Chapter 13

The Battle of the Houses

"You like her, don't you?" hissed Pansy.

Malfoy ignored her and continued pacing the carpet.

"You know I'm not going out with you because I like you, its because my mother said it was a 'good match'," she said mockingly, "WHATEVER! All you care about is yourself!"

"Would you shut up? I'm trying to think!"

"Probably thinking of a plan to get Roxanne to like you. She's mad," she derided.

"Shut up woman!" he yelled at her.

"And to think I've spent the past six months going out with you. What a waste of my life!"

Malfoy blocked his ears with his hands and kept pacing, rapt in thought.

"And people even warned me! 'Don't go out with him,' they said and did I listen? Nooo! I had to go steady with you!"

"SHUT UP OR I'LL BLOODY WELL MAKE YOU!" bellowed Malfoy, raising his hand.

Pansy looked at him reproachfully.

"You wouldn't touch me."

"WANNA BET?" he shouted, taking out his wand.

"Huh!" she said, stomping out of the common room, flicking her hair sulkily.

Malfoy was fully aware that everybody was staring at him.

"WHAT YOU LOT STARING AT?"

"Calm down, you stress head!" someone shouted at him, but a cowardly person, as they hid themselves behind a chair.

Malfoy roared angrily and ran out of the room. He had to find Roxanne, he had to tell her. The first person he saw was Ron Weasley who was just coming out of Potions detention.

"Hey - Weasley!"

Ron scowled and said, "What do you want?"

"D'ya know where Roxanne is? I need to ask her what we have for…'er…Charms homework."

"Ok, one, I wouldn't tell you anything if you had a wand at my head. And two, that's a load of crap, she told me herself she didn't have Charms homework."

"Just tell me where she is!" said Malfoy, curling his hands into fists.

"No."

"Listen Weasley, if you don't tell me where she is I'll–"

"You'll what?" Harry asked forebodingly, from down the hallway.

"Just tell me!"

"I don't think so. I don't want her anywhere near you," said Harry, folding his arms menacingly.

"She's in my bloody house!" said Malfoy exasperatedly, "I see her in nearly every lesson!"

"Well you won't be talking to her anymore then."

"You're not in charge of her. She can do what she wants."

"But you're trying to steal her! Just 'coz she's a Winters doesn't mean you're made for each other!" said Ron.

"I know that! And I never said I was stealing her. I've just got to speak to her," growled Malfoy, getting very annoyed now.

"I…don't…care," said Harry slowly.

"Then I'll find her on my own," snapped Malfoy. He turned around but suddenly felt something jabbed into his back.

"No you won't. Didn't you hear me? I don't want you near her," said Harry, pushing his wand harder into Malfoy's back.

"POTTER! WEASLEY!" a voice screeched from behind them.

Harry leaned in close to Malfoy's ear.

"Next Sunday, midnight, the Orchard," he hissed. He quickly put his wand up his sleeve.

"Yes miss?" he said to Professor McGonagall as innocently as he could.

"What's happening here?"

"Nothing miss," muttered Malfoy, walking away. He cast an evil glance back at Harry then quickened his pace to spread the news.

"Good," said Professor McGonagall, eyeing Harry's sleeve and Ron's red ears.

It spread around the school very quickly that there was going to be a large duel in the Orchard. The Orchard was rarely visited and was quite well hidden, perfect for a duel. Since loads of people had joined the DA, (they had started it up again in October) Harry felt sure Slytherin would fall.

Many people were joining in the duel, yearning to hurt a Slytherin. As Harry knew Malfoy would come with backup. When the news reached Roxanne she went straight to Harry.

"What in the hell are you doing?" she said, trying not to raise her voice.

"Getting revenge."

"No way! You can't get revenge by getting chucked out of the school!"

"We've made safety measures. Tonight is the teachers meeting. We're going to get invisibility barriers and the same charms that surround Hogwarts around the Orchard. And you can't stop me," he added.

"But still! You could seriously hurt someone! And have you forgotten about the Aurors?"

"Of course not, they wont suspect a thing and wont be able to see anything."

"Ron! Tell him!" she said, turning to him.

"Bring your Invisibility cloak, mate. Might be handy."

Roxanne gaped at Ron.

"Hermione?" she whined pleadingly.

"I've tried to talk them out of it for the past three days," she said sorrowfully. "But I'm coming just in case."

"You can't do this Harry!" moaned Roxanne, tears appearing in her eyes.

"I can and I will," he said.

Roxanne fell back down on a chair and blinked back tears. This was all her fault. All of it. She still followed Harry to the Orchard, she had to. She was shocked to see so many people coming. Half were only watching but quite a few were eager to battle. Neville, Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas, Marl Evans (whom looked particularly keen) and many more Gryffindors, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. When they reached the Orchard nearly every single Slytherin was there including some Ravenclaws. All of them out together added up to nearly the same amount against them. Malfoy caught Roxanne's eye and looked away, a look of aggression on his pale face.

"Draco please, don't!" begged Roxanne, her mascara pouring down her face. He ignored her totally, like she was an apple on one of the towering trees.

"You don't know how long I've wanted to do this," said Harry, his wand ready in his hand.

"You've picked the wrong people to mess with!" snarled Rathrold, standing beside Malfoy.

"I can't watch!" whispered Hermione, grasping Roxanne's arm.

"You're a prefect! Do something!" Roxanne yelled at Hermione. She merely shook her head and curled up under a tree

"All talk no action," said Malfoy, twirling his wand. "Got us all here and I bet nothing will happen."

"Oh, believe me Malfoy, something will happen. To you! STUPEFY!" he roared, sending a jet of red light at Malfoy. He dived out the way and missed him; hitting a weedy looking second year behind him, who fell down in a dead faint.

"Nice Potter. For an amateur," he said, an evil grin playing on his face. He was reared up now; the Malfoy blood in him was heated and ready for battle. "Diffindo!" he yelled, pointing his wand at Neville. A gash appeared on Neville's thigh and blood splattered his robes. Hermione gasped.

Spells started flying everywhere.

"Petrificus Totalus!" Seamus fell to the ground. "Taranrallegra!" Goyle's large legs went into a frenzied dance. "Scourgify!" Mark began choking on pink bubbles.

And amid this mayhem were Harry and Malfoy and their closest friends, firing more skilled spells at each other.

"Serpensortia!" shouted Harry, using a spell Malfoy had used on him in second year. The snake headed straight for Rathrold. "Bite him!" Harry hissed in Parseltongue. The cobra launched itself at Rathrold and sank its fangs into his arm.

"Flagrate!" Pansy screamed, a purple flame appeared on Dean's chest and he fell to the ground as if dead.

Malfoy opened his mouth to shoot a spell at Harry but Harry yelled, "silencio!" and no sound came out. Pansy quickly did the counter spell. Malfoy sent another spell at Harry.

"REDUCT–"

"NO!" screamed Roxanne, jumping in between them.

"Move aside, Roxanne!" shouted Malfoy.

"Don't you dare tell her what to do!" roared Harry.

"Why not? You do all the time!"

"CRUCIO!"

The bright blue light hit Malfoy full on in the chest and he cried out. He fell to the ground and writhed in pain.

"HOW DARE YOU!" screeched Pansy, "PERHEXPLEX!"

Harry flew back as an orange light hit him in the forehead and hit and apple tree. A trickle of blood ran down his forehead, following the lines of his scar and some late apples fell on his sprawled out body.

In the middle, Roxanne didn't know who to run to. Malfoy, still squirming with torture, or Harry who looked as if unconscious but his eyes were wide-open and white foam was appearing at the sides of his mouth.

She ran her hands through her hair fiercely. Around her people were falling like dominoes. All she could hear were explosions and cries of pain. How could the teachers not be aware?. She felt like World War three was going on in her mind… she felt her head might explode if she didn't do anything…

"STOP! Stop stop stop!" she screamed long and loudly. Of course not one listened. It wasn't a film were the maiden in distress cried out and some young man lifted her off her feet. This was real life and all Roxanne could do was sit down on the ground and sob uncontrollably.

"Roxanne? I need help. Some people are really badly injured!" said Hermione's pleading voice from above Roxanne.

"They won't stop!" she cried.

"They have, Roxanne! But we need to help them. Please?"

Roxanne rubbed away her tears fiercely and stood up. She first ran over to Harry.

"Hi Roxy…" he muttered, his eyes unfocused.

"Are you ok?" she asked, checking the back of his head. There was only a small cut.

"Yep! Couldn't be bedder," he said, grinning feverishly.

"I'm going to help other people ok?"

"I do," he said suddenly, grabbing Roxanne's arm.

"What?" she said, a sudden white vision of the two at an alter.

"I do. I'm sorry I lied but I do. I love you but I like Cho as well. Not as much as you but I do…"

Roxanne pulled her arm from his grasp, half in revulsion. He's not well, she told herself, ignore him, he doesn't mean it. She ran over to Malfoy.

"You ok?" he asked her before she could ask him the same thing.

"Yes I'm fine. What was that Pansy hit Harry with?"

"'Er…"

"Perplexer or something."

"She didn't? Stupid bi–"

"What? What was it?"

"It…well it mentally damages people's brains," he said, he cast a meaningful look at Harry, who was grinning at his cousin's unconscious body next to him.

Roxanne was speechless. Mentally damages? She didn't truly know what that meant. Roxanne helped Malfoy to his feet. She then went to Neville and abruptly felt the greatest repulsion for Malfoy as she saw the big pool of blood near Neville's leg.