Title – Green and Silver
Authoress – Phoenix Tears
Summary – Fifth in a series of short vignettes, 'Bad Faith', in which the Boy-Who-Lived muses about Slytherins, life, and Draco Malfoy.
Rating – PG
Warning – Slash. Don't like – don't read.
Disclaimer – I own nothing, except for this plot. Everything else belongs to J.K. Rowling.
Feedback – Of course, as for every writer, questions, thoughts, and constructive criticism are all greatly appreciated. Thank you, and enjoy.
~*~
I've always wondered how the Sorting Hat classifies us.
I mean, I know that Gryffindor houses the brave students, Hufflepuff the loyal, Ravenclaw the clever, and Slytherin the cunning.
There are the usual stereotypes – Hufflepuff is boring and dull (Justin Finch-Fletcheley, the Quidditch announcer, certainly isn't), Slytherin evil and malicious (Blaise Zabini isn't either), Gryffindor not-too-bright (Hermione, apart from Draco Malfoy, is the smartest in the school), and Ravenclaw nerdy and brainy (Cho Chang was certainly not nerdy; she was more of a pretty, popular witch).
In my personal opinion, I think that the Sorting Hat just analyzes your personality, picks out some of your best, most prominent qualities, and then puts you in the House you most want to be in.
Makes sense, right? Ron and I wanted to be in Gryffindor, and we're both brave, and here we end up.
Draco Malfoy was sure he was going to end up in Slytherin, and the hat barely touched his head before his prophecy was granted. I think Draco should have been put in Ravenclaw – he's more of a clever, wry sort of wizard. I suppose he is cunning, as well.
I think he's too sarcastic and proud for his own good.
I think he's a pretty good Seeker – the best I've ever played up against – and that he would definitely win against me if he didn't spend the whole time looking pretty – I admit, Draco is quite a looker – and scowling at the world.
Damn the House loyalties and the age-old feud between Slytherin and Gryffindor – I think Draco is the most beautiful being to ever have graced the world. Really, I do. And I don't think it's just because of teenage hormones or attraction to his Veela charms. Though it does make it all the more appealing…
His hair is an unusual, stunning shade of platinum blonde – wisps of golden silver fly smoothly when he plays Quidditch, or hang silkily around his pale, aristocratic face in class. I can't help but notice it – you can't really describe its colour, either.
His eyes are a peculiar, but stunning, lovely colour as well. They're sometimes silver, or grey, or blue, or charcoal. But Draco's eyes are always so enigmatic and exquisite that they draw me to them like bees to a fragrant flower.
I know, I know. I'm a hopeless romantic.
You can't blame a person, though, can you?
I've never been so infatuated with someone before.
Oh, there was Cho Chang in fourth year, but then I realized she really wasn't my type and that under that pretty, smart exterior, she was a typical girl. I'll give her credit – she's tactful, nice, and sweet, but spent far less time I would have expected of her mourning after Cedric's death.
There was also Terry Boot last year, in sixth year, nearly a year after I had finally realized my own sexual preferences. Okay, so I was a bit slow in realizing, but so what? Can't blame me for not noticing Terry's wavy brown hair and large, doe-like chamois eyes that were obscured behind steel-rimmed frames earlier. Too bad he was heterosexual and already with one Mandy Brocklehurst.
It was during the summer of sixth year, when I was in Remus' and Sirius' house – they had moved together, still best friends and bachelors, sadly, after Sirius' name had been cleared officially by the Ministry – and I was flipping through our yearbook from that year. I smiled fondly at the pictures of Ron and 'Mione, and many of all three of us, who were affectionately – or not so – dubbed 'The Golden Trio'.
Ironically, Draco, Blaise Zabini, Vincent Crabbe, and Gregory Goyle had been named 'The Infamous Silver'. Quite a suitable name, if I may say so myself.
I came to a picture in the Quidditch section of Draco, flying on his broom, at the time unnoticed by any. His eyes were flashing and squinting in the sun, silver-blonde hair flashing under the rays, and elegant, moonlight pale hands gripping his Firebolt Elite tightly. Draco's face was devoid of any malice or haughtiness, merely reveling in the pleasure of flying. The caption under it read 'Slytherin Seeker Draco Malfoy practices his Seeking techniques'. It was overshadowed by other pictures of him, mainly during Quidditch matches, when his face was hard, cold, and determined.
Inspired by his beauty – at that time I convinced myself otherwise – I searched for other similar pictures, where his malice was not to be seen. I only found two others.
One was when he was studying in the library, head bent over a thick Potions text excitedly and intently, then reaching over to write elegantly onto a piece of parchment. The motion repeated itself over and over, his silvery locks falling over his almost pointed ear time and time again, his brow furrowed delicately into concentration.
The other was a picture of the Potions Master, Severus Snape – whom I still despised with a great loathing – with his hand on Draco's shoulder. It was taken with a wizarding camera, but the picture was mainly still, except for a few inaudible whispers going on between the professor and his student. Under the caption, Ron had scrawled in his messy, carefree handwriting, "Teacher's pet."
At that time, I had agreed.
But now, studying the content, smiling features on the usually stoic professor and the usually cold, sneering student, I thought that, perhaps, it was otherwise.
Perhaps, a close, father-son relationship?
Or, perhaps, even a friendly bond?
I didn't want to think beyond those bounds.
While flipping through the pictures, I subconsciously noted that there were substantially more Gryffindor pictures than the other Houses, and much less Slytherin pictures. I doubted this was due to the unavailability of the Slytherins, or the easy access to the Gryffindors.
Perhaps it was prejudice?
Nonsense.
Dumbledore wouldn't be prejudiced, anyway.
Done flipping through my yearbook, I shuffled around in my school stuff from last year to look for the rankings that had been handed out at the end of the school year.
Rankings for Sixth Year Students of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry:
First ranking: tied, Hermione Granger of Gryffindor, Draco Malfoy of Slytherin
Second ranking: Terry Boot of Ravenclaw
Third ranking: tied, Adrian Moon of Ravenclaw, Blaise Zabini of Slytherin
I noted that, in the individual subject rankings, Draco and Hermione dominated most of the top positions.
Core Subjects (all students must take these nine courses)
Arithmancy: Draco Malfoy, 121%
Care of Magical Creatures: Terry Boot, 116%
Charms: Hermione Granger, 120%
Defence Against the Dark Arts (Advanced): Harry Potter, 105%
Divination: Lavender Brown, 96%
Herbology: Terry Boot, 103%
History of Magic: Draco Malfoy, 119%
Potions (Advanced): Draco Malfoy, 135%
Transfiguration (Advanced): Hermione Granger, 126%
Enrichment Subjects (must be qualified to partake in these courses)
Ancient Runes: Hermione Granger, 109%
Drama and Acting: Blaise Zabini, 117%
Duelling: Adrian Moon, 120%
Elemental Magic: N/A
Muggle Defence: Draco Malfoy, 130%
Muggle Studies: Hermione Granger, 131%
Wandless Magic: N/A
Note: Elemental Magic and Wandless Magic are of varying degrees by person, and have no basis of which to grade.
I had been quite surprised, to say the least, when I received first ranking for Advanced Defence Against the Dark Arts. It was probably due to all the extra training I had to go through in preparation for the last stand against Voldemort…
Sighing, I put away the folded sheets of paper, and stood up when I heard Remus yell that he and Sirius were going clubbing. Funny, I thought, how they were in their thirties and still going clubbing like teenagers. He asked if I wanted to go, and, yelling back down that I would, I walked over to my closet and thumbed through some clothes.
Almost smiling to myself, I picked out a dark outfit of green and black.
~*~
Authoress' Note: I already have the next two or three fics planned out. I plan on having the next one done by Lucius' point of view, and the one after that, Dumbledore's. I noticed that, so far, I have done all the vignettes in Slytherin points of view, and thought that I should perhaps add a few Gryffindor ones.
The main theme of the next few ones will differentiate from the Draco/Blaise conflict and rather turn towards House prejudices and conflicts. I have always felt that Slytherin House has been unfairly prejudiced by the other houses and even the Professors, and wanted to make a point about it. Feel free to make any suggestions, and, as always, feedback and reviews are greatly welcome.
