Bug off, Malfoy," Harry growled. "We don't want to deal with any of your crap tonight." Malfoy's face contorted into his famous sneer.
"What's the matter, Potty? Don't want to get into a fight in front of your Loony Lover?" Luna's face flushed.
Draco turned to Neville and Hermione next. "And here we have Mr. Longbottom dancing with, oh my, a Mudblood." Hermione clenched her fists, and stepped closer to Neville. Harry saw Ron start to reach inside his robes. Harry shook his head no.
Then Malfoy turned to Ron and Lavender. "Ah, the Weasel. Dancing with, goodness, ANOTHER Mudblood. Tsk, tsk. What is becoming of the wizarding world today?" Ron finally lost control. With a roar he leapt at Malfoy.
Lavender let out a little squeak that nobody heard. Harry grabbed at Ron and missed, then yelled, "Ron, NO!"
But Ron wasn't listening to anyone. He was sitting on Malfoy's chest, punching every part of him that he could reach. Pansy Parkinson was standing in the background, looking horrified that her date was getting beat up by a Weasley.
"Mr. Weasley," a voice rang out. "Stop this instant!" Harry looked up to see Professor McGonagall. When Ron didn't pay her any mind and kept beating Malfoy, McGonagall reached down and pulled him up by the collar. By now, a crowd of students and teachers had gathered around the two boys and McGonagall.
"Lemme at 'im," Ron growled, fists flying every which way. McGonagall was taking great care to not get hit. "Let...me...at...him!" Malfoy, blood rushing from his nose and mouth, with bruises starting to form around his eyes and on his cheekbones, half crawled and half stumbled behind Pansy.
"What is the meaning of this, Mr. Weasley?" Professor McGonagall asked sharply. "He called Lavender a...a..." Harry spoke up. "He called Lavender a Mudblood, Professor. He called Hermione one, too." Neville started nodding furiously. Everyone who was crowded around them gasped and started murmuring to each other. McGonagall dropped her hold on Ron and turned to Malfoy.
"Is this true, Mr. Malfoy?" she asked, her eyebrows raised, holding out her arm to stop Ron from leaping on Malfoy again.
"Well, uh...well...look what he did to me, Professor!" Malfoy gestured frantically at his face, panic flashing in his eyes.
"Answer the question, Mr. Malfoy!" Professor McGonagall snapped. Draco looked down at his feet and nodded. "I see," McGonagall said briskly. "Mr. Malfoy, you will catch the train first thing tomorrow morning to go home." She turned away.
Malfoy looked up astonishment written clearly in his eyes. "But...but Professor! Look at what Weasley did to me! And I'm the one who gets sent home?" McGonagall turned back around. "I will deal with Mr. Weasley, Mr. Malfoy, and how I deal with him is my business. I think that you had better go see Madam Pomfrey about those bruises. Mr. Weasley, come with me, please."
Ron opened his mouth to protest, but Lavender shook her head for him to be quiet, and pushed him gently toward McGonagall. "I'll see you in the common room later," she whispered. Ron shut his mouth and nodded. He then followed McGonagall out of the Great Hall.
The music started playing again, and everyone cleared out. The group could see Malfoy stalking out of the Great Hall, Pansy at his side, her mouth going a mile a minute.
When Draco reached the doors, he stomped out of them, and slammed them behind him so Pansy couldn't follow him. She turned on her heel and walked off in a huff.
With everyone dancing, only Harry, Luna, Hermione, Neville, and Lavender were left at the site of the fight. Lavender was looking down at her feet. A tear rolled down her cheek and fell on the otherwise spotless floor below. Hermione saw this and rushed over to her friend.
"Oh, Lavender, it'll be okay. I'm sure Ron won't get into to much trouble; after all, Malfoy was the one who did the only wrong thing. That was horrible of him to say that. And Ron was only defending you. So everything will be all right."
Luna walked over and put her arm around Lavender's shoulders. "Hermione's right, Lavender. We shouldn't let Malfoy mess up our evening. That would just make our day. Let's try to forget about it for now, and try to have a good time, okay?"
Lavender nodded her head and wiped her eyes. "It just won't feel the same without Ron here. I hope he's okay. McGonagall won't be to hard on him, will she, do you think?"
Luna and Hermione led Lavender away, still consoling her, telling her that Ron would be fine, after all, he didn't even get hit.
That left Harry and Neville standing alone in the middle of the dance floor, people dancing all around them.
"Well," Harry said. "That wasn't too bad. Malfoy got in trouble, anyway. But there'll probably be a letter from his father the day that he gets home, though. But Ron did the right thing; don't you think so, Neville? Umm...Neville?"
Neville was standing stock-still, staring at the doors Malfoy had just exited through. His fists were clenched at his sides, and his eyes were shooting fire.
Harry stepped into Neville's line of vision. "Neville, what's wrong? Malfoy just got suspended, we should be celebrating. Why are you looking like that?"
Neville still hadn't moved. "I'll get him," he said through clenched teeth. "I'll get him for calling Hermione that. He'll be sorry, I swear he will. I swear it." Harry looked at his friend, worry written all over his face. This wasn't the Neville that he knew. The Neville that he knew was calm and quiet. He got flustered and upset over a few things, but that had hardly ever happened. Harry couldn't remember a time that Neville was ever mad, not even when Snape picked on him, or Malfoy and his gang made fun of him and taunted him in front of his classmates. No, all of those times Neville had just sat there and looked down at his desk or his shoes, never saying a word.
Harry finally managed to speak. "Hey, Neville, it'll be okay. Malfoy's suspended, we don't have to spend the rest of the holidays with him around." Harry didn't mention that there was a good chance that they would have to spend the holidays without Ron, either. He chose not to think about that part.
Neville looked at Harry, fury still in his eyes. "I told you, Harry, I'll get him. He'll be sorry he even thought of calling Hermione that. I swear my life on it."