Chapter 11
Draco gave a satisfied sigh as he felt the warm sunlight on his face the next morning. Ah, there was nothing like waking up feeling the satisfaction of having pranked the Golden Trio successfully…
Wait a second. Why was there a crunching sound beneath him?
Draco's eyes flew open. Why on earth was he lying OUTSIDE?
He shot up and looked down at himself.
"AAAAHHHHH!"
Birds flew squawking from their nests at the bloodcurdling shriek.
HE WAS WEARING A NEON-PINK, RUFFLED POLYESTER NIGHTGOWN!
Draco looked madly around him. Where was his gold Snitch-patterned satin comforter? Where were his green-and-silver silk pajamas? Where was his WAND?
Suddenly, he detected a not-so-nice scent and looked up slowly.
A herd of hippogriffs surrounded him. And they did not look friendly.
"AAAAHHHHH!"
One of the hippogriffs glared down at him. Apparently, it did not take kindly to screaming, noisy humans.
With a sweep of its sharp beak…
It knocked Draco to the side…right into a huge pile of hippogriff dung.
"MMMMFFFFF!" (muffled scream)
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Harry, Ron, and Hermione whistled innocently as Draco trudged past them, covered in and dragging in hippogriff dung.
A pair of gray eyes flashed angrily in response.
"Whew! Something reeks!" Ron announced, quite loudly.
"Looking for an early swim, Malfoy? I think you went the wrong way," Hermione remarked.
The trio laughed and walked on to breakfast.
Unbeknownst to the unfortunate Slytherin, Harry had had Colin Creevey's camera (now upgraded to one of those new small, compact models) in his hand, clicking away during the exchange.
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Draco went into the Great Hall for lunch, finally feeling refreshed and relaxed. He'd spent the better part of the morning scrubbing himself clean (hippogriff excretions, he'd come to find out, were extremely difficult to remove) and had had to miss his classes.
At least I'll rest knowing only Potter's posse saw me, he told himself.
Not.
The moment Draco set his foot upon the floor of the dining hall, the students burst into whispers and giggles.
What's going on? he thought as he passed the Hufflepuff table on his way to his own table. The Hufflepuffs there sniggered and chuckled.
Pansy Parkinson spotted him and moved over, urgency in her steps.
"Draco, I think you should see this."
She pressed a photograph into his hands.
Draco's mouth fell open in horror. There, in full color, was him…covered in the hippogriff dung and wearing that ridiculous pink nightgown.
"AAARRGGGHH!"
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Harry bowed to his fellow Gryffindors who were applauding like crazy. "Thank you, thank you!"
"Yeah, you showed him, Harry!" Seamus called out. He was still being extra-supportive of Harry to make up for doubting him last year.
The Hufflepuffs were whooping their approval, and the Ravenclaws were punching their fists in the air.
More out of habit than anything, Harry snuck a glance at Cho Chang, his ex-girlfriend, at the Ravenclaw table. She and her boyfriend Michael Corner were clapping politely.
Harry felt nothing towards that anymore.
He looked up at the staff table. Professor Greenleaf caught his eye and grinned, and he felt a warm feeling rise within him.
"Ooh, she likes the prank," Ron hissed in Harry's ear. "Congratulations, mate."
When the trio had had their fill of food and praise, they exited the Great Hall amidst cheers. They met up with Professor Greenleaf.
"It's nice to know things haven't changed here," she commented. "The pranks are still as good."
"You went here?" Harry queried.
"Oh yeah. I was in Ravenclaw, some twenty years ago." She grinned mischievously and waggled her eyebrows. "I used to help the Gryffindors in my year prank the Slytherins."
"Wicked," Ron said in awe.
"How?" Harry asked.
"I worked mostly behind the scenes—little traps and such. The snakes were stumped all the time—every Gryffindor had an alibi and hello, who expected a Ravenclaw to be involved?"
"Why?" Hermione questioned. "Slytherins don't normally have anything against your house."
There was a brief flicker of something in the professor's eyes. It was gone in a second, however. "Oh, I needed a little fun."
Harry and Ron were impressed. Hermione was caught between admiration and disapproval.
"Oh, look at the time—I have to go. Professor McGonagall wants to speak with me. It was great talking to you!" The lovely professor set off for the faculty room.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione resumed walking, but Harry's mind seemed to have drifted off into la-la land.
Ron sniggered at the dopey expression on the face of The-Boy-Who-Lived.
"Move over, Chang. There's a new Ravenclaw in town."
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Draco and Hermione met just outside Arithmancy that afternoon. As Hermione started to enter the classroom, the blond-haired boy grabbed her arm and dragged her to an empty corridor.
Hermione tried to tug her arm from his grasp, but his grip was very strong.
He finally stopped and spun her around to meet his furious glare.
"So," he growled. "So."
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A/N: This chapter is still based on The Prank War by CrazyGirl47
TO GOD BE THE GLORY!
To my reviewers:
BlackDiamond4- Thanks:)
Ehlonna- Yeah, that was all Draco's doing. :)
lonely unloved girl- Wow, thanks:) Your sister's a fan fiction writer too?
Delayed Action Ninja- I am so so sorry that eleven chapters in and there's STILL no romance. This was due to the fact that I didn't want things to come too easily for them. But please just hang on, because starting from the next chapter, you'll be seeing some nice Draco/Hermione interaction. :)
Flavagurl- Thanks:)
Sacagawea- Well, the tables are getting turned on him… :)
MissDitzy- Well, there's nothing actually wrong with Harry's boxers. It's just one of Draco's insults. :)
FoolishlyBraveDarkStar- Thanks:)
Alcapacien- Thanks:)
StarPheonix- Thanks:)
Crimson Girl- Thanks:)
Coming up: Hermione? Cut class? Hmmm…