Chapter 43: In The Girls' Toilet

Disclaimer: I own neither Harry Potter nor the wit to find a funny way of saying I don't own Harry Potter. Woe is me.

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A/N: I had Fallen ready for update on Thursday night. Then? Then wouldn't let me log in, and my betae were, for various reasons, unable to give it more but the briefest of look-throughs. (Who do they think they are, going on holiday! I'll try and get this checked through and re-upload an improved copy later on, and change the mistake some of you spotted last chapter, too.) This, my friends, is what is known as 'Sod's Law'. Hotmail has also decided to start refusing to allow me to send emails to groups, which means that I can't send any more emails to people on my update list… I suggest author alerts, for those that can use them, and apologise to everyone else!

Not hat things are all doom and gloom: I did, thankfully, get the two ficlets for the fandom aid project I mentioned submitted on time. The links to the two fics, Euthanasia and Sunlight, can be found in my profile. (You remember the decidedly psychotic muse who inspired Cursed? These are her work again. I'd like to take this opportunity to reassure you all that I am a reasonably sane, happy person, who just happens to have the worrying ability to come up with decidedly dark plots, concepts and curses.) Remember that these stories are for charity, and if you read them, please do make a donation to any of the charities helping with the Tsunami disaster. There's also lots of other wonderful work by other writers, artists, etc. on the site in many different fandoms – look around!

Forum is going ahead, and is currently in planning. It will be on a Harry Potter/writing theme… have lots of very fun plans – more on that soon!

As for how long Fallen's going to be, don't ask, because I'm trying very hard not to think about it… it's like not looking down when you're dangling a long way up over a cliff you're currently abseiling down. If I look down, I'll freeze in terror at the sheer drop. I can see the beginnings of the DHr looming a (relatively) short way below, though…

With that thought, onto the chapter. Enjoy!

There are, in every age, new errors to be rectified and new prejudices to be opposed.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)

'So I get to stay in freezing cold Hogwarts while my parents fly to the Caribbean for a second honeymoon,' Ellen finished, rubbing her arms slightly in emphasis. Winter had definitely arrived at Hogwarts; the sight of the endless grassy lawns covered with powdery frost was becoming depressingly common. 'Is it always this cold here in winter?'

Draco shrugged, trying to resist the temptation to walk faster. They were on their way to the library; Ellen to do homework and hide where it was safe, and Draco to meet Hermione as usual. They had arranged to meet at half past, which was approximately five minutes away, but he couldn't go any faster. Ellen was half-running to keep up as it was. Still, he supposed he wouldn't be very late, if at all…

'It's only November,' he pointed out. 'It'll get a little colder, I think. I don't really notice that much, the manor was always cold. Huge stone buildings are notoriously difficult to heat.'

Ellen shook her head. 'The wizarding world needs to be introduced to central heating,' she grumbled. 'Heating charms and fireplaces are great, but I prefer radiators. Our house was never this cold.'

'Radiators?' Draco asked, frowning at the unfamiliar word. 'What are those?'

'Oh, I forgot…' Ellen said. 'Er… I'm not sure how they work, but they're big metal things that you attach to the wall, and when you turn the heating on they get hot and the whole room warms up. I think they have water in, because the ones at school used to sound like waterfalls in the morning when they were heating up. It annoyed the teachers, but I always thought it sounded pretty.'

'Big metal things attached to the walls?' Draco repeated. 'Doesn't that look ugly?'

'A bit, I guess, but they can make the room much warmer than heating charms do,' Ellen said. 'They're usually somewhere out of the way. Under windows quite often.' She glanced at one of the windows as they passed, as if mentally chastising it for not having a radiator underneath. 'Heating charms are too weak, and fireplaces are too hot when you get up close to them,'

'And I suppose these radiator things are perfect?' Draco asked, amused.

'Well, not in schools.' Ellen said after thinking for a while. 'Schools have a tendency of putting the radiators on in the summer and turning them off in the winter,' she added with a knowledgeable nod.

Draco paused for a moment, decided he was confused, and asked, 'Why would they do that?'

'Well, they don't really,' Ellen told him, head on one side. 'It feels like they do though. But at home the radiators are always perfect.'

'I'll stick with fires and heating charms,' Draco muttered, shaking his head. 'You'll get used to it; the cold's not that bad after a while. I've stayed behind at Hogwarts before, it's actually quite nice at Christmas. A lot quieter, which should be good for you.'

'Fewer people trying to kill me,' Ellen agreed, with a bright and slightly sharp grin. Draco frowned. He couldn't pinpoint what it was about the look on her face, but he felt… and he couldn't find a word for that either. It wasn't a good feeling, it was a bad one, and distinctly uneasy, but beyond that he hadn't a clue.

'They aren't trying to kill you,' Draco tried. 'Hurt you, yes, but they wouldn't kill you. If they get caught they'll be expelled and they know it; Slytherins wouldn't do something so stupid.'

'Even the ones who've been taught to hate my kind from the cradle?' Ellen asked bitterly. 'It would only take one or two of them, and I'm sure there are ways for them to kill me that would be untraceable. Poison, for one.'

Draco shivered slightly – they really did need better heating charms in these corridors. 'There's always a chance they'll be found out, and they wouldn't risk it. Perhaps you should go to one of the teachers? Professor Snape's Head of Slytherin.'

'And what good could he do? Give them extra Potions homework?' Ellen asked caustically. 'Won't stop them hating me. And he can't really give us a lecture on not being prejudiced, can he? At best they'd ignore him, at worst they'd hex him unconscious for trying. There's nothing to be done except keep them too scared of trying.' She glanced up, giving him a half-smile; fear of Draco's Dark Arts abilities was, after all, the only thing keeping her from being attacked daily. For the first time, Draco realised exactly how vital he was to the first-year.

He smiled back. 'Well, they seem scared enough at the moment,' he replied. Blaise's note, a few days ago now, was still in his mind. They'd come across what he'd assumed was the attacking party on the way back from Potter's DA; a bunch of third-year Slytherins waiting, utterly silent, concealed in one of the side corridors. Draco had been utterly vigilant about watching for danger, and even he hadn't noticed until he and Ellen were right on top of them. Thankfully, once they saw Draco, they shied away from attacking and pretended they were just loitering around.

They had fallen silent while he remembered this, but carried on walking in companionable quiet for a few moments until a few corridors from the library, where Ellen stopped suddenly, hovering, her expression uncertain. 'Er, Draco, would you mind waiting while I…'

'While you what?' he asked, feeling slightly confused until he noticed the nearby door, marked with the symbol for a girls' toilet. 'Oh, go on,' he said, feeling slightly annoyed. 'But be quick, Hermione's waiting for me,'

Her face burst into a quick grin. 'Thanks,' she said, and hurried through the door. Draco leant against the nearest wall, keeping an eye on the door, and checked the time. Half past exactly, he was going to be late…

Still, he couldn't really leave Ellen. All it would take were a few of the more prejudiced Slytherins in the corridors and… well, he didn't believe they'd actually kill her, but putting her in the Hospital Wing was not out of the question. Perhaps he should go to Professor Snape. There wasn't much he could do, but the teachers should be aware of the situation. Though they probably were already; they weren't stupid. Barring a few notables like Trelawney, of course, who had earned the nickname of Trelooney among the younger years.

A pair of giggling girls turned the corner into the corridor, and stopped giggling when they realised they weren't alone anymore. Draco gave them a nod, and apart from a brief curious look they ignored him, heading for the girls' toilet. He let them; they were quite young, wearing Hufflepuff robes and he was fairly certain that one of them was Muggleborn, so he doubted they were any danger to Ellen.

The door swung shut behind them, and the quiet of an empty corridor returned. Draco glared at his watch, which informed him that he was now five minutes late, and returned his attention to the toilet door. How long could someone spend in there?

The door flew open suddenly, and the pair of Hufflepuffs skittered through it, fleeing for the safety of the far wall as though they'd found the toilets full of werewolves. Draco glanced towards the door, which had slammed shut behind them, and found his mind instantly racing towards the only obvious conclusion. 'What's going on in there?' he asked, his hand already reaching for his wand.

The taller of the girls managed to gasp out a frightened, 'Some of the older girls, they're attacking…' before he was pushing the door open and storming through.

Two smirking girls were holding a struggling Ellen against one of the sinks; a third one stood in front, and Draco was just in time to see her throw a hex that snapped Ellen's head back against the mirror, shattering it, and sent a stream of blood flowing from her nose. The mix of emotions that struck him all at once made him feel distinctly disorientated, but he forced himself to ignore them, there was no time for that.

They hadn't noticed him come in; he raised his wand, aiming for the attacker. 'Petrificus Totalus!' Her arms snapped to her sides as she fell to the floor, rigid, and before the other two could react he hit them both with a quick 'Expelliarmus!'

Wandless, the two girls looked first at their fallen friend, then at each other, fear on both their faces. Ellen slid to the floor, looking slightly dazed, but she gave Draco a distinct grin, pinching the bridge of her nose to stop it bleeding.

Draco prodded the fallen one with his toe, eyes never leaving the other two. He was well aware that the look in his eyes was decidedly vicious; he felt decidedly vicious, and only the very firm, very human conscience was stopping him from using some of the more unusual of the Dark Arts on them.

Instead he gave them his most distinctly unnerving grin, and asked, 'Have you ever seen someone sneeze their entrails out through their nose?'

Dumbly, the girls shook their heads, eyes growing wide. One of them tried to speak. 'We didn't-'

'Then I will make certain that, should the three of you ever try attacking Ellen again, I'll arrange it so you can see it happening to each other,' he snapped. 'I suggest you leave.'

The two girls glanced between Ellen and their friend. The dark-haired one who'd spoken before, who seemed the bravest of the two, said, 'You wouldn't dare. The teachers-'

'Wouldn't know, as the wards on this school can't pick up that particular spell. The spell takes about five hours to run its course and the antidote potion, which regrows the entire digestive system and is in itself fairly painful needs a further two. So if I kidnapped you at night I could have you back in your beds by morning with no trace that anything had ever happened,' he told them, his voice sharp but firm. It would be all too easy; it had happened before, though not in his time at Hogwarts.

The girls shared another glance. 'We'll leave,' said the same girl as before, folding her arms defiantly. 'May we have our wands back?'

'You'll get them back later,' Draco told them. He wasn't about to give them back now, not where there were three of them who were all too likely to attack as soon as they got their hands on a suitable weapon.

From beneath the sink, Ellen spoke up. 'My wand…'

'Where is it?' Draco asked, and the girls nodded silently to the girl in the Full-Body-Bind on the floor. Without taking his eyes or wand off the other girls, he bent down and retrieved it from the girl's hand.

'Get out.' Draco told them, feeling suddenly sickened. 'And remember what I said. I mean it.'

The girls didn't move. 'Aren't you going to release Emily?' one of them asked, nodding towards her friend. They both kept their heads high; they were defeated but still proud.

There was some vindictive burning feeling inside Draco as he answered. 'I'm sure you're strong enough to carry her between you,' he replied, raising an eyebrow.

'But that's!'

'Come on,' muttered the dark-haired girl, walking over to take the body-bound girl's shoulders. The second girl took her feet, and between them they managed to carry their swaying burden out the door. Draco kept his eye and wand on them both until the door banged shut behind them, before he allowed himself to turn his attention to Ellen.

'I'm fine,' was the first thing she said, wiping at the bloodstain under her nose. 'Just banged my head a bit. My nose stopped bleeding.'

'I did see your head hit that mirror,' he told her firmly, crouching down beside her. Let me look…' He didn't even have to examine the back of her head closely; Ellen's muddy-blonde hair showed bloodstains remarkably well.

'I'm fine, it doesn't even hurt that much…' Ellen said, squirming slightly and looking uncomfortable.

'And if your head wasn't bleeding I might well take your word for it. Hold still and let me see, I think there might be glass in this…'

With a sigh, Ellen consented to Draco's examination, looking upwards to the broken mirror. 'Is it true that you get seven years bad luck for breaking mirrors?'

'Muggle superstition,' Draco told her. 'And if it was true they'd get the bad luck anyway; they're the ones who caused it to break.'

'Good,' Ellen said with deep satisfaction. 'I've got enough to be looking out for in the next seven years…'

Hogwarts lasted for seven years, Draco remembered, and tried not to shiver. 'I think there is glass here,' he told her. 'We'd better go to Madam Pomfrey, she can heal it.'

'Can't you?' Ellen asked.

'I'm not good with medical magic,' he told her. 'The only one I can do is heal broken bones, and that took me ages to learn. Malfoys have notoriously fragile bones,' he added, by way of explanation as he got to his feet and held a hand out to help her up.

She took it and got slowly to her feet. 'You're going to be really late to meet Hermione, you know. And you'll have to wait with me till Madam Pomfrey's done, because I can't go through the corridors on my own.

Draco shrugged. 'Getting your head seen to is the important issue at this point. Hermione will understand.'

'Alright,' Ellen said, took a step towards the door, and paused, an amused grin spreading over her face. 'Draco,' she said, 'you do realise you're in a girls' bathroom, don't you?'

'Sorry I'm late.'

Draco's voice, sounding quite apologetic, startled Hermione, who had picked a book at random from the shelves and started reading when it became obvious he was going to be late. She looked up from the book to see him hovering at the entrance to their alcove, giving her a worried half-smile which made it quite impossible not to forgive him.

'Don't worry about it,' she said, closing the book and shoving it aside. 'What kept you? I thought you'd forgotten, or been held up or something…'

'I didn't forget,' Draco said, standing with one arm leaning on the edge of one of the bookcases, head on one side, a sudden frown on his face. 'I was… you know Ellen? The Muggleborn Slytherin in first-year, goes to your DA meetings.'

Hermione leapt to the obvious conclusion, eyes widening in horror. 'Something happened,' she said blankly, staring at him, getting to her feet without conscious thought. 'One of the Slytherins… Is she okay? What happened?'

'She's fine,' Draco said, in what was obviously meant to be a soothing manner. 'She's in the library now doing her homework, no harm done.' He crossed the room to her side, frowning, and she felt his hand on her shoulder, gently pushing her downwards. Her legs felt suddenly weak, and she sank slowly into the chair, hearing rather than seeing Draco sit down beside her.

'Hermione?' he asked. 'Are you alright?'

She shook herself and gave him a smile. 'I'm okay,' she assured him. 'Just got a little…' Realising that she couldn't really explain herself to Draco, she repeated herself. 'I'm fine.' He looked suspicious and opened his mouth as if to say something; she quickly cut him off.

'What happened, exactly?'

With an unwilling sigh, he frowned at her and gave in. 'We were on the way to the library,' he explained, 'and she stopped to go to the toilet, while I waited outside. After a minute or so, tho girls went in and then came running out like the Dark Lord himself was after them; I figured out that something must be happening, went in and stopped them.'

He fell silent then, watching her carefully, and Hermione realised that he really didn't want to tell her, and the reason why was obvious from his expression. Draco was worried. He knew that prejudice against Muggleborns always upset her, made her angry or despairing or both. And being so new to emotions, so confused by them, didn't it make sense he wouldn't want to do anything which would make her feel bad?

Hermione didn't know whether to be amused or endeared; she smiled reassuringly at him. 'Don't worry; you aren't going to upset me. Not much, anyway, and I don't mind if you do. Tell me what happened.'

He looked uncertain, rubbing his elbow with the opposite hand, but continued. 'There were three of them, all Slytherins, I think. No, one of them was a Ravenclaw. According to Ellen, when she went in there were three cubicles already occupied, so she went in the fourth and planned to stay in there until the others had left, and they'd never have known she was in there. Obviously they did find out, because when it went quiet she opened the door, to be cornered by the three girls. Accioed her wand out of her bag before she could do anything, and…'

'And?' Hermione prompted. She was forcing herself to ignore the curling, unsettling feelings inside her; she noticed that her hand was clenched into a fist and forced it to relax. She had to stay calm; she didn't want Draco to think he was upsetting her.

'Two of them held her against the sinks, the other one did the attacking,' Draco said, his eyes loosely focussed on the table. 'Not sure what spell she used, but I was in there just in time to see it hit. Knocked her head back against the mirror and gave her a nosebleed, but she was okay otherwise. The mirror broke and a bit of glass got in the cut, but she was fine, Madam Pomfrey healed it in seconds.

Hermione kept herself calm, forcing herself to take a deep breath. She'd met Ellen at the DA; she was just a first year, an eleven-year-old girl. Polite and kind and quick to learn, and utterly undeserving of anything like this…

'You are getting upset,' she heard Draco sigh beside her. 'You shouldn't have made me tell you.'

'Yes, I should,' she replied, coming back to reality at the sound of his voice. 'Really. I wanted to know, and I don't mind… I know it gets me angry, but I'd rather be angry than not know. It doesn't bother me that much, I'm used to it.'

'I suppose…' Draco said, still sounding uncertain. 'I don't know. I don't like seeing… seeing other people being upset, or angry, or being attacked by their own House, if it comes to that. Because I know how horrible those emotions are, and I just… I don't like seeing it. I suppose that's why I help Ellen.' He shrugged, staring at the table, head bowed so she couldn't see his face. One finger traced the patters on a worn knot in the table's surface.

'Which makes you a good person,' she told him softly, reaching out to put a hand on his arm. 'Empathy and compassion are very valuable qualities.'

'But that doesn't mean I particularly enjoy them,' Draco said, frowning at the table. 'They're a pain most of the time.'

'Do you want me to distract you?' she asked. Draco, to her surprise, burst out laughing. 'What's so funny?'

'You. Typical Gryffindor,' he explained with a grin. 'No subtlety at all. You aren't meant to tell someone you're distracting them, you know.'

'I can be subtle,' she pointed out, folding her arms in mock annoyance. 'And I don't have to be subtle to distract you.'

'How do you propose to distract me of you've already told me what you're doing?' he asked, a smooth smirk coming to his face. He slid down, arms on the table and chin resting atop them, eyes sparkling. 'I can be on my guard against you.'

'Well, you seem pretty distracted to me,' Hermione remarked with an air of smug superiority, and had to laugh at the expression on Draco's face when he realised she'd successfully distracted him.

'Your time spent with a Slytherin has obviously corrupted you, Hermione,' he remarked with an amused smile, turning his head sideways to rest comfortably on his sleeve. 'Your distraction techniques are so subtle they even managed to work on me. Of course,' he added, eyes flashing with amusement, 'I take all the credit for training you.'

Hermione couldn't help but laugh, and their conversation quickly turned to more pleasant discussion of the upcoming winter holidays.

A/N: Have been planning new fic (it always pays to plan ahead!) and have decided to do it in first person, because I'm getting tired of third and I want to do something new. (First person is as if one of the characters is telling the story, e.g. 'I walked to the window and twisted my hand in the velvet curtains.' Third is 'She walked…' etc.) However, what I simply cannot decide on is tense. Past or present? (i.e. 'I walked' or 'I walk', 'twisted' or 'twist'?) Throwing this over to you: which do you prefer? What are the pros and cons of each? (The narrator, by the way, will be Hermione. DHr pairing, fairly dark, middling length.)

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