Disclaimer: Blah.
Author's Notes: Well this is the next chapter. Much Mordred and a bit more conversation than the last. I seriously hope this chapter doesn't suck quite as bad as I think it does…well…enjoy.
Chapter 35: How about a contest?
"Where is she?" Judy whined as she stood at the infirmary door clutching her mangled right hand.
She'd been standing outside the infirmary door for almost an hour now and the wonderful icy numbness that had once engulfed the nerves in her smashed hand was passing away quite quickly. Judy was gritting her teeth and trying to ignore the throbbing pain as best she could, but she still wished Madam Pomfrey would hurry and return from wherever she'd gone.
"Ow…ow…ow…." Judy grumbled and began repeating the word 'ow' every time her hand throbbed in time with her heartbeat.
"Injured your pride, Bacilli?"
Judy looked up at met with the cold gaze of Draco Malfoy. He looked particularly smug and superior today; perhaps he'd had the opportunity to hire new henchmen—oh wait, never mind. Crabbe and Goyle appeared to be hanging back behind the corner in an attempt to be discreet. Now if only they knew what discreet meant.
"Just a bit," Judy smirked and clutched her throbbing hand. "Hey, stick around. Maybe Madam Pomfrey can help you get rid of that cancerous mass that is your ever expanding ego."
"Your rapier wit wounds me like the handle edge of a butter knife," Draco drawled and looked down at her purple and blue mass of hand.
"Well then, seeing as my sparkling sarcasm has been sanded down to a dull shine, do tell me why your not spitting mad—as the expression goes." Judy eyed the oddly calm Malfoy and he just smirked at her.
"Why what ever do you mean?" Malfoy feigned innocence.
"As I recall, when you seethed and hissed something at me through your teeth the other day, you think I was the one who set off the bomb in the Great Hall." Judy spoke through gritted teeth and glanced around Malfoy in an attempt to find Madam Pomfrey.
"Well, it seems I've found my suspects and you were not among them…strange that," Draco said calmly and his expression fell flat.
"Really," Judy droned and shook her head. "Why so trusting all of a sudden?"
"Trusting?" Draco looked a bit taken aback and then laughed a few times before responding. "Merlin forbid! It simply seemed more likely that the item was planted while we were off at the dorms."
"Good work Malfoy, realized that all on your own?" Judy faked astonishment and he sneered at her.
"Don't patronize me." He commanded and narrowed his eyes.
"Well, there goes all the fun out of my day," Judy leaned back against the door and glanced lazily over Malfoy's shoulder. She froze and just stared at the smiling boy who was standing at the end of the hall.
Apparently her face denoted the extreme fear she was feeling and Malfoy turned around as well. Malfoy, if possible, became more angry and superior looking. He drew out his wand and narrowed his eyes at the dark haired boy.
"So you've decided to return finally?" He spat and glared at the boy. "Mordred was it?" Malfoy hissed and the boy turned from Judy to the blonde sixth year. The boy walked down the hall slowly, his shoes making a sort of sickening click as he approached.
"I see you know me?"
Mordred's voice was just as it sounded in Judy's head, dark and velvety with an underlying tone that threatened to swallow her up. She winced and tried to ignore him but it was of no use.
"You can't be here…" Judy said quietly and stared at him as if Draco wasn't even there.
"Quite the contrary," Mordred glanced from Malfoy to Judy, "The longer you spend here is the more here I'll be."
"I don't suppose you have any manners with you, but we were engaged in a conversation." Malfoy hissed and stepped between Judy and the boy. Mordred frowned at Malfoy and looked behind him at Judy with a sort of fond smile.
"Pardon my lack of courtesy," Mordred started plainly and his voice changed to a nearly inaudible hiss as he moved closer to Draco. "But I really must speak to my dear Judy." Malfoy glared down at him and was just about to cast a curse when something was cast on him.
Mordred hadn't had a wand but he struck Malfoy with the back of his left hand and somehow conveyed the magic.
"Get back." Judy's shaky voice barely had the authority to command Mordred but she tried nonetheless.
"You forget," Mordred started and took Judy's hands in his roughly. "The waking world was once my territory and I intend to take it back." He held up her shattered hand, gave it a good squeeze, and would have proceeded to knock her unconscious if it weren't for the actions of the fallen Draco Malfoy. Draco cast a rather powerful banishing charm on Mordred and the dark boy flew from Judy and hit the stone wall at the end of the hall.
"No one backhands a Malfoy." Draco growled as he stood up and brushed off his black robes. If looks could have killed Mordred would have been decapitated and thrown out a window. That is assuming that one can decapitate a mental disorder physically embodied and expel them out of a second story window. "Just who was that git?" Malfoy asked with the intent of finding out more than his name, looked at the stunned Judy, and snapped his fingers in front of her face.
"He's out cold…" Judy said quietly and felt her head with her left hand. She couldn't feel him anymore.
"Indeed. As he should be for a few hours." Malfoy stated smugly and cocked an eyebrow as Judy turned to him with a watery look and a beaming smile. "What?" He'd never seen, nor wagered he'd ever see, this expression on this girl. Judy probably would have hugged him had not they been interrupted by a shocked (and slightly tipsy) Madam Pomfrey.
"Just what is going on here?" Madam Pomfrey turned the corner to see a most inexplicable sight. Crabbe and Goyle trying to hide behind a small suit of armor. Draco Malfoy standing with his wand drawn and an expression that looked like he'd just smelled something very foul. Judy Bacilli staring at him on the verge of tears and holding her mangled hand. And, lastly, a very unconscious boy lying at the end of the hall, sprawled out on the stone floor.
Madam Pomfrey dropped her mug (filled with some unknown alcoholic beverage—how do we know this? Well if they make Tequila scented coffee now a days, I've not seen it.) and rushed past them all. She flung open the infirmary door and ushered each of the conscious students in. When she went for the fallen Mordred she found that he was simply gone without a trace.
It took a while for Madam Pomfrey to reset and mend all the bones in Judy's hand but she did it. She then proceeded to question them all senseless concerning the fallen boy in the corridor. Judy felt terrified; she knew she'd have to lie. Instead though, Draco Malfoy saved her for the second time that day.
"That boy had attacked us once before out by the Quidditch pitch. I recognized him today and warned him to stay off. He threw me away from her," He said to the slightly amazed Madam Pomfrey while gesturing to Judy, "Then proceeded to injure her hand further while issuing verbal threats. I was forced to cast a spell to throw him off of her, little did I know he'd strike the wall so hard."
Madam Pomfrey stared at Draco for a moment and contemplated. His story was a bit difficult to believe, after all Draco Malfoy wasn't exactly small and it was very hard to believe anyone could actually throw him. But what she had seen upon walking around the corner did fit his description. She turned to Judy and looked her straight in the eye.
"Do you know the boy?"
"I used to…sort of…." Judy admitted and Madam Pomfrey nodded solemnly. After a moment of silence she dismissed them. Judy and Malfoy left the room and walked together for a while before either of them spoke.
"Three times." Judy said quietly and watched the hall in front of her. Malfoy didn't say anything; he just glanced at her and waited for her to elaborate. "Three times you saved my life, so three times I'll save yours."
There was another pause before Draco spoke up.
"You're dead serious about this?" He eyed her strangely but she just looked perfectly collected.
"Of course." Judy nodded and turned to go up one of the flights of moving stairs. She turned and looked down at him from her position a few steps up above his eye level. "I'll save you for what you've done…."
"Very well, but before you go off on some noble quest we should conduct certain business." Draco glanced up at her and started up the stairs. "My deliveries arrived this morning and I've acquired all the items you requested, save one."
"Which one is missing?" Judy asked in a flat tone and leaned against the wall while she looked up at Draco.
"Kisenian Blossom." He answered simply and smirked. "But I don't suppose you'll have a problem getting the spores you need what with Sprout's veritable crop of them."
"True…." Judy considered this and shrugged.
"The rest of it will be delivered to the locker room. Here." Draco tossed her a key and Judy shot him a look as she snatched it out of mid-air. "It will be well hidden, but once you've found the black case that key will unlock it."
Judy nodded and walked back down the stairs, she had to go round up Ginny and Hermione.
Draco watched Judy for a moment and tried to add this image of her to his memory. This time he felt it was almost easy to remember her. He didn't know why but as he walked off he could still recall the color of her eyes and the particular shade of her hair. It was very strange indeed.
Judy walked back down through the castle and eventually arrived at the Great Hall (part of which was partitioned off due to the massive hole in the floor. Everything was simply in massive disarray, but there was nowhere else in the castle that could hold all the students in one place).
She walked through the doors and saw a most inexplicable scene. The Gryffindor and Ravenclaw teams apparently had been eating but now they were up against the farthest wall amidst a sea of arguing students. Judy spotted the beaters fending off groups of shouting Hufflepuffs and the rest of them looked as if they definitely needed saving.
"Who's ever heard of a tie in a Quidditch match?"
"Seriously!"
"Travesty, I say!"
"That had to have broken some rule, somewhere!"
"They didn't!"
"Give me that rule book!"
Judy weaved through the thinnest area of the crowd and tried to stay as close to the wall as possible. She had very nearly reached the two teams when the crowd identified her.
"Look! There's the other seeker!"
The students rushed at her but someone snatched her out of harm's way by the collar of her uniform. She was pulled into the sort of protective semi-circle behind the four beaters and looked back to see Harry had been the one who pulled her in.
"Thanks," Judy said and stared out at the nearly rioting crowd.
"They've gone stark-raving mad!" Harry cried and watched the shouting and arguing assembly of students.
"Oh no!" Fred and George cried in unison.
"It's getting worse!" Kixy and Mixy (who was clutching a fork in one hand and her wand in the other) shouted.
"Would you all stop that!" Bruce whined and waved his bat menacingly at the irate crowd.
The crowd was getting increasingly more agitated as the situation went on. It turns out all this had started from a simple argument between two people and it had snowballed into these conditions. The arguing houses had turned to the two teams in question and wanted answers. When neither of the teams could produce said answers the houses turned on them and created the current predicament. The arguing was now progressing to a violent stage—a few students had started fist-fights and some had wands drawn.
"Where are the prefects?" Judy looked at Harry and he pointed.
The prefects were circling around each other and had their wands drawn. They were adamant Quidditch fans.
The roar of the crowd was deafening, even the few teachers who were trying to quell the masses were having trouble. Just as the crowd was about to fall into total chaos there was a loud bang and everyone looked around frantically for the source.
"Calm down!"
Lee Jordan was standing on a table with both Ginny and Hermione on either side of him—wands drawn and ready to cast any required spells.
"Why should we?"
"Yeah!"
"Well, can't we just have a rematch?" Lee asked and everyone glanced around.
"No!" Many of them shouted in unison.
"How about this then," Ginny shouted over the crowd, "A special obstacle course?"
"Some sort of contest?" Hermione suggested and everyone shared uneasy looks.
"Yeah! I'll go for that!" Judy jumped up and shouted at the top of her lungs. Harry shot her a questioning look and then realized what she was doing.
"Oh yeah! That sounds great!" Harry agreed and the rest of the teams joined in. After a few moments the crowd cheered and were easily broken up by the teachers. Everyone moved calmly back to their tables and eagerly awaited news on the contest.
"We're free!" All the beaters shouted in unison and shared a round of high fives.
"Brilliant!" Harry shouted and beamed as the three who'd stopped the raging students walked over to check on the teams.
"That was great thinking you two," Judy smiled at both Hermione and Ginny.
"Thanks," Ginny started but Hermione cut her off.
"The only problem is now we have to plan out some sort of contest." Hermione sighed and Judy shrugged.
"Well at least it's better than being torn apart by angry fans."
"Right," Ginny agreed and Judy motioned for them to walk away from the teams a few feet.
"I've got all the ingredients," Judy whispered and the two girls' eyes widened.
"Really?" Hermione asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, they'll be in the locker room later—we can go get them after dinner." Judy answered and looked at Hermione. "Do you know how to mix them yet?"
"I think so…but I'm not sure on the proportions." Hermione admitted and sighed again.
"We'll figure it out 'Mione." Ginny smiled and stretched. "Let's go get some lunch now. I'm starved."
"Right, meet you guys later." Judy smiled and walked off to join the Ravenclaw team.
Reviewer Thanking Time:
Calmchaos- Thanks for your review! The Mordred bits will get more and more important as time passes, and oh will Ginny be tres useful!
Duckchick- Feel free to say how much you love it! It simply spurs me on. The match was fun to write, but the tie-breaker will be even better. (Just wait until they get their copies of 'The Daily Prophet' detailing the Hogwarts teams…fun all around. Thanks for reviewing.
Lia- I've never seen a tie before either, so I figured that would be interesting. There are no rules or anything that I know of which detail what would happen if the snitch were to leave the stadium, so fun all around. Hope you enjoyed the (more) story! Thanks for reviewing.