Puppeteer
"What are you talking about?" snarked Juliet as she fumbled through the thin pages of her textbook.
Draco stood in front of her desk chair, a proud smirk twisted on his lip. He towered over her with his height and his request. "My textbook. I forgot it at the common room."
"And? What does that have to do with me?" Juliet turned her head down and pretended to read, begging in her head for Draco to go away.
Draco chuckled. "I can get it myself, if you want to get expelled." He shrugged, about to turn back
Fear crept up within Juliet and she immediately bounced from her seat and grabbed Draco by his robes. "Wait," she'd nearly pleaded. "I'll grab your book but that's it."
Draco grinned as he watched Juliet walk away with a huff and puff, knowing she was already cursing him in her pretty little head. He couldn't help it. He had to cause her a little suffering with the leverage she'd just handed to him. He hadn't planned on taking it easy on her either.
Draco makes good on his promise, though not in the way Juliet had expected. Every time she thought she could relax, he found new ways to remind her of the leverage he had. At first, it was small things — taking notes for him in classes, fetching books from the library, even running small errands.
Juliet was irritated, but she played along, gritting her teeth through every request. One afternoon, as she handed him a stack of parchment he'd made her pick up from the library, she snapped.
"This is getting ridiculous, Draco. I'm not your house-elf."
Draco glanced up from where he was lounging in the Slytherin common room, an amused smirk playing on his lips. "No, but you're in a pretty convenient position to be helping me, aren't you?"
Juliet crossed her arms, her frustration boiling over. "I've done everything you've asked. I've played along. When does this end?"
Draco tilted his head, still looking infuriatingly calm. "When I decide it does."
Her hands clenched into fists, and she took a deep breath. "You're seriously going to hold this over my head forever? You don't even care about the party, or the kid who got hurt. This is just about control for you."
Draco's smile didn't falter. "Exactly. And you were reckless enough to give me that control."
Juliet's temper flared again, but she forced herself to calm down. She wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of seeing her lose it. "So, what do you want now? What's the next thing on your list?"
Draco's expression changed slightly, his eyes narrowing. "Actually, there is something." He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he looked at her intently. "You're going to help me with something a bit more... delicate."
Juliet frowned, her irritation turning to suspicion. "What do you mean?"
"There's a rumor going around," Draco said, his voice dropping as if this was a secret only for her ears. "About my father. And about something happening at the Ministry. I need information."
Juliet blinked, caught off guard. This wasn't about fetching books or running errands. This was something bigger, more dangerous. "And how am I supposed to get that?"
Draco's smirk returned, though there was a sharpness to it this time. "You're resourceful, Van Der Hart. And you have connections. People talk to you, even if they don't realize it. All I need is for you to listen and tell me what you hear."
Juliet stared at him, realizing that this wasn't just a game for Draco anymore. He was pulling her into something much darker, something that involved his family's dangerous connections.
She considered refusing, but the weight of the secret he held over her head pressed down like a vice. He could ruin her with a word, and she wasn't ready to face the fallout of Snape's interrogation. Not yet.
"Fine," she said, her voice quiet but firm. "I'll do it. But after this, we're done. No more games, no more favors. I'm not your puppet."
Draco raised an eyebrow, but he didn't argue. "Deal. But make sure you do it right, or we'll be having this conversation again."
Juliet turned on her heel, storming out of the common room, her heart pounding in her chest. She hated the position she was in, hated that she had to rely on Draco, but most of all, she hated that he seemed to enjoy every moment of it.
As she walked down the corridor, she thought about how she was going to get the information Draco wanted without getting caught. This wasn't about parties and gossip anymore — this was about family secrets, and it could get dangerous.