The Once and Future Dragon King
by Tulzdavampslayer
Ch. XI - ''Blame the Paparazzi"
Disclaimer - duh. My last name is GREY, not ROWLING. say it with me! GA-RE-II! RO-UU-LIIING! Everybody with me? greeaaat...
I really am sorry about this whole absence of updates, but I'm... unmotivated. So yeah.
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Tom thought this was all rather exciting. To think, only a few short weeks ago, he hadn't known any of this was possible. But here he was, smack-bang in the middle of a school for magic, and part of a prophecy to boot!
Elaine warned Tom he was thinking out loud again.
Tom stopped speaking and fell over.
~~~^~~~
Albus Dumbledore looked over his final preparations. Apart from the niggling feeling at the back of his mind, everything was perfect.
~~~^~~~
Draco paced outside the Great Hall, waiting for a certain Gryffindor to make themselves less than scarce.
Ginny jumped down the stairs two at a time ahead of a rather sulky looking Dream Team, and jumped into her boyfriend's arms.
Draco gave her a quick peck. "Morning, pet. Sleep well?"
"Wonderfully, all things considered. That was one hell of a storm last night," Ginny added slyly.
Draco was a bit confused. "But there wasn't a storm last night... I don't think.""No?" Ginny glanced in Harry's direction. "I could swear I heard thunder. Oh well. Shall we go in to breakfast?"
Draco kissed her cheek. "You go in, I, uh, need to talk to somebody."Ginny looked slightly disappointed, but followed her king's wishes.
As soon as he was sure she was out of earshot, the smile dropped and Draco turned to the two glowering boys being held back by one very amused girl. "Granger. Weasley. May I borrow your thunderstorm for a few moments?"
Hermione grinned. "Have fun, Malfoy," she threw over he shoulder as she dragged her irate redhead into the Great Hall.
Harry growled. "Malfoy."
Draco rolled his eyes. "Look Potter, this hurts me a whole lot more than it hurts you, but... I'm sorry."
Harry blinked. "You're what?""I'm sorry, all right? I acted like a prat, and I deserved what you gave me." He smiled wryly.
Harry looked at Draco's apparently unmarred face. "Go running to Madam Pomfrey with that, did you Malfoy?"
Draco shook his head. "I just did a concealment charm. Still hurts like all buggery if it's touched, but Ginny doesn't know it's there."
Harry hesitated. He hadn't expected such an act of Malfoy. It was almost noble.
Draco noticed his rival's confusion. "Don't tell Ginny, right?"
Harry just nodded and entered the Great Hall.
~~~^~~~
Albus Dumbledore stood at the head of the table that had once belonged to the Slytherins and smiled widely at the flabbergasted students scattered throughout the Hall.
"Students and teachers-" Dumbledore was interrupted by a faint cough from Hagrid. "-as well as esteemed radishes, I have an announcement to make. As Slytherin House is at this time too small in numbers to function correctly as a House, certain aspects of the house points system will be adapted for the rest of this year."
A mumbling began to spread throughout the Great Hall.
"It must be made clear," the headmaster raised his voice above the growing din, "It must be made clear that certain interhouse activities will remain as they are, however-" The students tried in vain to shush their excited whispers.
Dumbledore frowned over the rim of his glasses. "However."
Silence fell upon the Hall like a really big, really quiet brick. All that could be heard was a muffled sound coming from Rikbin Notuch's muffled mouth. The other Hufflepuffs looked like they were ready to smash the noisy student. (a/n - who wants a cookie?)
"The Slytherin table has been requisitioned and will now be used for the following students: Blaise Zabini, Elaine Weasley-Malfoy, Ronald Weasley, Ginny Weasley, Harry Potter, Pansy Parkinson, Draco Malfoy, Hermione Granger and Thomas Derdrom, as well as myself."
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Millicent stood, unsure, at the back of the Great Hall as she watched her only friends go to their new places. Nobody seemed to have noticed that she was still standing, with no place to go. The other, newer slytherins had friends. They happily went to whichever table to join them, but Millicent had nowhere to go. The only friends she'd ever had where sitting at the round woodent table, quietly awaiting their Headmaster's words.
Those words never came. Instead, Dumbledore made a strange popping noise with his lips and sat down at the round table to eat. Millicent stared down at her shoes, quietly scuffing the floor before turning to leave, her eyes still on the ground.
But before she could leave, a hand was on her shoulder, she was being turned around, and Harry Potter was smiling at her.
"Come on, Bulstrode, come sit with the rest of us."
Millicent shook her head. "This is your time. I... this is something that I don't get to be a part of it. I don't wanna be in the way of any prophecies. I'd just mess up again."
Harry laughed in her face. "No prophecies are gonna fall into place over breakfast." And he dragged her to the round table. "Sir? Miss Bulstrode would like your permission to join us."
Blaise and Pansy blushed as they stared at their food. They had completely forgotten about their friend.
~~~^~~~
Albus Dumbledore smiled, and nodded, the self-satisfied smile barely hidden. The pride in his eyes sparkled as he transfigured a goblet into an eleventh chair. Harry coughed. All the other chairs had their Arthurian names carved into them, but Millicent's had nothing. Millicent opened her mouth to say that it was fine, but Hermione already had her wand out.
A moment later, the word "Millicent" was carved roughly into the wooden chair.
~~~^~~~
As they laughed over breakfast, Colin Creevey snuck a few shots in on his precious camera of the bizarre group.
Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs grumbled about the absence of their houses' involvements in whatever was being planned between the bacon and the muffins.
Gryffindors grumbled about Malfoy.
Snape grumbled about there being no flies in his soup.
Nobody bothered to point out to him that were no flies.
~~~^~~~
Albus Dumbledore chomped. "I had forgotten how well blueberry muffin and bacon mixed. Thankyou, master Weasley."
Ron said "mmfff mmmfffy mmmffmmmf."
Albus Dumbledore nodded in agreement.
~~~^~~~
As Harry walked towards Potions later that day, he heard somebody running after him.
"Potter! Wa-wait!"
He turned to see Millicent panting up to him.
"I just... phew... wanted to say thanks... for this -" she gasped
a quick breath. "- morning! You didn't have to do that for me, and
you might have gotten in trouble."
Harry grinned. "I couldn't let you go and skip breakfast, now could I? So, how'd we rate?"
Millicent blinked. "What?"
"On a scale of Slytherin-bad-ass to Gryffindor-goody-two-shoes. How'd we go mixing together?"
"Oh, I'd say around ten."
"Ten? that's not an option," Harry admonished as he threw a friendly arm around Millicent's shoulders.
"Sorry, it's a running gag with Blaise, Pansy and me."
"and I, my dear Bulstrode. That should be Blaise, Pansy and I."
Millicent poked his nose.
~~~^~~~
Albus Dumbledore frowned at the parchment in front of him. They had all been brought back. Now, if he only knew why they had been brought back.
~~~^~~~
TBC
yes, yet another short chapter from the writer's blocked tulzdavampslayer!
don't worry, eventually I'll update again.
meanwhile if you're bored and feeling d/g-less, try "love or lose", my other d/g fic!
it's much more romantic, and there's a lot of drama, so if that's not your thing I wouldn't suggest it. But dammit I wrote the best kiss ever in chapter four of that, makes me tear up every time, yes I am aware of the pathetic level of that.
anyway.
review, and I'll get motivated into writing the next chapter!
-tulzdavampslayer
