Draco Malfoy
And the Bloodstone
_ _ _ _ _By Ti'ana
Chapter Four
Draco Malfoy held his glass of pumpkin juice tightly. Goyle
hadn't come down to breakfast that morning, and now he could see
him on the other side of the room, walking with Lisha. Neither of
them was smiling, but were talking in what, even from his
distance from them, hushed voices, and seemed to be in an intense
conversation.
"What is he up to?" Pansy Parkinson slid over next to
Malfoy and rested her chin in her hand after everyone had
congregated for dinner. "You don't think he ***likes that
weird girl, do you?" She inched closer. "I mean, they
just met Monday, didn't they?"
"Huh?" Malfoy wasn't paying attention. Blood was
pounding through his veins as he watched his own friend
fraternizing with the enemy.
"I was just saying it's odd, you know. I mean, it's obvious
he likes her, and she must*** like him if she's hanging out with
the guy so much. What do you think, Draco?"
"I think I'm not hungry anymore." He stood and walked
past the now-seated Goyle and Lisha. Sure, they were deep in
conversation, but there was no way he liked her. It obviously
wasn't flirtatious chatter, so what could it be?
Malfoy's footsteps echoed down the staircase to the dungeon
classroom of Potions. He could usually hear chattering voices, no
matter how hushed magnified dozens of times over the large, empty
room.
"Who's there?" He recognized the voice of Professor
Snape.
"It's me, Professor. Draco Malfoy."
"What are you doing here so early, Malfoy? Class doesn't
start for another ten minutes."
Quickly, Malfoy thought of an excuse. "I wanted to ask about
this year's Quidditch team. Who's the captain this year, and when
do we start."
"Flint is still captain. Good Chaser, if you ask me, but
even better Beater. He's already informed about your being the
Seeker, I assume. Everyone in the school knows.
"You didn't come here for a Quidditch pep talk, I
believe." Was he really that transparent? "It's about
that Luralby girl." Yep, clear as glass. "If I am
right, then here is your answer. No, Malfoy. You'll find you will
have to work with people you would rather never, ever associate
with outside of your occupation. Like Potter, for example."
He corrected himself quickly. "I mean, I'm sure you would be
very glad to disassociate yourself with that self-centered
celebrity, but you cannot. What you did to Lisha Luralby
yesterday was very uncalled for. Rude, I might add, although I
expect no less from you, Malfoy. I meant what I said yesterday.
If you complain further, I will give you detention for a week and
force you to clean the animal tanks with Hagrid."
By the time Snape finished lecturing Malfoy, students began to
pile into the classroom. Obediently, he found his seat and
slumped down.
Once everyone was present (including Lisha), Snape began on the
first official lesson. "Everything you need is on the table.
Using your knowledge from last year's class, I want you to create
an awakening potion." He held up a small black box with a
tiny hole barred off by silvery metal rods. "In each of
these cages, you will find one Sleeping Yirdle, creatures who are
in hibernation all year and are only wakened by hunger, for
reproductive purposes" (some of the students snickered,
"LONGBOTTOM! FIVE POINTS FROM GRYFFINDOR!") "and
an Awakening Potion. They are closely linked with Awakening
Charms, but don't be fooled. Awakening Potions do more than wake
up, they give energy. Give an Awakening Charm to a Yirdle and
they'll fall right back to sleep after giving the one who
bothered them a good bite on the hand. If the Awakening Potion is
done correctly, you're Yirdle will be too full of energy to be
grumpy, and you'll be safe."
Snape turned in Harry's direction (who he hadn't heard say to
Ron, "Maybe Snape could use one of those!") and
continued. "Do it wrong, and we'll be sending you to Madam
Pomfrey." He smiled, in a creepy sort of way. "Have
fun."
"Okay, what do we got here." Malfoy picked up one of
the bottles and observed it. "Sleeping Powder? How is that
going to get this thing up?"
"With this." Lisha picked up a flask filled with a
clear, thick liquid. "It's an Inversion solution."
"How do you know that?"
Rolling her eyes, she turned the bottle around. "InvrSol.
Just a bunch of lazy teachers who don't want to spell out the
whole thing. It's in the Potions book. Then again, I don't expect
you to know that. Or anything, really."
"Just give me the bottle. I'll mix it." He reached over
to pull the flask away.
"You have no clue how to do this, do you Malfoy? If you mix
a powder and a solution without some sort of means of energy, do
you know what's going to happen?"
"No, but I assume you'll tell me."
Lisha shook her head. "I'm not. If you don't want to hear
how, by all means make your mixture and test it on the yirdle.
But don't expect me to stick around when the nurse is magicking
your finger back on."
"Well then, Miss Smarty, why don't you make it?" Malfoy
pushed all the materials from his side of the desk to hers, along
with the black box containing the yirdle.
"This is a group effort, Malfoy. I know you're probably
unfamiliar with the term 'cooperation,' but that is no excuse.
Now," she added, putting an empty crystal beaker in front of
him, "you will pour the Inversion solution and I'll add the
powder. Agreed?"
Malfoy stifled a laugh. Cooperation? Agreement? "Fine. Only
so we don't wind up failing. On one condition. I add the
magic."
Lisha looked as if she was about to disagree, but stopped herself
and nodded.
"Right. On the count of three. One... two... three!"
Malfoy began pouring the solution as Lisha dropped the powder in.
There was no, apparently, chemical reaction.
"Okay, now use your wand."
"What am I supposed to do?"
"Send orange sparks into it, and stir."
Malfoy nodded. He didn't enjoy the fact he was following orders
from this girl, but he had no choice unless he wanted to spend
the afternoon with Madam Pomfrey. He pointed his wand into the
cauldron, but thought for a moment. Accidents were bound to
happen, he was sure Snape expected it. He lifted the tip of the
want ever-so-slightly, and shot.
Everything happened too fast for him. Lisha's robe caught on fire
as the sparks grazed her arm, and they hit the yirdle's cage.
Although the creature, which looked like a cross between a rock
and a mad teekuu, was asleep, it caused enough damage by rolling
onto Malfoy's foot. The yirdle must have weighed at least twenty
pounds, a lot more than it seemed to when he slid the box across
the table, for he felt the top of his foot crush beneath its
weight.
Lisha was being aided by Hermione, who shot a stream of water
using her want. The fire was extinguished, but the water kept
spraying, and some landed in the inverted sleeping powder
solution. The beaker exploded, sending shards of glass around the
room. Someone must have been hit, because a sharp cry of pain
rang out through the dungeon room.
"WHAT'S GOING ON?!" Professor Snape rushed over to
Malfoy and Lisha's table. The whole scene had unfolded, in total,
less than twenty seconds.
Lisha's robe was singed badly. Her entire left arm was red with
burns, and exposed because the cloth had disintegrated into
ashes. Malfoy lay on the floor, clutching his broken foot. The
scene spoke for itself.
"Potter! Weasley! Take these two to Madam Pomfrey."
"I can go myself, Professor," Malfoy mumbled. No, he
wouldn't sink so low as to have Harry or Ron carry him off to the
hospital wing. He couldn't decide which he despised more.
"Take them, now." Snape whipped the bottom half of his
robe around, and stormed to the front of the room.
Harry and Ron exchanged glances, but knew better than to go
against Professor Snape's command. Each of them grabbed one of
Malfoy's arms and lifted him from the floor. Lisha's eyes were
brimming with tears as she pulled what remained of the arm on her
robe away from her burnt shoulder. She began to follow.
"Luralby," Professor Snape said coolly. Malfoy craned
his neck around to see what was going on. "I want to see you
in my office after school today."
Malfoy saw her nod, and he swallowed. What was that about? I'm
really in trouble, he thought.
Once they were outside the classroom, Ron and Harry tightened
their grips on his arms.
"Not so rough," he said.
Harry grinned at Ron, who said, "Never thought we'd have
Draco Malfoy begging for mercy, hey Harry?"
"Nope," he answered simply. "Never. Shall we take
advantage of the situation?"
"Two weakened Slytherins versus two Gryffindors in perfect
health. I think the odds are pretty much on our side."
So for the rest of the trip to the hospital wing, Malfoy was
practically dragged by the two Gryffindors pulling his arms
faster than he could hop. It was the most humiliating experience
he had ever been in. This year, that is. Of course, the two paid
no heed to Lisha, who had never acted against them, or anyone at
that.
"So what do we have here?" Madam Pomfrey led Malfoy
over to a bed and took off the shoe on his broken foot.
"Yirdle fell on it," Harry answered. "Snape told
us to bring them to you."
"Us?" She turned to face the pale Lisha. Her face
became whiter than it had been in class. She wasn't bleeding
much, but it seemed as if she had lost most of the blood in her
body. Madam Pomfrey did not seem to worried about that factor,
and sat her down in a chair on the other side of the room Malfoy
was in.
"It'll be okay, Miss Luralby. Simple burns, nothing to worry
about. We'll magic it right back to perfect health." She
held up a bottle of a thick red liquid and quickly began to work
on the burns.
"It should take a day or two before the burns are completely
gone, but this should also relieve most of the pain. As for you,
Mister Malfoy," she turned to Draco. "This may be a
little more painful for you. It seems the yirdle has crush most
of the bones in your foot rather than break them. They're not all
that heavy, but after falling off a table as high as the one in
your class, it can do considerable damage. The bones should heal
completely, but this is a very painful process. Now, hold
still."
The empty halls of the hospital wing at Hogwarts echoed loudly
Malfoy's scream as Madam Pomfrey worked.
***
"I heard you screamed." Goyle was scribbling on his
Astrology chart for Professor Trelawney's class.
"Where'd you hear that from?" Draco tossed a chocolate
frog at Goyle's head. His foot was bandaged thickly, but there
was no more fear of broken bones. That had been taken care of by
the Skele-Gro and Repair. The pain, though, was still ominous.
Even the mention of it made the foot throb.
"Somewhere," Goyle answered simply. "I heard it
was pretty loud, it could have been anyone."
"The hospital wing was empty!" Malfoy sat up quickly,
rising from his pillow and banging his fist against the side of
the bed. "She told you didn't she?! I don't believe
you, Goyle! You're a traitor!" His voice rose to a shrill
holler. "Stay away from her! It's her fault I'm in trouble
now. Snape told her to see him after school, and I'm going to be
expelled. Expelled!"
"Calm down, Malfoy," Crabbe spoke up. "If they
were gonna expel you they would've sent you an owl already, huh?
And it was an accident. You didn't mean to set her robe
on fire."
"That's a lie, and you know it Crabbe!"
Malfoy's jaw dropped. "You fancy that girl, don't you
Goyle?" When he didn't respond, Draco exploded. "You
do! I don't believe it! You're supposed to be my friend."
"I ***am your friend, Malfoy! Friend, bodyguard and blind
follower." Goyle's normally red face had never looked redder
before. His two friends just goggled. They had never heard
Vincent Crabbe use such defiance and sound so-- sharp-witted.
"Just drop it," Crabbe begged.
"I'm done. I won't say anymore." Goyle remained true to
his word. He said nothing as he continued to fill in his star
chart.
Draco was too proud to apologize. He would just have to wait this
one out, until Goyle gave in. Neither of them realized how long
that may take, nor did they care much anymore.
