Disclaimer: I don't own not nothing. - wich means, everything belongs to JK Rowling
Draco threw his timetable in front of him. As usual. Though, Slytherin had often classes together with Gryffindor. At least, THEY don't know, what he've done. He could really imagine Harry and Ron laugh at the very thought of Draco doing something noble.
If someone had told Draco at the end of the last school year, that he would save so much lives out of a bad feeling he had about murdering so many innocent people… he wouldn't have believed it.
Now he even wondered, why he hated the golden Gryffindor this badly.
For him, there was no real reason. Except that he've survived the Avada curse, and destroyed Lord Voldemort with this. But now, that Draco stood on the other side…
He would need another excuse for the deep hatred he felt every time he looked at the boys face.
Draco hurried to his first lesson. It was Defence against the dark arts. He wondered who've got the job. He hadn't realized there was a new teacher on the staff table.
The crowd walked to the Defence Against the Dark Arts room, he followed without attracting attention. Pansy wouldn't dare to attack him with all this non-Slytherin eye witnesses, but… he shouldn't be to sure, and the rest would maybe not realize he's absent…
He sat himself in the last corner of the class and they waited curious fot the new teacher to arrive.
The door was pushed open and a tall, pale, black haired man hurried in the classroom.
There was a susurration through the pupils, as everyone recognized him as Professor Snape. He finally got the job. Draco could see Harry moaning in disbelief and starting to complain hushed to Ron. Draco smirked. At least something good. With him were all the Slytherins, glad, to have again a teacher who was "fair" (to Slytherins)
The lesson went good, and Snape, who seemed to know a lot of the Dark Arts, was a very good DADA teacher. Nobody really understood why Dombledore had kept him from the DADA-lessons. Ok, Gryffindors did. He was just as rude and unkind as in their potion lessons. Out of the corner of his eyes Draco could see Harry, who pretended to faint and rolled his eyes a couple of times.
At least, Draco left this lesson in a very good mood.
The days faded, and the sun wasn't as strong as it was in Summer, but Draco could still sit out under a tree and enjoy the silence of the lake.
At the beginning of term, he thought it would be hell, but it wasn't this bad. He still hadn't a room for himself, and there were also the long evenings in the common room, which he most of the time avoided, but the Slytherins didn't touch him again. Maybe it was because of what he said about the crucuis curse.
He had a lot of time for himself. He never knew how much interesting books the library hold. And if he couldn't read or learn, he spend his time with thinking.
"Hey, Malfoy, what do you do? Watching the sunset? alone?"
Draco turned around to face Ron, Harry and that what he simply called "company".
"Fuck off, Weasel, haven't you got some homework to do? Or maybe a little bit learning wouldn't harm. I heard you're rather not good at potions and Defence against the dark arts."
"Shut up, Malfoy, you know exactly why he isn't good in this lessons!" said Harry angrily.
"Oh, really? As far as I'm informed, you're worse than the weasel! I mean, potions, ok, but DADA? I thought you've had already enough practice? But of course, you can't expect the Potter and the weasel to remember such simple stuff. Maybe you thought, your Gryffindor mates would learn it for you?", Draco had stood up now, looking at them angrily, and waiting for the response.
"I wouldn't take the mouth too full, Malfoy. Where are all you're Slytherin fellows? Have they left you all alone? Did they realized you as the back-stabbing snake as you are?"
There was something true in this sentence. Draco realized that it would be no good if he would fight with them. He shoot them a disgusting look, full of loathed, and then turned to the castle. First the group was so surprised that they didn't move at all. As he was a distant away from them, he heard Harry yell after him:
"The snake creeps up to hide, instead of fighting? Oh, Malfoy, I just realized what a coward you are!"
"Victario!" Draco shouted, while turning around very fast, giving them no time to defend or react. The Gryffindors were hit by a large, purple light and suddenly laid on the floor.
Draco didn't look at them, he just went on towards the castle.
From this day it got worse and worse. It seems like the Slytherins thought: when Harry Potter attacks him, we can also do it.
Of course, they couldn't fight each other in school, there were always teachers around, but it seemed wherever Draco went, the other watched him. He felt that every step that he took were observed by either Slytherins or the golden Gryffindor boys friends, waiting for the moment were no one was around, and then duelling a bit.
Draco was now regular guest in the hospital wing, every now and then with bruises and scars, or with a black eye.
But he never said anything. Madam Pomfrey didn't ask anymore, and so did the teachers. They tried a couple of times, but he knew, he couldn't say who did this to him. The Slytherin lot did it, because he was a traitor, but that would cost to much explanation. And Potter.. No, Harry Potter would never cause anyone pain, would he?. It was just ridiculous.
The pupils knew what was going on, but either didn't dare to stop them or didn't want to.
Most of his bruises were from his "friends", they called it a greeting from his father.
Potter and his gang, anyway, they did worse things. It wasn't bad to have some scars, but every time they saw him, they knew another way to make fun of him, and to entertain the other students.
"Hey, malfoy ferret, what d'you think, ready for another show?", Harry shouted towards him.
"Yes I am," Draco answered, and took his wand. There were no teachers, and a little battle to cool them a little bit down and bring them down to earth wouldn't be bad. "Rictusempra!", he shouted, before Harry could put his wand out. He didn't care if that wasn't fair.
Harry lay on the floor and moaned. Draco couldn't help himself but smirk. He started, right? It wasn't his fau-
"Emvucio!" screamed another voice, and the course hit Draco flatfooted. Suddenly he found himself levitate in the gangway. It felt like he was a ghost, and he kinda liked the feeling to be above all the others.
"Hey, weasel, was this the effect you wanted? Because it's quite fun up here, want to come and join me? Emvucio!" and Ron hovered in the air. Thought Ron had no head for heights, for him it was rather less fun.
"L-l-ea-leave m-me d-down!", he stuttered anxiously. Flying on a broom was ok, but floating through the air without anything?
"Finite Incantatem!", a female voice spoke calmly. Hermione just came from the library and stopped the duel. "There's no need to fight, I think everyone has got something to do, right?"
And the students who were watching turned to their common rooms. Draco, Ron and Harry lay on the floor.
"We could've done without you're help, Hermione, but thank you anyway," Ron said and smiled at her.
She just gave him a cold look. "As a prefect I want to know what was up. Again!", she rolled her eyes.
"Draco suddenly attacked Harry, and I thought I should avenge him…"
"Ron,… Do you think I'm stupid?"
"To be honest-", Draco began and began to smirk broadly
"Oh shut up, Malfoy, no one talks to you!", she interrupted him.
"Hermione, he really attacked me first!"
"Ok. Malfoy, why did you attack him?", she asked now in a rather bored voice, and didn't even look at Draco.
"Because I hate him and I want him to suffer," Draco simply hissed and then turned to the dungeons.
Draco more and more found himself hiding in shadows or taking a longer way to avoid Slytherins and Gryffindors.
If he met some of them, he didn't fend. There was no sense in fighting them. He would be the bad one anyway, and it didn't make fun, because they were much more than him alone.
So he just let it slip over him. He didn't even felt the pain anymore.
Days, weeks and months passed, the spring came. He could sit again by the lake and watch the clear water moving. This was his favorite place. But it was most beautiful in the night. When he couldn't sleep, he just stroked out and sat on the lakeside and watch the water forming rings. Pity it wasn't so quite at day.
"Malfoy, huh, what are you reading? I didn't know ferrets can read!", he heard Harry shout at him, as he sat there one afternoon, reading a book.
Draco stood up again. He didn't want this all. But he knew, what the other want to see. They want to see the great Harry Potter defeating the strong, arrogant Malfoy. They don't want to see a broken boy who doesn't even want to fight.
So Draco pulled out his wand, and he half expected Harry to take it him away. Surely enough, the word "Expelliarmus!" were heard, and his wand flew away. Draco waited for the next strike. Ron shouted: "Impedimenta!" and Draco was knocked off, lying in the grass by now. He could try to reach his wand, it was just some inches, but the curse caused him to stay where he was. "Scourgify!", an awful taste of soap were in his mouth, and he spit bubbles as he opened his mouth. He'll suffer… They'll all suffer for this. But know he just had to fight against the urgent need to threw up.
"Harry! Ron! What are you doing? Are you going crazy??? Leave him ALONE, immediately!", he could hear a female voice, full of rage. "What was it this time?? What have he done?? LEAVE HIM, Harry!"
He recognized this voice. Hermione. Draco moaned inside. Couldn't this girl keep her nose out of the things of other people?? This was none of her business!
"Hermione, what-? You're such a partypooper! We just have a little fun with ickle Malfoy!" Ron defended them.
"Oh, just shut up! He haven't done you any harm now, have he?"
"No, actually not, but the fact that he exists is harm enough…"
Draco didn't listen to their quarrel. He was just an inch away from his wand and the curse wore off …
"Rictusemptra!", Draco shouted, but Ron had watched him, and suddenly Draco found himself hanging upside-down in the air. The crowd laughed again. Draco felt the blood streaming into his face, and this was not only because he hung up side down in the air.
"H a r r y, R o n, I warn you. Leave. Him. ALONE!!!"
"Ok, Hermione, because it's you." Ron lowered his wand and Draco fell down. "You're lucky. If it weren't for 'Mione…"
Why did she do that? Why couldn't she just let them do, as everybody else did? He bit his lip. "I don't need this ugly mudblood to save my neck."
Hermione looked stunned. How could she forget that Draco was this greasy git that made their life to hell the past five years? Why did she stick up for him? He really HAS earned it!
'But he didn't seem to defend himself, so anyone has to do it, right?', she thought. But he didn't seem to care.
"Right Malfoy. I've learned my exercise. I'll never save you again," she said in a dead dangerous voice.
Ron and Harry, anyway, didn't seem to take this easy. "Malfoy, you bastard, you'll apologize to her!", yelled Harry as he pointed his wand towards him again.
"As for you two, I stand to my word. I don't want you to make him apologize. You're just searching for an excuse to hurt him. You're just as bad."
Then Hermione turned to the castle and walked away. Ron and Harry however didn't care, and some wand waves later, Draco hung upside-down in the air again.
Sometime it will bore them, and they'll leave him. Sometime…
"Potter! Weasley!" a voice shaken with anger shouted. Draco hit the floor, and as he looked up, he saw the person, who dared to save him this time. Snape.
"What do you think you are doing?? Attacking a student, on the Hogwarts grounds?? Giving your Gryffindor friends some fun?? This time, Potter, this time is it to much. I'll take you to the Headmaster. And twohundert points from Gryffindor. Both of you."
Draco moaned. Now they'll have another thing to make fun of. He was saved by a teacher. Of course the headmaster won't expel them, he never did, and he never will. This wouldn't help anything.
"And, Mr. Malfoy?"
"Yes, Professor?"
"I think you'll need to see the hospital wing. The bruise over you're eye doesn't look too good," and Snape turned away, hurrying to the headmasters office with Harry and Ron.
Draco lay his hand to his forehead. He felt dizzy as he stood up. The crowd left the scene, and so did he. Draco didn't want to turn up in the hospital wing again. He felt alright, this bruise was nothing against the other attacks.
But then everything spun around and the staircase in front of him seemed to vanish…
N/A: I'm sorry. This one is boring. And, in case you haven't noticed, the last scene with hermione was shameless copied from Snape's worst memory - OotP. I'm sorry for this, but I think it's important, because it has something to do with Snape, and if he recognizes this scene… well, you'll know what I mean.
I know, you guys want to read more about hermione, but she hated him the last 5 years, it would be stupid if she suddenly loved him more than anything in the world. The same's for Draco. But I promise, this will change!
Thanks to my reviews anyway, and keep leaving me a note.
