Chapter 17,
'What did the Patil Twins say to you, Draco?' Millicent Bullstrode asked when he got back to the Great Hall. Draco had forgotten she was his date for the prom over the last days. He suddenly got very worried. Was she going to start crying again?
'Nothing of importance... Millie,' he said and he could feel her smile next to him. He concentrated on his food and tried to avoid Millicent's annoying voice about what she was wearing for the prom. He hadn't told anyone about his new outfit, and he was hoping he could keep it as secret as possible.
'Draco! Is it true that Parvati Patil beat you up?' Pansy came up to him with a very teasing look on her face. Draco stared.
'No! Who said that?' he said chocked.
'Everyone,' she said waving her arm around to show "everyone". Draco was quiet for a second.
'That is not true,' he said between his teeth. He had never been so humiliated in his whole entire life. He being beaten up by a girl?
'Say what ever you want, babe,' Pansy said. 'At least you got one person on your side,' she said her eyes moving towards Millie. Then she left.
Once again, Draco was standing in front of the mirror. But this time not admiring himself. Instead he wa standing there very nervous. He was wearing his new blue robe and in just half an hour the prefect prom was starting.
He thought the robe was very nice. But did it really go well with himself? It was a very big change for Draco if you compared with the dark clothes he usually wore.
'Draco are you coming or not?' Draco turned around. It was Greg that had entered the room. He was wearing a green outfit consisting of too big pants and a big shirt. Draco had convinced him not to wear the Muggle pants in the last moment. 'Millicent is waiting for you,' Draco gave himself a final look in the mirror. He looked very nice- if you took away the big change.
He followed Greg up the stairs to the common room. He could see a lot of non-prefects playing a game of "Wizopoly" in front of the fire. But Millicent was standing talking too Vincent very dressed up. Maybe a bit too much, Draco thought as he greeted her with a simple 'Hi'. Millicent smiled but Draco was sure she was disappointed she hadn't done anything else. She was wearing a bright yellow dress that was way to big for her. It was partly on the floor because Millicent wasn't very tall while the dress on the other hand was.
'Isn't Henry Rontell or Roland Hencicle coming?' Draco asked as the rest of the group headed for the entrance. 'Shouldn't we wait for them?'
'Roland has already left with his girl friend Josie,' Millicent said. 'And I haven't seen Henry for ages,' Draco's eyes flew to Vincent and Greg who were winking at him.
'Millicent, could you just give us a moment please?' Draco said trying to sound as polite as possible. Millicent gave them an angry look but left the room.
'What did you do?' Draco asked as fast as he was sure she was out of hear shot.
'Just like you said, remember? "Poison him or something, I don't want anything to ruin my chances!"' Vincent said.
'What? You poisoned him? I was only joking when I said that!' Draco gasped. 'You don't mean to say you actually did it?' Greg looked uncertainly at Draco.
'We did. Now let's go and enjoy the party,' he said and opened the entrance. Vincent followed him. Draco just stared after them. How stupid could you get to go and poison a prefect?
Draco looked around the greatly lit room. He had never been in it before, but he liked the look of it. The walls were painted in green and there were candles all around the walls. Small tables were set to one side and a big dance floor to the other.
'Is that you Draco?' Draco quickly turned around. Padma Patil had just entered the room. She was clutching Ernie Macmillan's arm and she was wearing a light pink dress. Draco stared. He couldn't believe how pretty she was. 'You look so different,' she said. She smiled and let go of Macmillan's arm. She was eying him intently. 'I have never seen you in blue before. Definitely not baby blue,' she said.
'Is that good?' he asked nervously. Padma nodded. Ernie Macmillan cleared his throat.
'I guess I will see you around,' she said and followed Macmillan towards the table full of food. Draco stared after them. It came as a surprise to suddenly feel an arm link itself to his own.
'Draco, shall we have a drink?' Millicent's voice asked. It seemed to be very far away.
'Yes sure,' Draco said getting back to life again. He followed Millicent over towards the drinks. He looked over towards Parvati. She was talking to the Gryffindor prefect that Parvati had gone with. But for some reason, he couldn't see Parvati. His eyes flew to Padma again as he sipped on his drink. She had a worried expression on her face.
'Is your robe new?' Millicent asked to get his attention back to her. 'The colour doesn't really match you, no fens,' Draco looked down at his robe.
'I like it,' he said angrily.
'I is just that I liked your old robe better,' she carried on. Draco didn't like the way the conversation was going.
'I need to use the bathroom, could you excuse me?' he asked feeling he wanted to get away from Millicent. She looked a bit upset but nodded.
He walked out of the room and towards the bathrooms.
'Draco, have you seen my sister?' Padma suddenly asked coming running towards him.
'No, why?' he asked.
'Oh, I don't know. I just want to know why she didn't go with that prefect. For some reason she didn't turn up at their meeting,' she looked around. 'I guess I will have to go and find her...'
'But you can't get into the Gryffindor common room,' Draco said reasonably. 'You would need a password...' Padma looked up.
'Could you help me?' she suddenly asked.
'I'd love to... but there is a problem. You can pass into the tower pretending to be your sister, but what about me? Everyone in Gryffindor know I am in Slytherin,' Padma looked thoughtful.
'It is worth a try, isn't it?' she said. 'Just help me find the tower, all right? And then with a lot of hope we might find her before we reach the tower,' she started walking towards the main staircase. 'Are you coming Draco?' she called and Draco followed her.
'The Gryffindor's usually come from here when it is dinner,' Padma said when they reached the Main hallway. 'Should we try it?' Draco shrugged and followed Padma up the stairs. For some reason she carried on up a second pair of stair cases.
'My sister always complains in the holidays about how many staircases they have to climb to get to the tower,' she explained. 'So I am sure we have to climb at least five before we have to start taking different directions,'
They climbed for about ten minutes before Padma stopped. They were facing a window and outside it was the lake.
'We must be too much east,' Padma complained. 'That is the exact view we have from the Rawenclaw tower,' Draco looked outside. Then suddenly he saw something that made his insides freeze. He closed his eyes and opened them again. He couldn't have seen what he just had seen. He had seen someone that looked very much like his father. And how many people these days wore long blonde hair? Even if they were five stories of the ground he was sure that the person on the ground was his father. He had lived with him for sixteen years, and that was long enough to know how he looked like.
'Are you all right?' Padma suddenly asked.
'Yes,' Draco said simply and walked up to her. 'Now where do we have to go?' he asked changing the subject.
'I don't really know,' she said truthfully. 'I think that we should try and go further north because my sister told me that their common room is in the North tower.
'And which way is north?' Draco asked.
'I don't know,' Draco looked out of the window. He could see his dad still standing there. But then he suddenly saw another shadow right next to him. More he couldn't figure out before his dad started moving in the direction of Hagrid's hut. Draco leant towards the window but the glass stopped him from seeing further. He needed to find out what his dad was doing here.
'What are you doing?' Padma asked. Sh ewalked up to the window and looked down at what Draco had been looking at. But of course she couldn't see anything.
'I think we should go this way,' Draco said walking in the same direction as he had seen his father walk in. Padma looked confused but followed him.
They walked through a corridor lit up by torches that were placed along the wall. Draco hurried along in hope of finding a window so that he could see what his dad was doing. But no window came. Instead he just came to a wall with no door. The only thing on the wall was a big portrait of a fat lady in a pink silk dress.
'Oh no!' he cried. 'A dead end!'
'Let's turn back and try another corridor,' Padma said starting to walk away. But she quickly stopped again. So did Draco. They could hear footsteps echoing through the corridor. They stood still just staring. Then Draco got back to his senses. He pulled Padma behind the first best statue, a dragon.
They stood there not able to breath. Suddenly Draco realised Padma was having her arms around him. She was even more scared than him. But he couldn't help smiling that Padma was actually hugging him.
A small shadow was coming closer and Draco could make out a Gryffindor 5th year called Collin Creevey walking towards the dead end and their statue. For some reason he stopped right outside the statue. Draco held his breath as he expected the boy to turn around after finding a dead end and come face to face with Padma and himself. But instead the boy spoke.
'Horse supplies,' he said. To Draco's surprise the lady on the portarait nodded and let the portrait swing opened. Collin Creevey climbed in and Padma and himself were left to stare.
'What did the Patil Twins say to you, Draco?' Millicent Bullstrode asked when he got back to the Great Hall. Draco had forgotten she was his date for the prom over the last days. He suddenly got very worried. Was she going to start crying again?
'Nothing of importance... Millie,' he said and he could feel her smile next to him. He concentrated on his food and tried to avoid Millicent's annoying voice about what she was wearing for the prom. He hadn't told anyone about his new outfit, and he was hoping he could keep it as secret as possible.
'Draco! Is it true that Parvati Patil beat you up?' Pansy came up to him with a very teasing look on her face. Draco stared.
'No! Who said that?' he said chocked.
'Everyone,' she said waving her arm around to show "everyone". Draco was quiet for a second.
'That is not true,' he said between his teeth. He had never been so humiliated in his whole entire life. He being beaten up by a girl?
'Say what ever you want, babe,' Pansy said. 'At least you got one person on your side,' she said her eyes moving towards Millie. Then she left.
Once again, Draco was standing in front of the mirror. But this time not admiring himself. Instead he wa standing there very nervous. He was wearing his new blue robe and in just half an hour the prefect prom was starting.
He thought the robe was very nice. But did it really go well with himself? It was a very big change for Draco if you compared with the dark clothes he usually wore.
'Draco are you coming or not?' Draco turned around. It was Greg that had entered the room. He was wearing a green outfit consisting of too big pants and a big shirt. Draco had convinced him not to wear the Muggle pants in the last moment. 'Millicent is waiting for you,' Draco gave himself a final look in the mirror. He looked very nice- if you took away the big change.
He followed Greg up the stairs to the common room. He could see a lot of non-prefects playing a game of "Wizopoly" in front of the fire. But Millicent was standing talking too Vincent very dressed up. Maybe a bit too much, Draco thought as he greeted her with a simple 'Hi'. Millicent smiled but Draco was sure she was disappointed she hadn't done anything else. She was wearing a bright yellow dress that was way to big for her. It was partly on the floor because Millicent wasn't very tall while the dress on the other hand was.
'Isn't Henry Rontell or Roland Hencicle coming?' Draco asked as the rest of the group headed for the entrance. 'Shouldn't we wait for them?'
'Roland has already left with his girl friend Josie,' Millicent said. 'And I haven't seen Henry for ages,' Draco's eyes flew to Vincent and Greg who were winking at him.
'Millicent, could you just give us a moment please?' Draco said trying to sound as polite as possible. Millicent gave them an angry look but left the room.
'What did you do?' Draco asked as fast as he was sure she was out of hear shot.
'Just like you said, remember? "Poison him or something, I don't want anything to ruin my chances!"' Vincent said.
'What? You poisoned him? I was only joking when I said that!' Draco gasped. 'You don't mean to say you actually did it?' Greg looked uncertainly at Draco.
'We did. Now let's go and enjoy the party,' he said and opened the entrance. Vincent followed him. Draco just stared after them. How stupid could you get to go and poison a prefect?
Draco looked around the greatly lit room. He had never been in it before, but he liked the look of it. The walls were painted in green and there were candles all around the walls. Small tables were set to one side and a big dance floor to the other.
'Is that you Draco?' Draco quickly turned around. Padma Patil had just entered the room. She was clutching Ernie Macmillan's arm and she was wearing a light pink dress. Draco stared. He couldn't believe how pretty she was. 'You look so different,' she said. She smiled and let go of Macmillan's arm. She was eying him intently. 'I have never seen you in blue before. Definitely not baby blue,' she said.
'Is that good?' he asked nervously. Padma nodded. Ernie Macmillan cleared his throat.
'I guess I will see you around,' she said and followed Macmillan towards the table full of food. Draco stared after them. It came as a surprise to suddenly feel an arm link itself to his own.
'Draco, shall we have a drink?' Millicent's voice asked. It seemed to be very far away.
'Yes sure,' Draco said getting back to life again. He followed Millicent over towards the drinks. He looked over towards Parvati. She was talking to the Gryffindor prefect that Parvati had gone with. But for some reason, he couldn't see Parvati. His eyes flew to Padma again as he sipped on his drink. She had a worried expression on her face.
'Is your robe new?' Millicent asked to get his attention back to her. 'The colour doesn't really match you, no fens,' Draco looked down at his robe.
'I like it,' he said angrily.
'I is just that I liked your old robe better,' she carried on. Draco didn't like the way the conversation was going.
'I need to use the bathroom, could you excuse me?' he asked feeling he wanted to get away from Millicent. She looked a bit upset but nodded.
He walked out of the room and towards the bathrooms.
'Draco, have you seen my sister?' Padma suddenly asked coming running towards him.
'No, why?' he asked.
'Oh, I don't know. I just want to know why she didn't go with that prefect. For some reason she didn't turn up at their meeting,' she looked around. 'I guess I will have to go and find her...'
'But you can't get into the Gryffindor common room,' Draco said reasonably. 'You would need a password...' Padma looked up.
'Could you help me?' she suddenly asked.
'I'd love to... but there is a problem. You can pass into the tower pretending to be your sister, but what about me? Everyone in Gryffindor know I am in Slytherin,' Padma looked thoughtful.
'It is worth a try, isn't it?' she said. 'Just help me find the tower, all right? And then with a lot of hope we might find her before we reach the tower,' she started walking towards the main staircase. 'Are you coming Draco?' she called and Draco followed her.
'The Gryffindor's usually come from here when it is dinner,' Padma said when they reached the Main hallway. 'Should we try it?' Draco shrugged and followed Padma up the stairs. For some reason she carried on up a second pair of stair cases.
'My sister always complains in the holidays about how many staircases they have to climb to get to the tower,' she explained. 'So I am sure we have to climb at least five before we have to start taking different directions,'
They climbed for about ten minutes before Padma stopped. They were facing a window and outside it was the lake.
'We must be too much east,' Padma complained. 'That is the exact view we have from the Rawenclaw tower,' Draco looked outside. Then suddenly he saw something that made his insides freeze. He closed his eyes and opened them again. He couldn't have seen what he just had seen. He had seen someone that looked very much like his father. And how many people these days wore long blonde hair? Even if they were five stories of the ground he was sure that the person on the ground was his father. He had lived with him for sixteen years, and that was long enough to know how he looked like.
'Are you all right?' Padma suddenly asked.
'Yes,' Draco said simply and walked up to her. 'Now where do we have to go?' he asked changing the subject.
'I don't really know,' she said truthfully. 'I think that we should try and go further north because my sister told me that their common room is in the North tower.
'And which way is north?' Draco asked.
'I don't know,' Draco looked out of the window. He could see his dad still standing there. But then he suddenly saw another shadow right next to him. More he couldn't figure out before his dad started moving in the direction of Hagrid's hut. Draco leant towards the window but the glass stopped him from seeing further. He needed to find out what his dad was doing here.
'What are you doing?' Padma asked. Sh ewalked up to the window and looked down at what Draco had been looking at. But of course she couldn't see anything.
'I think we should go this way,' Draco said walking in the same direction as he had seen his father walk in. Padma looked confused but followed him.
They walked through a corridor lit up by torches that were placed along the wall. Draco hurried along in hope of finding a window so that he could see what his dad was doing. But no window came. Instead he just came to a wall with no door. The only thing on the wall was a big portrait of a fat lady in a pink silk dress.
'Oh no!' he cried. 'A dead end!'
'Let's turn back and try another corridor,' Padma said starting to walk away. But she quickly stopped again. So did Draco. They could hear footsteps echoing through the corridor. They stood still just staring. Then Draco got back to his senses. He pulled Padma behind the first best statue, a dragon.
They stood there not able to breath. Suddenly Draco realised Padma was having her arms around him. She was even more scared than him. But he couldn't help smiling that Padma was actually hugging him.
A small shadow was coming closer and Draco could make out a Gryffindor 5th year called Collin Creevey walking towards the dead end and their statue. For some reason he stopped right outside the statue. Draco held his breath as he expected the boy to turn around after finding a dead end and come face to face with Padma and himself. But instead the boy spoke.
'Horse supplies,' he said. To Draco's surprise the lady on the portarait nodded and let the portrait swing opened. Collin Creevey climbed in and Padma and himself were left to stare.