The whole school fell silent. Draco's heart sank as his eyes cut across the Great Hall. He even threw a pleading glance at his Slytherin friends. But Blaise, Pansy and the rest of his so-called friends merely ignored him. The cheery demeanor the students had while making their way down here was now replaced with masks of contempt and hatred.
Professor McGonagall clutched his shoulder, trying hard to assure him. Draco shrugged her off slightly. He thought he was ready to face the music. But thoughts and actions were two different entities; it was actually harder to do something than to think of it.
It had been three weeks since his arrival at Hogwarts. He had been safely ensconced in his room, contemplating what he was going to do. Since the incident during his first night there, Hermione practically stayed away from him. He was non-existent to her. Draco didn't mind, though. The time he had on his own has enabled him to slightly get over his mother's death. He invested a small portion of his wealth in various companies, both in the wizarding and the Muggle world. According to them, his stocks had been rising steadily. Draco knew nuts about stocks but the point is, he was getting richer.
Yet his expandable wealth was unable to obscure the dejection he was feeling now. Earlier on, Professor McGonagall had announced to the school of Draco's presence and his new position as Head Boy. They didn't take the news well.
No whistles or cheers came from the Slytherin table. There was not even a single syllable uttered by the rest of the Houses. At this point of time, Draco would have welcomed any vulgarities aimed at him.
"What else do you want me to do?" Draco voiced out, an air of challenge hovering in his tone. "I've risked my dignity to apologise publicly to all of you. I made myself invisible for nearly a month. You hear that? A month! If all of these aren't enough for you, what is?"
Just then, a dark-haired boy from Ravenclaw with glasses that looked like two magnifying glasses joined together yelled, "We want you to get out of here, murderer! Did the time you spent with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named killed off your brain cells, Ferret?"
"Yeah, Malfoy. Go join your father in Azkaban! That would really give you a place in history!" others from the different Houses started chiming in.
"Obnoxious bigot!"
"Bumptious git!"
The words smacked Draco one after another. Somewhere in the middle of the cacophony, Draco heard someone shouting something that sounded like s.o.b. Four-letter-words littered every other sentence. They hurt, but Draco opted for a tepid mood. Let them say what they want, he mused as he glanced at the strife breaking out in front of him. I'm going to keep a cool head.
"Death Eater!"
That phrase pushed Draco to the limit. He glowered at the source of the voice. It came from the Slytherin table. Zambini flashed his middle finger at him.
Meanwhile, Professor McGonagall and the rest of the staff tried to silence the whole cohort of students. Their efforts proved fruitless. The students' voices swelled at the sound of their screams. More and more students chanted the words "Death Eater!"
Draco could tolerate the swear words and vulgarities. But he lost all patience when they started labeling him something that he wasn't. Something he would never be.
"Silence!" somehow Professor McGonagall managed to amplify her voice, deafening the whole school. "One more word from any of you and you'll be spending detention with me for the next two months! Show some respect for your Head Boy!"
She turned to Draco before averting her gaze back to the rest of the students. "I never expected such.. such.. depravity from my students! We were all brought up with values! With manners! I am deeply ashamed of all of you."
When the crowd still did not speak anything, she pressed on, "You've just insulted an authoritative figure in this school. Where are your manners?"
Draco could see that Professor McGonagall was at her wits' end. He gave one last, long look at his unforgiving schoolmates. They could hate him but they had no right to stamp him a Death Eater.
"It's alright, Professor," Draco mumbled, trying hard to smile. The taut line that stretched his lips, however, looked more like a grimace. "I'm not asking them to forgive me on the spot."
Pulling his robes together, Draco raked his long, pianist fingers through his slicked-back blonde hair. Painfully, he moved away from the Great Hall, not meeting the gazes of the rest of the people there.
The rest of the students were immediately dismissed, with the prefects leading them back to their dormitories. Hermione hastened her steps, the other Gryffindor members dutifully hurrying up after her. She didn't know how to explain to her friends why she had kept Draco's three-week presence at Hogwarts a secret, especially Harry and Ron. They would never understand.
Pockets of 7th year students were still milling about in the Gryffindor Common Room. Most of them were replaying the scenes in the Great Hall, mimicking Draco's bewildered face. Laughter erupted when the words "Ferret" and "bigot popped out. The Gryffindor seniors were contentedly making a mockery out of Draco's humiliation.
"Oh, stop it already!" Hermione bristled. "This is pure Schadenfreude, isn't it? Divulging in his misery? He's human too, you know!"
"Since when is Ferret a human?" Dean asked rhetorically. "Besides, he deserves it for being such a prat!"
"Let me make this clear to all of you," Hermione attempted a repudiation. "Firstly, he has a name. And it's Draco, not Ferret. Secondly, he's your Head Boy. And all of you don't have an inkling as to what he had gone through!"
Ron noticed her mistake. With great repugnance, he lashed out, "Why didn't you tell us about his presence beforehand, Hermione? I mean, we're your friends!"
Perhaps to soften the blow of his tone, he made a face. "And how come you've started calling him Draco? You're not getting sweet on him, are you?"
Hermione threw her hands int o the air as she left them to head for the Heads' room. "You people are unbelievable!" she called out over her shoulders.