Trapped
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Disclaimer: Don't own the characters, unfortunately. Also have nicked a couple of lines from the books and/or movies in this chapter, such as "that was bloody brilliant" and "some wizarding families are better than others". Both great lines. How could I not steal them :P
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Hermione sat down heavily onto the dungeon floor, sending up a cloud of dust around her. She sat like that with her head in her arms, sobbing loudly and making the occasional mutterings about "house elves" and "oppression" and "mangled bodies". Had Professor Snape been conscious he would have no doubt sorted her out with a quick flick of his wand and some cleverly chosen words (most likely the same that Ron had used on him). So anyway. The only person in the caved in classroom with the sense of mind to actually do something about Hermione's hysteria was lying on the floor unconscious. The other inhabitants were all teenage boys and, lets be honest here, were not too good on feelings. Other than their own, of course.
Neville was still out cold and trapped underneath the potions master. Before you feel sorry for him about being stunned, keep in mind how he would feel if he was fully conscious and trapped underneath the one person he was most afraid of in the universe. I think you'll agree that it was probably one of Professor Snape's more generous acts to stun the boy before falling on top of him.
Draco had forgotten all about his provocation of Ron only ten minutes ago, and had turned his attention back to the 'Witch Weekly' magazine in his lap - his horoscope this edition was a doozy.
Poor Ron, I'm afraid to say, had been brainwashed by Draco's trademark Malfoy Charm, so now instead of taking the opportunity to comfort Hermione and show her his sensitive side (or, you know, at least pretend he had one) he was too busy wallowing in his own despair to notice her anguish.
As for Harry . . . well. There's not really much to be said about the Hero of the Wizarding world. Nothing nice, anyway. Perhaps it would be best if nothing was said until his eyes refocus and he wipes the dribble off his chin - the last chapter was choca-block full of confusing acronyms that were way over his head, and it may take awhile for the boy to recover.
After explaining all of that, it would seem that there is nothing else to say - everyone was either unconscious or unable to string two sensible words together.
Then something happened.
Draco leapt up from his green leather couch with a yell.
"Malfoy's do NOT 'feel inclined to engage in charitable work'" he cried in disgust, reading from his horoscope. "Just because I'm a Virgo doesn't mean I'm going to run off with all the other Virgos in the world and spread goodwill to Muggles and Mudbloods. Bloody ridiculous."
"You're a Virgo?" Hermione sniffled, suddenly looking up from her arms in interest. "Me too. Not that I believe in that rubbish, of course. Fortune telling is a waste of time."
Draco scowled and threw his magazine across the cave where it hit the wall of rubble and fell to the ground.
"Well, obviously it is. I mean, *charitable* work? They're off their rockers. I swear, 'Witch Weekly' is going to the dogs. It used to be such an excellent publication." He sat back down on his lavish sofa and leaned back. "You know, I've always wanted to start my own magazine. 'Malfoy Monthly', maybe. There simply aren't enough magazines out there that focus solely on, well, on Me, for instance. I mean, I guess I could have some guest columns, and useful articles on nasty hexes and curses and the like. But yeah. A magazine about me would be great . . ."
Hermione raised one eyebrow in amazement at Draco's arrogance.
"It sounds like a pretty boring magazine, if you ask me. *I* wouldn't buy it."
Draco rolled his eyes.
"You wouldn't have the *opportunity* to buy it, would you. It would only be available to worthy customers. No Mudbloods allowed."
Draco had called Hermione that so many times over the years that it no longer hurt her feelings. Nevertheless, she couldn't help but leap in and admonish him - she wasn't made Head Girl for keeping her mouth shut when she thought people ought to be told off.
"Draco! You shouldn't say things like that. Ever. It really is awful. Now, I know you weren't brought up in the most ideal family environment-"
"Excuse me?" Draco interrupted. "'The most ideal family environment?'. There is no better family to grow up in than the Malfoy family. Some Wizarding families are better than others, and the Malfoys are on the top of that list. The very top. So don't you even suggest that my childhood wasn't the best that gold can buy, because it *was*."
"There is more to a good childhood than family history and gold."
"Well if there is, then I didn't need it. I'm quite happy with the way I've turned out, and I owe it all to my Malfoy upbringing."
"You're happy with the way you turned out? You've got to be joking. You're the most conceited, big-headed, completely undesirable person I have ever met. I can't imagine anyone in the world who I would less like to be."
Draco's eyebrows shot up towards his platinum hairline in surprise - how could anyone in the world - Muggle OR Wizard - not want to be like him? Not want to BE him?
"Yeah? Well, at least I don't have bushy hair and chipmunk teeth," he snapped, ignoring the fact that her teeth had been perfectly fine since fourth year.
"How can anyone tell *what* your hair is like? You wear an entire bottle of Sleekeazy's Hair Potion on it every day. For all anyone knows your hair is so big you can't even get through doorways if you don't slick it down."
Draco narrowed his eyes. That was truly a low blow.
"You take that back," he said, gripping his wand so tightly his knuckles were white. He stood up from his couch and glared at her with thin lips and cold eyes.
Hermione sniffed and looked away from him.
"No," she said.
"MALFOY'S DO NOT HAVE BUSHY HAIR!" he screamed, and launched himself on top of her, forgetting all about his wand.
Hermione, however, hadn't forgotten about *her* wand, and she now used it to cast a full body bind aimed carefully in the middle of his chest. His limbs snapped together and he stiffly fell to the floor to lie a foot away from her.
"Wow," breathed Ron, who had been gazing on at this exchange in amazement. "That was bloody brilliant, Hermione."
Ron, of course, was delighted. Hermione wouldn't have cast the full body bind on Malfoy if she liked him! Ron was back in the running after all!
He stood up and was just about to run over to Malfoy and give him a few good, sharp kicks in the back when someone grabbed the scruff of his robes and lifted him off the floor.
"Thought you could stun me and get away with it, did you?" a deadly cold voice whispered in his ear. Ron's heart dropped down into his feet as his eyes widened in horror.
The stunning spell had worn off and Snape was awake once more.
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A/N Teehee - Malfoy is such a spoilt brat. Ah, I love him. And the others too, of course. Well. Please review!! I'm so, so close too 100 - I never, EVER thought I would be one of those triple figure review people! It's fricking amazing! Woo!! A HUMUNGOUS THANK YOU to every single person who has reviewed, especially those who have reviewed more than once. You guys are truly my favourite people in the world (after JKR, of course, but I know you understand). Wow. I'm so excited . . .
So anyhoo, please review this chapter. I've added a Sneak Preview of Chapter 5 of Sev's Diary, if you are following that fic (and it's my favourite out of all the ones I've written, so you should check it out if you haven't *winkwink*). Yup. I think that's about all. If you have any fics you want me to read and review, just mention them in a review and I'll go read them ASAP - I'll probably check them out even if you don't mention them, but I'll do it quicker if you make a special request :D
THANK YOU for reading!
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Disclaimer: Don't own the characters, unfortunately. Also have nicked a couple of lines from the books and/or movies in this chapter, such as "that was bloody brilliant" and "some wizarding families are better than others". Both great lines. How could I not steal them :P
~#~
Hermione sat down heavily onto the dungeon floor, sending up a cloud of dust around her. She sat like that with her head in her arms, sobbing loudly and making the occasional mutterings about "house elves" and "oppression" and "mangled bodies". Had Professor Snape been conscious he would have no doubt sorted her out with a quick flick of his wand and some cleverly chosen words (most likely the same that Ron had used on him). So anyway. The only person in the caved in classroom with the sense of mind to actually do something about Hermione's hysteria was lying on the floor unconscious. The other inhabitants were all teenage boys and, lets be honest here, were not too good on feelings. Other than their own, of course.
Neville was still out cold and trapped underneath the potions master. Before you feel sorry for him about being stunned, keep in mind how he would feel if he was fully conscious and trapped underneath the one person he was most afraid of in the universe. I think you'll agree that it was probably one of Professor Snape's more generous acts to stun the boy before falling on top of him.
Draco had forgotten all about his provocation of Ron only ten minutes ago, and had turned his attention back to the 'Witch Weekly' magazine in his lap - his horoscope this edition was a doozy.
Poor Ron, I'm afraid to say, had been brainwashed by Draco's trademark Malfoy Charm, so now instead of taking the opportunity to comfort Hermione and show her his sensitive side (or, you know, at least pretend he had one) he was too busy wallowing in his own despair to notice her anguish.
As for Harry . . . well. There's not really much to be said about the Hero of the Wizarding world. Nothing nice, anyway. Perhaps it would be best if nothing was said until his eyes refocus and he wipes the dribble off his chin - the last chapter was choca-block full of confusing acronyms that were way over his head, and it may take awhile for the boy to recover.
After explaining all of that, it would seem that there is nothing else to say - everyone was either unconscious or unable to string two sensible words together.
Then something happened.
Draco leapt up from his green leather couch with a yell.
"Malfoy's do NOT 'feel inclined to engage in charitable work'" he cried in disgust, reading from his horoscope. "Just because I'm a Virgo doesn't mean I'm going to run off with all the other Virgos in the world and spread goodwill to Muggles and Mudbloods. Bloody ridiculous."
"You're a Virgo?" Hermione sniffled, suddenly looking up from her arms in interest. "Me too. Not that I believe in that rubbish, of course. Fortune telling is a waste of time."
Draco scowled and threw his magazine across the cave where it hit the wall of rubble and fell to the ground.
"Well, obviously it is. I mean, *charitable* work? They're off their rockers. I swear, 'Witch Weekly' is going to the dogs. It used to be such an excellent publication." He sat back down on his lavish sofa and leaned back. "You know, I've always wanted to start my own magazine. 'Malfoy Monthly', maybe. There simply aren't enough magazines out there that focus solely on, well, on Me, for instance. I mean, I guess I could have some guest columns, and useful articles on nasty hexes and curses and the like. But yeah. A magazine about me would be great . . ."
Hermione raised one eyebrow in amazement at Draco's arrogance.
"It sounds like a pretty boring magazine, if you ask me. *I* wouldn't buy it."
Draco rolled his eyes.
"You wouldn't have the *opportunity* to buy it, would you. It would only be available to worthy customers. No Mudbloods allowed."
Draco had called Hermione that so many times over the years that it no longer hurt her feelings. Nevertheless, she couldn't help but leap in and admonish him - she wasn't made Head Girl for keeping her mouth shut when she thought people ought to be told off.
"Draco! You shouldn't say things like that. Ever. It really is awful. Now, I know you weren't brought up in the most ideal family environment-"
"Excuse me?" Draco interrupted. "'The most ideal family environment?'. There is no better family to grow up in than the Malfoy family. Some Wizarding families are better than others, and the Malfoys are on the top of that list. The very top. So don't you even suggest that my childhood wasn't the best that gold can buy, because it *was*."
"There is more to a good childhood than family history and gold."
"Well if there is, then I didn't need it. I'm quite happy with the way I've turned out, and I owe it all to my Malfoy upbringing."
"You're happy with the way you turned out? You've got to be joking. You're the most conceited, big-headed, completely undesirable person I have ever met. I can't imagine anyone in the world who I would less like to be."
Draco's eyebrows shot up towards his platinum hairline in surprise - how could anyone in the world - Muggle OR Wizard - not want to be like him? Not want to BE him?
"Yeah? Well, at least I don't have bushy hair and chipmunk teeth," he snapped, ignoring the fact that her teeth had been perfectly fine since fourth year.
"How can anyone tell *what* your hair is like? You wear an entire bottle of Sleekeazy's Hair Potion on it every day. For all anyone knows your hair is so big you can't even get through doorways if you don't slick it down."
Draco narrowed his eyes. That was truly a low blow.
"You take that back," he said, gripping his wand so tightly his knuckles were white. He stood up from his couch and glared at her with thin lips and cold eyes.
Hermione sniffed and looked away from him.
"No," she said.
"MALFOY'S DO NOT HAVE BUSHY HAIR!" he screamed, and launched himself on top of her, forgetting all about his wand.
Hermione, however, hadn't forgotten about *her* wand, and she now used it to cast a full body bind aimed carefully in the middle of his chest. His limbs snapped together and he stiffly fell to the floor to lie a foot away from her.
"Wow," breathed Ron, who had been gazing on at this exchange in amazement. "That was bloody brilliant, Hermione."
Ron, of course, was delighted. Hermione wouldn't have cast the full body bind on Malfoy if she liked him! Ron was back in the running after all!
He stood up and was just about to run over to Malfoy and give him a few good, sharp kicks in the back when someone grabbed the scruff of his robes and lifted him off the floor.
"Thought you could stun me and get away with it, did you?" a deadly cold voice whispered in his ear. Ron's heart dropped down into his feet as his eyes widened in horror.
The stunning spell had worn off and Snape was awake once more.
~#~
A/N Teehee - Malfoy is such a spoilt brat. Ah, I love him. And the others too, of course. Well. Please review!! I'm so, so close too 100 - I never, EVER thought I would be one of those triple figure review people! It's fricking amazing! Woo!! A HUMUNGOUS THANK YOU to every single person who has reviewed, especially those who have reviewed more than once. You guys are truly my favourite people in the world (after JKR, of course, but I know you understand). Wow. I'm so excited . . .
So anyhoo, please review this chapter. I've added a Sneak Preview of Chapter 5 of Sev's Diary, if you are following that fic (and it's my favourite out of all the ones I've written, so you should check it out if you haven't *winkwink*). Yup. I think that's about all. If you have any fics you want me to read and review, just mention them in a review and I'll go read them ASAP - I'll probably check them out even if you don't mention them, but I'll do it quicker if you make a special request :D
THANK YOU for reading!