Chapter 2 – The Bludger That Betrayed Me

Dear Steve,

So, I was in Muggle Studies today and was learning about dairies and how Muggles keep them to vent out their emotions. So, Steve, that is precisely what I'm going to do now.

!

And from that explosion you can probably tell that I'm seething right now. Not just angry, or annoyed but completely livid.

Why? Oh, I'll tell you why. I'll tell you why the entire school are laughing and Crabbe and me. I'll tell you how much more I hate Daphne now. If you can't guess, you're pretty thick. No offence. I've had completely false accusations coming my way from everyone. Even Weasley, Granger and Potter have tormented me. It's terrible.

"Where's Crabbe then, eh, Malfoy? Did you and him have some kind of spat? Oh dear, oh dear." Weasel Bee said. "You know, I had some ideas for the engagement. I think Crabbe should hire Buckbeak and put the engagement ring in his mouth and make Malfoy shove his hand in and get it! Whadya think, Harry?" Potter couldn't respond, he was too busy laughing. At me! As for me, I was burning up with anger. I turned and began stomping off in the direction of the Slytherin common room. Colin Creevey, a third year Gryffindor kid, was trotting along the corridor, camera in his hand as usual.

Then I had one of those light-bulb-moments.

"Colin, old pal! How've you been?" I said, gently but firmly stopping him in the corridor.

"You're Draco Malfoy." He looked confused.

"Yeah, last time I checked, I was."

"I've never even spoken to you."

"Yes you have! Plenty of times…" My voice trailed off at the end of my sentence because I was, of course, lying my head off.

"Whatever. What do you want from me?" He clutched his camera in his hand as if I was about to take it off him and snap it into two pieces. Cameras…they were odd things. They took pictures of things when you pressed the button and the pictures didn't even move. Pathetic.

"I'll give you twenty galleons," I started, "if you do one little thing for me." I leant down and whispered something in his ear. He narrowed his eyes.

"Twenty galleons, you say?"

"Twenty galleons." I nodded slowly.

"Make it twenty five."

"Fine. I want it done by tomorrow."

"Will do." Ugh. I hoped Colin hadn't thought we'd become friends or something.

"By the way, Colin," I called after him before he walked off, "don't say a word about this to anyone. This is strictly business." He nodded eagerly and then left for the Gryffindor common room…

Dear Steve,

Three words:

Revenge. Is. SWEET! There were no words on the planet – nay, the entire universe – that could explain how completely ecstatic I was right now. I was so relieved that the entire student body had found something else to waggle their fingers at…

Huge posters covered the walls of Hogwarts. It was sort of a sickening sight – Daphne Greengrass in her sleep. I felt sorry for the other girls who had to share the dorm with her. How could they sleep with all that snoring? Oh, the horror.

In their faces!

That wasn't the worst part, though.

"I didn't know you were a drooler, Greengrass!" I smirked, looking up at the picture.

"I…How did you get this?" She demanded.

"You see, Greengrass, if I told you how I got this piece of imbecilic evidence that you really are disgusting, it'd counter-productive now wouldn't it?" I replied. This was awesome. This was just too awesome. "To be quite honest, I didn't know you wore a brace. Or that you slept with a bunch of kids' toys, for that matter. Or that you-"

"STOP RIGHT THERE, MALFOY!" She stormed off with tears forming in her eyes. Well, now she knew how it felt to be completely and utterly humiliated in front of the entire school, didn't she?

So I went through the entire day smiling. And believe me, that's a big thing. It doesn't really happen too often to me, so I decided to enjoy it while it lasted. Ronald, on the other hand, had not forgotten about Crabbe's uncontrollable mucus that just had to come out and splatter all over me. Excellent.

I passed him in the corridor and he gasped. "Did I miss the proposal? Oh, Malfoy, I know we don't see eye to eye but I really am happy for you!"

Then Granger crossed the line.

"So where are you two getting married? Why don't you do it here at Hogwarts? Maybe Professor Flitwick'll let his choir sing Here Comes The Bride." She grinned.

Then along came Potter. If I thought the Mudblood crossed the line, then Scarhead crossed the new line.

"Which one of you'll be wearing the dress? Do tell, Malfoy, do tell."

I completely ignored Harry and glared straight Hermione. "No-one told you to speak, you filthy Mudblood. You should learn to respect your superiors."

"Superiors?" That probably wasn't a wise move. Getting Granger angry was not good. "What's the superiority in having a pureblood status, greasy hair and a snobby attitude?"

"OK, 1 – purebloods are way better than Mudbloods in every single way possible. 2 – my hair is not greasy. And 3 – I am not a snob. You just can't handle it that I'm richer and I'm a pureblood. Truth hurts, doesn't it Granger?"

"Whatever Malfoy." Ron stepped in. "What's the point in having "clean blood" if your attitude is as nice as a pile of Hypogriff dung?"

"For your information, I wasn't actually talking to you. I was talking to your Mudblood mate." I corrected.

"I don't care if she's a Mudblood or not! She and Harry are my best mates and neither of them are purebloods. Do I care? No I don't. So I suggest you shove off before Hermione punches you again."

"Just leave it now, Ron." Granger muttered. "If I was him, I definitely wouldn't take pride in being someone so insignificant they resemble a flea." Harry spluttered with laughter at this. Ron looked a little lost. Probably didn't know what a flea was. Neither did I, come to think of it. But I knew it was an insult.

"Well at least I'm not a bushy-haired Mudblood!" I yelled at her.

"WELL AT LEAST I'M NOT A-"

I didn't get a chance to see what she wasn't because Professor McGonagall intruded. The teachers had all seen the poster on countless occasions and had tried getting them all down, but needed the help of the school caretaker, Filch, who – lucky for me – would be off sick for at least another two weeks.

"Miss Granger, what on earth – or should I say who – are you yelling at?"

"Nothing. It's nothing, Professor." She answered, quiet as a mouse.

"Well it most certainly didn't look like nothing to me. You and Mr Malfoy will come to my office at once."

And so, my bubble of happiness had been, once again, burst.

*sniff*

Dear Steve,

WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY? OH CRUEL FATE! JUST TAKE ME NOW!

This is so unfair! I got two weeks of detention. And it wasn't just any detention – I was cleaning out Filch's office.

And that, my friend, was not the worst part. I was stuck with both of the Greengrasses. Yes – both! McGonagall figured out who was behind the "DRACO MALFOY AND VINCENT CRABBE – SOMETHING MORE THAN FRIENDSHIP?" posters and was completely livid about it. Granger, however, got out of detention. Why? Oh yes, because her Transfiguration essay was "outstanding."

Talk about unfairness!

I soon forgot about the unfairness of everything as it was the first Quidditch match of the year: Gryffindor v. Slytherin. I don't see why we always had to play Gryffindor first. Though I'd never admit it out loud, Gryffindor were better. We could've taken on Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff in one go, but Gryffindor were different.

I changed into my Quidditch robes and made my way to the pitch with the rest of my teammates – Graham Montague, Adrian Pucey, C. Warrington (I didn't actually know his first name), Miles Bletchley, Goyle and myself. But hang on…there were only six of us. Quidditch was played with seven players on each team. Where was Crabbe? There was no need to ask as someone did it for me. "Where's Crabbe today?"

Bletchley replied. "He's got a minor case of Dragon-Pox, so Greengrass is filling in for him today."

"Excuse me, what?" WHAT? "Daphne's filling in? I have to share the Quidditch pitch with Greengrass?"

WHAT?

"Yes, Malfoy. I'm sure you'll live to tell the tale." Great. It was bad enough having to do two weeks worth of detention with her, and now this? Oh, sigh.

"Ready everyone?" Montague looked back at the rest of us and the double doors to the Quidditch pitch opened. I mounted my broomstick and kicked off the ground, feeling the wind rush through my hair and the adrenaline rush through my veins, like it always did when I flew on my broom. The game started swiftly and after ten minutes, Gryffindor were leading with ten points at a score of 40-30 to them.

Suddenly everything went from being in normal speed to extra fast and then to slow motion. I saw a Bludger hurtling my way and narrowly dodged it. About five other players behind me managed to move out of the way and avoid getting hit. Daphne Greengrass, on the other hand, was facing the other way and didn't see it coming. (Cue slow motion…) I heard a loud crack, even above the screaming of the students below us and Daphne fell off her broom, promptly before hurtling down to the ground at top speed.

Oh dear.

Dear Steve,

Just decided to write something before I went and served my duty in Filch's office. I just realised – with Granger getting out of detention and Daphne being carted off to the hospital wing – I was going to be alone with Astoria for a whole three hours every day for the next two weeks.

That Bludger really let me down today. If it wasn't for that bloody Bludger, I wouldn't be dreading this detention as much.

Pray for me.