Title: Angel
Author: Malfoy-hima
Disclaimer: Don't own them, if I did I'd be watching it instead of writing it. The song "Angel" belongs to Aerosmith.
Author Notes: My first story. *gulp*
Warning: slash, may be OOC at times.
Addy: steffi_s12@hotmail.com
Rating: Tentative PG-13, probably R later on.
Beta: My wonderful sister, tir-synni. She also owns the rather large phrase I use to describe Snape's facial expression later!
Summary: Draco finally realizes Harry has been the angel he's been looking for all along.
//I'm alone, yeah I don't know if I can face the night//
A cold dampness filled the air of the Slytherin prefect's dorm room. The aloof chill of the room
reflected the immaculate, empty atmosphere pervading the small area. Only a desk, an armoire, a fireplace,
a black leather sofa, and the obligatory painting of a serpent occupied the room. Quite simple, really. Most
people would be shocked at just how little the spoiled rich boy kept in his room.
Draco Malfoy lay on his bed , staring at complete nothingness. He didn't know what time it was,
but it wouldn't matter. Sleep wasn't coming. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw a pair of glowing
emeralds. 'What the hell am I going to do?' he thought to himself. All summer, those same thoughts
haunted him. A month had passed into the school year, and it wouldn't let up. At least he could sleep
before. The past week had been miserable. Not a wink of sleep during the night, nearly nodding off in
class during the day. He wanted terribly to find a way out before he went completely mad.
"Fuck off, Malfoy." The three words that started this mess. Draco remembered it quite well. It
had been four months prior, before the last school term ended. Draco had always enjoyed tormenting
the"Gryffindor Trio"-- Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger. On this day, he had Hermione
backed up against a wall. No Weasley or Potter in sight. "What's wrong, Granger? Your boyfriends aren't
here to defend you, are they?" Her hand moved toward the inside of her robes, but Draco quickly
intercepted it. He grabbed her wrist and squeezed. "Don't even think about it, Mudblood." Hermione
flinched. "I guess the Mudblood still hasn't gotten used to her name." A strong hand on his shoulder
stopped him cold. "Potter," Draco sneered.
"My advice to you would be to leave her alone, Malfoy." The coldness in Harry Potter's voice sent
a shiver down Draco's spine. Potter's lip curled in disgust. "You are an unbelievable coward," he spat.
Draco's mouth opened for a comeback, but for once, nothing came out. He released Hermione's
arm. She moved beside Harry.
"You ok, Malfoy? Funny, you're not so clever when your goons aren't around. Where are they,
anyway? Seems as if you have no one to hide behind now."
Draco wanted to pull his wand, but knew better. Potter had proven time and again that his reflexes
shamed Draco's. "Oh, just take your little Mudblood playtoy and find a house elf to hug, Potter. I'm bored
already," he said as evenly as he could.
Harry's eyes glowed like Avada Kedavra. "Fuck off, Malfoy," he growled through clenched teeth.
He grabbed Hermione's hand and stomped away, leaving Draco feeling rather dumbfounded. And, oddly,
more than a little turned on.
The whole summer, those three words echoed through Draco's head continuously. "Fuck off,
Malfoy." No sod, no bugger, just out and out fuck off. He never knew Potter had it in him.
A feeling started to grow inside Draco that he couldn't place at the time. But now he knew. He
actually *liked* Harry Potter. Not just liked him, but *liked* him liked him. He wanted to hold his hand
and kiss his cheek and hug him and touch his face. . . Ugh.
He tried to ignore it, but it just wouldn't go away. During the summer, he did a lot of flying. He
loved being on his broom, and it helped him think. Eventually, flying didn't work anymore. Then he tried
concentrating on his summer homework. That didn't get far. Then he tried denial. No. He finally gave up.
He'd have to wait it out. He'd get over it sooner or later. Harry Potter, the Golden Gryffindor, and Draco
Malfoy, the son of a Death Eater. Right. His father would kill him. Snape would kill him. His whole
damn house would kill him. *Potter* would kill him. How in the living fuck did he get himself into this?
Draco never spoke to the Gryffindors after that day. He didn't even look in their direction. His
Malfoy pride told him not to let them think they'd won, but he just had no desire to screw with them
anymore.
He rolled over and put his pillow over his head. 'Fuck,' he thought. 'No, fuck *you*, Potter. I'll
beat this. I refuse to let Harry fucking Potter take over my life. I'm a Malfoy, damn it!' He rolled out of
bed and started to pace the room. He ran his hands through his long blond hair, trying to think of a way to
end this before it got out of control. 'Too late, Malfoy,' he told himself. He sighed and flopped onto the
bed again, eyes wide open.
~~~~~~
On the other side of Hogwarts, a dark haired figure sat on his windowsill, searching the night.
Instead of stars, he saw glittering pale eyes. Frustrated, Harry Potter padded to his bed and begged for
sleep.
~~~~~~
Sometime during the night Harry managed to doze off. He awoke with a start and peered out of
the curtains that hung around his bed. The dorm was empty. "Bugger," he muttered out loud. He
overslept. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and hissed at the coldness of the floor. He fumbled
for his glasses on the table beside the bed. He attempted to run his fingers through his hair. He caught a
glimpse of himself in the mirror and shook his head. After all these years his hair still wouldn't lay right.
He decided to let it grow a bit during fifth year. Not even the extra length helped.
Harry sighed and headed towards the bathroom for a shower. If he made it quick, he would be
able to get a few bites in.
~~~~~~
Harry ran into the Great Hall. There were still some students eating breakfast, although few. Ron
and Hermione were in their usual spots, waiting for him. He hurried to the table and sat next to Hermione.
"What took you so long, mate?" Ron questioned.
Harry shrugged. "Overslept," he mumbled.
"Well, if you'd been any longer, we were going to come rouse you out of bed ourselves,"
Hermione said haughtily. "You know Potions is first this morning, and Snape looks as though he's already
in a foul mood."
Harry grabbed some scrambled eggs, bacon and toast and stole a look at Snape. He did look like
he was rather irked at something. Of course, Harry found himself wondering the difference in any other
time he saw Snape. "He always looks like that, Hermione. Besides, there isn't a whole lot I can do that
would improve his mood anyway. In fact, I'm sure my mere presence pisses him off even more."
"Still, Harry, you don't want to give him a reason to give detentions and take points. He finds
enough on his own."
"Well, I'm here, and I won't be late for potions," Harry said through a mouthful of toast. Just at
that moment, Draco Malfoy stormed into the Hall, looking awfully cross. Harry choked slightly on his
food. Suddenly, the rest of his breakfast didn't look very appetizing anymore.
Hermione nodded toward the Slytherin table. "Looks like you're not the only one having a bad
morning, Harry," she said thoughtfully.
Ron snorted. "Who cares?" he said. "It's bad enough we have to put up with him." He speared a
piece of French toast and glared in Malfoy's general direction. The Slytherin didn't notice.
Hermione tapped her chin. "Have you noticed , though, that we really *haven't* been putting up
with him lately? It's almost as if he's forgotten we exist."
"Well, good then!" Ron exclaimed. "I'd like to forget *he* exists! What about you, Harry?"
Harry fiddled with his fork. "Huh? Oh, sorry. I don't know, I haven't been paying attention. I
suppose he has been rather quiet lately." It did seem as though Malfoy had lost interest in them lately.
Harry thought he was the only one to notice. He suddenly felt awfully uncomfortable. "I've gotta go . . .
homework . . . common room. . . ." He didn't notice a pair of silver eyes watching his departure.
Hermione noticed though. 'I've never seen Malfoy with that look on his face before,' she thought.
'He almost looks . . . wistful? Nonsense.' She shook her head. 'Not possible.'
Ron nudged her. "Hello! I said, didn't you think Harry was acting strange?"
Hermione kept her eyes fixed on Malfoy. He caught her staring and glared at her. She dropped
her gaze quickly. "Yes, I do think so. I have to go, Ron. See you in class." She left as abruptly as Harry.
The Great Hall was nearly empty now.
"Has everyone gone bloody mad?" he said to no one in particular. His friends had deserted him.
"Apparently so, Weasely, considering you've taken up talking to yourself," Seamus Finnegan
snickered as he brushed past.
"Oh, sod off, Finnegan!" Ron was again talking to himself. Seamus had already made his way out
the door. "I give up," he mumbled as he left the Hall to find the dungeons.
~~~~~
Draco Malfoy watched Harry suddenly leave the Hall, looking very uncomfortable. He smirked to
himself. 'Looks like I'm not the only one having an odd morning,' he thought. 'Not that I care. Because I
don't.' He decided to use this tactic to convince himself that there was nothing wrong with him. It was part
of his denial procedure. Of course, he had to train his face not to look at Potter like a lovesick puppy. That
would definitely be helpful.
Just then he caught Granger looking at him. He shot her his best glare. 'Did she see?' he
wondered. 'That's just brilliant. Stupid mudblood will run and tell him now. *Harry, Harry, I caught
Malfoy staring at you like a lovesick puppy.* Arrgh.' As if on cue, he saw Granger get up and dart out of
the Hall as quickly as Potter. 'Bloody brilliant,' he repeated to himself. It wouldn't be so bad if he didn't
have Potions with the two of them. He was sure they'd be laughing at him. And Weasely as well, but at the
moment he didn't look as though he knew what was going on. Draco was sure he'd know soon enough
though. 'Bloody Gryffindors,' he thought as he got up from the table, not noticing he was the last one to
leave the Hall.
~~~~~
"Nice of you to join us, Mr. Malfoy," Professor Snape drawled as Draco entered the Potions
classroom.
Draco refused to be embarrassed. "I was detained," he said arrogantly. He found a seat next to
Pansy Parkinson. She stared at him, wide eyed. Draco Malfoy, late for his favorite class? What would
happen next? Would his cauldron explode? She snorted to herself. Yeah, right. Like the best student in
the class would do something like *that.*
Snape nodded shortly and waved his wand at the chalkboard.
Hermione and Ron rolled their eyes at each other. "If it had been one of us, he'd have taken
points," Ron whispered.
"Thank you Weasley, twenty points from Gryffindor," Snape said without turning around.
Hermione glared at Ron. "Way to go," she mouthed. Ron just shrugged.
Harry seemed to miss the whole thing. In fact, when Malfoy entered the room, he seemed very
intent on studying the empty parchment in front of him.
Snape looked at the class. "Everyone, copy down the ingredients and instructions. Find a partner.
I want to see your work at the end of class." With a toss of his head, he sat at his desk with an I-am-better-
than-you-pathetic-little-wretches-and-now-I-shall-haughtily-ignore-you-until-you-do-something-wrong-
then-I'll-be-on-you-like-a-snake look.
Ron paired up with Seamus, apparently miffed at Hermione because he lost points. That was fine
with Hermione, since she wanted to talk to Harry anyway. Hermione turned to Harry. "Be my partner?"
she asked.
"Sure," Harry said. He put on his dragon hide gloves and began slicing black beetle eyes into
quarters. He was quite intent on keeping himself busy. 'Just as long as I don't have to look at that beautiful
blond across the room.'
Hermione tried to think of a way to bring up Malfoy as casually as she could. "Say, Harry," she
began carefully, "Did you notice anything odd about Malfoy this morning?"
"Well, I noticed he looked rather disheveled and a bit aggravated. Not that I was looking," Harry
didn't meet her gaze.
Hermione added powdered shrivelfig to the cauldron. "I just noticed he had a very strange
expression on his face when you left the Hall. He almost looked as though--I don't know, like he wanted to
follow you or something."
"Don't be silly, Hermione. If he wanted to follow me, it would be to start something, I'm sure."
"I don't know, Harry. I've never seen him look like that before. He seemed almost human."
Snape's head snapped up. "Ten more points from Gryffindor," he said with a sadistic smirk.
Ron gave Hermione a triumphant look. She ignored him.
Suddenly, they heard a loud explosion, followed by a high pitched shriek. Harry instinctively
dove under his table, as it was usually his cauldron that did the blowing up. Pansy was on the verge of
tears, the other Gryffindors pointed and laughed, and Snape had jumped up from his desk.
Hermione grabbed Harry's robes and pulled him from under the table. "What are you doing? That
was Malfoy and Parkinson's cauldron."
Harry felt a little silly as he allowed himself to be dragged from the floor. He smiled sheepishly at
Hermione. "Sorry, just a habit."
"I don't believe it," Hermione said. She was looking in Malfoy's direction. Both Draco and Pansy
were covered in a bright blue sludge. Some of the other Gryffindors were snickering. Ron looked like he
was in his glory. The Slytherins were in shock. They were in their seventh year now, and no one ever saw
Draco screw up a potion before this class. Ever. Draco was in total disbelief.
For once, Snape was at a loss for words. "What-- Malfoy-- potion-- how-- " was all he managed to
get out of his mouth. He gave up trying to speak and tried to survey the damage. At that point, everyone
noticed a hideous smell. There was a collective groan from the students.
Snape finally gained his composure. "Everybody out. Class dismissed-- except for Parkinson and
Malfoy."
Draco sighed. He just wanted to get that awful goo off him. He'd never been punished by Snape
before and for once in his life wished he were one of the Gryffindors. 'I did not just think that,' he told
himself harshly. On the outside, he looked dignified as ever, waiting for Snape's punishment.
Author: Malfoy-hima
Disclaimer: Don't own them, if I did I'd be watching it instead of writing it. The song "Angel" belongs to Aerosmith.
Author Notes: My first story. *gulp*
Warning: slash, may be OOC at times.
Addy: steffi_s12@hotmail.com
Rating: Tentative PG-13, probably R later on.
Beta: My wonderful sister, tir-synni. She also owns the rather large phrase I use to describe Snape's facial expression later!
Summary: Draco finally realizes Harry has been the angel he's been looking for all along.
//I'm alone, yeah I don't know if I can face the night//
A cold dampness filled the air of the Slytherin prefect's dorm room. The aloof chill of the room
reflected the immaculate, empty atmosphere pervading the small area. Only a desk, an armoire, a fireplace,
a black leather sofa, and the obligatory painting of a serpent occupied the room. Quite simple, really. Most
people would be shocked at just how little the spoiled rich boy kept in his room.
Draco Malfoy lay on his bed , staring at complete nothingness. He didn't know what time it was,
but it wouldn't matter. Sleep wasn't coming. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw a pair of glowing
emeralds. 'What the hell am I going to do?' he thought to himself. All summer, those same thoughts
haunted him. A month had passed into the school year, and it wouldn't let up. At least he could sleep
before. The past week had been miserable. Not a wink of sleep during the night, nearly nodding off in
class during the day. He wanted terribly to find a way out before he went completely mad.
"Fuck off, Malfoy." The three words that started this mess. Draco remembered it quite well. It
had been four months prior, before the last school term ended. Draco had always enjoyed tormenting
the"Gryffindor Trio"-- Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger. On this day, he had Hermione
backed up against a wall. No Weasley or Potter in sight. "What's wrong, Granger? Your boyfriends aren't
here to defend you, are they?" Her hand moved toward the inside of her robes, but Draco quickly
intercepted it. He grabbed her wrist and squeezed. "Don't even think about it, Mudblood." Hermione
flinched. "I guess the Mudblood still hasn't gotten used to her name." A strong hand on his shoulder
stopped him cold. "Potter," Draco sneered.
"My advice to you would be to leave her alone, Malfoy." The coldness in Harry Potter's voice sent
a shiver down Draco's spine. Potter's lip curled in disgust. "You are an unbelievable coward," he spat.
Draco's mouth opened for a comeback, but for once, nothing came out. He released Hermione's
arm. She moved beside Harry.
"You ok, Malfoy? Funny, you're not so clever when your goons aren't around. Where are they,
anyway? Seems as if you have no one to hide behind now."
Draco wanted to pull his wand, but knew better. Potter had proven time and again that his reflexes
shamed Draco's. "Oh, just take your little Mudblood playtoy and find a house elf to hug, Potter. I'm bored
already," he said as evenly as he could.
Harry's eyes glowed like Avada Kedavra. "Fuck off, Malfoy," he growled through clenched teeth.
He grabbed Hermione's hand and stomped away, leaving Draco feeling rather dumbfounded. And, oddly,
more than a little turned on.
The whole summer, those three words echoed through Draco's head continuously. "Fuck off,
Malfoy." No sod, no bugger, just out and out fuck off. He never knew Potter had it in him.
A feeling started to grow inside Draco that he couldn't place at the time. But now he knew. He
actually *liked* Harry Potter. Not just liked him, but *liked* him liked him. He wanted to hold his hand
and kiss his cheek and hug him and touch his face. . . Ugh.
He tried to ignore it, but it just wouldn't go away. During the summer, he did a lot of flying. He
loved being on his broom, and it helped him think. Eventually, flying didn't work anymore. Then he tried
concentrating on his summer homework. That didn't get far. Then he tried denial. No. He finally gave up.
He'd have to wait it out. He'd get over it sooner or later. Harry Potter, the Golden Gryffindor, and Draco
Malfoy, the son of a Death Eater. Right. His father would kill him. Snape would kill him. His whole
damn house would kill him. *Potter* would kill him. How in the living fuck did he get himself into this?
Draco never spoke to the Gryffindors after that day. He didn't even look in their direction. His
Malfoy pride told him not to let them think they'd won, but he just had no desire to screw with them
anymore.
He rolled over and put his pillow over his head. 'Fuck,' he thought. 'No, fuck *you*, Potter. I'll
beat this. I refuse to let Harry fucking Potter take over my life. I'm a Malfoy, damn it!' He rolled out of
bed and started to pace the room. He ran his hands through his long blond hair, trying to think of a way to
end this before it got out of control. 'Too late, Malfoy,' he told himself. He sighed and flopped onto the
bed again, eyes wide open.
~~~~~~
On the other side of Hogwarts, a dark haired figure sat on his windowsill, searching the night.
Instead of stars, he saw glittering pale eyes. Frustrated, Harry Potter padded to his bed and begged for
sleep.
~~~~~~
Sometime during the night Harry managed to doze off. He awoke with a start and peered out of
the curtains that hung around his bed. The dorm was empty. "Bugger," he muttered out loud. He
overslept. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and hissed at the coldness of the floor. He fumbled
for his glasses on the table beside the bed. He attempted to run his fingers through his hair. He caught a
glimpse of himself in the mirror and shook his head. After all these years his hair still wouldn't lay right.
He decided to let it grow a bit during fifth year. Not even the extra length helped.
Harry sighed and headed towards the bathroom for a shower. If he made it quick, he would be
able to get a few bites in.
~~~~~~
Harry ran into the Great Hall. There were still some students eating breakfast, although few. Ron
and Hermione were in their usual spots, waiting for him. He hurried to the table and sat next to Hermione.
"What took you so long, mate?" Ron questioned.
Harry shrugged. "Overslept," he mumbled.
"Well, if you'd been any longer, we were going to come rouse you out of bed ourselves,"
Hermione said haughtily. "You know Potions is first this morning, and Snape looks as though he's already
in a foul mood."
Harry grabbed some scrambled eggs, bacon and toast and stole a look at Snape. He did look like
he was rather irked at something. Of course, Harry found himself wondering the difference in any other
time he saw Snape. "He always looks like that, Hermione. Besides, there isn't a whole lot I can do that
would improve his mood anyway. In fact, I'm sure my mere presence pisses him off even more."
"Still, Harry, you don't want to give him a reason to give detentions and take points. He finds
enough on his own."
"Well, I'm here, and I won't be late for potions," Harry said through a mouthful of toast. Just at
that moment, Draco Malfoy stormed into the Hall, looking awfully cross. Harry choked slightly on his
food. Suddenly, the rest of his breakfast didn't look very appetizing anymore.
Hermione nodded toward the Slytherin table. "Looks like you're not the only one having a bad
morning, Harry," she said thoughtfully.
Ron snorted. "Who cares?" he said. "It's bad enough we have to put up with him." He speared a
piece of French toast and glared in Malfoy's general direction. The Slytherin didn't notice.
Hermione tapped her chin. "Have you noticed , though, that we really *haven't* been putting up
with him lately? It's almost as if he's forgotten we exist."
"Well, good then!" Ron exclaimed. "I'd like to forget *he* exists! What about you, Harry?"
Harry fiddled with his fork. "Huh? Oh, sorry. I don't know, I haven't been paying attention. I
suppose he has been rather quiet lately." It did seem as though Malfoy had lost interest in them lately.
Harry thought he was the only one to notice. He suddenly felt awfully uncomfortable. "I've gotta go . . .
homework . . . common room. . . ." He didn't notice a pair of silver eyes watching his departure.
Hermione noticed though. 'I've never seen Malfoy with that look on his face before,' she thought.
'He almost looks . . . wistful? Nonsense.' She shook her head. 'Not possible.'
Ron nudged her. "Hello! I said, didn't you think Harry was acting strange?"
Hermione kept her eyes fixed on Malfoy. He caught her staring and glared at her. She dropped
her gaze quickly. "Yes, I do think so. I have to go, Ron. See you in class." She left as abruptly as Harry.
The Great Hall was nearly empty now.
"Has everyone gone bloody mad?" he said to no one in particular. His friends had deserted him.
"Apparently so, Weasely, considering you've taken up talking to yourself," Seamus Finnegan
snickered as he brushed past.
"Oh, sod off, Finnegan!" Ron was again talking to himself. Seamus had already made his way out
the door. "I give up," he mumbled as he left the Hall to find the dungeons.
~~~~~
Draco Malfoy watched Harry suddenly leave the Hall, looking very uncomfortable. He smirked to
himself. 'Looks like I'm not the only one having an odd morning,' he thought. 'Not that I care. Because I
don't.' He decided to use this tactic to convince himself that there was nothing wrong with him. It was part
of his denial procedure. Of course, he had to train his face not to look at Potter like a lovesick puppy. That
would definitely be helpful.
Just then he caught Granger looking at him. He shot her his best glare. 'Did she see?' he
wondered. 'That's just brilliant. Stupid mudblood will run and tell him now. *Harry, Harry, I caught
Malfoy staring at you like a lovesick puppy.* Arrgh.' As if on cue, he saw Granger get up and dart out of
the Hall as quickly as Potter. 'Bloody brilliant,' he repeated to himself. It wouldn't be so bad if he didn't
have Potions with the two of them. He was sure they'd be laughing at him. And Weasely as well, but at the
moment he didn't look as though he knew what was going on. Draco was sure he'd know soon enough
though. 'Bloody Gryffindors,' he thought as he got up from the table, not noticing he was the last one to
leave the Hall.
~~~~~
"Nice of you to join us, Mr. Malfoy," Professor Snape drawled as Draco entered the Potions
classroom.
Draco refused to be embarrassed. "I was detained," he said arrogantly. He found a seat next to
Pansy Parkinson. She stared at him, wide eyed. Draco Malfoy, late for his favorite class? What would
happen next? Would his cauldron explode? She snorted to herself. Yeah, right. Like the best student in
the class would do something like *that.*
Snape nodded shortly and waved his wand at the chalkboard.
Hermione and Ron rolled their eyes at each other. "If it had been one of us, he'd have taken
points," Ron whispered.
"Thank you Weasley, twenty points from Gryffindor," Snape said without turning around.
Hermione glared at Ron. "Way to go," she mouthed. Ron just shrugged.
Harry seemed to miss the whole thing. In fact, when Malfoy entered the room, he seemed very
intent on studying the empty parchment in front of him.
Snape looked at the class. "Everyone, copy down the ingredients and instructions. Find a partner.
I want to see your work at the end of class." With a toss of his head, he sat at his desk with an I-am-better-
than-you-pathetic-little-wretches-and-now-I-shall-haughtily-ignore-you-until-you-do-something-wrong-
then-I'll-be-on-you-like-a-snake look.
Ron paired up with Seamus, apparently miffed at Hermione because he lost points. That was fine
with Hermione, since she wanted to talk to Harry anyway. Hermione turned to Harry. "Be my partner?"
she asked.
"Sure," Harry said. He put on his dragon hide gloves and began slicing black beetle eyes into
quarters. He was quite intent on keeping himself busy. 'Just as long as I don't have to look at that beautiful
blond across the room.'
Hermione tried to think of a way to bring up Malfoy as casually as she could. "Say, Harry," she
began carefully, "Did you notice anything odd about Malfoy this morning?"
"Well, I noticed he looked rather disheveled and a bit aggravated. Not that I was looking," Harry
didn't meet her gaze.
Hermione added powdered shrivelfig to the cauldron. "I just noticed he had a very strange
expression on his face when you left the Hall. He almost looked as though--I don't know, like he wanted to
follow you or something."
"Don't be silly, Hermione. If he wanted to follow me, it would be to start something, I'm sure."
"I don't know, Harry. I've never seen him look like that before. He seemed almost human."
Snape's head snapped up. "Ten more points from Gryffindor," he said with a sadistic smirk.
Ron gave Hermione a triumphant look. She ignored him.
Suddenly, they heard a loud explosion, followed by a high pitched shriek. Harry instinctively
dove under his table, as it was usually his cauldron that did the blowing up. Pansy was on the verge of
tears, the other Gryffindors pointed and laughed, and Snape had jumped up from his desk.
Hermione grabbed Harry's robes and pulled him from under the table. "What are you doing? That
was Malfoy and Parkinson's cauldron."
Harry felt a little silly as he allowed himself to be dragged from the floor. He smiled sheepishly at
Hermione. "Sorry, just a habit."
"I don't believe it," Hermione said. She was looking in Malfoy's direction. Both Draco and Pansy
were covered in a bright blue sludge. Some of the other Gryffindors were snickering. Ron looked like he
was in his glory. The Slytherins were in shock. They were in their seventh year now, and no one ever saw
Draco screw up a potion before this class. Ever. Draco was in total disbelief.
For once, Snape was at a loss for words. "What-- Malfoy-- potion-- how-- " was all he managed to
get out of his mouth. He gave up trying to speak and tried to survey the damage. At that point, everyone
noticed a hideous smell. There was a collective groan from the students.
Snape finally gained his composure. "Everybody out. Class dismissed-- except for Parkinson and
Malfoy."
Draco sighed. He just wanted to get that awful goo off him. He'd never been punished by Snape
before and for once in his life wished he were one of the Gryffindors. 'I did not just think that,' he told
himself harshly. On the outside, he looked dignified as ever, waiting for Snape's punishment.
