Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns the Harry Potter world, I just own a few stray characters.
Months passed, and Aiden was kept busy with Quidditch, Prefect patrolling, and the onslaught of homework. Every spare moment he had seemed to be spent studying, which he was extremely disgruntled about.
"I'm still six inches short!" he cried in the Library one day, earning a disapproving glare from Madame Pince.
His best friend Dexter, who was sitting across from him, was shaking his head. "I'm eight inches short. Let me see if you have anything I don't have." Aiden passed him his parchment and turned to Anthee, who was sitting next to him, enveloped in a large textbook.
"Don't tell me you finished that Transfiguration essay already," he said. She didn't take her eyes off the book but she nodded.
Aiden groaned. "D'you know, I could barely stay awake at Quidditch practice yesterday because I stayed up half the night the day before studying for that Potions test. If this workload keeps up, I'm going to start getting worse at Quidditch!"
Dexter had evidently found something Aiden had written that he hadn't, because he was scrawling on his own parchment with handwriting so large it was almost unreasonable. "At least the other Houses are caught up with work the same way," Dexter said. "And all the Quidditch teams have sixth years on them, so it balances out more or less." Aiden had started nodding before Anthee's voice cut across.
"Did you forget what I told you at the beginning of the year?" she said bitterly, finally looking up from her book. Aiden frowned, trying to remember. Anthee said a lot of things, and he didn't necessarily go around memorizing everything she said. "I said," she said in an exasperated tone, "that Gabrielle Malfoy barely ever studies! So she's not going to be too tired to play Quidditch, is she?" Aiden glared at her.
That Saturday was the first Quidditch match of the season, Hufflepuff vs. Slytherin. Aiden and Dexter walked down to the Quidditch Pitch in the morning with the other crowds of students. Finding two seats in the stands, the two animatedly discussed the advantages and disadvantages each team had.
"The Slytherins have Macnair and D'Angelo as Beaters, and neither of them are better than average. The only thing they have going for them is their size- they hit the Bludgers powerfully enough, but both of them have rubbish aim."
"Right, but the Hufflepuffs have Smith and Webber, and neither one of them is remarkable. Especially Smith, the thick git. He concentrates too much on just hitting the other team and not enough on protecting his own team."
Their discussion went on about the Chasers ("The Slytherins' Chasers don't get along, it always affects how they play") and the Keepers ("Zoek of Hufflepuff is good for the first fifteen minutes of the game, but after that he starts letting the Quaffle through too often"). Until finally the conversation turned to the Seekers.
"Well, no contest there," Dexter said with a snort. "Malfoy'll probably get the snitch before Shirlington even gets into the air."
Aiden scowled. He didn't need his best friend reminding him how good Gabrielle Malfoy was at flying. He could still remember the Quidditch Final as if it were yesterday. He had been the first to see the Snitch, and had even been in the lead in the race for it. But Malfoy had somehow managed to inch her way in front of him and grasp the struggling Snitch in her small pale hand first. He had replayed it over and over again in his head, and told his parents every single detail about the match over dinner for weeks, hoping to figure out how the hell the girl had beaten him. "She must be cheating!" he remembered saying to his dad. "But how?" His mother finally sat him down and told him plainly that Gabrielle Malfoy had probably just outflown him that day, and that the outcome of that match did not in any way reflect on his skills as a Quidditch player. Aiden hadn't been very happy about that.
The match finally started, and it proved to be one of the most entertaining matches ever. Slytherin chaser Vaisey managed to pull of a spectacular score after weaving around and dodging all three Hufflepuff Chasers (more because he didn't like passing to his teammates than anything else), and Hufflepuff beater Webber was busy hitting one Bludger to notice the other one, which knocked into him squarely in the shoulder. There had been a sickening crack, and Aiden knew Webber's shoulder was probably dislocated. Webber continued to play one-handed, refusing to go to the Hospital Wing, and the game continued, 60-40 Hufflepuff.
Then, before anyone could blink, Gabrielle Malfoy was diving from sixty feet, heading almost directly downward at an angle so steep it looked like she was falling really, really fast, clutching tightly to her broomstick. The blonde Hufflepuff Seeker, Christopher Shirlington, had barely turned his broom to follow her when Malfoy pulled out of an alarmingly sharp turn, just inches away from the ground, the Snitch in her hand.
Wild applause broke out, mainly from the Slytherins. The crowd was uproarious. Even Dexter and Aiden were clapping half-heartedly. Slytherin or not, Aiden had never seen someone fly that dangerously, though the thought didn't exactly comfort him since he knew he would have to fly against her as well.
Malfoy was taking a victory lap with the rest of the Slytherin team when it happened. Hufflepuff beater Colin Smith, obviously cross about the match, hit a beater straight at her, where it hit her in arm and knocked her off her broom. There seemed to be a collective gasp as Gabrielle Malfoy started to fall once again, though this time without her broom and quite unintentionally. Then there was a roar of outrage from the stands and the Slytherins began chucking anything they could get their hands on at Smith. Being pelted at with textbooks and Butterbeer bottles, Smith quickly flew to the ground to escape, only to land directly in front of Professor McGonagall, who began assaulting him so loudly she could be heard even without the Sonorus charm.
"-ABSOLUTELY DESPICABLE, THE WORST SHOW OF SPORSTMANSHIP-"
"D'you think she's alright?" Aiden asked Dexter as they watched Madame Pomfrey levitate Malfoy away.
"Pomfrey can fix anything, she'll probably be fine. And if not, the better for you, eh?"
Aiden shrugged. He wasn't happy having to play against Malfoy, true, but it didn't seem right if he was versing Slytherin and they had a different Seeker because Malfoy was all bandaged up.
The weekend passed for Aiden in a blur of goofing off with Dexter and grudgingly finishing homework. Supposedly Malfoy's father had come to the school on Sunday to check on his daughter and have a word with Colin Smith, and though Smith didn't say anything about what Mr. Malfoy had said, he became uncharacteristically quiet at mealtimes. Aiden heard that he had recieved two months' worth of detention. And befor Aiden knew it, it was Wednesday. He had Prefect patrolling that night.
----------
----------
Gabrielle Malfoy sat waiting impatiently in the Prefect office. She had finally been released from the Hospital Wing (only after threatening Madame Pomfrey and insisting for the umpteenth time that she was fine, thank you very much). She had just reached the Slythering common room when she realized that tonight she had Prefect patrolling, so after grabbing her favorite cloak she had set off for the Prefect office.
Trust that insufferable prat to be late again, she thought. It's not as if he was the one being held captive in the Hospital Wing by that deranged woman.
Finally the door opened and Potter sauntered in, and seemed surprised to see Gabrielle there.
"You're back from the Hospital Wing," he said stupidly.
"You're as insightful as ever," she sneered. "And you're late. Let's go." And without waiting for a response, she brushed past him and out the door.
Ever since their first patrol together, they had spent their patrols in complete silence. Gabrielle was all for continuing that way, but she could feel Potter struggling with himself as if he wanted to say something. This went on for about ten minutes until Gabrielle turned to him and snapped, "What." Potter just looked at her, the stupid prat.
Finally, he said, "That was a good dive you did on Saturday." Gabrielle's eyes widened slightlyl in surprise. Potter barely ever complimented anyone, he was usually too busy praising himself to think of anyone else. Gabrielle gave him a curt nod and they continued walking.
"That Smith is a really thick git, hitting that bludger after the match was over," Potter continued. He paused as if waiting for Gabrielle to say something, but she didn't. Please. As if she didn't know what a git Smith was? "Is it true?" Potter asked abruptly.
"Is what true."
"That your dad came to school to talk to him over the weekend?"
----------
----------
Aiden Potter was an idiot. There was no other explanation as to why words were coming out of his mouth before he could stop them. At his last question, Gabrielle turned her gray eyes toward him and smirked slightly.
"Yes," she said. "I believe Father did have a talk with him. The prick broke half the bones in my arm, after all."
"That was still really nice of your dad to come." Stupid, Aiden, stupid! Why was he still talking?
She looked at him and raised an eyebrow.
"Of course Father came. Wouldn't your father come if it happened to you?"
"I doubt it," he answered honestly. Harry Potter was an extremely busy man, and probably wouldn't show up at Hogwarts if Aiden injured himself in Quidditch. "My mum would probably come, though," he added thoughtfully. Yea, his mum would probably come rushing to school, fussing over him. "Where's your mum?" he asked before he could stop himself.
Her eyes glinted fiercely at him and Aiden had the urge to take a step back away from her, but his reckless Gryffindor pride wouldn't let him. Why the hell did he keep talking!
"I don't have a mother," she said sharply. "The same way you don't have any brains."
And for the rest of the patrol, Aiden's mouth wisely stayed shut. But as he made his way back to Gryffindor Tower that night, he couldn't help thinking that maybe... just maybe... there was more to Gabrielle Malfoy that met the eye.