Another one! I'm posting it so soon because I'm scared it will get lost (it's happened to me before!)…so here you guys go…and THANK YOU HEAPS for the awesome reviews! !applauds readers!
Disclaimer:
I most definitely do NOT!Some Things Are Worth Dying For
Chapter Two: A Job Well Done
It was only two days after I had signed the piece of parchment, swearing the protection of Harry Potter, that I first saved his life. It could be an exaggeration, but I think it is entirely possible for a person to die from choking.
It was Friday night of the first week back at school and all students were dining in the Great Hall. I was sitting next to Pansy Parkinson who was listening intently to one of Draco Malfoy's stories. I was half-listening myself. Draco was rather interesting and funny when he wasn't being egotistical and cruel. Granted it wasn't often I saw the better side of him, it was still there.
"So then I yelled out to them that they had better turn right because they were going to collide," Draco took a bite of his bread, "And so Goyle does it and turns his broom right but Crabbe - the moron - turns left thinking he's turning right because he doesn't know the difference and BANG! They run headfirst into each other and fall to the ground. I mean, I cast a spell so they wouldn't hit the ground so hard but they were still both unconscious for days."
Pansy shrieked with laughter and I looked amused.
"And when was this Malfoy?" I asked, "When they were five and learning how to fly?"
"Actually Bane, it was a few weeks ago, in my backyard." He told me.
"Ah, that of course makes it more interesting." I said, grinning.
"Of course."
The grin left my face at the sound of hacking coming from two tables over. I peered over Draco's head to see where it was coming from.
"Ha!" Draco leered, "Potter's choking to death! This'll be great."
"He's not choking…" I said with a frown, squinting over at Harry. But he was. His face was turning blue and even from where I was I could see his eyes bulging. The teachers hadn't noticed and strangely either had most of the students.
"Haha! Look at him turn purple!" Draco said with a malevolent grin. I made sure he and all the other Slytherin's were watching Harry intently before I pulled my wand from my sleeve and pointed it at Harry.
"Waddiwasi." I muttered. The piece of food caught in Harry's throat became unstuck and I made it soar out of the window before quickly slipping my wand back where it had come from. Harry took deep breaths of air and stood up straight, breathing normally and looking thoroughly relieved.
"What the hell!" Draco was furious; "Who did that? Who helped him?"
"I bet it was that mudblood Granger." Pansy said icily.
"Gods! This completely ruins my day!" Draco glowered. He started to pick at his food grumpily while Pansy patted his arm.
"Did you really expect The-Boy-Who-Lived to die from a piece of food?" I asked them.
"Well no," Draco suddenly grinned, "I always like to imagine him dying slowly and painfully, after having watched everyone he loves die before him so that his last few moments are full of intense pain…"
He trailed off, staring dreamily into space and I had to frown. This was a Deatheater's son if ever I saw one.
"I know," Vincent Crabbe, Draco's friend, piped up, "Let's fight."
"Yeah!" Added Gregory Goyle, "Bash up."
"While you are not being specific, I think I understand," Draco lowered his head, "And an ambush sounds perfect. Potter wouldn't suspect a thing. Let's wait for him when he's alone and Mudblood and Weasley have gone off to their Prefect duties."
I pretended not to be interested while Draco made plans with Crabbe, Goyle and several other Slytherin's to attack The-Boy-Who-Lived-And-Was-Hopefully-Going-To-Be-Beaten-Unconscious-Very-Soon.
Straight after dinner I made my way over to Harry. There were some potions and the like I had prepared a few nights before that would help me look after him. If I was going to be some sort of body guard for him then I was going to do a damn good job at it. Anything to ensure I wouldn't become a Deatheater.
"Ron, I don't want to hear you complain. You should think it an honour Dumbledore made you a Prefect again." Hermione Granger, one of Harry's friends, said superficially. She was a Mudblood and thought rather highly of herself, so I wasn't particularly fond of her.
'Ron' was Ronald Weasley, a tall freckled boy with bright red hair. He came from a Pureblood family, like myself, but they were extremely poor. I didn't mind the Weasley's. I remembered Ron's older brother George rather well, having had somewhat of an obsession with him for the past few years. It was a pity he left school…
"I'll complain all I bloody well want," Ron snapped, "You aren't the boss of me and it's a free country."
"Will you two just give it a rest?" Harry moaned, "I don't want to have to put up with your constant bickering all year long again!"
There was a moment's silence. And then…
"I'll give it a rest if Hermione doesn't nag at me all the time!" Ron said loudly.
"Me nag? It was you that was nagging-" Hermione argued back. Harry sighed.
"Hello Harry." I greeted, walking in step next to him. All three of the sixth years stopped and Harry surveyed me with a glare.
"What do you want Slytherin?" He demanded.
"Oh so cruel," I said coolly, "I was only stopping to see if you were okay. You looked like you were choking to death back there…yoink!"
I grabbed his hair and gave it a quick tug, causing him to shriek. I swiftly pocketed the strands of black hair I'd snatched and took a step back from the three wands that appeared in my face.
"That'll be detention I think!" Ron said angrily.
"For what?" I wondered innocently.
"Pulling my hair!" Harry shouted, rubbing the tender, slightly bald spot.
"Pulling hair?" I continued to be innocent, "I have not a clue what you mean."
"We all saw you." Hermione said calmly, keeping her wand pointed at me.
"I would never pull another person's hair!" I feigned shock; "You Gryffindor's just all have it in for me!"
Harry bared his teeth and turned to his friends, "Put your wands away, don't worry about it."
"But-" Ron began.
"No," Harry stepped back from me, "Don't worry about it."
Ron seethed but followed his friend while Hermione looked at me suspiciously before she did the same.
I waited for second until Harry was quite a few feet away and pulled my wand out, pointing it at his retreating back.
"Protectia Tenaciomor!" I said, as loudly as I dared. A greyish stream of fire shot from the end of my wand and washed over Harry who froze.
"Did you just feel that?" He asked his friends, turning around.
I quickly put my wand away, saluted him and ran off.
I had just performed a powerful shielding charm that would prevent any physical harm from coming to Harry should Draco go through with his ambush.
Satisfied for the moment that Harry would be safe, I headed down to my common room quickly, eager to finish the potion I had been brewing since the night before. It was a very, very difficult potion that had been made with great care.
When I reached my room, I pulled the cauldron out from under my bed and mixed in some of Harry's hair. I then shoved it back under my bed to brew for a few more hours. When it was completed, the potion would let me transport to wherever Harry was at the time I consumed it. It wasn't legal to use at school and there was a chance that I would transport into a wall or something but it was still useful to have.
I put the rest of his hair in a small bowl with a clear solution I'd made and watched it become a dull blue colour. It was Harry's mood. If he was scared or worried or in pain it would become red and I'd immediately be able to rush to his aid.
It kind of makes me want to barf, when I think about how much I'm helping him.
"What are you doing?"
I spun around and forced myself to smirk, "Nothing that concerns you Bulstrode. I suggest you mind your own business."
Millicent Bulstrode was my dorm mate, the only one I ever talked to. She was very tall and large for a girl, and could be intimidating without effort.
At the moment her eyes were flickering from me to the bowl and back again.
"I found this wondering outside the Great Hall," She held up a shorthaired grey and white striped cat, "I don't suppose you know how she got out?"
"Er, no."
The cat was my familiar, a beautifully expensive and intelligent cat by the name of Sinead. She was supposed to have been guarding the bottom of the staircase leading to the Gryffindor common room to see if Harry snuck out after hours, in which case she would inform me. It was hard for her to do, but she was able to open the Slytherin common room door entrance. Although it wasn't allowed, and I doubted any of the Slytherin's would be pleased a 'stupid pet' could accomplish such a thing when Crabbe and Goyle had immense trouble.
"She wouldn't have gotten out unless someone let her out," Millicent raised an eyebrow, "Why did you let her out?"
"Why were you sorted into Slytherin? Why did you come to Hogwarts? Why were you born, really?" I said icily as I took Sinead in my arms, "Don't ask stupid questions Bulstrode. In fact, don't ask questions at all."
"Well I'm going to go for a walk," She continued, ignoring my anger, "If you feel like some fresh air, please don't join me. I don't want to put up with you when you're in a mood."
I watched her leave the room and sighed. Usually Millicent and I got on relatively well. Her parents, after all, were neither Deatheater's nor associated with Deatheater's so she didn't really have murderous blood in her.
"You!" I placed Sinead on my bed and crossed my arms across my chest, "What did I say? Don't get caught, you'll be brought back here! Merlin, how are you supposed to watch precious Potter carefully if you get brought back here."
Sinead huffed and jumped off my bed, heading for the door.
"Yeah! You better go back and watch him, otherwise you'll be sleeping outside tonight." I snapped.
Sinead gave me an annoyed look. She walked away faster and I knew she was going back to her guard duty.
I closed my eyes and laid down on my bed for a little while, checking the mood bowl beside it every now and then, before I decided to take out my school books and do some homework.
"This is so boring." I whispered to myself as I sat in the stands, watching Harry practice for Quidditch.
Three weeks into what I had come to call Harry-Sitting, I had become immensely bored. After saving him from choking and getting beaten up by Malfoy and his gang, nothing else had happened. I'd proceeded to stalk him as often as I could and watched his mood, but he'd remained fine. Even Sinead was getting bored with guarding the stairs, and she usually loved getting out of the Dungeons at any available chance.
I let out a loud yawn and leant back into the seats, the sun was setting and Gryffindor had been practicing for two hours already. Harry, who was the newly appointed captain, just would not let them stop.
I noticed some of the team looking longingly up at the school, obviously wanting to return behind its walls. Ron was amoung them, letting out a yawn every few minutes.
"We done Harry?" He yelled out, sounding annoyed.
"No!" Harry yelled back, "I want us to keep going! The first House we play is Ravenclaw and I don't want to leave any chance of them winning! It's going to be freezing when we play them so we have to practice as much as possible!"
"You want us fall off out brooms from exhaustion so we won't be able to play?" Ron demanded, "Because we're getting there."
"JUST ANOTHER HALF AN HOUR!" Harry bellowed.
Even I jumped at the outburst. He obviously wasn't happy for some reason. I didn't know what it was until he cast me a disgruntled look. I knew he didn't appreciate me sitting in on the practice but that didn't mean he had to be so temperamental about it. My cat has better control of her emotions than he has. And she's a temperamental cat!
I ignored the continuing glares he kept shooting at me and instead focused on the Forbidden Forest. There were shapes moving around in it that made me feel uneasy.
Harry didn't seem to notice anything dangerous as he continued to fly around the Quidditch Pitch, shouting out commands to his teammates.
I sighed and raised my wand, "Chillerio!"
It only took about thirty seconds for the pitch to become very cold. I started to breathe out steam and all feeling left my nose and ears. Harry noticed it too and, despite his confusion, announced the training session over.
I jumped down from the stands and walked behind him as he and Ron made their way over to the changing rooms, discussing the usual freezing draft. I meanwhile had my attention focused on the Forbidden Forest.
He really was careless, Harry Potter. I understood why Dumbledore had assigned him a bodyguard of sorts. I didn't know why he was so special though, but that might have been because I despised him. To me he was cocky and rude and stupid and annoying. To Dumbledore, he was almost like a son.
Well, that's what it seemed like. It was obvious to all Slytherin's that Dumbledore favoured Harry. I know it made a lot of them jealous, especially because of all the special treatment he got. Snape would have never let us get away with half of the things Harry had.
I really wondered why The-Boy-Who-Lived was so important. Was he going to save the world some day or something? Really! I think I'd sooner grow a moustache and change my name to Steve.
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A/N:
Okay! I'm having so much fun writing this! Really, really enjoying it!I'd still appreciate some criticism though, I know you want the chapters longer and I'm going to try and do that, it's just this one was already written!
Cheers people! Oh, and REVIEW!
