DRACO
That Wilford girl was going to get him so angry he couldn't speak, one of these days. He didn't understand why Professor Dumbledore continued to let those Mudbloods into the school. "Hogwarts is tainted," he muttered.
"Tainted?" said Goyle. "How so?"
Draco sneered. "Don't you know anything, Goyle? No, of course not; you can't even read."
"Can too," Goyle said quietly.
Draco ignored him. "It's Dumbledore. He's the worst thing that's ever happened here—and, he continues to let those half-bloods and Mudbloods in."
"The school wouldn't be big without half-bloods and Muggle-borns," Crabbe said from where he was lying on the floor, staring at the ceiling grumpily.
"It's Mudbloods, Crabbe," Draco barked, almost before Crabbe had finished talking. "Mudbloods, not Muggle-borns. Ugh. And you're right, sort of. It wouldn't be big, but it also wouldn't be contaminated." He crossed his legs and leaned against the armrest of the couch he was half-sitting, half-laying on. "Contaminated. . . ."
He sat there in silence, brooding angrily and partly waiting for Goyle or Crabbe to speak. Finally Goyle broke the quiet. "Should we do our homework?"
"You do mine, Crabbe," Draco said absentmindedly.
"I'm Goyle," Goyle said.
"Whatever," Draco snapped. Goyle got up and headed to the dormitories for the trios' bags.
He returned shortly and sat down at a nearby desk to begin.
"Oh, hang on," Draco said. "I don't want you doing my homework, you have grades worse than Hufflepuff, and that's saying something." He got up and went over to the desk. "My homework."
Then, sighing, he retreated to a different desk and began.
"That Wilford girl," Draco hissed at breakfast the next day. "She's not in her usual seat. What happened to her?"
"Maybe she got sacked," Crabbe said eagerly.
"Yeah, maybe she was fired," Goyle said, just as eagerly.
"You idiotic gits," Draco groaned. "Only teachers can get sacked, and sacked and fired mean the same thing! Sometimes I wonder—"
"Hi, Draco."
"Hi, Pansy," he said to Pansy Parkinson. She slid into the seat across the table from him. "So, Draco . . . we have Double Potions today . . . with that Wilford Mudblood. What do you think of it?"
"Professor Snape said I didn't have to do it," Draco said. "I'm going to practice a Patronus Charm."
"Oh, good luck," said a too-familiar, sarcastic voice behind him. "You need a happy thought to cast a Patronus, Malfoy, and I'll bet, living with parents like yours, that you only have one happy thought, and that's getting away from them."
Draco shot up and spun, drawing his wand; Tess was smirking at him. He raised his wand.
"Draco, not in front of the teachers," Tess said in a perfect imitation of Pansy Parkinson's voice. "You don't want to get in trouble, do you?"
She raised her eyebrows, then walked down the length of the table. Draco pointed his wand at the bottom of her robes and muttered, "Lacarnum Inflamarae!"
Her robes caught fire.
A jet of water soared from the Ravenclaw table and soaked her—instantly Tess looked at the hem of her robes, then shouted, whipping her wand out at Draco: "Flipendo!"
He flipped over backwards, into Goyle, but recovered fast. "Furnunculus!"
Tess made a shield and his hex bounced off, hitting Pansy Parkinson in the face. She screamed and fell backwards off the bench.
"Goyle," Draco yelped, dodging one of Tess's spells—the Great Hall was in chaos—teachers were shouting—students were yelling, having formed a circle around the duelers that the teachers couldn't get through—cheering—egging Draco and Tess on—
Tallantallegra! Serpensortia, Draco thought. His first jinx bounced off Tess's shield, but the second produced a snake.
"Vipera Evanesca," Tess cried instantly.
Draco sent ten snakes at her, then tried to Stun her.
"PROTEGO," bellowed Harry Potter, pushing through the people surrounding the duel and blocking the Stun, which unfortunately bounced off his shield and hit one of the Slytherins in the crowd. Potter pushed Tess out of the way, hissed at the snakes, and shot a spell at Draco, who dodged it and retaliated. The snakes were now coming his way—
"Vipera Evanesca," Goyle's voice screeched ten times, and all the snakes disappeared.
"I've got Crabbe," howled Weasley, jumping in front of Tess and trying to hex Crabbe, who ducked and bull-charged the redhead—Draco had forgotten that the oaf had lost his wand. Weasley abandoned his wand and punched Crabbe in the face so hard the Slytherin did a complete flip. Weasley shook out his fist, then doubled over as Crabbe's head his stomach.
This can't be happening, Draco thought, blocking one of Potter's spells.
Goyle sprang up on his other side and yelled, "Expelliarmus!" at Potter; but the Granger Mudblood was there, a murderous look on her face and her hair blowing back with the force of the spells she was casting.
Out of the corner of his eye, Draco saw a now-boil-less Pansy Parkinson sneaking through the crowd to get to Tess—but apparently one of the Ravenclaws saw her, because they screamed, "TESS!" just in time for the Mudblood to block Pansy's spell.
It was a four-on-four battle and Draco knew he was going to lose. So, to even things out a little, he ground out the spell Potter had used on him a few weeks ago. "Sectumsempra!"
"PROTEGO HORRIBILIS," Granger shrieked, waving her wand at the space in front of Potter. Draco's spell bounced off—
—and hit Tess.
She screamed.
Draco dropped his wand in surprise, then joined it on the floor as he dodged one of Potter's spells.
Tess was lying on the floor, bleeding uncontrollably. Her face was the picture of pain; there were several gashes on it, and mirroring ones on her torso. The crowd cleared a path for the teachers, Dumbledore in the lead, followed by a murderous looking Snape. Dumbledore crouched next to Tess. Snape made a beeline for Potter, Weasley, and Granger. "My office. Now," he told them in his cold voice. Then he turned to Draco, Crabbe, Goyle, and Pansy. "Same with you. Stay there until I come. GO."
Somehow Draco was lined up next to Potter as they trudged towards the dungeons. Harry said nothing—neither did Draco.
Finally they reached Snape's office. The Mudblood and Pansy sank into the two chairs in front of Snape's desk, Pansy touching her face every five or so seconds as if she felt like there were still boils on it. Weasley put his hands on Hermione Granger's shoulders, looking troubled. Crabbe and Goyle started hitting each other, trying to fight out which one would get Snape's chair.
"Why?"
Draco looked up, meeting Potter's famed green eyes, which were hard. "Why what?" he said, his voice harsh.
"Why did you use that spell? You know firsthand what it does." Potter put his wand in his robes, which were missing six inches from the hem.
"None of your business, Saint Potter," Draco said angrily.
"She could die," said Granger, turning to face him, her face distorted with anger. "That Ravenclaw—"
"Tess," interjected Weasley.
There was a loud thud and a scream from the direction of Crabbe and Goyle.
"Could die from what you did to her," Granger continued. "And you were aiming at Harry! You could be expelled!"
"The only reason she was hit was because of your Shield Charm, Mudblood," Draco found himself saying. "So it's not my fault, it's yours. And if I'm getting expelled, I'm taking you with me."
Hermione burst into tears. Weasley shot a glare at Draco, who ignored it.
Potter took a step towards Draco. "You know, Draco, I'm getting tired of you insulting and antagonizing my friends."
"Ooh, boy," Draco said, taking on a Victorian-era-frightened-lady-tone, "a threat from Scarhead. Whatever shall I do? Someone help me!" He put a hand to his forehead.
"Why, you—" Harry lunged, grabbing the front of Draco's robes and shoving him up against the wall.
"Potter!"
Harry let go and spun. Professors Snape, McGonagall, and Dumbledore were standing in the doorway. Snape and McGonagall looked irate—Dumbledore, however, looked furious and enraged. He was a terrifying sight.
"What is the meaning of this?" he asked, and it would have been better if he'd yelled. Draco felt himself slouching, not wanting to be looked at. "What, Mr. Malfoy, do you hate so much about a Muggle-born student that you would bring yourself to use Dark Magic upon her?"
"He wasn't aiming at her," Granger said, standing in vexation. "He was aiming at Harry!"
"Is this true?" Dumbledore said to Draco.
Draco felt himself melting under the stares of everyone in the room, including Crabbe and Goyle, who had stopped their brawl the second Snape had entered the room. "Yes, it's true," he said.
"MY!" Professor McGonagall exclaimed. "Albus—"
"It wouldn't have hit Tess if she—" Draco pointed at Hermione "—hadn't put up a Shield Charm!"
"What Charm did you use?" Snape asked Granger.
"Protego Horribilis," Granger said in a small voice.
McGonagall gasped.
Dumbledore surveyed the room. "I could have you expelled for such a large usage of Dark Magic," he said idly to Draco, who held his breath.
"But," said Dumbledore, "that would make your father kick me off the school board, I am afraid, and that would be most unfortunate for this school. So, consider yourself suspended over summer break, and you will have a month's work of detention with Professor McGonagall. Then I hope that you will have paid dearly for your actions." He gestured for McGonagall and Snape to exit. "Fifty points from Gryffindor and Slytherin for each person, also, for dueling in the open, let alone at all. All of you are excused from classes today. Oh, and Draco—"
Draco looked up from where he was eyeing the stone floors.
Dumbledore smiled. "Let's keep this hush-hush, shall we? Don't forget to apologize to Miss Wilford."
He swept out of the room, humming.
Pansy Parkinson spat on the floor. "What a bumbling old bat."
Suddenly three wands, all of different hues, were pointing in her face. Potter, Weasley, and Granger were all on their feet, glaring murderously at Pansy.
"Never," snapped Potter loudly.
"Insult," growled Weasley, a little louder than Potter.
"PROFESSOR DUMBLEDORE," Granger shouted.
Draco sighed. I suppose I've got to interfere, he thought with resignation. "Parkinson, shut up."
Pansy stared at him, hurt filling her brown eyes. Then she burst into tears and ran from the room.
The Gryffindors stared at him.
Suddenly feeling very embarrassed, Draco said, "She's getting annoying," and walked from the room. He climbed the stairs out of the dungeon.
"Wait!"
He turned, ready to curse, but it was just Crabbe and Goyle. "Where are we going? Don't we need to stop in our common room for our stuff?"
"Of course," Draco said.
"Then where are we going?" Goyle took on a more-confused-than-normal look.
"Didn't you hear Dumbledore?" Draco half-yelled, exasperated. "I've got to go apologize to the Mudblood, might as well do it now!"
"Holy crap," he heard Weasley's voice say stridently. "D'you hear that, Harry? Malfoy's actually apologizing to someone other than his mucus-filled parents, the git! Call . . . uh, what's that world records place, Hermione?"
"Guinness," Granger said.
They were coming up the stairs. Draco shook his head, disgusted, and kept going up to the hospital wing.