Disclaimer's the same.
Chapter Six, Year One: Where Certain Loyalties are Brought into Question and Draco Finds Out that School Rules are Only Meant to be Broken if the Breaker Isn't Caught
The next day after the Dueling incident, Draco Malfoy was sitting in the Great Hall at breakfast, contemplating the possible events that could occur because of his stupidity. One thing was certain though, he wouldn't have long to worry over what his father would do after Severus was through with him. Draco was sure he would die a martyr to the cause of trying to bring doom (expulsion) down upon the heads of Gryffindors.
Draco's musings were interrupted by the mail delivery. Just as expected, a school owl landed in front of his plate, an envelope addressed to him in Severus' script. The letter inside was concise, even more so than usual. Draco paled. He had better start writing his will.
……………….
"What were you thinking?" Severus hissed, glaring at Draco with the glare he normally reserved for Potter. "Don't you realize that you could've been expelled?"
"Of course not," Severus continued after seeing Draco's lack of response. "I suppose you felt clever, didn't you? That this was the perfect way to see Potter expelled. For him to be without Dumbledore's protection, an easy picking for Death Eaters. Now tell me," Severus had been shouting before, now he was speaking calmly, but with acerbic undertones in his voice, "have you been Marked yet?" Draco shook his head in reply, "Then what on earth convinced you that you could handle such a monumental undertaking!" Severus was shouting again.
"Sir, the goal wasn't to get Potter expelled at all! It was just a childish prank! I'll admit, it wasn't very well planned, but it was just a prank!" Severus experienced a feeling of déjà vu. These exact words had been uttered, nearly a decade ago, by Sirius Black. This only fueled his anger.
"Do you realize that this could have cost your father his position on the Hogwarts School Council?" Draco lowered his head again. He had raised it when he was talking to Severus.
"Do you know how valuable that position is…!" The rest of the sentence was left unsaid, it obvious to the two why the position was so valuable. "Didn't your father tell you to obey the school rules? Didn't you think he told you that for a reason!" Severus took a deep calming breath. He looked over to Draco who had his head bowed in shame. "Never, meddle in affairs that you do not truly understand, and also remember that everything your father instructs you to do is for a reason. Now leave my office and start to use that brain. Merlin knows it was given to you for a reason." Draco hurriedly left the office.
Severus sighed and watched the door close. He supported Dumbledore with all his heart, but if Draco was as much a carbon copy of his father as his father proclaimed…Severus sighed again. If Lucius had told him that these were the responsibilities that came with being the boy's godfather, he never would've taken the job offer.
……………….
As Draco made his way to the Slytherin common room, he felt strangely humbled and angry at the same time. He pushed these feelings to the side as he reached the expanse of wall that concealed the door to the Slytherin dungeons. It was time to pull some strings and remind people of unpaid debts.
…………………
Draco was elated. There had been a Hogsmeade trip, and most, if not all, of the teachers had been on that outing. This had given him the time needed to gather the item that would help to root out those not loyal to him. But, of course, something just had to interrupt Draco's feelings of joy. It was Quirrel.
"Troll-in the dungeons-thought you ought to know." Everyone stared at Quirrel in shock. It wasn't until he fainted that the Hall erupted into chaos.
'Holy CRAP! There's a troll in the DUNGEONS! Where the hell are all of the Slytherins supposed to sleep! And what about our belongings! I just got that item today! I can't afford to have it potentially smashed into tiny worthless shards!' Draco threw down his plate, and attempted to leave the Hall without the Prefects noticing. The Slytherin Prefects had the reputation of noticing every detail, and so Draco might not have made his way out of the Great Hall had Percy Weasley not come bustling through like he owned the place.
Draco moved stealthily up to the second floor, trying to get to a secret passage that led directly to the Slytherin fourth year dorms. He mingled with Hufflepuffs so scared they didn't even notice a snake among the flock. Draco quickly hid in the shadows, behind a suit of armor, when he realized he was being followed.
It was Potter and Weasley. Both of them looking worried. Ron looking flustered. Suddenly, Weasley pulled Potter down behind a statue of a griffin, and whispered something to him. Draco was just beginning to think that they were going to snog each other senseless when he heard what must have startled them. Footsteps, and from the gait it was probably Severus. Draco's assumption proved correct when the man came limping down the adjoining corridor. 'Wait, limping?'
Draco watched as Potter and Weasley started to follow Severus, when a horrid odor reached his nose. He watched as a shadow moved down the corridor that Snape just went down, and also watched as Potter and Weasley shrunk back into the shadows again. What followed the shadow caused most of the color to drain from his face. It was the troll.
'It just figures, doesn't it? Here I am trying to AVOID the troll that I thought was down in the dungeons, and now I'm facing it! Well, I'm not sticking around to be killed!' And yet, try as he might, Draco was rooted to the ground, paralyzed with…it wasn't fear, but more like morbid curiosity.
The troll entered the girls' bathroom, and the paralysis was broken. Draco no longer had any desire to see what a mountain troll could do, and seeing that Potter and Weasley were already there, well, they could handle the situation admirably, of that he was sure, kind of.
Draco ran for it.
…………………
It was a few days after the Troll-in-the-Bathroom fiasco and the day of the Slytherin-Gryffindor match. Draco decided it was the best time to try out the new item he had gotten. It was a small pendant, easy to conceal and completely ordinary. For a Malfoy. The pendant was small and made of silver, with the Malfoy seal engraved on it. It was currently hidden under his turtle-neck.
When Draco had arrived at Malfoy Manor, inquiring as to whether or not their family had an item in their vault that would locate those who wished ill to the Malfoy family, Lucius had wondered why, originally, but when assured of what Draco was trying to do, gave him the pendant, instructing him to wear it concealed.
The pendant's power of locating bearers of ill-will toward any Malfoy was activated through communication. Anyone who talked to Draco, or who Draco talked to, who wanted to harm him or his family would be marked in red with the Malfoy signet on their forehead, plain for any Malfoy. The mark could only be seen by a Malfoy, or to anyone who was someone the Malfoys' respected.
Since this was a Quidditch match, and no one in Slytherin would miss out on the chance to see Gryffindor trounced by Slytherin, it was the ideal place to converse with everyone from Slytherin. Even Draco's Head of House.
Draco mingled with the crowd, chatting idly with people from all Houses. There was a surprising number of Slytherins who didn't seem to want harm him. Draco remembered when his father had sat down with him and had a talk. Lucius had made it seem like everyone was out to get them.
Draco's attention was pulled back to the Quidditch game as he heard shouts of horror erupt in the surrounding stands. He looked up and sneered. 'Just like Potter to try to gain even more attention from his adoring fans.' After watching Potter hang onto his broom for dear life, Draco had to admit that it was fun to watch. Just as Draco was beginning to truly wonder if he could hope that Potter would fall, another commotion, this time coming from the teachers' box, caught his attention.
He watched in a mix of shock, horror, and amusement as he watched Severus stomp on his robes in an effort to stop the fire and instead knocked Quirrel out of the box. The amusement and shock gave way to anger and his homicidal tendencies as he saw Granger attempt to sneak away unnoticed. He swore that she would pay for such a humiliation.
Draco wondered how many times he would have to keep moving his head as the noise from the crowd drew his attention to the Pitch again. Potter had been able to remount his broom during all the commotion in the teachers' box, and now was executing a steep dive. Draco craned his neck, deciding to ignore the ominous popping sound, and wondered just exactly when Potter would pull up, when Harry toppled off his broom and clamped a hand over his mouth like he was going to throw up.
And he did throw up.
"I've got the Snitch!" Potter shouted.
'Damn!' Draco thought as three sections of the stadium burst out into confused cheers, 'I was hoping he had swallowed his tongue and was choking on it!' Draco decided to ignore the little voice in his head that was telling him that he would secretly enjoy testing his Seeker abilities against Potter's.
…………………
"I'm telling you!" Flint stated loudly and angrily all throughout lunch, "I'm telling you…" he was effectively silenced by a silencing charm.
"Oh shut up about the game!" a fifth year boy snapped. "Your ranting isn't going to make Gryffindor lose any House points."
"Gryffindor won! One hundred seventy points to sixty!" Jordan yelled randomly from the Gryffindor table.
"Say," Draco asked suddenly, "has anyone seen the Tree Frog?" Blank stared met his question.
"Oh, come on! Tree frogs swallow flying insects-Potter swallows flying Snitches?" Draco added, hoping that this was a big enough clue.
"Oh, Potter went to Hagrid's cabin with Weasley and Granger; I don't even want to know what all of them are doing in there."
"Thank you for that lovely mental image," Draco said dryly.
……………….
Sneaking around in the middle of the day, trying to look inconspicuous was really not working. Draco cursed again as he tried to find a way to listen in on the Trio's conversation without leaning against the door, or opening a window. Eventually, he shrugged and gave in, opening a window slightly.
"It was Snape," Weasley said, sounding confident, "Hermione and I saw him. He was cursing your broomstick, muttering, he wouldn't take his eyes off you." Draco nearly snorted. Snape, curse Potter's broom in the middle of a game? Did they really think that his Head was really that stupid?
"Rubbish," said Hagrid, "Why would Snape do somthin' like that?" Draco's eyes widened as he heard that. The half-giant was smarter than a pureblood! 'Then again,' Draco reconsidered, 'this is Weasley we're talking about here.'
Potter, Weasley and Granger looked at one another, obviously silently asking each other how much of…whatever it was they were involved in they should reveal to Hagrid.
Finally, Harry spoke in what sounded like sincere tones. "I found out something about him," he told Hagrid. "He tried to get past that three-headed dog on Halloween. It bit him. We think he was trying to steal whatever it's guarding." Draco wondered briefly if Severus had been trying to retrieve a soul, or something of that sort.
Hagrid dropped the teapot, causing Draco to slowly back away from the window, in case he had been spotted. It seemed he had given them a bit too much credit. Instead, Hagrid said:
"How do you know about Fluffy?"
"Fluffy?"
'Fluffy!' Draco echoed mentally.
"Yeah-he's mine-bought him off a Greek chappie I met in the pub las' year-I lent him to Dumbledore to guard the-"
"Yes?" Potter asked eagerly. Draco blinked. It had almost seemed that, for a second, Potter had the cunning and ambition to be a Slytherin.
"Now, don't ask me anymore," said Hagrid gruffly. "That's top secret, that it is."
"But Snape's trying to steal it."
"Rubbish," said Hagrid again. "Snape is a Hogwarts teacher, he'd do nothing' of the sort."
"So why did he just try and kill Harry?" cried Granger.
Draco watched as Potter and Weasley exchanged amused glances, and saw Weasley mouth, 'Change of heart' then point to Granger.
"I know a jinx when I see one, Hagrid, I've read all about them! You've got to keep eye contact, and Snape wasn't blinking at all, I saw him!" 'You just said that you've read all about them. You have no experience with the practical. If you did, then you'd notice that Severus was muttering the counter!'
"I'm telling' yeh, yer wrong!" said Hagrid hotly. "I don' know why Harry's broom acted like that, but Snape wouldn' try an' kill a student! Now listen to me, all three of yeh-yer meddlin' in things that don' concern yeh. It's dangerous. You forget that dog, an' you forget what it's guardin', that's between Professor Dumbledore an' Nicholas Flamel-"
'Nicholas Flamel!'
"Aha!" said Potter, "so there's someone called Nicholas Flamel involved, is there?" Draco blinked. There was that Slytherinesque Potter showing through.
Hagrid looked furious with himself. Draco slunk away, guessing that that was the end of the particular conversation, and hoping to get to the dorm room, so that he could spell the door shut and have a few hours to himself to mull things over.
A/N: I'm really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, (Court: alright, that's good!) sorry I haven't updated for such a long time. I just…I couldn't find my Harry Potter book. I had all the others except the first book! Gah! Okay, I'm better.
Reviews: (I've just realized that I've never thanked the people who reviewed. So here it is.)
tawnyfawn: Thank you. I've tried to keep the level of workmanship the same (or better). I hope you enjoyed the chapter.
Launigsiae: Thank you.
Bellatrix-Riddle: Thanks. When I read the first book a few years ago, I thought that Harry, Ron and Hermione were always in the right, and that everything they did was so smart and stuff. Now that I've reread the book, I've realized that a lot of what they did was really stupid. If Harry doesn't stop doing such stupid stuff, he's never going to be able to defeat Voldie.
MaraWeaves: Everyone has you to thank for me continuing this story. Well, you and Sam (a friend from school). I really don't know who betrayed Draco yet. I'll think of it soon.
aquariusbaby205: Well, since you're sitting next to me, I'll just tell you.
Carrie: I'm glad you enjoyed the story. I hope you enjoyed the update too.
Unseen Watcher: I'm glad you enjoyed the story so much, and I finally updated!
Nemi Jade: Well, the first chapter was supposed to be confusing…wait, did you mean confusing in a good way, or a bad way?
blubb-blubb: Yeah, I can't really find any either, although they have gotten more popular.
Cat323: Since the ghosts are kinda in the realm of the living and the dead at the same time, it would only make sense that they would know who Harry is.
Puck Silverbreeze: Well, I'm glad you found it interesting. I'm not sure how I should take the confusing…
Stahchild: I didn't realize at the time that the chapters would turn out that way. I did take the time to fix the spacing though.
Shadowed Rains: Now that I'm older, (and I know that I've said this before) I find them childish too, which is why I now enjoy the Slytherin characters more than I did the protagonists. That's also why I decided to write this…well, partially why I decided to write this.
Gaul1: Um…thanks?
gallandro-83: Thanks.
FanReader: What you say it true and I take no offense to your review. In fact, I'm flattered. However, the thing is, the plot (in SS) hasn't even really started yet. When certain things begin to happen, Harry (or rather Salazar) will begin to scheme. It's just that nothing has occurred to cause him to begin scheming. Thanks for the review.
fire sidoni: YYH rocks!
Allyana: Thanks! It wasn't updated soon, but it was updated!
meowcat00: I'm glad you do. -
lady sakura cosmos: Thanks!
Once again, I'm really sorry that it took so long to update.
