Disclaimer: If I did own Harry Potter, the likelihood of owning my own car would increase. But yet I'm car-less.
"IN." Snape pointed to the door of his office. Malfoy and Ron both trudged into the Potion master's office, both dreading their punishment. We're in the same boat now, thought Ron bitterly.
"EXPLAIN." Snape commanded. Ron and Malfoy hesitated, unsure if Snape really wanted to hear their excuses. Then both simultaneously realized the one who stayed silent would be judged more drastically. It was survival of the whiniest.
"Weasley punched me fir-"
"But didn't you hear what Malfoy said about Harry? He-"
"I didn't say anything! He's lying!"
"You great big git! I-"
"SILENCE YOU DUNDERHEADS!" thundered Snape. Ron bit his tongue in the just nick of time. Malfoy, who had never been insulted by his favorite professor before, paled an extraordinary amount.
"How DARE you exhibit such stupid and barbaric BEHAVIOR!" Snape glowered down at them. "ESPECIALLY DURING A TIME LIKE THIS!"
Snape paused, sucking in a deep breathe and glared at Ron to Draco and back to Ron again. This awkward silence was kept for at least five more minutes, as if Snape was pondering the most horrible punishment to proclaim on them.
"This...disgraceful attitude...fighting at the Welcoming Banquet? Shaming both your houses?" his face was lucid and shown obvious signs of exhibiting self-control. Somehow his voice was far more freighting now, then it was when the professor shouted. It was odd...Snape seemed disappointed in them. Although Ron couldn't give a hippogriff's beak to what Snape thought, the notion was still unnerving. Ron gathered his courage and dared to glare back at Snape but all he saw in return was a face lacking all mercy. He was a dead man.
"Three months detention and a hundred point deducted from each house." declared Professor Snape. Malfoy was absolutely thunderstruck. He - Draco MALFOY - had gotten detention? From SNAPE? In Malfoy's silence, Ron found his voice.
"THREE MONTHS! ARE YOU MAD?"
"And now two-hundred points deducted from Gryffindor, Weasley, for your despicable imprudence. My most sincere congratulations." Snape paused, recomposing himself to his normal cynical demure. "Your detention starts now, two hours with Mr. Filch in the Trophy Room. You are dismissed."
Neither Draco nor Ron moved, both sustaining infuriated looks upon their faces.
"But, sir, we'll be missing the rest of the feast..." Draco started.
"Maybe next time you won't be so eager to have disputes, Mr. Malfoy. MOVE. NOW!" Snape ordered the two of them.
"This is all your bloody fault." Ron accused Draco, once they were out of hearing range of Snape. "If you hadn't been such a bloody idiot, I wouldn't be in bloody detention. For three bloody months!"
They were trudging from the potion dungeons to Filch's office, two floors up. The caretaker had already been notified of the delinquent's punishment, and was happily awaiting their arrival.
"Just wait until Father hears about this." Malfoy muttered menacingly. "Then you'll be sorry, Weasel."
Ron growled, "Not that great git of your father again! Can't you do your own bloody dirty work with running to daddy, you pathetic rat?
Draco stopped and glared death at Ron, who simply continued walking and completely ignored him. "At least my father's not a loser, he's not a failure among wizarding society." drawled Draco. Ron continued walking.
"And at least he can protect his family from...certain forces." Malfoy continued sinisterly. He achieved his objection, Ron spun around to face him.
"What the hell do you mean by that?" he asked, his face notably pale much to Draco's satisfaction.
The Slytherin shrugged idly, "I'm simply implying my father has...connections. Let me put it this way; we all know the Dark Lord hates Muggle-scum and Mudblood-lovers alike. And, well, my family doesn't fall into either of those categories." he smirked.
Ron stormed over to Malfoy, his eyes ablaze with anger and fear. "You dare to threaten my family?"
Malfoy applauded mockingly, "Well done Weasel! You're not as think-headed as I thought!"
Ron advanced on Malfoy, and Draco reached for his wand but Ron was quicker and reverted to simply grabbing Malfoy's throat. Rashness and anger flooded his brain as he began to tighten his grip on Malfoy's neck.
"If anything -anything- happens to anyone in my family, I'll personally hunt you down and boil your head in a cauldron." Ron threatened through gritted teeth.
"Damn you!...You're killing...me now!" Draco gasped as he struggle to breathe properly. Ron relaxed his grip and turned away from Malfoy in haste, somewhat surprised at his own actions, and continued his journey to Filch's office. Neither one of them spoke to each other until they were standing in front of Filch's door.
Ron tentively knocked on the door. "Are you in there?"
A gruff, sarcastic voice called back, "Open the knob. That's what it's there for."
"Well I see someone is in a pleasant mood." Draco muttered under his breath as he reached for the doorknob, shoving Ron out of the way. They entered to see Filch giving them a bucket full of cleaning material and a nice, sadistic smile.
"Everything you need's in there. Trophy room's on your left, down the hallway. Have fun." he laughed, obviously gleeful over the student's pain.
"What? Aren't you gracing us with your company?" Ron asked him in a miserable tone.
"Nope." Filch answered cheerfully. "Mrs. Norris is." So she was, crawling out from behind the desk and staring at the students with luminous eyes. "If anything goes wrong, she'll be there for you." he cackled mirthlessly.
"Why the Trophy Room of all places?" Ron asked another question, simply trying to stall. If he could only keep this up for two hours..... "I just cleaned everything in it three years ago."
"That's the pesky thing about dirty things." Filch answered sarcastically, "They always get dirty again."
"Wait a second." Malfoy protested, finally realizing what was going on. "I am not cleaning anything! I'm a Malfoy."
"That may be so." chortled Filch. "But you're also a pain in the arse. Now get!"
"I can't believe I'm doing this." growled Malfoy as he disdainfully wiped over a plaque dedicated to Tom Riddle.
"Oh shut up already." Ron sneered back, working on the trophy cases. It was going to be a long night.
Author's Note: Hmmm, next chapter will be the first day of classes. 'Ol Ron's bound to be happy about that! Muahaha....anyway, I'd like to thank a few people for their reviews.
Angel of moonlite: Thank you! We need more reviewers like you in this fanfiction world of ours. I will most certainly continue asap.
Jaffacake: Mmmm, jaffacakes are yummy! I love your name! And I am absolutely sorry for misspelling Hermione's (yay, I got it right that time) name. I'll fix the other chapters and correct it. Thanks for telling me! Glad you like the kangaroos, they might make a second appearance, hehe.
Katherine: Thank you for your support! I wrote this chapter especially fast...didn't want the suspense to kill you :)
Malexandria: Thanks Malexandria, I most certainly will.
Ferggurl98: Ah, yes, Harry's in for a tough time in this story. Poor Harry, he goes through so much. Thank you for your compliment, I can't tell you how swollen my ego is after I read it. Lol, just kidding.
CatalinaRose: Ron's a lovely character, and I'm glad he's on of your favorites as well. Thank you for your support!