A/N: Thank you for the reviews, follows, and faves! I appreciate them so much! Keep it up, my friends, and I will keep writing.
Disclaimer: Not the one! Nope… I don't own HP or The Misfits.
21- Them
Slytherins enjoyed being punctual; it was a stepping stone on the way to a good reputation… Except for when it came time to face a school of silent, gawking students.
The Great Hall was nearly full at seven in the morning; as if no one had been able to sleep, and were suddenly hungry as hell. Or… they were far too interested in not missing a moment of the next possible fist fight.
Draco and Pansy had left Harry and Hermione some ways back in the hallway, the four of them deciding that entering all at once was a bad idea. Sure, they knew that the school was sure they were friends, but all four of them showing up together, freshly fucked, rested and freshly showered (which ended up being more of a war meeting than a shower) would arouse more suspicion than the four were ready to handle at present.
It would bring a lot of premature heat… Well, at least from the other students of Slytherin House.
Anyhow, the Prefects ignored the array of looks- smirks, grins, nods of approval, glances, stares, glares, and raised brows- and sat directly in the middle of their table; their backs to the others. In an awkward silence that the two had already been anticipating, they began to serve themselves breakfast, until Blaise finally asked,
"So- you and Potter aren't expelled?"
"No," Draco replied with an almost inaudible sigh of annoyance.
"And- you're still our Prefect and Head Boy?"
"Yes."
"And you're still captains?"
"No."
"And-" Millicent began with an ugly glower, "-they're your mates now, or something? Or- were, at least?"
"Yes," Draco said, looking up at her with a challenging lift of his brows and tilt of his head.
The sound of people choking on food, and utensils clanging on plates, and people chattering became rather loud, and Blaise asked just loud enough for the seventh years to hear,
"You're still mates with them aren't you?"
"Of course they are, Blaise. It was a fist fight! It's not like he tried to fuck Granger," Daphne said with a roll of her eyes... which stopped halfway through their track to widen before they snapped back to stare Draco down.
It was like the sentence's possible validity hit the other Slytherin seventh and sixth years at the same time; their eyes widening, their jaws going slack, all deciding to stare at them. Draco and Pansy lifted their brows at them, and acted completely unamused, ignoring the rapid beating of their hearts. If they reacted, it would look suspicious, but acting as if they hadn't heard her would look even more so.
The two in question looked at one another, settled on devious, amused smirks, and Draco said with a chuckle,
"That would be amusing. How would you feel about that Pansy?" Pansy rolled her eyes, saying,
"I'll expect that the day Voldemort returns. Pass me the eggs, Daph. And you should choke on a few before you find yourself in a situation you don't want to be in. There has been plenty of sodding drama and rumors; and the last thing that we- or you-"Pansy paused to stare at Daphne with a lifted brow, and a few seconds to blink a few times in hopes to make a very violent point, "need is problems.
"So I'd appreciate it if you'd go- drown yourself in the lake, or something."
The Greengrass girls exchanged a knowing look, and Astoria, by the look on her face, seemed somewhat pleased by this response. She decided to butt in, saying
"I can't tell if you're being serious or just defensive…"
"I can't either… What does that mean?" Theo.
"It either means they tellin' the truth or they ain't, Theo." Goyle, while chewing, though he looked like he didn't care either way; his response was said in a most casual fashion.
"I think you all need to shut your gobs, because we are making moves that should prove most advantageous. We're ensuring a peaceful future; something that concerns us greatly… as should it you!" Draco began, a glare gracing his face. "The war tore our families apart, leaving nearly all of us the heads of our households, some of us orphaned, and I'm not going to allow you or anyone else for that matter, to keep me from losing sleep over all of it.
"If I can fix a few of mistakes, I will. My parents can't do anything about theirs, neither can a lot yours, but I- we- can ensure our futures in knowing that Potter will have our back when it's time for me to leave this place and begin to pursue higher prospects." Draco looked at those around him; the green tie horde still giving him a mix of different expressions.
"What I want- is security, "he continued. "What I want- is power… " This was not a false statement. Draco may have taken some things into account and changed his ways, but he was still Draco Malfoy. The fact that his words were still a bold faced lie didn't need to be mentioned.
He wasn't after Harry for his fame… He just really liked his arse! But that didn't need to be mentioned either!
"What I want is a future where my name isn't synonymous with "murderer", "coward", "evil", "Death Eater"… "bigot"… "Pureblood swine"?!" He scoffed. "When, and where, does that oxymoron make sense?" He became suddenly serious when he answered,
"When it pertains to us…"
His housemates glowered. Not at Draco, but at the world! Because that was truly what they thought them all to be, or had been! The light side had won, and they were left with the ever-hanging cloud of social shunning. Even though the vast majority of the students in their year had remained at school, an obvious sign of their "innocence" in the war, that did not dissuade the students of the other houses of avoiding them, whispering about them, or calling them the many names Draco had just listed.
As a Slytherin, your reputation mattered.
Their reputations were SHITE!
That was unacceptable, and even if Draco's intentions were nowhere near using the Gryffindor's "friendship" as a social booster, he was happy that could be a possibility! He was a Slytherin after all…
And even still, that last bit made him feel a tad bit shitier.
"I'm tired of it," Draco said loudly, not realizing he was beginning to catch an audience from the Ravenclaw table behind him. "I did what I had to do in a time that was too bloody shitey to recount… a lot shitier than talking to some Gryffindors."
"It looks like you do more than talk," Astoria. She's such a bitch in this story.
"And so what if I do? Does that bother you?"
"Of course it does." Millicent.
"Good," Draco said rather rudely at the witch, and then looked to the rest of them, "I'm glad it does. Because now I can say what bothers me. It is the fact that you all feel like remaining stuck in your rut rather than coming out on top! Some Slytherins you are…
"I'm beginning to think I was released from Azkaban as my second shot at flying to my own personal agendas. They have changed, of course, and with good reason, but the destination is the same… If being friends with the people who saved my arse is that big of an issue to you all- I have to wonder where your loyalties lie.
"Is it with me; someone you've known all of your lives? Or is it with Voldemort… who no longer has a life? I am going to pretend you're all taking the former, and I am going to resume eating my breakfast. Thank you all- for being so easy to talk to," Draco gave a false grin, "You're all such- great friends."
()()(*)()()
Gryffindors did not like being stared down; it made them feel like they were being backed into a corner and it was time to pounce. Especially in the situation they were now facing…
A Monday morning, the four of them, together, in the belly of the beast… after the whole school had an entire night (which was long e-fucking-nough) to gossip and the blow this shite out of the water! Well, not entirely. The rumor of the four of them being together would be true, and that's not exactly blowing things out of the water, now, is it?
The Heads walked through the Great Hall doors after giving their lovers five or more minutes to settle in, and walked with easy, yet determined, steps as every set of eyes in the room turned to them. The only Professor present was Trelawney, and she seemed only mildly interested by their arrival; the elder witch returning to the cup of tea in her hands with indifference.
Harry and Hermione had expected this reaction; they had all anticipated it, so why did it seem so difficult to walk? They did so anyway, and they moved to sit at the end of the table- across from one another so that Harry could keep his back to the Slytherin table.
"So- you decided to grace us with your presence?" Seamus asked as they settled- the rest of the hall going silent- some of the others even leaning closer a bit to hear them. Hermione, noticing this malarkey, said simply,
"Of course, Sea. We can't stay locked up forever."
"I'm surprised you're even here, Harry," Dean.
"I know! McGonagall punished you before she heard about how many were injured yesterday…" Lavender.
Harry chanced a look at the points meter (old habits die hard), and he noticed that both Gryffindor and Slytherin were barely pushing the double digits, telling Harry that both houses must have gotten quite unruly the day before, resulting in major loss of house points. Ravenclaw was at 75, and the Hufflepuff had them all by the balls at 110.
He sighed, loudly, but said nothing more as he continued to serve himself food. Hermione noticed her dark haired boyfriend close himself off, and she answered for him,
"He was punished appropriately." She turned back to the food before her and began to grab toast and eggs; the Heads ignoring the looks they got from the rest of the table.
"Ok. Out with it. What is up with your new mates? You helped Malfoy, Hermione! Again! After he hit Harry!" Dean looked kind of annoyed; his handsome face in no way being marred by his expression.
"Yeah! Are they who the two of you've preferred to hang out with rather than us?" Seamus…
Harry kept quiet, with his eyes on his plate; Hermione looked up at them with lowered lids and said,
"Yes," Hermione was a Gryffindor after all… "Because we feel it's important to end whatever battles the war has left behind. They are one of them."
"As per usual, I like the way you do battle, Mr. Potter," Dean said with a cheeky grin, "I heard what you said. I may not have brought her into that, but it deserves some kind of standing ovation or something."
"Shut up, Dean. No more battles, no more ovations. McGonagall is going to be on edge from this, so cut it out. We don't need to lose any more points," Hermione said as she felt her irritation become palpable. She looked up at the points meter, and sighed in defeat.
Hermione shouldn't give a fuck about points (though it was comforting knowing that that was one of her biggest issues at present) at a time like this, but old habits and all that…
She'd known that facing their classmates would be a bag of flaming shite, and even though it wasn't going too badly, she didn't want to continue the conversation. It felt more important to her to put this conversation in the dirt before anyone figured out there was something more than friendship between the four of them.
Harry, especially, didn't want this conversation at all… He'd made up with Draco, and that was all that mattered. Unfortunately, no one else had forgiven him, and that was also all that mattered. (Say what?)
"Either way," Lavender began, "I don't understand how the two of you could be friends with them. I mean, Harry, she'd've preferred to have you killed!"
"Oh. Because no one has preferred that before…" Harry said, his tone grumpy and defensive; his lids lowered at his housemates. "I have chosen to get over all of that. Do you think… that I want to hold on to all of that? Do you think it makes me happy- to hold on to Voldemort and the war?"
The people at the table became quiet, and Harry didn't realize that everyone else in the Great Hall was beginning to quiet as his voice rose.
"Do you think it wise for me to keep letting this-" he pointed at his scar, "- talk me into thinking that they-" he pointed back to the Slytherins who were now watching and listening to him, "- are somehow responsible for all of my heartache and strife? No! Because they aren't!
"I killed the fucker who did this to us, and now we no longer need to hold onto it! None of us! It's over! I couldn't give any more fucks about Draco's part in it, or Pansy's part, because I don't have any more to give! I am tired! I'm eighteen and I am fucking tired!
"They're my mates, now," Harry pointed at Draco and Pansy, who were now wide-eyed and trying like hell to avoid the looks they were getting. "Happy? Who cares?! I don't! I happen to like them! I enjoy hanging out with them. Sometimes, they're pretty nice, and, sometimes, they can be kind of funny.
"And they're nearly as fucked up as I am! We relate to each other! We can all relate to each other, now!
"If you were all, truly, our mates… you would understand how important it is for us to forgive them, and for them to forgive us, and for all of us to grasp the fact that we are all the same! We're all just a bunch of kids given a shitey draw! And we did what we could with that deal, and we are still here. Now deal with this draw, because it's better than the last!
"Fuck house rivalry. Fuck that bollocks… because it doesn't mean anything anymore! Except for the fact that you can't grow up!" Harry stood, grabbed his plate of food, and stormed out of the silent Great Hall. Hermione grabbed her own plate, and with a shrug to her concerned looking Slytherin friends, followed Harry out the door.
"Ten points to Gryffindor, Mr. Potter," McGonagall called after them.
A/N: This is a shout out to all of the citizens of the USA! Happy Independence Day. : )
(Them)
Something wicked this way comes
Creepy crawling giant bugs
Exo-Skeleton armored
Exo-Skeleton might
Exo-Skeleton horror
Exo-Skeleton bite
Beware of THEM!