CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE: THE SCHEME
Harry, Ron and Hermione continued casting nervous glances at Draco as he sat nonchalantly at the Slytherin table. Draco hadn't sat with his housemates since the day they'd 'disowned' him over a month before, and the platinum haired boy wasn't feeling too confident about sitting beside his former friends.
Crabbe and Goyle sat to his right, and Blaise and Millicent sat opposite him, the four of them casting sneering smirks in his direction.
He and Harry had spent the better part of the previous evening reading through some of the books that Buffy had left in Giles' study room, which Draco had turned into his bedroom. He knew that Giles didn't approve of either of the boys reading them, but Draco had needed to keep his mind off what Buffy may have been going through. When Harry had shown up at Giles' office, he and the Gryffindor boy had spent the entire evening going over spells that they thought might help them.
"I know why you're sitting with us," Millicent hissed at Draco angrily. "You're here because your muggle-loving girlfriend got expelled and the Gryffs don't want you over there. You're still not welcome here Malfoy."
Draco glared at the girl, knowing that the previous year she wouldn't have had the confidence to stand up to him. His reputation had been obliterated within Slytherin over the last two years. But Draco found that he really didn't care one way or the other.
Before he could retort, Blaise jumped in.
"He can stay," she said. "But only on one condition."
"And what would that be Zabini?" Draco asked.
"You have to completely sever your ties with those filthy Gryffindors," she replied.
Draco smirked. "Already done."
"What would you do if Summers came back tomorrow?" Blaise demanded. "Would your loyalties be divided again?"
Draco couldn't help but notice the way that Blaise was wording her sentences. It sounded as though she was planning something more, something larger. Something that would probably not end in the best of ways.
"My loyalties to whom?" Draco asked.
Blaise narrowed her eyes. "To Slytherin. To all of us. To whomever it will be that steps up to take his place."
"And whom did you have in mind for that?" he asked.
She smiled sweetly, the kind of smile that was far too innocent. Besides which, Draco knew that Blaise Zabini was not and never could be innocent, even if it was to save her own life.
"Who did you think?" she replied.
Draco couldn't believe what he was hearing. He had to give Blaise points though. She never came out to directly say that she was about o try and lead the Slytherins in some sort of reign of terror. Her words were never explicit, only implying something that Draco wanted no part of.
"I suppose with Summers out of the picture, you've got the perfect opportunity," Draco said. "You've got no one to fear anymore."
Blaise felt fury rise within her. She half stood and leant across the table, her face barely an inch from Draco's.
"I am not afraid of anyone or anything. Especially not Buffy Summers," she hissed angrily.
Draco held back the smirk that wanted to erupt. He knew he'd managed to get under Blaise's skin. Before he could say anything though, Blaise took advantage of their position and grabbed a handful of Draco's robes, pulling him closer so that their lips met in a forceful kiss. Draco was too stunned to react.
Two tables away, Ginny Weasley felt her heart shatter.
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Harry couldn't stand the waiting. He'd watched in disbelief as Blaise had kissed Draco. He'd never seen Draco look so shocked in his entire life.
Harry looked down the table to where Ginny Weasley sat. He and Buffy had been keeping their eyes on the younger Gryffindor, knowing that Ginny liked Draco and that Draco's feelings were mutual. Harry knew, judging from the heart-broken look on Ginny's face, that the young Gryffindor was devastated by the turn of events.
He stood and quickly made his way to where Ginny sat, dropping into the seat next to her.
"Are you okay?" he asked quietly.
Ginny tore her eyes away from the Slytherin table and looked at Harry, tears in her eyes.
"I don't understand," she whispered pitifully. "Yesterday everything was fine, and then…then Buffy's cursing people and being carted off by the Ministry, and Draco's back at the Slytherin table kissing other girls who aren't me, and…and…this is all just so confusing."
Harry pulled the younger girl in for a hug, gently rubbing her back.
"Maybe you and I should go talk somewhere private," he suggested.
Ginny looked confused, but another glance at the Slytherin table made up her mind. Draco was smirking as though he was thoroughly enjoying himself. Ginny held back a sob and quickly moved to follow Harry out of the Great Hall. She completely missed the soulful silver eyes that followed her movements out of the Great Hall, eyes that silently begged her to forgive him.
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"So, Buffy wasn't Buffy? And Draco's just trying to get Blaise and the others to confess?" Ginny said, her head spinning as she tried to get her mind around the new information.
Harry nodded his head in confirmation. "He doesn't want to be at the Slytherin table any more than you want him over there," he assured her.
Ginny breathed a sigh of relief. She felt as though a large weight had been lifted from her chest. Her hope had been restored in Draco and in Buffy, and she couldn't help but smile gratefully.
She looked at the boy who had been her first crush with wide innocent eyes.
"I want to help."
Harry grinned and nodded. "I was hoping you'd say that."
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Ginny approached the Slytherin table, her hands sweating nervously. Draco looked at her fearfully, his eyes showing how panicked he was. Draco shot a look to the Gryffindor table and found Harry sitting calmly with Ron and Hermione. Harry nodded imperceptibly and Draco felt himself calm slightly.
Blaise noticed the redheaded intruder and sneered at the younger girl.
"What do you want?" she demanded.
Ginny bravely ignored Blaise and turned her attention to Draco.
"You're a liar, you know that," she said coldly.
Draco felt his heart sink. He looked at her closely, looked again at the Gryffindor table, and then felt everything click into place. He swallowed nervously and turned to look at Ginny, an arrogant sneer he'd perfected over the years planted firmly on his face.
"Yeah, what of it?" he asked.
"You never liked us did you?" she asked, her voice wavering. "You never liked me."
Draco shrugged. "What's your point?"
"It was all an act for you, wasn't it? Get us to trust you, and then as soon as things get rough, you leave us to deal with it all ourselves," she accused.
Blaise looked between the Gryffindor girl and the Slytherin boy with interest. She hadn't been expecting that the breaking of the ties between Draco and the Gryffindors would be so easy. And if Ginny was convinced that Draco was no longer part of the Gryffindors, that was good enough for Blaise.
"Run along little girl," Blaise said snidely. "Draco likes his girls to have maturity."
"You don't even care about what happens to Buffy, do you?" Ginny asked, still looking at Draco.
"She's my cousin, of course I care," Draco replied. "I just don't give a toss about the rest of you."
Ginny glared at him and shook her head sadly. "You're an arsehole Malfoy."
Draco stood and towered above her, his eyes searching hers for any sign of fear. He could tell that Ginny was slightly nervous, but was willing to continue their impromptu charade.
"What did you call me?" he asked, his voice low and threatening.
Harry and Ron stood, instinctively responding to the implied threat against Ginny. Even though both boys knew that Draco would never hurt the girl, they couldn't help their reactions. A devious smile came to Harry's lips, and he quickly raced from the Gryffindor table to where the Slytherins sat. He approached so that he was standing behind Ginny, Draco facing him. Draco glared at the dark-haired boy.
"If it isn't Potty, the Boy-Who-Bloody-Lived," Draco said.
Harry smirked and reached for his wand. Draco followed his example, and the students of the Great Hall fell into a hushed silence as they watched the two boys reach for their wands.
The Professors who knew nothing of the actual friendship between the two boys half-stood, trying to get a better understanding of the situation. Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape and Giles watched calmly, hoping that Harry would prove himself to be the better dueller when the time came.
"I knew you were a fake Malfoy," Harry said coldly.
Draco just shrugged nonchalantly. He pointed his wand at Harry, thankful that he wasn't trembling terribly. He knew that they had the attention of the entire student body as well as the staff. "What do you plan on doing about it Potty?"
Harry smirked. "Expelliarmus!"
Draco's wand flew out of his hand, and Harry caught it deftly. Blaise stood up, wanting to defend the newly returned Slytherin. She knew, now that Harry and Ginny had accused Draco of abandoning ship, that Draco was back where he belonged. She pulled out her wand and pointed it at Harry and Ginny.
Harry grabbed Ginny by the arm and pulled her to stand behind him. He didn't want Ginny getting caught in the crossfire of any spells.
"Only morons would want you as a friend Malfoy," Harry said, glaring at the two Slytherins who stood in front of him.
Blaise's eyes narrowed. She didn't appreciate being referred to as a moron.
"Rictusempra!" Harry doubled over and forced himself to laugh uncontrollably. Ginny, thinking that the spell had hit him properly quickly cast a counter-curse with her own wand. Harry straightened, but Blaise was quicker, getting out another spell. "Fernunculus!"
Harry ducked the spell, and Ginny was lucky to have the spell shoot past her by barely an inch. Before moving to get up, Harry directed his wand at the four House tables. "Silencio!" The entire hall went completely silent, except for her, Ginny, Draco and Blaise.
Draco pulled the sleeve of his cloak up to reveal writing on his forearm. He twisted his arm slightly to be able to read it, muttering beneath his breath and he threw a combination of herbs over Blaise. Blaise stumbled suddenly and looked around her surroundings with confusion.
Harry and Ginny were still in front of her and Draco was still behind her, but they were no longer in the Great Hall. They were in the Entrance Hall with no one watching except themselves.
"What the hell…" Blaise muttered.
To Harry, Ginny and Draco however, they were still exactly where'd they'd been. Draco's spell had altered Blaise's perception of reality, making her see a completely different room. Draco was just grateful that everyone in the hall was completely silent thanks to Harry's spell.
Harry looked at Blaise a smirk that resembled Draco's planted on his face.
"Is that the best you've got?" he taunted, taking Blaise's mind off the sudden switch in locations. "You're a Slytherin. Surely you can do better than that."
Draco leant forward to whisper into Blaise's ear. "Make it painful."
Blaise smirked and pointed her wand at Harry. She let the darkness swirl up inside her, she let her anger and self-righteous indignation rise and take hold of her. Ever since Potter and Summers had defeated Voldemort, she'd been forced to live with her most distant cousins who were muggles. She'd been forced out of her mansion and had had to rely on muggle ways instead of on magic. And for that, she truly hated Harry Potter and Buffy Summers.
She let her anger take hold of her. She could only see red, and that anger was what pushed her next curse.
"Crucio!"
Harry grinned with success and let the spell hit his chest full force. He didn't even flinch. Blaise snapped out of her furious haze and stared in shock at the smirking Gryffindor boy.
"How?" she demanded.
Draco stepped forward and quickly took Blaise's wand from her hands, throwing it to Harry.
"Buffy told you not to mess with people the Ministry were afraid of," Draco said. "But you chose to ignore her warning."
Blaise felt everything spinning wildly out of her control. And that was something she definitely did not like at all.
"How?!" she yelled angrily.
"Wiccan protection spells," Harry replied. "Something that Buffy taught herself last year. A little light reading last night. I figured if they stopped the Killing Curse from killing Buffy, they'd stop the Cruciatus from doing too much damage."
Blaise turned to look at Draco, lunging to grab her wand. Draco however was faster, his years as a Seeker letting him see her quick movements. He threw the wand above Blaise's head, and Harry caught it easily. Hrry then pointed his own wand at the House tables again. "Finite Incantatem." The silencing charm was lifted completely.
Draco reached into his cloak and pulled out a pouch of herbs and threw them at Blaise who instinctively closed her eyes. When her eyes opened, she gasped, suddenly finding herself in the Great Hall once more.
"Let's just make this simple," Harry said loudly, the entire Hall still looking at the two Slytherins and two Gryffindors who stood beside the Slytherin table. "Vincent Crabbe wasn't hit by the Cruciatus Curse yesterday."
Gasps and general exclamations of surprise echoed throughout the Hall.
"And the person who directed the spell that didn't hit Crabbe, wasn't Buffy Summers," Harry continued.
"But we saw it!" came a yell from the Ravenclaw table.
"You can't always believe everything you see," Draco said.
Draco noticed the bulge in Blaise's cloak and, on a hunch, he reached into the girls pocket and removed a flask. Blaise tried to grab it from him, but Harry stepped forward to restrain her. She struggled against him, but Harry was far stronger than she was. Draco unscrewed the lid of the flask and sniffed the potion.
"I'm no expert, but I'd say that this is Polyjuice Potion," he announced. He turned to Ginny and handed her the flask. He winked and grinned at her. "Maybe we could get Professor Snape's opinion."
Ginny smiled and felt her heart flutter when their fingers touched as she took the flask from him. She walked up to the Professors table, her face burning bright red as every student watched her. She handed the flask to Professor Snape who poured some of it into a glass goblet. The students looked curiously at the lilac coloured potion.
Professor Snape nodded. "Polyjuice Potion. Well spotted Mr Malfoy."
Blaise looked angrily at Draco. "You set me up! You bastard!"
Draco smirked and looked to Harry, grabbing Blaise so that Harry's hands were free.
"Potter…maybe you could work your magic and prove that it was Blaise's wand that 'cursed' Crabbe yesterday," Draco said.
Harry smirked and nodded, aiming his wand at Blaise's. Harry couldn't help but notice that Draco had been spending far too much time with Buffy. He seemed to be picking up some of her phrases.
"Priori Incantatum."
The entire Hall watched as the wand let out echoes of Blaise's spells.
"Crucio!" "Furnunculus!" "Rictusempra!" "Crucio!" "Stupefy!" "Impedimenta!" "Stupefy!"
Draco winced at the three Stunning Spells that emerged. He knew that they were the three that had hit him. Harry broke off the spell and looked up towards the Professor's table in satisfaction.
"I believe we all heard the Cruciatus Curse come from Blaise Zabini's wand," he said.
The students began murmuring amongst themselves as Blaise struggled to free herself from Draco's grip.
Many of the Gryffindor students seemed to breath sighs of relief, realising that Buffy had been completely innocent. Glenn Wood grinned with delight. Up at the Professors table, Oliver Wood couldn't help but feel a combination of disappointment and elation. When he'd heard about Buffy's use of the Cruciatus Curse he'd been horrified. Knowing that she was innocent was a huge weight off his mind. However, the flip side of that didn't sit too well with him either. The girl he'd kissed the day before hadn't been Buffy. She hadn't broken up with Harry, and Oliver didn't know whether that was good or bad. He sighed and watched the other Professor's approach the Slytherin table.
"Miss Zabini, do you admit to being the true perpetrator of yesterdays events in the Entrance Hall?" Dumbledore asked.
"Maybe Summers stole my wand," Blaise retorted.
Draco tightened his grip and Blaise squirmed uncomfortably.
"We all know you're a liar," Draco whispered harshly into her ear. "Why not just 'fess up?"
Harry smirked. Definitely too much time around Buffy.
Blaise defiantly stayed tight-lipped. Harry pointed his wand at her and Blaise glared at the black-haired youth.
"She deserved it!" Blaise yelled.
"How exactly did my girlfriend deserve to be framed for using an Unforgivable?" Harry cried angrily.
"She ruined my life! She ruined all our lives! Voldemort was going to save us!" she yelled. "And she ruined it! So I ruined her life."
The Great Hall went silent once more and Dumbledore stroked his beard thoughtfully.
"Miss Zabini, I regret to inform you that you are no longer welcome within Hogwarts grounds," Dumbledore said quietly. The Headmaster didn't ever enjoy expelling any of his students, but the safety of all of the other teenagers far outweighed him being uncomfortable.
Blaise's eyes narrowed, and she struggled even harder against Draco. Draco tightened his grip, but Blaise wouldn't stop.
"What about Crabbe, Goyle and Bulstrode, huh?" Blaise yelled. The three Slytherin teens in question all looked at Blaise in shock. They hadn't expected her to take them down with her.
"What?" "We never-" "But, we didn't-"
The three Slytherins sputtered for an explanation.
"They will be on probation," Dumbledore replied calmly.
Crabbe, Goyle and Millicent Bulstrode went from looking outraged to being incredibly relieved. They had no desire to be expelled from Hogwarts.
"Perhaps, we should relocate this to my office," Dumbledore suggested. "Miss Zabini, Miss Bulstrode, Miss Granger, Misters Potter, Malfoy, Weasley, Crabbe and Goyle, if you would kindly follow me."
Crabbe, Goyle and Millicent all stood reluctantly, while Draco practically dragged Blaise with him. Harry, Ron and Hermione were only too happy to oblige the Headmaster. As the doors of the Great Hall closed behind them, once more the loud outbursts of the students rang throughout the halls of the school.
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Mega thanks to John for pointing out where I want horribly wrong in this chapter. Hopefully it kinda reads a little bit better than it did. Poor Blaise…she's so damn evil in this story. Who misses fluffy Blaise from WYD?
As always, many thanks to everyone for yoru reviews and emails about this little saga of mine. I love hearing from each of yaz. You guys rock!
Toodles.
Kattie.