Better Be Slytherin
XXXV
The Greater Good
The train was draped in dark-green and black, and the students on the platform where nowhere as cheerfully babbling as they usually were on the day they would return to Hogwarts. The mood was gloomy and the students and their families were talking in low voices. Draco immediately acknowledged that things were going to be different this year. One thing that struck him was that so many were missing. Not people that he associated with naturally; he supposed all the missing muggleborns were on the run with their families.
Lucius, Crabbe Sr and Albert Nott along with Avery and Jugson had escorted Draco, Vincent and Nott to the station, some of them to say goodbye to their sons respectively, but mainly for their mission to catch Potter if he, contrary to expection, would appear. Nobody thought it reasonable, but all cautions must be taken, as Lucius had explained to him. Draco noticed a few younger students glancing at him as if he intimidated them, as they passed him. He ignored it and looked around for Gregory, Zabini and Pansy.
Stumbling on his breath, for a split second he saw her in the form of shoulder-lenght brown hair and black robes. She was saying goodbye to her parents, her short, evil-looking mother fawning over her. Suddenly, as if she had felt him gazing at her, she looked up and their eyes met. He felt his entire insides go warm and his heart beating faster. He had not seen her for a month not since that one time all summer she had been over for dinner at the manor, and he had not realised until now that he had actually missed her, either that or he mistook the tingling sensation in his heart for something further down.
"Well, we're off," he heard his father say and Draco hastily turned to him. "Off to keep watch outside the Order's headquarters, in case Potter perhaps shows up..." Lucius glanced over his shoulder at the other Death Eaters who were standing in a group, and everyone who passed by seemed very uncomfortable seeing them there, and nodded for Draco to step aside with him.
"I don't even have to tell you to behave yourself this year, do I? It is crucial."
Draco nodded severly. "I know, father."
His father twitched, nervous. It pained Draco to even look at him – he was not the same man he had been all of Draco's life. His face was waxy and he had dark rings under his eyes. He looked haggard, unbecoming. Azkaban had indeed taken its toll on him. "You know the Carrows, Draco. They will be on the staff this year. They are..." he paused, searching for the words. The Carrows? As teachers? "You do not want to get on their bad side. Which I know you won't. Draco, don't... talk to anybody this year, about important things. It's better to lie low."
"Yes, I understand."
"Don't give us anything to be worried about." He expected his father to say this firmly, but he thought he sensed fear in his father's eyes as he said it, which caught Draco off guard. Frowning, he nodded. He would make his parents proud. They would make it through this together.
Crabbe and Goyle both immediately showed their appreciation of his Quidditch Captain's badge – Nott not as much, but Draco hadn't expected any different. As Zabini joined them, they started talking about Potter and their parents' task for the day.
"I would be positively bothered if I had to stand outside a ruddy building all day waiting for him to appear," Nott was saying, a superior look on his features, slightly frowning. "What do they think; he'll just pop in for a visit at the Headquarters in broad daylight?"
"Exactly," Draco groaned.
"He's wanted at the Ministry, ain' he? So he's not about to turn up 'ere either, is he?" offered Crabbe, looking at Draco questioningly.
"The Ministry's finished," interrupted Zabini shortly.
"You say it like it's a bad thing," sniggered Nott.
"So if he were to turn up today, what'd happen?" asked Gregory quickly.
"Oh come on," Draco rolled his eyes impatiently, "You don't honestly think he'd be stupid enough to show his ugly face round here, do you, Goyle? Even Potter's cleverer than that."
Gregory's ears turned red and he looked away.
"I don't even get what it is the Dark Lord wants him for," Vincent muttered. Draco and Theodore's eyes met and they rolled their eyes in mutual understanding.
"Well, where do you suppose he's off to, then?" asked Goyle.
Draco glanced at Theodore. He did not want to reveal that he actually did not have a clue as to what Potter was doing or what his plans were. Luckily enough, neither of them had to answer.
High-spirited and with a big smile on her face, Pansy had joined them and immediately stolen the boys' attention. She teased Crabbe and hugged Goyle and joked with Nott and Zabini, as they made their way towards the train and finally cast Draco a slow glance and a slight, small cheeky smile that made his heart beat faster. They all caught up about their summers as they found a compartment. The boys made their way inside, but Draco, having not spoken since Pansy joined them, finally grabbed her arm as she too was about to enter the compartment, stopping her. She turned to him and gave a small giggle, which both irritated him and drew him in.
"Hi, Draco," she said, almost teasing, but smiling. She noticed the badge on his chest and raised her eyebrows, even thought she'd already seen it at the manor. "Well, well, that captain's badge fits you well, doesn't it,"she commented, smirking apppreciatively, chewing her gum loudly. He wiggled his eyebrows at her and she giggled: "Nice one." He grabbed her sides immediately and slowly drew her closer, he heard her sucking in a breath of surprise or excitement – he could not tell – and they moved in for a kiss at the same time. He felt intoxicated – she tasted like Droobles – harshly pressing himself onto her, but she ended the kiss as quickly as it had begun and he opened his eyes as she gave him a final peck. He thought he saw the hint of a smirk as she turned her back to him and went into the compartment.
Pansy's nonchalance irritated him. He wanted to tear that smirk off her face. It was almost unbelievable that they were still playing this game of being the least interested after two years; they were still as immature and hormonal as they had been when they were fifteen. He shook his head slightly and followed her into the compartment. He slung himself down between Nott and Crabbe, and having not spoken to his classmates all summer, he ignored Pansy for the rest of the train-ride.
"Oi, kids, this way, haven't got all day!"
The Carrow brother, Amycus, had awaited them when they arrived at the platform in the turmoil. His voice was enhanced by the wand pointed at his throat. Draco noted that the first year students were almost half as many as they usually were. Only about ten small, frightened children gathered around Amycus, their trunks almost larger than themselves. They were all shivering in the cold, night air.
In the carriage on the way up, watching the turrets and towers of the castle from afar, seeing the lights here and there in the windows, Draco thought that it was actually beautiful, but he knew it would all be so very different this year and he was slightly worried of what was to come.
As he jumped out of the carriage outside the head entrance, he noticed a big cluster of students in front of the big doors, and it was growing with every approaching carriage. The sounds from the crowd was not as cheerful as it usually was on the first day back at Hogwarts, it was repressed – mumbling instead of laughing and joking.
"Why aren't they letting anyone in?" said Pansy, frowning, when she had noticed what he too had noticed, climbing out of the carriage behind him. As if she had spoken magical words, the doors opened and out came the squib Filch with his big Secrecy Censor, followed by Alecto Carrow the hideous and unpleasant, according to Draco, sister of Amycus. The students mumbled of reluctance. Crabbe and Goyle, who had just jumped out of the carriage behind him and Pansy, followed by Zabini and Nott, angrily called out, and Draco sighed, tired. Getting inside would take triple the time now...
He noticed that opposed to previous years, this time what was confiscated was for instance "The Quibbler" instead of dark objects.
They all had to endure Pansy's complaining and whinging for a full twenty minutes before they came to the front of the line.
When the Carrow sister saw him, she sneered, "The little Malfoy," at the sight of him. "Had a nice holiday, eh?"
She was a heavy-set woman with greasy hair and manly facial structure. From the corner of his eye, he noticed Pansy wrinkling her nose up at her. Alecto was standing next to Filch commanding him what to do, overlooking the visitation. She knew bloody well what sort of holiday he had had, lounging round the Manor along with her brother, uninvited and whatnot, all summer long. Draco did not answer, pressing together his lips, decided to not let her get to him.
"Let him pass, Filch," she waved him off and Draco passed Filch who looked angrily at him as he did so – Draco was sure Filch would have loved to search him, Filch always made it his personal ambition to find things to get Draco for. But perhaps, Draco thought, that was when he was just a cheeky little boy, not a… Death Eater. Crabbe, Goyle, Nott, Pansy and Zabini were also allowed to pass through directly without being searched, in Draco's presence. He ignored the glares and muttered snarls from fellow students this caused them.
The Great Hall was more sombre than ever, wearing dark-green sheets and looked much larger since a third of Hogwarts student body were missing. It was shocking to see it so deserted, which also meant it would be much more difficult to stay anonymous this year. For Draco it would be impossible, which meant he would have to be fully committed to the Carrows to not get in trouble.
On their way to the Slytherin table, which was the only table that still was almost full, Draco looked at the teachers' table and saw it with his own eyes for the first time – Severus Snape, black-robed and with his usual greasy hair and big nose, was occupying Dumbledore's chair and looking out over the Hall with a frown. It sent an uncomfortable feeling through his gut, knowing full well the anticipatory factors that had him sitting there.
They greeted everyone at the Slytherin-table and took their seats. Pansy and her friends were squealing and talking loudly, while most of the boys were quiet.
The first years were sorted and Draco noted that the Sorting Hat did not sing this year.
Draco stayed silent the entire sorting as his house-mates chattered on around him. The Slytherin table was the only that was filled with this cheerfulness, the only house that behaved like they usually did, while the Gryffindors, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs sat hissing in suppression.
And as Snape rose, the hissing exploaded and he only managed to open his mouth before tons of Gryffindors started booing, and a few Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws joined in. Did they know? Suddenly a nervous, cold feeling went through him. Did they all know what had happened that night? He, nor any of the residents at the manor had been able to get a look at an issue of the Prophet all summer. Snape raised his arms, "Silence," he shouted but was deafened.
Many Slytherins were now on their feet, shouting threats at the Gryffindors. Kevin Bletchley, for example, Draco noted, the sixth year who apparantly had inherited his brother's temper, was about to rush over to one Gryffindors whom he had been brawling with, looking like he could kill, but was held back by his friends.
Draco just sat there, calmly, staring into emptyness. Eventually the ruckus trailed off and Snape could hold his speech.
"I've got a few things to announce," he began. No 'welcome' - nothing.
Suddenly only a couple of minutes later, interrupting Snape's words, Draco noticed movement in the corner of his eye, and a gasp was heard through the Hall as a bench was pushed out with a scraping sound against the stone floor and someone rose from the table. Everyone turned towards it, towards the Gryffindor table, and Snape trailed off. Neville Longbottom had risen to his feet and was walking down the row between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw tables. He was moving towards the exit, towards the big wooden doors leading out to the Entrance Hall. He was walking lightly and confidently, head held high, quickly, knowing exactly what he was doing. Draco turned to follow him with his eyes – as did the rest of the Great Hall, in dead silence. The only sound was the slight clipping of Longbottom's heels on the stone floor. He finally reached the big oak doors and he pushed them open with both hands, and simply walked out.
The Great Hall was completely silent – they could've heard it if someone dropped a needle. Suddenly, a suppressed giggle was heard, most probably from the Gryffindor table as well. This created a buzz of whispers, which spread, louder and louder, more and more, until finally Snape had to shout: "SILENCE!"
"What the fuck's he doing?" snarled Crabbe, clearly aggravated. "He's begging for it!"
It took almost ten minutes before Snape and the Carrows had managed to settle the Hall again, before Snape could go on with his speech. This had prolonged the time before food was served, to the dismay of Draco, whose stomach was grumbling loudly. As he was finishing his dinner in silence, not even hearing the quick conversations of his house-mates around him, he suddenly heard who someone appearing behind him announced,"Mr Malfoy."
He would recognise Snape's chilly, smooth voice anywhere. He turned up to look at his father's old friend and his own godfather, with his mouth full off roast beef and yorkshire pie. Several Slytherin students around them who had now noticed that the Headmaster himself had appeared among them were greeting him enthusiastically from the table.
Snape acknowledged them with a chilly smile, before crooking his lip at Draco. "A word, if I may."
Draco finished chewing, and said: "Yes, sir." He wished they could skip the formalities, but it was better to act as if they were only headmaster and student to each other.
"Parkinson, you too."
Pansy, a few seats away, got up as Snape turned on his heel and started walking away, his black robes billowing after him. Draco stumbled up too and wondered what he wanted them for, Pansy sent him a look as they walked, obviously wondering the same thing – he gave a half-shrug. They followed Snape out from the Great Hall and up the main staircase.
"Had a good holiday, headmaster?" Draco teased and as they turned to go up another staircase he saw Snape smirking slightly. They reached his office and Snape spoke the password, making the gargoyles jump aside, and they entered the office.
"Oh, you're back," came the snarky voice of one of Draco's ancestors, Phineas Black. Draco was surprised he dared speak to the Headmaster with such a tone, and he looked at Snape, prepared to hear him reprimand the old painting, but Snape did nothing, except walking about the round room and sitting down behind his desk, motioning for them to join him. As they sat down, he opened his mouth.
"So, it is decided you two have become Head Boy and Head Girl. I except you to..."
Pansy gave a squeal and Draco smirked brightly. Snape sent Pansy a silencing glance. "I except you to take full responsibility and understand that this is a serious task and that if you misbehave, your rights will be taken from you." He said it all monotonely, as if it was a duty he preformed and did not really care.
"And what exactly are those rights?" said Draco eagerly. Head Boy! He could hardly believe it.
"Well, you will stand over the Prefects, and work more closely with the staff of teachers – and note that with power comes responsibility; you will have to be absolutely objective and take points and give detentions even to house-mates. No abuse of power for own amusement or pleasure is allowed. But I'm sure you both realise all of that."
Both of them nodded and smiled.
"Now, then," Snape went on and opened a drawer and took out to big badges.
Ah, Draco smiled, this will be a good year indeed.
It was their turn now, finally. After being a minority all their Hogwarts years long, Slytherin would come back. It was Slyterins turn, and Draco felt incredibly proud to be the one representing them.
Snape poured them both small glasses of Fire Whiskey from a glass bottle.
"The Dark Lord," the three of them muttered in unison as they clinked their glases together, and Draco might've been imagining but he thought that none of them, not even the Headmaster, sounded overly enthusiastic.
They left Snape's office a few minutes later and Pansy immediately broke out talking and laughing. "I knew it be us!" she exclaimed. He gave her a crooked smile. "Merlin, imagine what we'll be able to do this year! I mean with no Dumbledore and no Potter and noone against us!" She paused. Her eyes were glowing. "Draco, we'll be able to do whatever we want. Just imagine it..." She sounded just as she had done two years earlier when they had received their Prefect badges. Draco had not thought about it before, but she really had not changed much since then. They began walking down the large moving stair-cases. "Merlin, both Head Boy and Girl in Slytherin... This year will be different, I can tell you that..."
Pansy gave out a happy snort as they reached the Entrance Hall. "I knew it'd be us. I mean – we were after all the best Prefects ever!" she gave a happy twirl. "Except for when you were abandoning me for that sodding Come-and-Go-Room," she added teasingly, pointing her finger at him.
Draco smirked slightly, "Perhaps you just weren't entertaining enough."
She turned and faced him, gave him a mock-angry look and placed her arms around his neck. He could not tear his eyes away from her and she gave a self-satisfied smile, glowing under his attention. "You are a foul git," she said slowly, teasingly. "And I know you're lying."
"You do, do you?" he sneered.
"Yes I do. You love me," she teased him and twirled away once again. He chose not to comment on previous statement, finding it silly, and followed her hastily inside the passage in the wall leading to the Slytherin common room. As he came inside, Pansy already had the others' attention, happily showing off her badge on her way over to Crabbe, Goyle, Zabini, and Nott who were occupying the sofas and armchairs in front of the fireplace.
"Looky what I've got!" bragged Pansy in a sing-song voice and glowed in the center of the attention.
Draco followed and slung himself down smirking between Goyle and Zabini.
Pansy talked long and excitedly about how brilliant it was that she was Head Girl.
"It feels empty in here, doesn't it?" said Nott after, looking around. "Without Bletchley and Yulley and Montague and all of them."
"Yeah, honestly, it's brilliant!" said Pansy looking around at her housemates, "We are the oldest this year. We will rule the school! It'll be absolutely wicked!"
Draco watched her from across the table and wanted her to come closer.
As the door to the Headmaster's office opened, Severus Snape inaudibly sucked in a breath. He did not want to do this, but he knew he was forced to. Technically, Longbottom had not broken any rules – he might've had to use the lavatory. But Severus knew he could not possibly let it slip. It had been an open demonstration, which was plain and obvious for everyone to see. He had made a very clear statement indeed in front of the entire student body, not to mention the teachers.
If he were to manage the school properly, he would need to get everything under control. The Carrows would not see his weakness. He had to punish Longbottom, he had to.
He did not look up as the boy entered; not wanting to look at his face, afraid it might change his mind.
"Take a seat," he offered coolly, motioning towards the chair in front of his (Dumbledore's) desk.
The boy came in with a clenched reluctance and sat down, stone-faced.
"What do you have to say for yourself?" Severus said. It was rehearsed, and he hoped that was not noticeable. Longbottom did not answer. He was not meeting Severus' eyes, focusing his eyes down into his lap. Severus waited a minute. Then the silence felt too silent. He wanted it over with.
"What you did at the start of term feast was unacceptable behaviour. That sort of insolence is not tolerated at Hogwarts."
Neville was still demonstratively, stubbornly even, staring down into his lap. "Give me detention, then."
Severus studied him, at loss for words. He scribbled something on the parchment in front of him, hoping his silence would somehow frighten the boy.
"Right," he began coldly after a minute or two of silence. "You'll report to Amycus Carrow tomorrow evening at eight o'clock for the first session of your detention. I advise you to think wisely before attempting anything similar at all in the future."
He could not help it; he was trying to warn the boy for his own good. He hoped he had not sent the boy off to... He did not even want to think about it – he really did not know what he'd sent the boy off to. Amycus Carrow had insisted he take the responsibility of discipline (punishment) off Argus Filch's hands, and for good or bad, Severus had to accept it. It was not a matter of choice.
Some things had to be sacrificed for the Greater Good.
