Chapter 14- Rivalries
The All Hallows Eve Ball took place in the dining hall. All sorts of decorations hung from the walls and ceilings. Professor Flitwick charmed several of the decorations to float around the place. The ghosts of the houses also joined in on the fun, attempting to scare any student coming through the hall's entry. There was also tons of food and punch, especially sweet treats, and music for dancing. Even though it was a ball, the students had the option of wearing costumes for the occasion. Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall were on the dance floor with the students. Professor Trelawney was talking to Professor Sprout and Hagrid near the punch. For the most part, everyone seemed to be having a good time, except for Snape. He had on his usual scowl. The only thing that would never change was the fact that the Gryffindors and the Slytherins were avoiding each other, both keeping their distances on opposite sides of the hall.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sitting with the other Gryffindors having a good time. The Golden Trio decided to dress up in costumes as the Three Musketeers. They all wore black breeches with blue tunics that had white crosses on them, black boots, and black hats that had plumes sticking out of them. To top it all off, they each transfigured themselves swords to go with their costumes.
Buffy and Draco had made their appearance late, due to Buffy's everlasting ability to never be on time. When they got to the hall, they made their way out onto the dance floor. Draco wanted everyone to know who he arrived with to make sure none of his annoying groupies would try to get him to dance. He figured that if everyone knew he already had a date, they would leave him alone. Buffy wore a gown, mostly because Draco refused to dress up in any kind of costume saying that it was a ridiculous tradition. Buffy's gown was an emerald green, strapless number that brought out her eyes. She looked gorgeous in it. Draco wore traditional dress robes to accompany her. Both of them received many looks from admiration to jealousy. Pansy, in particular, kept staring daggers at Buffy as she danced with Draco.
"You do realize that Pansy is staring a hole in my back, don't you?" Buffy asked. Draco sniggered.
"Uh yea. Sorry about that." He said insincerely. Buffy sighed.
"No, you're not. And while it was fun to tease her, I could do without the death rays that are coming out of her eyes." Buffy pouted causing Draco to grin at her unrepentantly. It was all his fault. She had planned on going to this event without the confines of a date, but Draco had put on his pitiful face and she caved. Now she had to endure a bunch of jealous little twits.
"You're right, I'm not. But I felt obligated to tell you anyway." Draco said laughingly. Buffy gave him a light tap on his shoulder in reproach.
Buffy looked around Draco and noticed Ginny dancing with a boy from Hufflepuff, looking like she was having an unpleasant time. The Hufflepuff kept stepping on Ginny's toes, making her wince with every step. It was sort of amusing for Buffy to watch Ginny try to dance with the clumsy boy, but too polite to say anything about his horrible dancing. When the waltz came to an end, a more upbeat song came on. Draco told Buffy that he was going to sit that one out. He assured her that he was doing her a favor, and that she would be more appreciative of him not torturing her with his inability to dance to anything but a waltz, since his upbringing demanded that he be taught at least that. Buffy then decided to go rescue Ginny instead.
Ginny watched as Buffy danced effortlessly with Draco. They made a very striking couple and Ginny found herself getting a little jealous of Draco. He got to be in Buffy's company while Ginny endured her dance partner from Hufflepuff. She couldn't even remember his name. What was it? Danny? Derek? David! Yea, that was it. His name was David. He had come up to Ginny earlier and asked her to dance. She agreed, and now she was immediately regretting the decision. He was a horrible dancer. It felt like he dancing blindfolded with earmuffs because he kept stepping on her feet and he was remarkably off beat. It would have actually been an amazing sight to see if Ginny's feet weren't hurting. Ginny sighed. When the waltz ended, Ginny almost cheered until she noticed the faster-paced song and her partner making no attempt to leave the floor. Ginny, being polite, didn't have the heart to ditch him. So now she was stuck with David the Dancing Reject.
"Hey there." Ginny turned to see Buffy smiling at her and David.
"Hi Buffy!" Ginny smiled back. "Are you having a good time?"
"Oh yea. Drake's being a proper gentleman." Buffy smirked. Then she looked at David and asked, "Do you mind if I cut in?" Ginny's face fell slightly.
"Uh, sure. If Ginny doesn't mind?" David looked at Ginny questioningly.
"Um... I'm okay with that. I'll just go get some punch." Ginny said flatly. She felt a twinge of disappointment at Buffy dancing with David until Buffy spoke again.
"Well actually, I meant to dance with Ginny." Ginny's eyes widened in surprise, but she smiled happily.
"Oh. Ah, I guess if Ginny wants to." David looked at Ginny for confirmation. She nodded her agreement. David gave her a polite nod and walked away.
Buffy and Ginny smiled at each other as they watched David walking away, tail tucked between his legs. They resumed dancing to the song, playfully dancing with each other.
"Thank you so much! I thought he was going to end up smashing my feet. He is the worst dancer I've ever seen. Not even Ron is that bad." Ginny said gratefully.
Buffy snickered. "I know. I saw you wince a few times during the waltz. It was kind of funny. When Draco decided to sit out, I came over here to rescue you. I figured you needed a break. You know, you're a pretty good dancer."
"Thank you. I'm glad you did. I almost cried when he made no attempt to move off of the dance floor. Plus I was hoping I'd see you. Are you having a good time?" Ginny asked.
"Eh, it's a little different from the kinds of dances I'm used to, but I'm doing okay. Better now that I'm dancing with you." Buffy waggled her eyebrows at Ginny. "Besides Draco, you're my only other real friend. Everyone else is either an acquaintance or don't exactly have friendly feelings towards me." Ginny smirked.
"Like Pansy, you mean? I noticed that she's been giving you glares ever since you and Draco showed up."
"Yea, I know. She's just pissed because she asked Draco to this shindig, and he told her he was already going with me." Buffy grimaced when she thought about the whole situation.
Ginny noticed Buffy's expression. "What? Didn't you want to go with him? All of the girls in Slytherin are in love with him. Even some of the girls in other houses think he walks on water. He is the Prince of Slytherin for a reason you know." Ginny stated mockingly.
"Funny." Buffy gave Ginny a mock glare. "It's not that. Draco and I are friends, nothing more. I know he hasn't always been the nicest guy towards you or anyone else in your house, but there are other issues he is dealing with that makes him act the way he does. Underneath it all, he's not such a bad guy." Ginny looked at Buffy disbelievingly. Buffy rolled her eyes. "Anyway, as I was saying, Pansy hates me because I'm friends with Draco, but she thinks that I'm a threat to her possible relationship with him. What she doesn't know is that he isn't interested in her at all. That's why he told her that I was his date to this ball. He kind of sprung it on me at the same time without warning. I was just as surprised as Pansy. I wasn't too happy about being cornered like that, but the look on Pansy's face when Draco rejected her was worth it. She totally thought he was going to say yes, and was about to jump for joy until he dropped the bomb." Buffy grinned. "Priceless." Ginny giggled.
"How awful. That's so embarrassing!" Ginny exclaimed.
"I know. It was great." Buffy chuckled at the memory. Pansy's pug face falling in disappointment still put a song in her heart.
"You're so bad!" Ginny joked. She had to admit that Buffy always had amusing stories to tell. This one wasn't any different. She almost wished that she could have been there to see Pansy's face.
"But only in a totally good way." Buffy winked.
Suddenly, the music switched back into a slow song causing the girls to pause their dancing.
"Uh, I guess we'd better get off the floor." Ginny said nervously. She was kind of disappointed that she would be dancing with Buffy anymore.
"Why?" Buffy asked.
"Because they are playing a slow song. We're both girls." Ginny thought that the reason was obvious.
"So? We can still dance to it." Buffy said flippantly.
"Wouldn't it be weird?"
"I'm game if you are." Buffy smiled winningly.
Buffy held out her arms, signaling Ginny to step in them. Ginny hesitated. She didn't want to stop dancing with Buffy, but slow songs were usually reserved for members of the opposite sex. After thinking about it, Ginny stepped into Buffy's arms and allowed her to lead. They held each other comfortably and gently swayed to the music, perfectly in sync with one another.
Across the room, a group of friends watched the two girls dancing with each other in disbelief. At first, they were shocked. A Slytherin and Gryffindor actually being friendly towards each other was just not done. Now they were all feeling several different emotions.
Hermione watched as Ginny and Buffy danced. She was kind of shocked to see two girls dancing like that, but mostly worried for Ginny. Hermione thought that Ginny was placing too much trust in Buffy. She just didn't want Buffy to end up hurting Ginny.
Ron looked at the two girls holding each other with a glare. He didn't trust Buffy. She was a Slytherin and her parents were Death Eaters. Her best friend at the school was Malfoy. What more did he need to know? He also wasn't that blind, no matter what his friends thought. He could see Ginny's face light up in Buffy's company. There was something else there, even though Ron wasn't entirely sure. She certainly didn't look that happy dancing with that Hufflepuff.
Harry felt a wave of jealousy and worry at seeing Ginny dance with Buffy. He was worried because no one knew exactly where Buffy stood in this war, regardless of Professor Dumbledore's assurances. He was known to make a few mistakes from time to time and in Harry's experience, they tended to be whoppers. Like the time Mad-Eye became a teacher, but it was really Barty Crouch Jr. Or the time he had Snape teach him Occlumency. It eventually led to Sirius' death, but Harry refused to start thinking about that. There was also jealousy because he wished it was him that was dancing with Ginny, but their break up had made things awkward between them. In a group, they were fine. But alone, they didn't even know what to say to each other. He could also see that Ginny looked at Buffy the same way she used to look at him. Even if she didn't know it yet. It was disconcerting to say the least. It was also driving Harry crazy. He just hoped that he could get her back when the threat of Voldemort was over.
Buffy and Ginny had danced a good part of the night when Draco had joined them, surprising anyone who was watching. Apparently, some of the girls were starting to corner him and he needed a shield from all of their fawning. Ginny was a little apprehensive at first, but warmed up by the end of the night. Draco was polite for the most part and even had a bit of fun while dancing with the two girls. What normal guy wouldn't have a good time dancing with two hot girls? Draco was only human. If there was a guy there who wasn't already envious of Draco, that guy had just joined the club.
From the other side of the room, two Gryffindors had dark glares on their faces and steam coming out of their ears, while a bushy-haired witch looked on worriedly.
When the dance ended, Buffy turned to Ginny and asked, "Are you going to Hogsmeade tomorrow?"
"Of course. Why?" Ginny asked curiously.
"Wanna hang out with me?" Buffy invited.
"Sure. What about Draco? Is he going to be hanging out with us too?" Ginny might have accepted that he wasn't as bad as she thought, but she was still uncertain about spending the day with him.
"Oh no. He has some sort of family obligation to go to." Buffy lied. Draco had to meet with his father about joining the Death Eaters. Tomorrow would be the start of his new secret life.
"Well then, I would be glad to join you tomorrow. It'll be fun." Ginny said excitedly.
"Alright, it's a date then. See you tomorrow." Buffy said happily. They bid each other goodnight and left the hall for their separate houses.
The next day at Hogsmeade, Buffy saw Ginny walking up to her with Neville Longbottom and a Ravenclaw she had never met before.
"Hey Buffy." Ginny greeted her warmly.
"Hey Ginny." Buffy smiled at Ginny and her friends.
"I ran into these two. You know Neville, right?" Buffy nodded.
"Yea. Hi Neville. How are you?" She asked politely.
"Uh. Hi Buffy. I'm fine, thanks." Neville replied nervously.
"That's good to hear." Buffy said jovially. Then she looked at the blonde girl standing next to Ginny questioningly.
"Oh I'm sorry! This is Luna Lovegood." Ginny explained. "Luna, this is Buffy Summers."
"Nice to meet you, Luna." Buffy stated.
"You too." Luna replied.
"Buffy, I hope you don't mind, but I invited Neville and Luna to join us." Ginny said sheepishly.
Buffy grinned. "Of course not. The more the merrier. C'mon let's get this show on the road." Buffy gestured for them to start walking.
Draco entered the Three Broomsticks and saw his father already sitting in a booth. He approached the table and sat down.
"Hello Draco." Lucius greeted him.
"Hello Father." Draco replied coolly.
"We have an hour before we meet up Him. Would you like to eat first?" Lucius asked.
Draco was so nervous that he wasn't hungry at all, but he really didn't want to be early to meet the Dark Lord. "Food would be great, sir."
"Very well." Lucius signaled that they were ready to order. They both ordered sandwiches and butterbeer. Draco and his father talked quietly about Draco's meeting with the Dark Lord. Lucius also tried to question Draco about Buffy.
"Draco, I hear there is a new seventh year in Slytherin and that you have befriended her. Is that true?" Lucius approached the subject.
"Yes, Buffy Summers. Why do you ask?" Draco felt his stomach turn in knots.
"Buffy? What a despicable name. Who would give someone that atrocious name? Her real name is Eliza Rambaldi, and her parents are very good friends of mine. They are loyal to the cause. The master has heard of her power and wants her to join us. I want you to be the one who convinces her to join, but after you have taken the mark. She must know of the Dark Lord's power. If you do this, you will bring great honor to the family name. The master will reward us for our efforts. You must not fail. Do you understand?" Draco nodded.
"Yes, father. I will do whatever it takes to convince her to join us." Draco said halfheartedly.
"Very good. Don't let me down." Lucius said in a cold tone.
"I won't." Draco said more firmly.
Buffy and her companions entered Honeydukes with lustful expressions. The treats in the store looked absolutely delicious. They all separated, deciding to look around for something they might like. Buffy headed straight for the chocolate.
"Mmm. Chocolate." Buffy grabbed a bunch of different chocolates to buy. As she walked through the rest of the rest of the store, she grabbed some sugar quills and Fizzing Whizzbees, licorice wands, toffee, fudge, and nougat. By the time Buffy was done, shopping, her hands were full. When she turned the corner, she almost bumped into Ginny.
"Whoa. Sorry about that." Buffy said quickly. Ginny's eyes widened at the amount of sweets in Buffy's arms.
"Are you really going to buy all of that?" Ginny asked incredulously.
"Uh...yea. I was planning on sending some of this to my friends back home. They've never seen sugar quills or Fizzing Whizzbees before." Buffy replied sheepishly. Buffy noticed that Ginny only a single sugar quill in her hand and frowned. "Is that all you're getting? A measly sugar quill? What about some fudge?"
Ginny's face reddened a little. "It's all I can afford right now." She replied somewhat embarrassed.
"Oh. Sorry." Buffy said awkwardly. Sometimes she just couldn't help putting her foot in her mouth. "Why don't you go pick out some of the other things you wanted? I'll treat you."
"Oh no, I couldn't. And you have all of that other stuff to pay for too. It would be too much." Ginny gestured towards Buffy's candy-filled arms.
"No, no. Don't worry about it. I can afford it. Trust me." Buffy smiled winningly. "Just go back and grab whatever else you like and I'll pay for it." Buffy stated.
"Okay. If you're sure?" Ginny looked at Buffy hesitantly.
"Yes. Don't worry about it. Now, go!" Buffy encouraged, pushing her towards the fudge. Buffy went to look for more sweets.
Ginny walked around and grabbed a block of fudge, some other chocolates, and a couple more sugar quills. She didn't want Buffy to spend too much money on her.
"Ginny!" Ginny turned around to see Ron waving at her. He, of course, was with Harry and Hermione.
"Hi guys!" Ginny greeted them.
Ron took notice of the items in her hands and raised his eyebrows. "How are you planning on paying for all of that. I know mum and dad didn't give you enough of an allowance for all of those things."
"Um..." Ginny hesitated, knowing Ron's feelings towards Buffy. She was pretty sure Ron would explode when he found out.
Right at that very moment, Buffy decided to join them.
"Hey Ginny, are you done looking for stuff? I kinda want to get out of here soon." Buffy asked obtusely.
"Yes." Ginny replied faintly. Her eyes darted to her brother and his friends. They all looked like they swallowed something sour, but she knew they wouldn't want to make a scene in the store.
"Cool. You wanna give your stuff to me so I can pay for it? My stuff is already over at the counter." Buffy held out her hands for Ginny to hand the candies over. Ginny did so reluctantly. Buffy looked over at the Golden Trio and gave them a cool look. "Hey guys." She nodded to them. Then Buffy took the items and walked away.
Ginny turned back to the Golden Trio and waited for everyone to explode. She wasn't disappointed.
"You're with her?" Ron exclaimed loudly. So loud that the other customers turned in their direction. He gave them an apologetic look and glared back at Ginny. Ginny winced. "Ginny, what the hell are you thinking? And you're letting her buy you things? Have you lost your bloody mind?" Ron whispered harshly.
"No. It's not a big deal. Buffy noticed that I only had a sugar quill because I couldn't afford anything else. She offered to pay for whatever else I wanted instead." Ginny explained.
"Ginny, you don't need her pity. You aren't some charity case. Go and tell her that you changed your mind and you don't want anything else." Ron ordered.
"I can't do that. She is already paying for them and I don't want to throw her kindness back in her face. It wasn't pity. She would do that for any of her friends. Hell, half of the stuff she was already buying was for her friends back home." Ginny argued.
"Ginny, I can loan you the money. I have more than enough. I don't want to see you become obligated to her in any way." Harry said quietly.
"No, I'm not taking your money. That would be even more awkward than Buffy paying for my things." Ginny shot him down. Harry flushed angrily. "Buffy isn't going to expect anything out of me. She's my friend. When will you guys see that?" Ginny asked frustratedly.
"Ginny, we just---" Hermione started, but was cut off by someone else.
"Hey Ginny, Buffy wanted us to see if you were ready to leave. We're going to go eat." Neville interrupted with Luna by his side. He looked at everyone's angry faces and the tension in the air was practically tangible. "Oh. W-was I interrupting s-s-something?" He stuttered nervously.
"No, nothing important." Ginny replied easily causing Ron to glower.
"Neville! You guys are here with Buffy too?" Hermione asked in disbelief.
"Y-yea, she and Ginny invited us along this morning." Neville said brightly.
"Why?" Ron asked bluntly. "She's evil." Ginny scowled at Ron's gibe towards Buffy.
"I-I like h-her. S-she's always been nice to me." Neville defended.
"So do I. She's really funny and doesn't treat me like I'm crazy." Luna added. The Golden Trio looked stunned by Luna's comment.
"See? I'm not the only one who thinks Buffy is a great person." Ginny gave them a smirk. "Now if you'll excuse us, we have to be going." Ginny, Neville, and Luna walked away, leaving three Gryffindors wondering if maybe, the world had gone mad.
Draco was presented to a group of Death Eaters surrounding their master.
"Draco, I understand you want to join our cause?" Voldemort asked silkily. Draco knelt on one knee and bowed his head.
"Yes, my lord. I want to rid the world of filthy muggles so that only purebloods will exist." Draco said smoothly.
"How do I know that I can trust you?" Voldemort questioned.
"Sir, I will do anything to prove my loyalty." Draco replied.
"Anything?"
"Yes, sir." Draco felt a light probe in his mind and forced himself to clear his thoughts. He pushed up thoughts of hatred toward muggles so that he wouldn't be found out.
"Very well." Voldemort said after he was satisfied with probing Draco's mind. "Hmmm. You seem to be loyal to the cause so far." Voldemort gave him a cold smile.
"Well done. You have passed the first test. Now I must be sure that you are willing to endure anything from me, and still be loyal." Voldemort whipped out his own wand and shouted, "Crucio!" The blast hit Draco with the most painful force he'd ever experienced. He screamed in agony, but it only made Voldemort happier. He released his curse for a moment before yelling the curse again. "Crucio!" This time it was more painful than the last, and Voldemort held it for longer. Draco shouted in pain, but refused to beg. After thirty minutes of nonstop torture, Voldemort let go of the curse. Draco writhed on the ground in suffering. His ribs were in the most excruciating pain. He struggled to stand back up.
"Excellent, Draco. You are doing well, but I have one final test for you. Bring in the filthy muggle we captured earlier." He commanded.
One of the Death Eaters walked out of the room and came back moments later, dragging a chained up man with him. The prisoner was flung into the middle of the circle. "I want you to use the Cruciatus Curse on him." Voldemort ordered.
"My lord?" Draco said hesitantly. He knew he would be expected to do some horrible things, but he wasn't prepared for when the moment would actually come.
"I think I was pretty clear before, Draco. Now curse him!" Voldemort said angrily.
"Yes, my lord." Draco withdrew his wand and aimed it towards the pleading man.
"Please don't hurt me!" The man begged. Draco's stomach lurched.
"Silence, you filthy muggle! Crucio!" Draco bellowed. The man convulsed in pain.
"Ahhh! Please! I'm begging you! Stop!" The man sobbed. Draco cursed him again for his insolence.
"Crucio!" This time Draco held the curse a little longer than the first time, the man's screams going unacknowledged by everyone. "Crucio!"
The torture went on for an hour before Voldemort stopped it. It took every ounce of willpower for Draco to not puke while he was torturing the man. It was the most sickening experience of his life.
The man had finally stopped pleading, only whimpers could be heard from him because all of the screaming had made him lose his voice. The man was barely alive, and yet, Voldemort still wasn't done. He aimed his wand at the man and shouted, "Avada Kedavra!" A green light shot of the wand, instantly killing the prisoner. Draco nearly lost it when he saw the lifeless eyes staring back at him.
"Now you may call yourself my loyal servant." Voldemort said imperiously. "Come here so that I can bestow the mark upon you."
"Thank you, my lord." Draco choked out. He slowly walked over to Voldemort who still had his wand out. Voldemort rolled up Draco's sleeve and pointed his wand to Draco's forearm. He said a spell and a hot, searing pain shot through Draco's arm.
"Arghh!" Draco grunted. He looked down to see a skull appear on his skin. The bile threatened to rise in his throat. It was the Mark. He was now a full-fledged Death Eater.
When Buffy entered the Slytherin common rooms, she saw Draco sitting alone, quietly on one of the chairs, looking a bit pale. He had a faraway look like he was deep in thought.
"Hey Drake!" Buffy exclaimed, causing Draco to jump out of his chair. Buffy laughed.
"Aaahhh! Bloody hell, you scared me!" Draco shouted. He glared at Buffy.
"Sorry." Buffy smirked. "So how did your meeting go?" Draco frowned and he had that faraway look enter his eyes again.
"It went according to plan." He replied flatly. Buffy detected something else he wasn't saying and pushed the issue.
"That's all? Nothing else?" Draco looked away. "Drake, what happened? Buffy asked concerned. He remained silent. Buffy touched his shoulder. "Drake?" He looked up with angst-filled eyes.
"It was probably the worst experience I've ever had." He whispered so faintly that Buffy could barely hear him, even with her slayer hearing.
"What happened?" Buffy asked gently.
"At first, I didn't think it would be too bad. I figured I would pledge my loyalty and the Dark Lord would give me the mark. I was wrong. He brushed my mind first. That wasn't so bad. I just pushed hate-filled images of muggles in my head. He was satisfied with that, so I thought that was it. But he wasn't done, he tortured me with the Cruciatus Curse for a half an hour. It was extremely painful. My ribs are still hurting. I know what you're thinking, horrible. Right?" He laughed harshly. "If only that were the worst thing that happened. He brought a muggle in chains to me. A scared, innocent man who was pleading for his life. He told me to use the Cruciatus on him. I had no choice, but to obey. I tortured that poor man for about an hour before the Dark Lord ordered me to stop. The man lay on the cold ground, whimpering when I was finished. He was just barely alive. To finish it off, the Dark Lord killed him right after. It took all of my willpower to keep myself together. I almost lost my lunch. It was horrible, Buffy." Draco said as tears leaked down his face.
Buffy was at a loss on what to say. There really wasn't anything she could say to make it better. He did what he was supposed to do and because of it, an innocent was tortured. That would probably haunt him for the rest of his life. She also knew that when the time came for her to do the same, she would have to fall in line or be killed. In the end, all she could do was give him a comforting hug. She gathered him in her arms as he sobbed quietly, not saying anything. When he was done, she allowed him to get himself together without any recriminations. They would need to stay strong until this all ended. Buffy only hoped that they would be able to get through this with their sanity still intact.
When Buffy reached the DADA classroom, she saw that the sixth years were just finishing up. She caught Ginny's eye and waved as Ginny walked to the door.
"Hey there!" Buffy smiled.
"Hi Buffy!" Ginny smiled back. "Wow, I didn't get a chance to see you at all yesterday."
"Yea, I was hanging out with Draco." Truth was, they had spent all day training. Draco had wanted to get his mind off of the day before.
"Oh. By the way, I just wanted you to know that I had fun hanging out with you at Hogsmeade. We should do something else sometime this week." Ginny suggested.
"Sounds good to me." Buffy said cheerfully.
"Great. I better get going before I'm late to Potions. I really don't want him to end up picking on me. Bye!" Ginny ran off.
"Stay away from my sister." Buffy turned to see Ron scowling at her. She lifted a brow.
"Don't you think that should be her choice?" Buffy asked.
"No. I'm older and it's my job to protect her from anyone who might hurt her." He looked pointedly at her.
"Really? So am I right in assuming that I'm the one you're protecting her from?" Buffy questioned.
"What do you think?" Ron snarked.
"Look Ron, Ginny's a big girl and she can make her own decisions. I think she's fun to be around and she's a great friend. I have no evil plans towards her. You also don't scare me, so until Ginny says otherwise, I won't stop talking to her." Buffy walked into the classroom without waiting to hear Ron's response.
"Okay, class. Today, we're going to things a little bit different. The Headmaster wants to know how far along you are in your dueling, especially with the upcoming threat. You can never be too careful these days. As seventh years, you should be fairly proficient with your spells. This is sort of a practical exam and you will be graded accordingly. I want you to pair up and practice your dueling, then I will assign you a partner to actually duel with. I should also warn you that because I am a muggle and this is a defense class, physical defense is also allowed. Those of you who don't know how to properly defend yourselves, physically, will be assigned a partner with the same capabilities. Everyone is expected to participate. Buffy will be my assistant during the real duels, but she is allowed to practice with whomever for the time being." Giles explained.
"Why does she get special treatment?" Pansy asked sulkily, surprising the rest of the class with her resentment towards Buffy. Housemates usually stuck together.
"Yes, Professor. That isn't quite fair to the rest of us." Hermione added, also surprised that she agreed with Pansy for once. She didn't really like dueling, and didn't think it was fair that Buffy would be exempt from it. So if she had to do it, Buffy should have to participate too.
"Because both Professor Dumbledore and I have already seen her dueling skills. She has already tested over the summer. She is more than adequate." That was an understatement. Buffy would probably wipe the floor with everyone here. The only ones who even came close in the class to Buffy were Harry and Draco. Harry, because he was said to be the best in DADA, and Draco, because he had been training with Buffy for months now. Both Giles and Dumbledore knew Draco was also an excellent duelist, but he had to duel in the class because there was no other explanation for him not to. Giles couldn't very well say that Draco had been training on the side. It would raise too many questions. "Okay. Everyone grab a partner and start practicing."
It was no surprise to see that Buffy and Draco paired up, as well as Harry and Ron. Hermione paired up with Parvati Patil. The rest did as expected, and paired themselves with their housemates. Giles watched as Ron and Harry dueled. Harry was clearly the better duelist with his better reflexes and reaction time, but Ron seemed to be holding his own. Hermione and Parvati seemed to be an even match, but Hermione was a little more adept in her spells. Parvati made up for it in her quickness. She had better reflexes than Hermione did. Neville Longbottom dueled with Seamus Finnegan, but was doing horrible. Giles noticed that the boy's problem was his self-confidence, or lack thereof. From what Giles knew, that seemed to be the biggest problem in most of his classes, except Herbology. Giles made a note to have Buffy work with Neville when she finished practicing with Draco. He looked at the pair in question,knowing instantly that they weren't even trying. Oh they looked like they were practicing hard, but Giles knew from prior training sessions that the two of them could do better than that.
"Buffy!" Giles called out. Buffy stopped what she was doing and turned her head. "I want you to work with Neville." Buffy nodded and went over to Neville. Giles looked at Draco and said, "Draco, you look like you're ready so you can just rest until we begin the dueling." Draco grinned and sat down.
After another ten minutes, Giles called the class to order. To everyone's surprise, he paired every Gryffindor with a Slytherin close to their ability. The two that were the most surprised were Harry and Draco when Giles paired them up. Everyone knew they absolutely hated each other. It would be insane to pair them up. Giles merely grinned. Buffy smirked at her watcher's odd sense of humor.
Hermione and Pansy were the first two up. Pansy got the first shot out, "Stupify!" With the experience from previous D.A. meetings, Hermione managed to dodge the spell, sending one back in return.
"Expelliarmus!" Pansy's wand flew out of her hands. Hermione also sent a jelly-legs jinx right behind it, effectively hitting Pansy. Seeing that Pansy was unable to defend herself or react, Giles called and end to the match. Hermione was declared the winner.
"Very well done, Hermione." Giles complimented.
"Thank you, Professor." She replied.
As every pair went up and dueled, Giles noticed that most of the Gryffindors excelled in dueling while the Slytherins were just mediocre. To his surprise, even Neville did better than his opponent once he grew comfortable in his spells. This was due to the fact that most of the Gryffindors had participated in the Golden Trio's D.A. meetings. The one flaw that Giles perceived was that not one of them used any type of physical training as an advantage, most relying on their wands. Giles found that to be a little disappointing and decided that he would add a segment in the course to include basic self defense for the students. It was foolish to rely only on one's magic. You can never tell when you might be without your wand or unable to speak.
The last two up were Draco and Harry. They took their positions and counted off. Harry got the first shot. " Expelliarmus!" He shouted, sending Draco's wand flying. Then he shouted, "Stupify!" Draco used his training and dodged the spell quickly. He dived towards his wand and quickly grabbed it off of the floor. He rolled forward and ended up in a standing position, quickly sending off a spell of his own.
"Stupify!" He yelled. Harry just barely dodged the stunning spell. Draco fired another spell. This time it was a trip jinx. It hit Harry and he went down, but not before he fired another one of his own spells.
"Rictusempra!" It hit Draco dead on. He started laughing uncontrollably from the tickling sensation running through him. It gave Harry enough time to recover from Draco's previous jinx. He fired another spell. "Petrificus Totalus!"
"Protego!" Draco blocked the body-binding curse before it could touch him, sending it right back to Harry, who jumped out of the way in the nick of time. Draco inched his way closer to Harry, intending on using his other training, but Harry kept sending spells that were slowing him down.
The first was a stinging hex that had Draco shifting to the side before it could hit him. Then Harry sent a jelly-legs jinx which just missed Draco. When Draco saw an opening, he dove towards Harry and tackled him to the ground, knocking the wand out of Harry's hand.
"What the hell?" Harry shouted. He swung a fist at Draco's head, but it was blocked and countered with Draco's own punch to Harry's gut. "Ooommph!" Harry grunted when Draco's fist connected with his stomach. He stepped back and tried to punch Draco again, but this time Draco ducked. Then he swept Harry's legs from under him, sending Harry sprawling on the floor. Draco used the advantage to pin Harry and point his wand at Harry's face.
Give up, Potter?" Draco smirked at the shock on Harry's face. He had never really lost to Draco before, much less in such a humiliating way. He tried to get up, but found himself completely pinned.
"Alright, break it up!" Giles ended the duel. "I declare Draco, the winner." Draco got up and released Harry. He gave Harry a smug look when Harry bent down to pick up his fallen wand.
"What?" Harry yelled. "He cheated. I was unprepared for the physical fight. I didn't know he was going to use it and he tackled me!"
"I'm sorry, Harry, but I did say that it was allowed. Besides, in a real life situation, are you going to yell not fair when you are attacked unjustly? Do you think your opponent is going to care if he caught you off-guard?" Giles pointed out, making Harry flush slightly. "You of all people know that sometimes life isn't fair and it brings you some disadvantages. This was one of those times. In the end, Draco was the better fighter, thus making him the victor."
Harry looked at the shocked faces of his classmates. Even the other Slytherins looked surprised at Harry's defeat. It was a known fact that Harry usually got the best of Draco. He also noted the lack of surprise on Giles' and Buffy's faces, making him feel even more foolish. It was if they had expected him to lose. "Yes, Professor." Harry said reluctantly.
"Okay. Class dismissed."