Chapter 25: Pet Projects
Draco POV
Draco took the offered cup of black tea, grimacing slightly at the bitter taste. Draco had learned that the professor liked rather bitter tea and though his breeding had trained him to never disparage the tastes of a person that was to be admired, he privately preferred more herbal blends. There were no cakes or biscuits, there never were, and Draco wondered if the man ever indulged in anything as frivolous as a sweet treat between meals. Despite the rather weak tea service, Draco found himself looking forward to these little meetings with Snape. For an hour every week or two he was able to relax and allow himself to forget about all of the problems that he was struggling to handle on his own. He was able to imagine for a moment that he was just a student and that the adults were able to fix everything for him, just like when he had been a little kid. It was strange really, Draco had spent years waiting to be old enough to be trusted to handle things on his own, and now that he had suddenly found himself in the position of having to take care of his family, he found himself torn between pride and a desperate desire for someone else to take over the responsibility.
"I'm glad to hear that your mother is doing well. Have they spoken of releasing her?" Severus asked politely after Draco had finished telling him of the encouraging letters he had received from both his mother and her Healer about her health. As his father was officially an escaped felon, he was unable to contact either them, officially at least, which meant that legally Draco was the next of kin. Despite being underage, he was 16 which allowed him just enough authority to have control over her medical treatment. When Severus had helped check his mother into the institution they had insured that he had the power of attorney over all of her affairs with the exception of her vault, since the Goblins refused to strip the authority over accounts from the original owner unless they were deceased.
Draco straightened his posture in an effort to curb the desire to fidget at the question. The question of his mother returning to the Manor was a difficult one, one that his father had explained tersely over the paired mirrors that they used to communicate with one another. Though Severus was well informed of their situation, Draco was unsure if he should be informing the man of this latest complication- though to be honest he doubted that a man as intelligent as Severus hadn't already thought about it.
The Dark Lord was currently taking up residence at Malfoy Manor- a position that should have granted their family privilege and esteem in the eyes of the other Death Eaters, and perhaps it did but in actuality it entailed an added level of scrutiny from the Dark Lord that made their position all the more difficult. Draco had seen how pale and unnaturally tense his father had been and though he had been surprised by the change in a man that had always exuded strength to him, he had known that it meant that the situation was delicate. With his parents unable to speak to one another directly, it had fallen to Draco to try and relay messages and luckily Mother seemed to have improved enough to appreciate the position that she would be in if she returned home.
In fact, Mother was doing much better, there were no fits of alternating anger and confusion, no mistaking people for their younger selves, no more loss of time. However, both of his parents seemed to be in agreement that being under the constant watch of the Dark Lord was too stressful of an environment for her, and though he did not have as clear an understanding of what it meant to be in the presence of the great man the way his parents did, Draco trusted that they were right. It also meant that she was left with limited options. The Healers were advocating her release because they worried that too long in an institutionalized environment might actually be become a determent now that she was recovering, but Draco didn't know where he could send his mother without attracting the wrong sort of attention. For the moment he was refusing the Healer's requests to bring her home, insisting that she needed to be in one hundred percent good health before she could be seen among society.
"The Healers appear confident that she could support herself," Draco settled for answering neutrally. Severus nodded and it was clear that he understood that just because she was well enough to come home, did not mean that it was the best option.
"And Lucius? You've been rather quiet in regards to how he has been the last couple of weeks," Severus noted, brow arched inquisitively.
Draco pursed his lips to keep from answering with a rather scathing remark regarding the fact that usually when one avoided bringing up a topic it meant that the person didn't want to discuss it. However, Draco found himself in the unusual position of feeling he owed something to another person. His Head of House had gone rather above and beyond the call of duty in regards to him over the past few months and Draco found himself uncommonly touched by the man's actions, especially when it could be a risk his own welfare. Severus and his father had been friends since their school days and Draco knew that in spite of the fact that Snape was not a Pureblood, Father found his skill and intelligence worthy of note. There had always been respect between the two wizards and something that a Gryffindor might call friendship. Still, in spite of the fact that Severus had been close to their family for many years, he would never have thought that the man would be willing to put himself on the line for them in any way.
Draco knew enough of Snape to know that the man played his cards extremely close to the vest. As far as he was aware, Snape was the only person alive that had the ear of both Albus Dumbledore and the Dark Lord and Draco found himself inordinately impressed with the Slytherin expertise that it required for a man to position himself so that he could literally not lose the war. Survive and then thrive. It had been the most important lesson his father had instilled in him but it seemed that Snape was the true master of achieving it.
"He's been doing well at the Manor. He's recovered very well from the Dementors and he's working to regain some of the trust that was lost when Potter and his squad of sidekicks managed to get him arrested," he answered, his tone turning petulant at the end. He had found in recent weeks that he needed to remind himself that he still owed Potter for that one. He and the boy-wonder might have called a temporary truce in the woods, and Draco might have even been... impressed with the fight he had witnessed between Potter and the Dark Lord, but he could not forgive the slight on his father. Nothing was more important than family and he would not allow Potter to walk away with destroying the Malfoy name without a fight.
Severus stirred his tea and gazed at him impassively, waiting for Draco to go into more detail. To confess to his problems the way he might have done in First or Second Year.
"Have you spoken to him about your plans?" he finally asked when it was clear that Draco had no intention of saying any more.
Draco bristled at the question, unsure exactly why it upset him so much. Perhaps because after years of his Father telling him about the 'glory days' of serving the Dark Lord when he had been young, Lucius had suddenly been urging Draco to be cautious when dealing with him. Perhaps because he was too proud to admit to his father that he had not made any progress yet but refused to ask for help. Perhaps because he saw how strained and tired his father seemed whenever they spoke and he didn't want to add any more stress to his burden.
Or perhaps because there was small part... a very small, but somehow uneasily silenced... part of him that didn't want to succeed at all.
"I plan to tell him when it's complete. There's no need to speak with him until I'm prepared for the next stage of the plan and that won't be for quite a while. When the timing is right," he added as though his postponement of his plans was intentional and not because he was struggling to get it accomplished.
Severus gave him a frustrated, rather tired look, "Draco I have told you that I can help you, if you would only tell me what you plan-"
"You've helped me a lot this year and I appreciate your efforts," Draco answered with as much dignity as possible. He had always been taught not to show gratitude for things that should be his by right. "But I can handle things on my own from here on out, thank you. This is my project. The Dark Lord gave it to me to prove myself and..." he faltered as he almost admitted that given his current position he needed to prove himself even more than he had originally intended but instead decided it was better to place the blame elsewhere. "And after those bloody werewolves ruined our plans for Potter, I now need to work harder than I should to ensure the Dark Lord knows of my talents. My talents," he added significantly. "When I manage it I will become his most honored Death Eater."
Severus was a man that was impossible to read. His face rarely shifted and in all of the years that he had known him, Draco could count on one hand the amount of times he had seen him even remotely surprised- and he was fairly certain that each time had involved Harry Bloody Potter in some way. And so once again he was uncertain how Snape felt precisely as he said, "the Dark Lord is an impatient man Draco. Believe me when I tell you that no success you have will ever matter as much to him as a failure, for that is what he constantly waiting for. He does not forgive, and he never forgets. You admit that your plan is not ready to be executed- this is not a school project that can be delayed until the deadline. He might have given you until the end of the school year but he will grow impatient long before that. He wants results and he wants them now."
"What about the search?" Draco asked, as much to get the attention off of himself and the fact that he had no viable way of fixing that thrice-damned cupboard, as to get actual information.
"It has been difficult," Severus admitted. "These artifacts have been missing for centuries. Leave it to Potter to do the impossible and retrieve the sword, but it's possible that each object may only be summoned by use of the Sorting Hat, in which case the Dark Lord would need the Hat which sits in Dumbledore's office. Even I can't get to it. And if we did manage it take it from the office, by all accounts Potter could only pull the sword because is truly is the epitome of Gryffindor foolishness, this implies that all of the other objects would need to be retrieved in a similar manner, which makes it easy to get to the Shield of Slytherin or even the Map of Ravenclaw but we happen to fairly light on Hufflepuffs."
Draco smirked. "Why do we even need the potion? With the Dark Lord wielding the sword, shield and map its not like he's actually going to get hurt."
"The idea is to combine all of the objects to have the most power Draco. It has never been done before and most wizards don't believe it to be possible but give yourself a moment to recognize the significance of such an act. If you were to hear that someone had managed to control all four of the Founder's weapons... would you fight against them?"
Draco shook his head. He remembered the stories from when he was a child, it was said that anyone that could gain control over all four objects would be considered the most powerful sorcerer in the world. The person could claim victory before they had even entered into a fight. Except...Draco wouldn't have to worry about fighting the Dark Lord.
"I wouldn't be an idiot, but if you think it's going to stop Potter you should trade Houses with Sprout."
"Mr. Malfoy I urge you not to take my hospitality as a sign that we are contemporaries, you will show me respect," Snape snapped.
Draco stiffened, "yes sir," unhappy with the reprimand but smart enough not to escalate the argument further at this point.
"But you're right, Potter is not one to waver from his goal. He... would have made quite an interesting Slytherin, don't you think?"
"P-Potter?" Draco sputtered in disbelief, trying to think if he had ever heard the professor joke before because that was the only explanation as to why he would make such a ridiculous statement. "A Slytherin? You must be joking."
"Draco, you and Potter have pitted yourselves against each other from the moment you've met one another. I can't say I'm surprised, Potter was raised vastly differently from yourself, I can't imagine that as children you had anything in common."
Draco couldn't argue with that. With the revelations that had recently come out about Potter's relatives he had been forced to admit that he had led a much more privileged lifestyle than the so-called Boy-Who-Lived. What was more, Potter seemed to have risen above whatever kind of muggle-horror show he had come out of and didn't seem to let it affect him, something Draco was not sure he would have been able to do. He thought back to the cave and the fact that Potter had been so strangely understanding about his phobia of small spaces. At the time he thought that Potter had no way of understanding the fear of being trapped in a small space. It had terrified him as a child but then he had overheard Greengrass confirming to Nott and Davis that Potter had in fact grown up in a small cupboard. Draco was certain that he would never be able to fathom the mind of Harry Potter, similar experiences or not.
"However," Snape continued, pulling Draco out of his own musing, "you are old enough now to recognize that no matter how much you might disagree or even despise another person, it doesn't mean that you should underestimate what they are capable of doing. Always know your enemy Draco- weaknesses and strengths. Potter is impulsive to the point of recklessness. He will always lead with this heart over his head. He is powerful but lacks actual skill in dueling and his spell repertoire is pathetic. He lacks all subtly and when it comes to cunning he would rather barge into a situation blindly than take the proper time it takes to assess or, Merlin forbid, ask for help.
"That being said, Potter is ambitious in his way. He may not actively seek out accolades or position and he has shown little interest in being a prefect, both before and after the job was given to Weasley nor can I imagine that he has his sights set on being Minister of Magic one day. And yet Potter will fight the most powerful wizard of our time until one of them is dead. He might lack focus on his studies or in following the rules but when Potter wants something, he wants it obsessively. I imagine it is the reason that Potter has demonstrated such success on the Quidditch pitch," Snape admitted grudgingly. "He has skill as a flier but Potter will also never lose sight of his goal. There's a rumor that the Gryffindors have a little saying that they pass down to their Seekers- 'get the Snitch or die trying'- and in the 15 years I have worked in this school and the 25 years I have seen Quidditch matches being played I have never seen anyone take those words to heart the way Potter does."
Draco remembered a young 12 year old Potter refusing to be taken out of the game after a bludger had been charmed to go after him because he had wanted to win. Potter had broken his arm and still grabbed the snitch. It had been the first game that Draco had lost to the Gryffindor and sadly not the last.
"Point made," Draco admitted sourly. He took pride in his House and the idea of Potter being in it, even hypothetically, rubbed him the wrong way. He glanced at the clock, "I should be going, sir. We have lessons in 10 minutes."
Snape inclined his head and made to stand. "Draco... Potter might be ambitious but there is a reason he is not in our House. You, however, I hold to a higher standard. Do not make Potter's mistakes. I am here to offer you help and I warn you that it is better to share the glory with others from the Dark Lord than to be subjected to the punishment alone. Cunning, Draco. It is what separates us from the other Houses and if you fail to use it I promise you that you will not survive this war."
Mouth suddenly dry despite the tea he had drank, Draco nodded. He would not ask yet. He was still certain that he could succeed. He should have put his alternative plans into motion during the first Hogsmeade weekend but he had stalled thinking that it would be better to wait until his real plan was set. And he had worried that the package might get intercepted. But Snape was right, the Dark Lord would not forgive mistakes. He needed to take action. Halloween. That would be the night to act.
HPHPHPHP
It was the day of the Sixth Year Paired Project Presentations and Draco's patience had long since been exasperated. When he had been unexpectedly paired with Neville Longbottom of all people, he had been immensely disappointed. Growing up in a very traditional Pureblood household, Draco had learned about the names and traditions of many of his classmates long before he had met them.
He had known that the Weasleys were a disgrace to their bloodlines and couldn't scrape enough knuts together to properly clothes their many children. He had known that the Patils were a rather wealthy family from old stock but they had traditionally pro-Muggleborn sentiments, this was usually excused among many of the Pureblood circles because no one in the family seemed to hold them strongly enough that they had ever been willing to fight openly for them. He had known that Notts were fiercely loyal to the old ways but were smart enough to avoid being known practitioners of the Dark Arts. While the Malfoys had a large variety of rather dark items- even after Arthur Weasley's raid at the end of Draco's Second Year- Draco had a feeling that their collection and knowledge of the Dark Arts paled in comparison to Alexander Nott.
And so he had also learned that in spite of the fact that Alice and Frank Longbottom had been proud blood-traitors, they had also been formidable wizards. Neville Longbottom had been on a short list of people that Draco had been told to look out for in terms of power and possibly position. Lucius had been curious of the boy, Augusta had been almost notoriously protective of her grandson when they had been young and few people had known much about him. There had been rumors circulating that he had been a squib but when the Longbottom family had announced shortly after Neville's 11th birthday that he would attending Hogwarts, those had been put down.
Until Draco had seen the boy in class. Neville, it seemed, was nothing at all like his parents and while he had been granted entrance into the prestigious Hogwarts, it was apparently by the skin of his teeth. While not a squib, he was little better than. Neville was usually among the last of their class to pick up any of the spells that they were learning, with the obvious exceptions of Crabbe and Goyle (at least in most cases- both boys were uncannily good at any curses or hexes that involved inflicting pain). And it wasn't as though his theory work was much better. Longbottom had the memory of a goldfish and therefore struggled just as much on written tests as he did on practical ones. He was so scared of everything around him that Draco could only imagine that he had been placed in Gryffindor because if bravery was facing your fears, the boy must have garnered all of his courage to simply get out of bed in the morning.
Draco had been anticipating having to carry Neville's portion of their project but he had at least been content with the fact that he had been partnered with someone that would not challenge his authority. Longbottom was no leader and Draco could not have imagined that he would push to have his ideas featured in any meaningful way.
But it seemed as though Draco had entirely miscalculated in just about every conceivable way. He was beginning to think that Longbottom had either encountered some sort of strange experiment while he had been down in the Department of Mysteries or else he had been replaced with some sort of clone from another dimension- one in which Longbottom was not an utter waste of space. He could think of no other logical explanations for the changes that had occurred in the teenager since the start of the school year. Because if there was one thing that Longbottom had made abundantly clear from the start, it was that he was not about to take orders from anyone. In fact, he had seemed strangely obsessed with not only giving the directions but ensuring that he was known as the leader of the team.
The strangest part of it all was the fact that Longbottom had actually improved. It had started the previous year and Draco had attributed the increase in his magic to a burst in confidence that had been facilitated by Potter- who Longbottom had all but worshipped since First Year when the shorter, skinner boy would defend him from bullying. But while Longbottom had certainly done better in their OWL year than anyone would have guessed for him in their earlier years, it was nothing on how he was performing now. Though still not as skillful- or obviously as powerful- as Potter, Longbottom had been consistently at the top of the Defense class since the start of term. Tackley adored him and in her eyes he could seemingly do no wrong. Even after Potter's team had trounced theirs in the mock battle, Tackley had still been impressed with Longbottom's ability to follow her orders. Draco rather thought that was the appeal of Longbottom to Tackley- he would follow orders. Potter questioned everything and was never content to do something the 'proper' way if he believed that he, or someone else, had come up with something better. In other words- Potter was a true leader and not a puppet for someone else. Tackley loved protocol and the fact that she had found someone to obey her commands, even as she called him a leader, kept both parties satisfied.
However, Longbottom was doing well in their other subjects as well. While he struggled in Transfiguration and was only in the middle of the class when it came to Charms, he and Granger were facing off for the top Herbology spot and he was coming along better than he had ever had in the past when it came to overall performance. And yet, despite the fact that Longbottom had apparently finally found out which way to hold a wand, Draco found the boy more annoying than ever.
"Are you sure that you're prepared for this?" Longbottom asked, brow raised slightly as they made their way outside where the presentations would be featured. "You're not going change anything at the last minute are you?"
"Worry less about me and more about remembering that Tackley's not here to pat you on the head for showing up Longbottom," Malfoy scoffed, his eyes narrowing at him in anger.
Draco was pleased to see that his remark had hit its mark. He had ruffled Longbottom and had momentarily stopped him from retorting. If there was one advantage to dealing with the now-only-slightly-pudgy boy over the Gryffindor Golden Boy it was that Longbottom lacked Potter's ability with comebacks. Potter had an almost Slytherin way with words- quick, sharp, and down-right cutting when he wanted them to be, he was also- Draco reluctantly admitted if only to himself- fairly funny most of the time. When it came to verbal barbs, the only way to show that Potter truly was a Gryffindor was the fact that Potter rarely attacked first.
"I just want to make sure that you don't panic like in Third Year with the Hippogriffs. We did well last time but we both agreed that we wanted to get the top spot."
Draco rolled his eyes, "as does everyone. Just don't forget all your lines and we'll be just fine Longbottom," Draco answered cuttingly. Avoiding voicing his doubts about their ability to get the top spot. He had been taught growing up to lead with confidence, if you showed the world that you were capable, than they believed it. Draco, however, was not as blind to his own faults and limitations as some people might have thought. He knew that Granger and Boot were the most likely to grab the top spot, if no other reason than neither one of them were likely to do anything else with their time besides work on their project. Draco had far more important things to worry about. Between worrying about his parents and securing his own position with the Dark Lord, asinine school projects that were designed to build tolerance between himself and Neville Longbottom of all people were a waste of his time.
"What do you think..." Longbottom cleared his throat, seeming uncertain about voicing his next question. While the project had obviously been designed to get the Houses to work together and perhaps even develop new ways of thinking, Draco could honestly say that that goal was an undeniable failure. He and his partner had carefully avoided discussing anything that wasn't strictly needed for their project and hated every second that they were forced to spend with one another.
"What?" Draco asked impatiently.
"Do you know what Greengrass and Harry are working on?" he finally asked in rush.
Draco raised an eyebrow, "really Longbottom? Merlin knows Slytherins are known for our discretion so I imagine you know that Daphne hasn't said a word to me, but I always thought you Gryffindors sat around your fireplace and shared all of your deep, dark secrets."
Longbottom flushed uncomfortably but muttered something along the lines of, "never mind."
If he were honest, Draco couldn't deny that he too was curious about the only other Slytherin/Gryffindor match up in the school, and what they would come up.
As though their words had caused the sudden apparation of the two people they were talking about, Potter and Greengrass came into view, having their own last minute arguments about the project. "We should have practiced it again!" Greengrass was arguing. "But Merlin forbid the Gryffindor Quidditch team suffer because its captain is incapable of budgeting his time appropriately."
Potter was looking frustrated but determined to keep his cool, Draco had- after all- provoked the response enough times to recognize it, though he was slightly surprised that Potter seemed to have more patience for his partner than he would have for most other people criticizing his behavior.
"Daphne, we're fine. We have a great project and once we know it works, I don't see how proving that it works a million times matters."
Daphne grumbled something that sounded vaguely along the lines of 'can't all survive on dumb luck like you' but stopped when she noticed that their conversation was not private. As a true Slytherin, Draco knew that the girl hated having others witness a vulnerable moment. She would have liked to have either presented a strong, united front with Potter, or else show that she had complete control over him. But her nervous nagging was not something to be broadcast in front of their competition. Draco found it an interesting quirk of Houses that Potter did not look at all surprised that they had been overheard- meaning he had been paying more attention to his surroundings than his Slytherin counterpart, who was usually known for their suspicion and observation, but did not seem at all concerned that they had been caught mid-disagreement.
"Hey Nev, you guys ready for today?" Potter asked, friendly as always to his Housemate.
Longbottom smiled but it seemed rather stiff to Draco and he was fascinated to see the change in the formerly timid boy. He had spoken to Severus about Longbottom the week before he and Potter had gone to their Ministry conference and the Slytherin Head of House had his own perspective. Severus felt that while Neville seemed to be feeling rather independent as of late, the boy truly was a consummate follower. Though Draco had never met Augusta Longbottom in person, he knew enough to know that she was somewhat of a legend among Pureblood circles. Powerful, intelligent, and shrewd enough to use her influence only when it truly mattered to her, the matriarch of the Longbottom family, despite her flawed politics, was considered a worthy adversary by his father, and Draco had always respected his father's judgment. She had also beaten her grandson into submission over the years. Severus' theory was that for the first time in his life Longbottom had proven himself to be something other than a sniveling little coward that hid behind anyone that could protect him- and his grandmother had been thrilled. She had no doubt built him up over the summer holidays, telling that he had finally fulfilled the family honor and had no doubt let his head get a bit too big for its own good. Building up her pathetic godson as a hero when really he was just too stupid to turn around when Potter told him to come along. And now the would-be-Golden-Boy was actually trying to challenge Potter's position.
But the part that Draco found truly hilarious was that Potter seemed to have no idea that his little sidekick was even trying to take his spot. Which made the thing a bit sad for poor pathetic Longbottom, who was so far out of Potter's notice that the more popular boy had yet to even realize that he had been increasingly snubbed all year.
"Longbottom, Malfoy," Greengrass greeted coolly. "Ready for the presentations?"
"Of course," Draco answered with confidence. "We've tested our method quite well," he added snidely and was rewarded with a slight flush of her cheeks. Potter gave him an unimpressed look that was strangely more hurtful than if the other boy had said something insulting back to him.
"So who do you reckon they're going to get to judge this one?" Potter asked. "They got Slughorn for the last one but he's really only a potion's expert, isn't he?"
"I would imagine that Dumbledore has other reasons for Slughorn being here than a simple contest," Draco responded, rolling his eyes. Potter was an amazing mixture of highly observant when it came to strangest events possible in the castle and completely daft when it came to the most mundane of motivations behind things.
Potter raised an eyebrow inquisitively but said nothing, knowing that Draco would not volunteer that information without a price.
"So... is everything alright between you and Ron?" Longbottom asked and as he spoke it was with a return to the usual friendliness that had always engaged Potter with. Draco wondered if the other boy even consciously registered his feelings towards Potter, or if he did, if he felt guilty about them.
"Trouble in paradise for you and Weasley?" Greengrass asked archly. "And here I thought that you two were going to go the distance."
Potter glared at her but there was a hint of amusement in his eyes as though she been more teasing than insulting towards him. "We had... an argument but it'll be alright. Ron's upset but..." Potter shrugged and he shot Longbottom a look that seemed to say that he would explain more later, when he wasn't surrounded by others.
"Is this about the sister?" Greengrass asked shrewdly.
Potter came to a sudden stop and stared at her in surprise. "Wha- how did you come up with that?"
Daphne rolled her eyes, "honestly Potter, you would think after all this time you would realize that you can't sneeze without the school talking about it. People saw the two of you in Hogsmeade. I hear the passion was undeniable," she added drily. "So my guess is Weasley found out that his very best friend and quite possibly one true love is shagging his sister and he threw a typical Weasley temper tantrum- does that sound about right?"
"First of all, no one is shagging anyone," Potter corrected, chivalrously defending Weasley's honor. "And... Ron wasn't happy about it."
"Not really his business," Longbottom commented sympathetically. "You tried to be honest with him from what I heard about it. Ron knows you well enough to know that you don't just mess girls around. I thought he was bang out of order."
Potter shifted uncomfortably. "Ron's always been protective over Ginny. As the youngest boy, she's really the only one that he ever got to protect and the two of them were close growing up- closer than the rest of them. Bill and Charlie were at Hogwarts for most of their childhood and the two of them have each other, if you've ever met Percy you'll realize that he doesn't play nice with others, and the twins have each other. Ron always thought of him and Ginny as the last set. But after Ginny's First Year," and here Potter shot an unreadable glance in Draco's direction, "Ron felt especially protective over her."
"Ginny's not a little girl, she's a year younger than Ron and if you think she needs protecting just because she's a girl than you're a real hypocrite Potter," Greengrass argued.
"I never said that she needed Ron's protection, I said I understand why Ron feels protective. To be honest if it was another girl and someone else was her brother, I might tell them go screw themselves, but Ron is my best mate and I won't do that to him."
"Even when he's being a bit of a prat?" Longbottom asked with a grin, giving Draco the impression that in spite of Longbottom's strange new attitude, he found it hard to stay mad at Potter for any real length of time.
"I've been Ron's best mate for over five years, you think its news to me that he's a prat?" Potter answered with a grin.
"Who do you think has the best chance of getting the top score on this one?" Longbottom asked, changing the subject.
"When it comes to class assignments I always just assume Hermione is going to do the best," Potter answered with a casual shrug.
"Not this time, Granger and Boot had a little lover's quarrel and I can't imagine that they're going work well together after that," Greengrass contradicted him, looking smug. Granger's consistent stint as the class leader had always been a sore spot for the Purebloods of the class- Daphne in particular as she should would have been vying with Boot for the top spot if it hadn't been for the mudblood's uncanny magical ability.i
"How do you know about that?" Potter asked quickly, clearly surprised that his partner possessed so much information about his group's love lives.
Greengrass smirked at her partner, "I have my ways Potter. Not much gets past me." A bluff for the most part, there was plenty that got past Greengrass- most of which consisted of whatever crazy adventure Potter got himself into every June- but she prided herself on being well informed despite not having Pansy's, or even Patil or Brown's- reputation for gossiping.
"Well I wouldn't bet against Hermione."
"So much faith in your little friend Potter?"
Potter only smirked at her. "Absolutely, but I also happen to know that when she's upset, she studies. Actually she studies when she's happy or frustrated or just about any time but when she's upset and studies, she's a woman possessed."
They debated back and forth a bit longer before they were out on the Quidditch Pitch where the presentation was set to begin. The four Heads of Houses had their Sixth Year classes scheduled so that they all met on Wednesdays after lunch, which made it possible for them all to be present at the presentation without rearranging their classes.
Each team had been told to pick any creature of their choosing and either discover something new about it or else train it in a manner that had never been done before. It was a challenging and perhaps even dangerous task, especially with a quarter of the students possessing typical stupid Gryffindor foolishness that no doubt felt that the only way to make an impressive project would be to nearly get killed in the process. Though Draco was no fan of his rival House leader, he could at least appreciate the fact that McGonagall seemed to know exactly what to expect from her idiotic House.
Which meant that that unlike the Potions project, which had been presented in the dungeons, the Care of Magical Creatures Projects needed much more space and preparation. All of them had been given specially designed cages to house their creatures, ones that were supposedly impenetrable. The cages could then transport any creature from one cage to the other, so that when the time came to present, one team member only needed to recite the appropriate spell and their Creature would be summoned to the cage that was currently residing in the center of the pitch, surrounded by a transparent shields designed to keep the creatures away from other students in case something went wrong during one of the presentations.
Much as Draco had thought, Slughorn was once again present and busy chatting up a number of wealthier students. He seemed to be trying to catch Potter's eye but the Gryffindor was currently giving the man a wide berth. Draco shook his head, if he had ever been in Potter's position, he at least would have known how to use his fame.
"Students," McGonagall called, her crisp voice cutting easily over the chatter of fifty-odd voices. "I trust that you are already standing with your partners. Take your assigned seats, they are in the order you were given to present. I also trust that you all followed instructions and placed your projects inside the appropriate cages."
They all took their seats outside of the staging area and Draco noted that Potter was sitting away from his little sidekicks. Weasley was sitting with McMillian who was speaking to him quietly and Granger was sitting near them, looking as though she was trying to avoid having to talk to her own partner. Potter gave a wave to Granger, which she returned but Weasley looked as though he was currently intentionally ignoring him.
Most of the teams came up with fairly standard projects. Despite being told that the training or discovery should be unique, most people merely used whichever quality was most rare. However there were a few standouts among the crowd. Weasley and McMillian, in a bid to no doubt make up for their pathetic first project, had trained Cornish pixes to dance to a Weird Sisters song which got a good amount of laughter from the crowd but was actually impressive considering the pixes were notorious for refusing to follow any directions. Flitwick in particular seemed to take an interest and cornered both boys to discuss what they had done.
And there was Gryffindor Patil and Fletchley who had attempted to use pygmy puffs as a means of a secret attack against intruders claiming that no one would expect it, which was obviously true but unless the intruder was planning on being distracted by the fact that a cute little ball of fluff was comically attempting to growl in their direction then Draco considered it a failure.
Granger and Boot had managed to put their true love of high grades in front of any petty school romance that they might have had and used a potion along with a boggart as a means of retrieving repressed memories. Instead of simply seeing a person's greatest fear- real or imagined as they might be- the potion was designed to target traumatic events and bring them forward to be viewed. It was a convoluted project that was more theory than practice since it was impossible to show if one had in fact recovered any repressed memories or if they were merely seeing their fears in front of them but Slughorn was certainly impressed and Draco overheard them talk about bringing the treatment to St. Mungo's to try on victims of severe spell shock that weren't able to talk about their experiences to Healers. Draco glanced over at Potter and Greengrass to see if Daphne was upset that her theory had been proven false and that once again Granger had proven to an unrelenting know-it-all, but he quickly noticed that it was Potter's reaction that was much more interesting. Potter was looking at the presentation with an odd expression on his face that Draco wasn't sure what to make of at the moment.
After a few more projects of unworthy note, Draco and Longbottom stepped forward to present their creature, which was more plant than Creature if one was being honest. The truth was, Draco had only taken Care of Magical Creatures because it was an easier option than Ancient Runes and his father had already forced him into taking Arithmancy. He took it for the easy O and nothing else and usually even the increase to his grade average was not worth having to deal with half-breed Hagrid and his nearly unintelligibly mumbling alongside dangerous monsters that he seemed to delight in showing off to underage children. Longbottom was no better at the subject but he was strangely good at Herbology and so when his partner had suggested that they do a project that depended more on those skills than on wrestling with some strange beast Draco had agreed quickly. Intending on leaving Longbottom to do most of the work.
And as strange as it might be to admit, Draco had been fairly impressed with Longbottom's progress over the past month and had wound up being more involved than he had originally thought he would be. They had been teaching adult mandrakes how to speak, reason, and even read. While Mandrakes had always possessed personality, they were limited as far as intelligence. They had the ability to speak a few select words but were mostly instinctual beings, which made wizards want to only use them for restorative properties, often overlooking the advantages to working with a plant that was actually alive. By pairing them first with small animals to get them used to sentient life and how they interacted with one another (and ensure that they received credit on a project that was supposedly centered on Creatures not plants, as Draco had pointed out to Longbottom with irritation), then working with the Mandrakes personally- which had been extremely hard since they had been forced to use highly specialized ear-muffs just in case they started to cry- they had managed to accomplish quite a lot. A few more months and Longbottom wondered if it was possible that the Mandrakes, with their magical properties, would be capable of casting simple spells. Sprout looked especially proud and Snape gave them both a stiff nod. Slughorn also appeared impressed, he was a man with a firm sense of the importance of a bottom line and the fact remained that their project had just opened the door to market Mandrakes in far more ways than a simple restorative.
Potter and Greengrass were up next and Draco was unsurprised to see that Slughorn was already giving Potter a warm smile of appreciation before he had even started. The magical cage was reset to bring out the next creature and everyone else stood back behind the shields. Daphne raised her wand to call forth their project, just as Potter flicked his own wand in Weasley's direction, conjuring and securing a blindfold.
"Hey!" Weasley shouted out, his expression furious.
"Trust me, you'll thank me later Ron!" Potter called out with a grimace in his friend's direction and Draco could see that Potter was worried that he had just inadvertently escalated his fight with Weasley. The reason for his actions became clear immediately as soon as Daphne summoned their creature the rest of the class gasped in a combination of shock and horror. The teams thus far had all tried to be impressive which meant that most teams with a Gryffindor had flirted with the more dangerous creatures. There had had been hippogryphs and even a runespoor that had caused alarm until they had learned that it had been defanged and therefore presented no actual danger. The rest had been boggarts, kappas and even a grindylow. Leave it Potter to come up with something that left Draco longing for the days when Hagrid had tried to have them raise Blast-Ended Skewrts.
Daphne Greengrass, who had never taken Care of Magical Creatures and was probably the only First Year to ever complain about flying lessons as an eleven year because 'all they're managing to do is rumple my robes' had just called up a full grown Acromantula.
There were a few screams and Draco noticed with a sense of unease that even Sprout and Flitwick looked a bit nervous while McGonagall and Snape looked downright furious.
"Serpensortia Engoria!" If Potter and Greengrass had been going for shock and horror with using an Acromantula as their project, it had nothing on the enormous snake that emerged from Potter's wand in that moment. Draco had never seen a snake so large in his life and if he didn't know for a fact that wizards were unable to conjure Basilisks but had to breed them, he would have been convinced that that was what was standing before them in that moment. Over 30 feet long, black with red, angry lines the snake was terrifying to them all- including the acromantula, who instinctively tried to get away.
Potter hissed his unintelligible language at the snake who immediately turned its attention toward its master. Daphne was the real surprise, face pale but composed, she was in charge of keeping the acromantula in place, and so far her containment spells were working. Forcing the acromantula to cower and obey the whims of its greatest predator. The snake snapped angrily at Potter and they appeared to be arguing, Potter's hissing dropped to a menacing growl that sent shivers up his spine and he saw a couple people in their year- Boot, Crabbe, Goyle, McMillian, Bones, Abbot and even Brown- instinctively bow their heads in a submissive gesture. Draco heard Slughorn gasp slightly at the sight and he knew enough to know that as former Head of Slytherin House, Slughorn must have heard the same rumors that he had heard, one of the main reasons why Parseltongue was considered such an evil skill to possess.
Not only did a parselmouth have the ability to communicate and thus control snakes, a very powerful one was rumored to be able to make humans submit to their will, briefly, as well. It wasn't as strong or as controlling as an Imperious Curse, which took away the free will of its victims, forcing them to obey the caster's every command even if it meant killing a loved one or even themselves. However, a parselmouth made a person want to follow them. It made their reasons for doing something sound better than the might have ordinarily, disobeying a parselmouth was said to feel like a severe disappointment, like a small child that gone against their parents' wishes and felt bad for doing so. It was possible to disobey, in fact the person was not forced to go along with anything the speaker said, but there was still a sense of control that should not have been natural which made wizards fear it. Draco had never seen the Dark Lord use this particular skill but it was rumored that he had not relied on his charisma alone to rally support to his cause.
For his part, Potter was so concentrated on the snake that he did not appear to have noticed his influence on his classmates at the moment. Draco caught sight of Granger standing next to a still- blindfolded-Weasley, whispering into his ear, no doubt telling him what was happening. He saw the moment when the Pureblood (if by blood if not by manners and behavior) Wizard realized what had Potter had done and his expression shifted from surprise, to outrage to concern in the briefest of moments.
In the meantime, Potter had won his argument with the snake and it was now controlling the acromantula while a now rather white-faced Daphne stepped forward to explain their discovery. "As you are all aware there have been extremely few people that have had success in being able to control acromantulas. They are not only physically large, but surprisingly intelligent. So intelligent in fact that there is at least one that has learned to speak English. With this knowledge Potter and I-" Here Potter shot her a pointed look that plainly showed exactly who had come up with this idea, "er, rather it became clear that if acromantulas were capable of learning English they were capable of learning other languages as well. We discovered through research in the forest, and with the help of Mr. Hagrid," Daphne added, clearly torn between wanting to take credit and not wanting to have to admit that they had entered the Forbidden Forest illegally, "that because Basilisks are the spiders' natural enemy, they are born with the ability to understand its language as a defense mechanism. Despite understanding the language, acromantulas and parselmouths do not share the same relationship that speakers share with actual snakes, which means that while snakes feel compelled to listen and often obey a human parselmouth, acromantulas feels no such compulsion but can understand what is being said or when they are being threatened. It was then that we discovered that by conjuring a snake that resembles a basilisk in every way baring its deadly glare, a parselmouth was able to control their natural enemies and it was at this point that we decided to use one creature to control the other."
It was a unique idea, Draco was fairly certain that he had never heard of anyone doing it before, of course with the exception of the Dark Lord, Potter was probably the only parselmouth alive at the moment. It probably would have won first place hands down if not Potter being a bit too good with his ability and reminding everyone why parseltongue was so feared among wizards.
"Er...yes, very good. Very good indeed," Slughorn said awkwardly as the snake snapped at the acromantula to perform a series of directions. Move left, move right. Bow down. Sit. It was not overly complicated but it was clear that the two creatures could communicate in some way and Potter was able to control them both with his strange magical gift.
"Certainly unique, well done Mr. Potter." They were given the signal to clear away their project and as soon as Greengrass banished the snake from the cage, Potter vanished his snake. There was a visible gasp of relief from the crowd as the two dangerous beasts were taken away and Draco heard Weasley grumbling audible about being able to finally take off his blindfold and stupid gits that felt the need to bring in enormous spiders. Draco had to work hard to laugh.
In the end, it was a close race for the top spot. Potter and Greengrass had been given credit for unique skill and- as Slughorn put it- 'truly getting into the spirit of the competition with Mr. Potter using a traditionally Slytherin skill and Miss Greengrass displaying remarkable bravery in the face of a dangerous creature.' Potter smirked at Greengrass and Draco realized that she had wanted him to call forth the acromantula and the snake but Potter had been the one to insist that she do it, for that exact reason. Gryffindors probably all tramped through the forest looking for giant spiders on a regular basis but Slytherins had more sense and by seemingly being the one in charge of the acromantula- even if it had only been by using spells to contain it- she had shown bravery. Nevertheless, while they received high marks for a project that had been entertaining and fulfilled all of the requirements, they had not presented any real potential benefit to the world the way Draco and Longbottom or even Granger and Boot had done.
And since Granger and Boot's project had not had an active study but rather a theory, Longbottom and Draco walked away with the top grade and 20 points each for their Houses, along with bonus extra credit in Herbology from Sprout. There were some congratulations from members of their Houses but Draco saw that in spite of the fact that Granger had clapped politely along with everyone else she looked severely disgruntled at having come in second.
HPHPHPHP
The morning of the Quidditch match fell on Halloween, which was earlier than usual. Generally they waited until the middle of November to kick off the season but Draco had heard rumors that the Board had been receiving complaints from parents for years about holding so many matches in bad weather, claiming that it was not only dangerous for the players but a health risk for the spectators that were known to sit in the freezing rain for hours on end. While matches would still not be rescheduled for rain or snow, they were planning on getting the matches in earlier than they had done in the past. The Board also felt that a Quidditch match on the day of Halloween was a nice kick off to the festivities of the day- which this year were meant to include a tribute to the end of the First War. Draco had heard the surprise of many of the Slytherins in the Common Room that the school would acknowledge the day after so long, but Draco knew that Fudge was desperate for some good PR. He needed to remind the public that they had beaten the Dark Lord before, so they could do it again. Draco found the false bravado rather pathetic but entertaining to watch. It also aligned well for his plans for the Feast later that night.
In spite of their intentions, it seemed that fate had intended for the players to suffer regardless of the game being pushed up by a few weeks. The day was bright but unseasonably cold. Wind gusted at surprisingly strong strength while the sun blazed overhead, blinding anyone flying in the wrong direction and making it extremely hard to see the glint of gold from the Snitch without the helpful cover of clouds.
For the first time in quite a long time, Draco felt nervous before a match. It was his first as Captain and he would be facing off against Potter- who had also been named Captain this year. Draco had joined the team young, only 12, and their team had been quite good but they had never won against Gryffindor and it had escaped anyone's notice that in 4 years of competition the only match that Gryffindor had lost had been Dementors had attacked and Potter had passed out, and even then the points that the Chasers had scored had made the loss bearable enough that the team had still managed to win the Cup that year. Credit, of course, was often given to Potter but the real secret of their success had been Wood. The obsessive captain was known to have more practices than any of the other teams and the Gryffindors had not only practiced longer but had refused to cancel no matter how bad the weather. Johnson had had a run of bad luck when Potter and both Weasley twins had been 'banned for life' and yet the team had still pulled out the Tournament with the Cup.
Rumor had it that Potter did not possess the same overzealousness for leadership that both Wood and Johnson had shared, and Draco hoped that that boded well for his team but he wasn't sure if it would. Wood and Johnson had lived and breathed Quidditch and had made sure that their team had known it. From all accounts- and the Slytherins had paid very close attention to their arch rivals tactics- both of them had ruled with iron fists and pushed their team during grueling practices.
But Potter had this...natural leadership. It seemed almost innate. People couldn't help but follow him and when they did, they couldn't help but want to do their best. Quidditch might not be Potter's top priority, nor did he feel the need the drive his teammates into the ground during practices but unlike most of his friends, Draco had recently learned never to underestimate the Gryffindor.
Nevertheless, this was Slytherin's best chance to win in ages. The Gryffindor team had been largely intact since their First Year. Wood had possessed talent mixed with obsession. The Gryffindor Chasers had presented a united front the likes of which most professional teams would have killed for. The Weasley terrors, Draco was almost certain, were telepathic and worked so well together that it was impossible to block against them. And then there was Potter.
Though he would never admit it to a single soul, Draco had never forgotten the sheer brilliance with which Potter had taken to the air during their first flying lesson. Draco knew for a fact that it was indeed the first time the other boy had ever been on a broom and yet he had flown better than any other student in the school could have done. Draco had practiced and trained for three years before Hogwarts and the summer after First Year to secure his spot as Seeker and he knew most other players could say the same. It was not unusual for wealthy Purebloods to hire flying tutors for their children just to help them train and yet Potter had been offered the spot on the team after McGonagall had witnessed him executing a single, perfect, dive. And if their first lesson had been impressive, Potter had only improved over time. Potter flew a broom the way most people breathed air- effortlessly and without the need for thought or correction.
Now, however, the team was new and inexperienced. Bell was the only returning Chaser and while she was certainly good, most of her best moves had been designed to go alongside Spinnet and Johnson. The girls had been a well-oiled unit and taking her away from her preferred teammates would have an effect on her game. Girl Weasley was, admittedly, a good flier. Very good actually. But she was emotional, like her brother, and Draco felt like she could be pushed to fall apart much as Boy-Weasley had been crushed by the song he had come up with the previous year. The beaters and Dean Thomas were, from what he had been able to gather, nothing special and Boy-Weasley was an anxious player that could not recover from a bad beginning.
The fact that Potter and his best mate were at odds with one another would be Slytherin's best advantage. Draco knew Weasley well enough to know that he had no ability to compartmentalize. What upset him off the field would upset him on it and the fact that the two people who had caused his emotional turmoil would be playing in the game would only help Draco's cause. Girl-Weasley would be furious with her brother and Draco knew enough about her to know that she would take her considerable temper out on him. Potter was the wild card. He certainly had a temper but Potter was usually better at directing his anger where he wanted it to. He could only hope that Potter felt more guilty than angry at Weasley. Anger he could direct towards his game and come out with a victory but guilty would weigh him down faster than McLaggen on a broom. Speaking of the behemoth Seventh Year, Draco had heard from Pansy that he had been stirring up quite a bit of trouble for Potter in Gryffindor Tower. Complaining that Potter had used favoritism to pick his team. Personally even if Potter had picked Weasley over McLaggen based on nothing but personality, Draco would have had nothing but sympathy for him, McLaggen made just about any other Gryffindor seem like good company in comparison, but anyone that had spent even 5 minutes with Potter knew that the noble git didn't have it in him to abuse any position that he had. The fact that McLaggen had convinced anyone of his stupid complaints was fairly hilarious but also quite useful. Draco had been having Pansy stroke the idiot's ego for weeks and he only hoped it was about to pay off.
"Line up!" Draco called out to his team, not allowing any of the nervousness that he felt slip into his voice. "This is a new year! We've hit a streak of bad luck over the last few years but we have more skill, more breeding and more strategy than any team out there- especially the Gryffindors. We know how they play. They will take risks, they will be emotional, they will play by the rules." He added with a smirk.
"And we will worry about winning. Slytherin House was built upon the ideals of ambition, of reaching one's goals without question." Draco pointed to the crest above the door, 'Finis est licitus, etiam media'- roughly translating to 'The End Justifies the Means'.
"Do not forget what we have planned, do not for a moment allow yourself to forget that our team comes first and everything else comes second. Are you ready?"
The team gave a resounding cheer and took off for the pitch. Right away Draco found one startlingly improvement, Lee Jordan, incredibly biased announcer who thought he was far funnier than he actually was, had graduated and therefore the position was at long last open for new blood. And their new announcer was certainly no Potter fan.
Draco wasn't sure if Potter had actually done something to Zacharias Smith to cause the other boy to actively despise him or else he simply felt that he was being unique in openly criticizing the "Chosen One" when Potter had never been more popular but Draco found his commentary fell perfectly in with his strategy. He needed to unsettle the Gryffindor team and even the opening remarks were enough to get the ball rolling.
"Potter's team is finally taking the pitch, rumors have been circulating that Potter has not spent as much time as most Quidditch Captains generally do holding practices, he's apparently been to busy with his own personal affairs but he has refused to step down and allow others the ability to run things in his absence. Let's hope that the team doesn't suffer for his poor management decisions."
"Oi! Smith why don't you report on the match and not our captain!" Girl Weasley shouted out angrily. Her face was already red with anger and Draco was delighted to see that Boy-Weasley was already losing his temper as well, if his own expression was anything to go by.
Crabbe shot a bludger at the girl while Warrington was able to make an easy score on the Keeper that was concentrated, just as Draco intended, on his sister. Weasley looked both surprised and furious at the swiftness of the goal.
"Ron, don't worry about it, you'll get the next one!" Potter shouted but there was hint of unease in his voice and Draco knew that Potter was very much aware that Weasley was going to choke.
"And Weasley, who was picked for the team over Cormac McLaggen despite a better performance at the try out lets the first goal in, Slytherin takes an early lead at 10 to 0," Smith called out over the boos of the Gryffindor crowd.
And choke Weasley did. One goal quickly became five, which devolved into 10. The Chasers weren't much better. The Slytherins were shouting the original words to 'Weasley Is Our King'- complete with added verse to include Girl Weasley's propensity to snog any warm body along with the usual verses concerning their poverty. By the second hour there were even chants in the crowd to call up McLaggen as a replacement. Pansy had started it in the Slytherin section, just as he told her to do, but McLaggen and his close posse of friends eagerly took up the chant as well.
Potter swerved in front of the Chasers setting up a pick for Girl Weasley, who shot the quaffle over to Thomas who was bodily-blocked by their own Chaser, Vaisley. Thomas threw to Bell but a well-aimed bludger unseated her and the pass was intercepted.
"Must be hard to be playing with so many men that you've been shagging! Though at this point is even possible to find a few Gryffindors you haven't been with?" Draco called out, just as his Chaser lined up a shot at the opposite goal. Predictably, Boy Weasley choked and sputtered with anger, leaving the hoop open for the easy score. Ginny wasn't much better, her face was so red at this point she looked like a tomato and she was physically shaking, she angrily knocked into Draco for his comment, which meant a foul since players were not allowed to go after the Seekers unless they had seen the Snitch.
Things got easier from there. His Beaters, Crabbe and Goyle, were careful to hit enough questionable shots to keep the fair-minded Gryffindors unsettled both physically and mentally, without actually getting ejected from the game. There were a few penalty shots but none of the Gryffindors were able to perform particularly well when outraged and Slytherin's new Keeper, Hoyt, was probably the best in the school.
Draco and their new chaser, Lexington, the first girl to make the team in over a decade, continued a steady barge of verbal barbs at both Weasleys and Potter. Lexington was a speedy flier with the build of a Seeker more than a Chaser but her agility was proving to be a valuable asset when it came to getting into the right position. However, her tongue was even more agile than her broom. She was delightfully vicious as she called out to Weasley that he should pretend that the quaffle was a galleon and that way there was no chance of him letting it fly right through the hoops.
The game was heading into its fifth hour, longer than the typical school game but though Draco was happy with their playing they had yet to come out with a commanding lead. They were still only a 130 points up and they needed to score three more times to make sure that they were guaranteed victory.
"And that's another goal for the Slytherins and Potter is really losing control of his team. While he's often given credit for being the Chosen One, we might have start wondering why he was chosen leader of this team!" Smith announced gleefully, ignoring the reprimand he received from McGonagall regarding sticking to the match and not his own unwanted opinions about her captain. There were wild cheers from the Slytherin stands a few appreciative noises from the Hufflepuff House that Smith came from but the rest roared their disapproval.
But as angry as his teammates had become, Potter seemed determined to rise above any and all comments directed his way. He too was rather red in face and Draco suspected that his knuckles were white on his broom from the sheer tension of his stance but he stuck to his usual flight pattern, only altering if he could provide support to his Chasers. And suddenly Potter went into the kind of dive that Draco could have only hoped to achieve. Vertical to the ground, Potter was traveling faster than many pros would have been flying.
But Draco's team was prepared. They had spent the last weeks planning and practicing on how to combat Potter's now signature dives. Crabbe and Goyle set up the bludgers at the right moment and swung from both sides so that they set up to collide...with Potter in between them. It was a move that Draco had made them practice all summer and then constantly during practices once school started again, a perfectly designed trap for a Seeker that was moving too fast to dodge anything. It had taken some doing- Potter moved at a rate so fast that any bludger aimed at him not only had to adjusted for speed, but more so than the average player. But Draco saw that for once his two- for lack of a better word- friends had succeeded in what they had set out to accomplish. The two bludgers flew exactly where the Beaters had hit him, the crowd gasped as one and Draco heard Weasley shout out a word that had McGonagall shouting without need of a spell at her Keeper.
And then Potter spun. Cork-screwing so that his body and broom were protected, the first bludger collided with an audible twack into his side and the second with a more muted grunt into his thigh which should have stopped him right there. But it didn't.
Potter keep spinning downwards as Draco put on his own burst of speed to reach the Snitch when he realized that Potter was not to be deterred in the slightest from his goal, momentum keeping him going even after he was out of danger. Potter was reaching with his right arm and Draco had a familiar feeling of disappointed defeat as he realized that he would not reach it in time. Potters hands closed onto the golden orb inches from the ground just as he wrenched his still spinning broom up just in time to avoid a crash to the ground and Potter let go about a foot off the ground, falling hard onto the Earth, Snitch raised up above him. The cheers echoed across the pitch and Draco scowled down at his enemy.
"Oh F- er—Potter's actually caught the Snitch," Smith announced, the scornful, mocking tone that he had been using against Gryffindor the entire match absent due to his sheer surprise that Potter had managed to catch the Snitch after taking a hit like that. Smith was the Hufflepuff Seeker and Draco had beaten him easily the year before, and Draco was sure that Smith knew as well as he did that there was no way that Smith could have pulled off a move like that. "Gryffindor wins 340 to 190."
Draco landed only a few feet from Potter who was coughing roughly on the ground. Girl Weasley had reached him first and was leaning over him, offering him a hand up. He coughed again and Draco saw a bit of blood come up but he staggered to his feet.
"Merlin Harry, are you alright?" Ginny asked.
"Peachy," Potter hacked roughly. Girl Weasley was glaring at Draco, daggers in her eyes. Her whole body seemed to be vibrating with anger and for a moment she looked as though she was longing to hit him. Potter, perhaps sensing this, put his hand on her shoulder to steady himself.
Granger was hurrying down to the pitch looking worried and Hooch was trying to convince Potter to take a stretcher up the Hospital Wing while he was insisting that he was capable of walking. "This is ruining my once a year rule for the hospital wing," he complained to his teammates who seemed much calmer now that they could hear him joking and Draco wondered if that had been the point. It would not have been something he would have never thought to do.
"I think you shot that to hell the first week of school Harry," Boy-Weasley grumbled but the hostility that he been in his eyes for the past few days was replaced with concern in the face of the fact that Potter was in visible pain and was his breathing was shallow. "Gin...why don't you help him to the Hospital Wing," Weasley said quietly.
His sister looked surprised but Potter flashed a grateful smile, as though he had expected something like it all along.
Weasley turned to him, a combination of fury and misery in his expression. "You're a real git Malfoy. I really hope that someone puts you in your place one day," he said, his tone strangely flat before turning to make his way back to the castle.
HPHPHP
Draco paced nervously outside the Great Hall, trying to calm down before he made an appearance at the Feast. He was almost positive that it couldn't be traced back to him. There was no way that anyone would know that he had gone down to the kitchens and he hadn't used one of the Hogwarts elves so even if they were questioned they wouldn't be able to give him up after the fact.
He took a deep breath and entered the hall glancing up at the Head table only to see that the Headmaster was not even present and certainly not eating his meal. He felt a strange sense of relief at seeing at he wasn't present, followed quickly by a feeling of panic that his plan was not going to play out and if it didn't work out tonight, he wasn't sure if he would get another opportunity. Dumbledore was often absent for meals or even for days at a time with the growing threat of the war and the Ministry's growing reliance on the Headmaster's advice, but Draco had been sure that he would be present for the annual Halloween feast, especially with the Ministry presentation that was supposed to take place. He wondered what could have been more important than the school Feast. Was Dumbledore expected back? What should he do about the food that would be appearing on his plate in mere moments.
Despite his absence, the small ceremony was obviously still taking place. Fudge and, even more surprising, Umbridge were both present and sitting at the Head Table and both were receiving more than few dirty looks from the students. Along the sides of the Hall were about half a dozen Aurors, no doubt sent to protect the Minister.
Potter looked to have recovered from his injury and had surprisingly escaped the clutches of Pomfrey for the night and was currently sitting with Granger and both Weasleys. Whatever Boy Weasley's problem with Potter dating his sister had been he seemed to have made his peace with it for the moment, because the two of them sitting quite close on the bench and were holding hands before the food arrived for the start of the feast. Despite their win, the group looked rather subdued and all four also were glaring at Umbridge with undisguised hatred.
"Ladies and Gentlemen if I might have your attention please," Fudge called out with boisterous excitement. "The Ministry and I want to wish everyone a Happy Halloween but we also wanted to remind you all that 15 years ago today we were able to defeat He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and end his reign of terror. I know that many of you are worried about the current situation but rest assured that we have survived before and we will survive again. The bravery of the men and women that gave their lives so that they could defend us all against the threat of an evil man and the Death Eaters that follow him will not be forgotten but I also encourage you to remember that you are not alone. The Ministry has people that are trained and with solid leadership I want to promise each and every one of you tonight that we will win the war!"
Draco exchanged a smirk with Pany as well as a more thoughtful expression from Theo Nott. Theo, Draco had come to appreciate over the years, was a boy that carefully considered all of his options before he made a move. He was not as zealous as his father when it came to the Dark Arts, but that did not prevent him from knowing quite a bit about them. Theo was currently looking over at Potter, who had his jaw clenched and staring intently not at Fudge but at Umbridge and Draco was suddenly reminded of the scars that Potter still had on the back of his right hand, his mind drifting back to Severus' words from earlier in the week. 'When Potter wants something, he wants it obsessively... Potter will fight the most powerful wizard of our time until one of them is dead.'
Draco didn't know a single other person that would have shown up to detention for days and even weeks on end, knowing that they were going to get their hand sliced open again and again and not say a word because they were so certain that they were in right. And despite the fact that Nott couldn't possibly know about Potter's scarred hand, he seemed to sense the same stubborn determination in the set of the Gryffindor's jaw.
"Tonight," Fudge continued, clearly oblivious to Potter's inner rage at seeing his Senior Undersecretary. "I would like to take a moment to celebrate the lives and sacrifice of two of our most distinguished war veterans. I would like to extend a toast to Lily and James Potter-"
The rest of the toast was drowned out by a loud pinging sound from the pocket of every single one of the Aurors present. Draco recognized the device, it was similar to the mirrors that he and his father used but Aurors used them to communicate in emergencies. They were cards, much like chocolate frog cards but were able to project an image of their own face onto as many cards as needed. The corresponding voice would not have been considered loud but it was repeated in unison on every card, and the Hall had suddenly fallen deathly silent. The words carried easily across the Hall.
"All Aurors, All Aurors Code Black. Report to Godric's Hollow immediately. Muggle and Magical causalities, reports of Inferi are now being confirmed. Apparate immediately to secure area. All Aurors this is a Code Black."
As screams echoed around the room, Draco had a feeling that he knew where the Headmaster was going to be after all and he took in the frightened faces of the younger students and suddenly he had a return of that feeling of relief he had felt when he had discovered that his plan to poison Dumbledore was not going to work out tonight, and then realized he might have an even bigger problem than he had thought in the beginning of the week.
A/N: Thank you all for sticking with me.