A/N Thank you to everyone, again, who read and who reviewed. I do appreciate it.. I hope that the rest of the story is up to par.



Chapter 16: Why Do People Keep Telling Me These Things

Malcolm walked down to breakfast feeling something was wrong. He always had that feeling, so he paid no attention to it. He walked into the Great Hall, took his usual seat, and found Draco waiting for him. Draco was agitated, and clearly wanted to talk to Malcolm alone. They got up and walked out.

When they were alone, Draco told him about running into Ron Weasley by the Shrieking Shack after they had separated. He was then attacked by something he couldn't see. Then he saw a head floating in midair, and ran. Later, Draco realized that it was Harry Potter. He had told Snape, and now he wanted to know if Malcolm knew if anything happened to Potter as a result, such as getting a detention or something.

"No, I don't know anything," Malcolm said.

"Oh, all right then, I'll talk to you later," Draco said, and he left.

Malcolm walked back to the Great Hall and sat down to breakfast. Ginny came up to him and asked if she could speak to him, privately. As they walked out, she made small talk about how Hermione Granger had gotten mad and walked out of Divination. When they were alone, she told him that Harry and Ron had played a nasty trick on Draco, not that he didn't deserve it, but she couldn't help feeling worried. Draco had received a nasty fright about something.

"Do you think he might be planning some type of revenge?" Ginny asked. "I know he talks to you about things. I'm afraid he might try something, and someone will get seriously hurt."

"Ginny, he hasn't said anything to me about doing anything. He did ask if Harry Potter got into any trouble though." Malcolm shrugged his shoulders as though to say that was all he knew.

"Something did happen," Ginny said, "but Harry won't talk about it. I think he got caught, but he didn't get punished. Somebody said something to him, though, and it shook him up."

Ginny left him, and Malcolm returned to the Great Hall to have breakfast. As he sat down, Hermione Granger walked up to him and asked if she could talk to him in private. Malcolm politely got up and followed her out of the Great Hall.

When they were alone, Hermione mentioned that she had seen Malcolm walk off to talk with Malfoy earlier, and asked to know if anything was going on. Things were getting tense between the two houses with their Quidditch match coming up, and she wanted to head things off if she could.

"Hermione," Malcolm said with exasperation, "I just talked to Ginny about this. Draco doesn't tell me anything that would cause trouble for me in Gryffindor. If he was planning anything, he wouldn't tell me. The only thing he's planning is to win the Quidditch match."

"I was only asking because I was worried," Hermione said.

"I understand you dropped Divination," Malcolm said, "does this mean I'll only be passing you twice during change of classes in the morning?"

Hermione's eyes bulged at the sudden change of conversation. "You mean you see me three times during class change?"

"Yeah," Malcolm said, "I heard Ron Weasley talking about your schedule, and I figured you were doing some time thing. Why? Is that unusual?"

"No, not at all," Hermione lied, "It's quite common, actually."

"That's nice to hear," Malcolm said, not believing a word she said.

"Could I ask you a favor?" Hermione said.

"I won't tell anyone," Malcolm said as he turned to leave, "After all, the wrong person might hear."

Malcolm went to the Great Hall and sat down to have breakfast. Just as he began to reach for some food, Hagrid came over and asked to speak to him privately. He got up, and followed the teacher out of the Great Hall.

As soon as they were alone, Hagrid told him about how he had lost the case against Buckbeak, the hippogryph. He was working on an appeal. "Hermione is helpin' me, and Harry and Ron, but it don't look good. The thing I wanted to ask yer, Malcolm, is yer had a way with Buckbeak, when yer took care of 'im. Could yer look at 'im for me? He's been off his feed, and I'm worried."

Malcolm assured him he would, as soon as he had a free moment. He said goodbye and walked back to the Great Hall. He entered the Great Hall and walked to the Gryffindor table to sit down. As he did, Dobby, the house elf appeared, and asked if they could talk in private.

When they were alone, Dobby said, "Malcolm is good friend. Dobby does not deserve to have such friends. Dobby is a bad house elf."

"What is it?" Malcolm asked with exaspiration, "Just tell me, so I can forgive you and go back to breakfast."

"Dobby did not listen when friend Malcolm told him to stop feeding Buckbeak. Dobby heard Hagrid yell at friend Malcolm."

"He didn't yell," Malcolm explained, "He doesn't know that you've been feeding the hippogryph. Hagrid was wondering why Buckbeak isn't eating his regular food. Dobby, just give him one or two muffins a night. Promise me?"

"Dobby promises. Dobby is glad friend Malcolm is not in trouble." Malcolm looked around but Dobby was already gone. He walked back to the Great Hall for breakfast when he was stopped by Pansy Parkinson.

[I didn't even make it into the Great Hall this time.]

"Can I talk to you in private?" she asked. "It's about Draco."

As soon as they were alone, Pansy told him her problem. "I've been trying to get Draco to notice me, but I think I angered him too much when I spoiled his plans with that Weasley tramp. Do you know anything I can do to attract his attention?"

"I know he like women with a strong sense of humor. That's why he likes Ginny so much. They keep trying to come up with things to say to each other in public."

"He likes Ginny Weasley?" Pansy asked.

"Of course, he does," Malcolm said, "and I'm getting tired of it. I always have to be the go-between, passing along messages, arranging meetings, all that secret stuff."

"Draco likes Ginny Weasley?" Pansy asked.

"I was surprised," Malcolm said. "Hey, maybe he's doing it for his dad? That would explain all those things he said about hating to call her friend a mudblood."

"Draco likes Ginny Weasley?" Pansy asked, and walked away in disbelief.

Malcolm smiled as the confused girl walked away. He knew she would make a fool of herself by confronting Draco.

[Serves her right. Nobody insults my friends, at least when their talking to me.]

Malcolm walked into the Great Hall, when he was stopped by Professor McGonagall, who said, "What do you think you are doing, young man? Breakfast is over with, and it is time for classes to begin. If you can't be bothered to get up early enough, then don't expect to eat."

Malcolm walked away in disgust, and received a warning about his use of language. He sat through his classes in a foul mood. As soon as he had the chance, he went down to the Great Hall for lunch. When he walked in, his friend EJ called out to him.

"No," Malcolm shouted, "No, I am not talking to anyone." As the Hall grew quiet, he raised his voice. "Do you hear me? I am talking to no one about nothing, Nada. Zilch. Zero. I don't want to have any conversation at all. All I want to do is eat."

As the silence waned, students began to talk to each other again, mostly about the strange behavior of the American student. Malcolm ate his lunch with no one at the Gryffindor table saying a single word to him. They would laugh, however, every time Malcolm looked up.