneered. The Selwyn name had a long history and the respect it had nowadays was created by the long list of my ancestors, but it was also my last name. It was my legacy. "And I suggest you show a bit of respect."

"I have no respect for you, so stay out of my way and stop bothering me." I clenched my jaw to bite back a retort. It was useless anyway.

"I suggest you watch your back from now on, Malfoy", I said very silently, almost a whisper. I then turned around and walked away.

"Are you threatening me now, Selwyn?" he called, but I didn't respond. He had no idea.

He had been annoying the past years, but this year he really got in my hair. He was infuriating. I didn't even know I possessed the ability to despise someone so much, but he proved me I did.

Patrolling the hallways that night was not the most exciting. For one because I could hear the noise from the party in the Slytherin common room that I was missing, but also because I couldn't stop thinking about Malfoy, and not in a good way.

Why did he hate me so much? Sure, I had plenty of reasons besides his obnoxious personality to detest him, but why did he hate me? He had been nasty towards me since we were very little and which reasons had I given him? Absolutely none. I had to survive just three more years and then I'd make sure I'd never, ever have to see him again.

"You seem to be enjoying your patrol duties." I looked up absently to spot Adrian Pucey once again.

"You seem to be everywhere today. Are you stalking me, Pucey?" I smiled coyly.

"Hardly, it seems like fate is telling you something."

"Oh and what's that?", I smirked, crossing my arms. I might not be interested in getting a boyfriend this year, but that didn't mean I couldn't engage in some harmless flirting. He just stared at me for a while. It was something I was good at, staring. I didn't easily get fazed. When people looked at me intensely, like Adrian was doing right now, I looked back, one eyebrow slightly cocked.

"You're something else, Selwyn."

"Where are you coming from anyway? It's past curfew, young man." It was almost twelve at night. I had been wandering around the castle longer than I thought.

"Took a bath. Have you tried the prefect's bathroom yet? It's a great advantage of being selected prefect."

"I have not, but I'll be sure to do so soon."

"Well don't hesitate to look for me if you need company." Adrian winked, but I thought it was rather repulsive.

"You're overstepping your boundaries here, Pucey. I'd rather not be the subject of your sexual fantasies so please have some respect and do not share them with me." He didn't really seem taken aback by my comment, he just looked at me for a bit and I could almost see the wheels turning in his head. He was trying to figure me out.

"I'm sorry, that was untasteful of me", he smiled slightly. Much better.

"Where is the second prefect at? Is it that bad that you each have to take another half of the castle?" he chuckled. I had to think a half millisecond about throwing Malfoy under the bus or not.

"He'd rather enjoy the party, so I'm on my own", I stated. There was no way I would purposely keep him out of trouble after the way he spoke to me. As I said to him, he should watch his back.

"On the first night, that's not a very good impression, is it? You should talk to Graham about it, he'll get it sorted.

"It's fine, I'll get it sorted myself."

"Well, speaking of parties, are you coming to enjoy the last of it? There must be a glass of Firewhiskey left."

I wasn't the biggest fan of Firewhiskey, as I simply did not like the taste and it burned my throat, but since I was still feeling tense, it would be a good way to get me to calm down before bed.

"In a little bit. I'm going to do the round one last time. See you around." With that, I turned around and continued my walk. Some harmless flirting was okay, but I didn't like the fact that he engaged in it so eagerly.

I walked my round one last time, not seeing anything interesting at all. Patrolling was quite boring, but I supposed it was much better now than it would be with Malfoy.

When I reached the common room, the music had died down a little, indicating that the party was drawing to an end. I didn't mind, I liked the peace and quiet.

"Eleanor! Finally!" Tracey called for me as I walked in. She clearly had one glass too many, which wasn't very difficult as a fifteen-year-old.

"Have you saved me some?" I chuckled at her excited state.

"Here you go", Daphne said and handed me a glass. "Had to hide the bottle from her or she'd have downed it." I chuckled, guiding Tracy to the couch. Her mood switched instantly as she hit the soft pillows and soon, she got drowsy.

"Come on, give me that." I gently took the glass from her and put it on the coffee table. In seconds, she was fast asleep. I took a seat myself, slowly sipping on the burning liquid.

It was only when I averted my eyes to the fire that I noticed his silhouette in the armchair. I decided to ignore it, focusing my gaze on the flames.

"Enjoyed your patrol, Selwyn?" he spoke after a while.

"Of course", I said. If I didn't respond to his provocations in the way he wanted me to, then I wouldn't give him the satisfaction of getting under my skin and he'd lose interest.

"Adrian's been eyeing me all night. You snitched on me, didn't you?" I rolled my eyes. Was he actually daft? Even if I wanted to, there was no need. He had sat here all night with all the other prefects around. They all knew who was patrolling when, so it was no rocket science.

"Guess you'll never know, will you?" I drank the last bit of Firewhiskey before I put it down on the table a little too aggressively.

"Is she asleep?" Daphne asked and sat down on the other couch.

"Oh, hi Draco", she said when she noticed the cockroach in the corner and I had to keep myself from throwing up in my mouth as her voice suddenly sounded very sickly sweet.

"Hello Daphne, so nice of you to join", Malfoy said and I raised my brow at him to figure out if he was being sarcastic or not. He'd get a smack in the face if he was.

"You're much more pleasant company than Miss Selwyn over here", he continued. Was he flirting with her or simply insulting me? Whatever it was, I did not want to be part of it. As much as I hated him, Daphne had a massive crush on him and if he was in fact flirting with her, good for her. I didn't want to imagine what life would be like if Malfoy started hanging around my best friend all the time, but my grudges were less important than Daphne's dreams, so I'd have to suck it up anyway.

"Well, can't say I enjoy your presence either, so I'll be heading off now", I sighed and stood up.

"Good night Daphne." I gave her a quick cheek kiss before heading to my dorm. My alarm would go off in a little over six hours, great.