Chapter 10: Shoots Fired, Holes Punctured

Draco saw that he and Harry weren't the only ones who were touched by the puberty fairy. On the train, meeting the others in their usual compartment in the back, their friends had gone through changes of their own. Stretched out, filled out. Some features were more prominent like Blaise's sharp cheeks, some features involved the backlash of puberty such as Crabbe and Goyle who were stuck with an unfortunate case of acne but grew bulkier, and some features that didn't only apply to the facial or bodily changes.

"What do you think?" Pansy unwrapped the white hair-scarf she tied around her head, unveiling her new cut. Her hair that was once rested on her shoulders now reached her chin, just barely.

Harry smiled at her. "I think it's really nice, Pans. It's the new you."

She beamed, delighted.

"I agree with you, Harry," Theo looked up from his book to glance at the girl. "It is the new her."

The group sensed an insult coming the girl's way.

"A new and sadly unimproved Pansy 2.0. More demanding, more irritating, and ten times more," Theo smirked at her. "Intolerable."

There it was.

Pansy snarled at the boy. "At least I don't have the face of a gerbil, Notts."

"At least I don't have the cackle of a hyena, Parkinson."

It may be a new year but Draco saw that some things like Pansy and Theo going at it didn't change.

By the time the train pulled onto the platform, it was already past ten, making it too late for the welcoming feast. So the first years were sorted quickly by the hat, with Slytherin gaining a dozen new snakes, and people were led straight to their rooms. Since they missed the evening feast, Dumbledore decided that breakfast would be their official welcoming-back, where they were served a large buffet of food and forced to sit through more of his announcements, introducing Lockhart as their new DADA teacher.

"Seriously?" Crabbe asked over the roar of applause the peacock attracted.

"Him?" Goyle added.

Draco nodded; ashamed to see even some of the female teachers were swooning over the man. "Sadly."

"I don't see why you lot are complaining," Pansy said. "He's a brilliant man."

Theo snorted. "And how would you know that?"

"I read," Pansy snapped. Theo snorted louder, causing Pansy's eyes to narrow and flash. "And yes, Notts, in case you were wondering, I happened to have read all his books."

"Of course you did. Why wouldn't you? There are picture books after all."

Snarling, Pansy charged. Blaise grabbed hold of her before she could leap across the table to strangle Theo, wearing a smirk on his face.

"Are you lovebirds gonna stop fighting and start shagging?"

It was hard to tell which one blushed harder, though it was easier to say that it was an even tie on who wanted to murder the Italian. "Shut it, Zabini!"

"Maybe after breakfast then?" Blaise teased. "A quick shag in the storage closet ought to ease the tension?"

Theo nearly choked on his toast. Pansy elbowed Blaise in the gut, replacing his smirk with a pained grimace.

"Damn it, Pans!"

"Be happy I didn't aim lower, Zabini!"

"Some things don't change, huh?" Crabbe said.

Nope, Draco decided with a shake of his head. His eyes drifted over to Harry who stuffed a large piece of the bagel into his mouth, smearing his face with raspberry jam. Harry may have grown taller but he was still a messy eater.

"You got jam on your face." he informed the boy.

"I do?" Harry put his half-eaten bagel and grabbed a napkin, using it to wipe his face. "Is it gone?"

"Still there."

Harry rubbed his cheek harder, but there was still a stubborn spot that refused to be moved. Close to the corner of his lip.

Deeming his friend hopeless, Draco decided to lend him a hand. "Here, let me."

Draco moved forward, leaving little space between them. He held onto his face with one hand and used the thumb of his other hand to wipe the jam off.

Stubborn spot, he thought with a slight frown. And…really soft skin. Incredibly soft.

Threads of warmth flowed through Harry's soft skin to Draco's fingers, slipping underneath, dropping down to his stomach.

It made the job almost difficult. Made his hands shaky. Still, after a few more rubs, he managed to get the spot off.

"There." Even his voice was shaky. He swallowed to bring some moisture to his suddenly dry throat.

"Thanks."

The spot may be gone, but the boys were still close. Draco's hands were still on Harry's face, one hand pressed against his cheek, one underneath his chin. His thumb accidentally brushed against the boy's lower lip, sending a flare of warmth so intense Draco felt goosebumps break across his skin, causing him to shiver a bit.

He looked up. Harry watched him silently, his eyes bright and magnetic. The warmth that was dripping down his chest pooled at the pit of his stomach.

"I…"

"Look at that."

Goyle's voice broke the spell, bringing the dazed boys back to reality. They pulled away quickly as if they were caught committing a crime, their faces hot and flushed.

For a moment Draco thought Goyle was talking about them till he saw what the other boy was pointing to.

A gray and black owl flew into the Hall, skidding across the Gryffindor table, knocking plates and bowls off its path before slamming into a fruit basket.

"Look everyone," Finnegan announced, his loud voice causing the noise in the Hall to defuse. "Weasley's got himself a Howler."

A Howler. The confusing moment of soft skin and strange warmth was momentarily forgotten as a smirk splashed onto Draco's face.

"What exactly happens if you don't open a Howler?" Harry asked.

Blaise shook his head and let out a low whistle.

"Bad things, man." Crabbe said.

"Really bad things." Goyle added.

Harry looked over to Draco, who simply shrugged.

"RONALD WEASLEY!"

The Hall plunged into silence as the loud, fury-fired shriek exploded in the air, nearly shattering glasses and eardrums. Heads swerved over to the Gryffindor table where one red-haired, red-faced boy slumped in his seat and backed away from the message as if it were a rabbit dog. Or a lion hungry for weasel flesh.

"HOW DARE YOU STEAL THAT CAR? I AM ABSOULTELY DISGUSTED! YOUR FATHER'S NOW FACING AN INQUIRY AT WORK AND IT'S ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT! IF YOU PUT ANOTHER TOE OUT OF LINE, WE'LL BRING YOU STRAIGHT HOME!"

Weasley nodded his head frantically, cowering at the howler.

"And, Ginny dear," the howler turned over to the Weaselette, her tone softer. "Congratulations on making it into Gryffindor. Your father and I are so proud."

The little girl looked as embarrassed by her message as her brother was terrified of his.

The howler turned back to the weasel and blew a loud, obnoxious raspberry before tearing itself into shreds.

Weasley looked like he was seconds away from wetting himself.

"Poor clueless Weasley." Draco said, setting off a round of snickers among his friends.

Harry shrugged, joking, "At least his mother sends her love."

The whole Slytherin table burst into laughter.

After the amusement of the Howler, the first week of school was calm. Well, as calm as things could be in a magical school.

In Herbology, they had to pull strange plants that resembled human infants that screamed bloody murder as soon as they were pulled from the ground. The shrieks were too much for the Longbottom to handle. He fainted two minutes after the lesson started. The plant Draco had pulled actually bit him after he extracted it, clamping its mouth around his finger and refusing to let it go.

In Potions, Severus showed no mercy to the students, firing question after question like Crucios, snapping at those who didn't think fast enough or whose presence simply irritated him. He was especially merciless to Weasley, whose late-night car-adventures cost the school the Weeping Willow that's been there longer than two decades. A tree that also happened to be one of Severus' favorites.

DADA was a class almost everyone, especially the squealing fan-girls, were looking forward to. Lockhart met Draco's low-set expectations of how class would be like. The first thing he did after they took their seats was quiz them on facts about himself, which-surprise, surprise-most of the girls answered, memorizing the information as if it were the sacred word. Then after he was done with his questions, his huge ego blown up to a gigantic mass, he wasted half an hour of their lives by droning on and on about the adventures and dangers he been through. And if that wasn't draining enough, the class turned nearly deadly when he unleashed a swarm of blue-skinned, hyper rodents that nearly destroyed the classroom and were too wild for the idiot to contain.

They barely escaped with their heads intact. All except for Longbottom, who was grabbed by his ears and hung by the chandelier as if he were an additional ornament.

"I think," Harry breathed after they managed to get through the door. "I miss Quirrell, as odd as that sounds. He may have been a lunatic but at least he knew what he was doing."

Draco nodded in agreement. On the way back, he kept his eyes straight ahead to avoid seeing his reflection in the glass. He knew his hair looked horrible. Those rodents yanked away at it as if it was a toy. Harry had to fend them off with swings of his textbook.

"On the bright side," Harry smirked at him. "at least you got a new hairdo. Free of charge."

"Cheeky git." Draco punched his arm.

"Prat." His friend happily declared, linking his arm through his, not noticing the flinch the young blonde went through as a pang of warmth surged through him.

All too soon the first week of classes and settling in came to an end. Draco already had a few ideas on how he'd spend the weekend: sleeping in late, relaxing, going into Hogsmead with Harry. Reporting to the Quidditch field for early-morning practice was not one of them.

"Wipe the scowl off your face, Draco," Blaise teased. "It will give you wrinkles."

"And I'll give you a fat lip," he threatened. His scowl tightened as Blaise's smile brightened. "It will go perfectly with the black eye I'm ten seconds away from giving you."

"Come on, guys. Let's not fight," Harry said, always the peace-maker. "Blaise, you do not want to get on a sleep-deprived, crabby Draco on your tail. It will not end well for you."

The Italin shrugged.

"And, Draco," the boy continued. "You can't blame Blaise for being a bit excited. He did make the team after all."

"He would have been in it ages ago if he didn't sleep through try-outs first-year."

"You forget my motto, my dear friend," Blaise smiled. "Better late than never."

The rest of the teammates were already there, along with another Quidditch team who marched onto the field. The Gryffindors.

Flint and Wood squared off, Flint smirking, Wood scowling.

"We reserved the field, Flint."

"Easy there, Wood. I got a note," Flint held up the parchment he happily handed over to the Gryffindor captain.

Wood snatched the paper out of his hand and read it out loud to his teammates "I, Professor Severus Snape, hereby give permission to the Slytherin team to use the pitch this morning in order to train their new Chaser." Wood crumpled the paper and looked up at Flint, unimpressed. "You have a new Chaser? Who?"

Blaise smirked triumphantly as he stepped forward.

The Weasley twins were less than pleased. One titled his head back and let out a groan. The other slapped the palm of his hand against his forehead.

"That's not all that's new this year." Draco said as he and Harry stepped forward, standing beside Blaise. He gestured towards the generous upgrade Father had donated to the team.

"Nimbus 2001s!" Weasley gasped. He and the insect came onto the field when they noticed the tension. His jaw dropped at the sight of the new, sleek broom that cost more money that he would see in a year.

"A gift from Draco's father." Flint proudly said with a superior grin.

"You see, Weasley," Draco explained to him. "Unlike some people, my father can afford the best."

"At least no one on the Gryffindor team had to buy their way in," the insect said sharply, glaring at him pointedly for emphasis. "They got in with pure talent." Her glare softened as her eyes landed on Harry. "With the case of one exception."

Blaise glared at her, annoyed. His annoyance, though, didn't hold a candle to the firestorm of anger surging through Draco's body, firing every vein, boiling his blood like hot lava as the dreaded insect smiled at his Harry and Harry returned the smile with a soft, tentative one of his.

Fuming, Draco blocked Harry from her view as he stood in front of her. "No one asked for your opinion," he spat. "You filthy little mudblood!"

The girl took one step back, the smile wiped clean off her face as her eyes narrowed, filling with unshed tears.

Draco knew then that his words made their mark like he hoped. And did more than he thought.

Several of the Gryffindors charged, wanting his head. Flint pushed him back while Wood tried to keep order. The Weasel twins were sprouting insults at him left and right. And Harry….

Harry pulled away and looked at him. And it was not a good look. It was worse than a glare. He looked at him like he didn't recognize him at all, his eyes slit, his lips tight.

Before Draco could ask him what was wrong, Weasley intervened, taking out his wand aiming it at him.

"You'll pay for that one, Malfoy," he said. "Eat slugs."

Weasley clearly forgotten that his wand was broken. He was reminded as the wand's tip glowed and a jet of green light shot out from the opposite end, hitting him in the stomach, knocking him five feet back.

"Ron!" Granger squealed.

Harry knocked Draco on his shoulder, causing the other boy to stumble slightly, as he ran over to his friend. "Are you okay?"

The weasel sat himself up and opened his mouth to reply, burping out several slimy slugs that slide down his throat.

Most of the Slytherin team was paralyzed with laughter, including Flint who was using his broom to support himself and his second in command who was down on all four, banging his fist against the ground as he howled with laughter. The only one who wasn't laughing was Draco who watched his best friend take the weasel away with the insufferable mudblood without looking back.

"You certainly have a way with words, Malfoy." Blaise chuckled with a shake of his head.

"Shut it, Zabini!" His mind was still on what happened and the glare Harry shot him. The insult was meant for the insect, so it shouldn't have affected Harry like that. Besides, this wasn't the first time he insulted her. Harry may not have liked him insulting her, but he never glared at him for it. So why was this one different?

"Correct me if I'm wrong, Draco-and I very much doubt I am, but let's pretend otherwise for your sake-" At the withering look the young blonde shot him, the Italian tried to remain serious despite the stifled laughter that trickled his throat. "But wasn't Harry's mother a Muggleborn? Just like the girl you called a mudblood a minute ago?"

What the hell did that have to do with any-

The thought came to an abrupt halt as realization slammed against him like a slap delivered to the back of the head.

Oh. Shit.

Soooo? You all liked the chapter, yes? *Raises hand as death glares are aimed at my direction* Hey, hey, hey. Keep in mind if you kill me, then this would be the last drarry moment we gave and I know you don't want that. *Lowers hands when I sense my life is no longer in danger* I had to do it. I know you're a bit miffed by the fight but I promise the next chapter will be good. Insanely good. Until then, au revior ;)