PESTILENCE THAT WALKETH IN DARKNESS
PART I: SCHISM
CHAPTER XXI: OPEN DOOR
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Draco lay on his back in his bed, staring at the Hospital Wing's barren ceiling. Bored, he struggled to think of something else with which to preoccupy his mind. He had been lying in that very same bed for three days now, and had already pondered all that a seventeen-year-old boy could possibly care about. He began with the obvious - girls, and the woes that came along with them - and then preoccupied himself with thoughts of the upcoming Quidditch season.
He had heard that one of the fifth years was going to try out for his position as Seeker, and he actually caught himself worrying that the kid might prove himself more efficient than he had in previous years. This thought was squashed, though, as he reminded himself that a new and updated version of the Nimbus broomsticks had been made available for purchase on the market, and that the Slytherin Quidditch team would be quite eager to get their hands on a set.
Draco had discussed the matter very stiffly with Marcus during lunch the previous day, when his disgruntled housemate had ceased in his whispered insults and threats long enough to eat a sandwich, as provided by the matron. The prospect of obtaining a new broomstick paid for and delivered by the Malfoy family was enough to silence Marcus and force him instead to express his loathing with an abundance of pointed stares and lengthy glares.
A bell rang somewhere beyond the Hospital Wing, causing Draco to glance over at the clock on the wall opposite. He groaned, for classes had just ended, which meant that his usual bedside visitor would soon join him - his secret fiancee, whose name was beginning to cause an uprising of bile within him whenever it involuntarily crossed his mind.
He watched as the second hand made its way around the old clock's face, and began to count down the minutes before Pansy would join him there. He knew that she was in Divination at the moment, and that it probably wouldn't take her long to reach the Wing at all. The mental image of her sprinting like a maniac through the crowded halls in his direction caused the hint of a frown to pass over him, but he willed it away when he heard the door of his temporary prison open, and then close again as whoever arrived shut it behind them.
It was much to his surprise when he saw who the two people were that had just arrived, for they were surely not here to see him. As though they knew the thought that Draco entertained, they each sent him a confirmatory sneer that even he could say he was proud of.
"You didn't miss anything important in Divination," Vincent grunted as he and Gregory reached Marcus' bedside, and warily eyed Draco. "The old bat went off on more of her predictions-"
"Cow," Gregory commented as his sneer intensified. "She commented on-"
He stopped abruptly as his gaze found Draco once again, and he narrowed his eyes in an unfamiliar hatred. Lately, he had found it very hard to believe that he and Vincent had once been friends with this poor excuse for a human being. Recent events, however, dictated that a veil of abhorrence would settle between himself and his newfound enemy.
When he discerned the way that he was being considered, Draco hurriedly averted his gaze back to the ceiling. It was too late, though - they had noticed him, and were moving closer to his bedside. Draco questioned where the matron had gone, and wondered if she would hear him if he yelled loud enough. However, he would rather die than be made out to be a coward. In this situation, that did not seem to be an impossible alternative.
"Malfoy."
The way that he acknowledged him was foreign to Draco. To the extent of his knowledge, Vincent had never addressed him by his surname. Gregory had done so once before, but that had been before they had forged an acquaintanceship between the three of them.
Draco had formulated a mental plan to mind his own business while Vincent and Gregory were here with Marcus, for more reasons beyond the fact that his father had expressly forbidden the continuance of their friendship. However, now that he had been spoken to, that plan would have to be laid to rest. As slowly as he dared, he returned his gaze to the two brutes that now stood over him.
Before he began to speak again, Vincent fleetingly glanced over towards Madame Pomfrey's office. "You know what happens within the Death Eaters, and you were around them all summer. So, tell us, Malfoy ... where are our fathers?"
Draco looked back and forth between them, studying the way that their hostility contorted their expressions. "I don't know."
"What do you mean, you don't know?" Gregory hissed under his breath. "We know that he wanted to kill them-"
"Yeah, maybe," Draco shrugged apathetically. "But that doesn't mean that I'm going to know where they are."
"What did they do to cross him?" Vincent added as his hands clenched into fists. "They were faithful followers for years-"
"And now they're out," Draco replied in annoyance. Why were they bothering him with their troubles? He had enough on his mind to contend with, for the time being. "I guess that's what happens-"
"We know that your own father handed them over," Gregory cut him off, and then hurriedly made sure that the coast was still clear before leaning in closer and dropping his voice. "If you don't start giving us some answers, and soon, you're going to feel a little more than a chain around your neck."
A wave of realization washed over Draco as Gregory threateningly cracked his knuckles. With a quick glance towards the jewelry that hung from his neck, Draco's suspicion was confirmed. A finger absentmindedly traced the still-apparent wound that he had suffered three days earlier. "It was you that did this?"
A cruel, satisfied smirk materialized across Gregory's thin lips. "With great pleasure-"
He stopped abruptly as the door to the Hospital Wing opened once again. Draco groaned inwardly, for this arrival was surely Pansy. However, his still-sour mood slightly lifted when he realized that his two old friends wouldn't dare try anything in her presence, for the unearthly shrieks that would surely follow would be enough to attract Madame Pomfrey's attention.
Just like the last time a visitor had been admitted into the Hospital Wing, it was a mixed blessing. It was not Pansy that came to relieve Draco of Gregory and Vincent's wrath, but someone who served the purpose of both stopping them in their threats and sparing him the unintelligible blathering of his arranged fiancee.
"Oh," Chris quietly spoke as she took in the sight before her. She could not say that she was comfortable with the way that Crabbe and Goyle stood over Malfoy, and the way that Marcus leered from behind them, in his bed. "If - if you're busy, I can come back later. I just needed to - something about Potions-"
"Nah, we're done here," Gregory grunted in the way that he usually acknowledged students outside of Slytherin house, and then turned back to Draco. "We'll finish this later."
He forced a very difficult smirk, and then gestured to Vincent to follow him as he made his way towards the Hospital Wing's exit. Chris moved to the side to allow their passage, and was not surprised when they each individually sent her the usual glare that she received for the house that she was associated with. As the Hospital Wing's door shut behind them, Marcus' interest in what transpired in his surroundings abated, and he flung the curtain separating himself and Draco shut with a huff. No more was heard from him.
She had been slightly curious before, she would admit, as to why Draco seemed to have gone his separate ways with his thuggish friends, but after what she had just witnessed, and after recognizing the strained expression on Draco's face as relief, she was considerably more interested. However, she knew that, with Marcus' presence, she had better stick to what she had initially come here for if she wanted to avoid awkward questions.
"So, Malfoy," she spoke as she slowly approached his bed, crossing her arms. "You weren't in Potions today."
He shrugged. "Pomfrey wouldn't let me leave this morning. Do you have the History of Magic notes?"
"Yes," she nodded as she tried her best to ignore the awkwardness between them. "I would suggest that you get them off someone when you're released. There was quite a bit covered today."
"I was going to ask to get them off you."
"I don't think so," she shook her head, but then winked, nodding her head towards Marcus' closed curtain. "I already did enough for you in Potions class. We had to start our projects today."
"What did you do?"
"Just some research. Mind you, two and a half hours worth-"
"So, you've just come here to let me know how bad off you were in the event of my absence?" he smirked as he sat up against the headboard of his bed.
His developing smirk was abolished as Chris raised her eyebrows at him - a sign of old times that she was not impressed with his attitude. To his annoyance, Draco felt a small amount of blood rush to his cheeks. Not much, but just enough for her to notice it.
She uncrossed her arms, and sighed deeply. "Professor Snape said that, in the past, it's taken the students more than just class time to get these projects done on time. He suggested that we all-"
"What are you doing here, Murray?"
Having not heard the Hospital Wing door open for the third time, Chris jumped as Pansy's shrill voice filled her head. She turned around where she stood, and was instantly met by Pansy's condescending glare and unapproachable disposure.
"I was just telling Malfoy what he missed in Potions class," she coolly replied. "When I'm done, I'll get out of your hair."
Draco slid back down in his bed. Damn, he thought. Since he had Chris here, and they were almost alone, he was going to inquire upon her level of seriousness in regards to what she had said to him in the corridor on their way up here three days ago. Besides the constant thought that he would, one day, be wed to Pansy, his mind had been occupied with Chris' statement. She had rekindled a snuffed flame of hope within him, for he remembered when she had told him of the feelings that she had allowed to fester towards him, even though he himself had had a couple glasses of champagne at the party. If she, indeed, was contemplating breaking up with Potter, did that mean that she was also taking him into consideration?
God, he hoped so.
"Anyways, Malfoy," Chris proceeded to ignore Pansy's exaggerated pouts. "Snape thinks that we should be getting together outside of the classroom to work on the Potion. Everyone else has agreed to it with their partners, and I'd really like to get this done as fast as possible. Whenever you're up to it, we should arrange a date and place."
He slowly nodded as she spoke, doing so noticeably faster than she had before Pansy arrived. He figured that she was in a rush to get out of there, now that his fiancee had arrived, and, really, he couldn't blame her in the least. He wished that he had the ability to run away from her.
With Chris gone, Pansy perked up a considerable amount. She sat down in the chair that she had perpetually occupied in the time she spent here, at his beside. However, as she commenced to declare how much she had thought about him all day, Draco only pretended to listen. A realization came over him, and he could not control the smirk that surfaced on his content visage. By the way that Pansy sped up in her speech, he assumed that she thought it to have something to do with her. Silly girl.
Pansy may have a physical hold on him, he thought, but she would never obtain more than that. She would never obtain his mind or his thoughts, for they were already preoccupied and, in his mind, claimed.
'Too bad for her,' he bitterly thought as he began to mentally prepare himself for the evening with Pansy that stretched out before him.