"Draco, you're here!" Pansy said as she approached her friend. It was the morning and she was ready to go eat her breakfast. She had left her dorm and once in the common room, she had seen Draco in front of the notice board. Extremely curious about whatever Snape had wanted the night before, she had been eager to see Draco. But she wasn't expecting to see him already up and ready to go. He was usually going down after everyone in his dorm, probably to be sure no one would be there or just wake up while he was changing.
Draco didn't look at her at first, he kept staring at the board. Pansy raised an eyebrow, seeing that he did look tired. She glanced at the board. He was staring at the date of the first trip they could make at Hogsmeade, in October. She frowned a little and she put her hand on his shoulder. Startled, he turned his head to look at her.
"Alright, there?" Theo asked as he walked towards the duo. He had just got out of the dorm. Draco looked at him too before he took a step back, making Pansy let go of his shoulder.
"Yeah, fine," he said before he nodded in the direction of the exit. Theo and Pansy exchanged a glance and they all got out of the common room, not without some glances from the other students. At least, being a prefect was making people shut up about him, Draco thought. He hadn't been mocked or annoyed once yet, probably because they didn't want to be punished.
How great it felt, to have the upper hand again.
They left the common room, the wall closing behind the trio and they started to walk in the dungeons. Draco didn't want to talk about what had happened at that moment, too many people were there. But he could feel Pansy's and Theo's curious looks.
"I'll tell you about it later," he just muttered, still looking in front of him.
They got up the stairs leading to the Entrance Hall when Draco caught a glimpse of the Golden Trio going down the stairs. He raised his hands, one resting on Pansy's shoulder, the other on Theo's.
"I'll catch up with you," he said before he let them walk in the Great Hall. He kept walking forward, approaching the trio. He met Ron's gaze for a second, they didn't nod at each other, or anything, they just ignored each other and Draco focused on Hermione. They weren't fighting all the time, it was something already, Draco thought. Hermione was really insistent sometimes, and she wanted them to talk to each other, but it was too much for now.
His girlfriend left her friends too to walk towards Draco. She gave him a little smile, knowing that he probably wasn't in a very good mood since the feast the night before. And seeing by his tired expression, he hadn't slept well.
"Hi," she said quietly. Draco gave her a smile, just slightly bigger than hers.
"What's wrong with Scarhead?" He asked as he looked at Ron and Harry's backs. Hermione glanced at her friends too before looking at Draco again.
"He's angry, everyone's talking about him, calling him a liar," she said, looking at her boyfriend again. He was still staring in direction of the Great Hall, even if Harry and Ron weren't in sight anymore. "So, Umbri-"
"Later," Draco finally said, interrupting her as he looked at her again, giving her another smile. "Not here." She blinked, slightly frowned but nodded.
"Alright, then. When do you want to meet?" She asked. They had to eat before starting their classes.
"Malfoy!" Draco heard someone call. He turned his head to look at an older Slytherin boy who was walking towards the Great Hall. "Don't forget the tryouts on Thursday, five o'clock, we need a Keeper and a Chaser!" He said before glancing at Hermione. He turned around and kept walking towards the Great Hall after a nod from Draco. Marcus had left, as well as their old Keeper. Draco looked at Hermione again.
"Since we don't have our schedules yet... Dinner?" He asked. "Pansy and Theo will come along. I guess you can bring your minions too," he said, making Hermione quietly giggle. "I reckon Classrom 6B's still available."
"Alright, then," she said before pecking his lips. Then, they walked towards the Great Hall and walked towards their respective table.
.
Giant wars were interesting, but Binns seemed to be able to make every subjects boring. Draco couldn't help but yawn as he leaned a bit more on his seat, glancing at his notes. He glanced at Pansy who was next to him. She wasn't even trying anymore. Leaning on her desk, her chin was on one of her arms as she was gazing into space. With his almost sleepless night, Draco felt like sleeping right there on his desk too.
He glanced at Hermione, who was taking notes of everything Binns was saying and he couldn't help but yawn again, his mouth opened widely. He then took a deep breath, trying not to sigh too loudly as he caught Potter's gaze. He seemed amused. Draco wrinkled his nose before he looked up at the ceiling, wondering how long the lesson would last.
When he, Pansy and Theo walked out of the class, they were walking right behind the Golden Trio and Draco paid enough attention to hear that Hermione might be planning on not giving them her notes. Surely, this wasn't applying to him, right?
They got separated at some point, and Draco didn't get the chance to see Harry talking to Cho, and Hermione scolding Ron for interrupting them.
What he didn't miss was Snape's glance when he talked about O.W.L at the beginning of his class, saying that he was only taking the very best into his N.E.W.T. He didn't even pay attention to him staring at Harry when he talked about saying goodbye to some of his students. He got another glance from Snape when he told them they would learn how to prepare the Draught of Peace, something to calm anxiety and soothe agitation. Draco knew all about it already, due to his constant use of it.
Snape had made sure he knew how to prepare it in the past, just in case. Draco was pretty talented in his class, and it was probably because he had learnt some things even before coming to Hogwarts. He was experienced. And yet, Draco knew it had nothing to do with some potions he would one day learn how to make. Like the Wolfsbane potion. He was certain he wouldn't get it right, he didn't have much hope. But for today, it didn't matter, he would easily make the Draught.
He already knew the order, the quantities, the way he had to stir the the mixture, how it had to be heated. The light silver vapor Snape was waiting for was coming out of his cauldron when Snape talked about it. He only looked at the Gryffindors when Snape talked about the mess that was Harry's potion. Hermione, however, seemed to have perfectly succeeded, if Draco was to believe the vapor coming out of her cauldron.
After Study of Ancient Runes, Draco entered Umbridge's class as he and Pansy were talking about O. . They stopped talking after they had walked past the door and, not wanting to be anywhere near that woman, Draco directly walked towards one of the desks in the back of the classroom. He sat down and couldn't help but look at the woman that would be teaching them. All this pink was making him nauseated. He didn't say anything when she greeted them with a "Well, Good afternoon!"
Only a few students did. But when she asked them to repeat "Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge," Draco felt like he was definitely going to throw up. Were they kids? As asked, the students put their wands away, no matter how disturbing that demand was, and they took their quills out. Not long after that, they were left to read in silence.
Draco didn't look at his book right away. He kept staring at their new teacher for a moment, as she sat down again at her desk. Toad.
He finally looked down, not without exchanging a glance with Pansy. That's when he noticed that Hermione was not reading. She had her hand in the air and was apparently waiting for Umbridge to react. Draco glanced at the woman again. Yeah, it was unlikely.
Even if it took her half an hour and half the class staring at her to finally ask her question, she got what she wanted, making the class realize that Umbridge wasn't planning on making them use any magic. Of course, Hermione had been the only one to directly notice this kind of details. Draco and Pansy finally leaned in their seats as they watched Umbridge answer her, her voice getting a bit more high-pitched.
The debate started and Draco had to say, it was more entertaining than her book. Still, he wasn't planning on saying anything. He didn't want to be in any trouble with Umbridge at that point, she would find any excuse to give him detention and report his behavior. Would Dumbledore actually listen to her? You never knew, she had the Ministry with her. So, he listened distractedly. When he looked over at Pansy, he could see that she was furious too.
"I do not wish to criticise the way things have been run in this school, but you have been exposed to some very irresponsible wizards in this class, very irresponsible indeed," Umbridge started to say. "Not to mention," she added with a nasty little laugh, "extremely dangerous half-breeds."
Draco felt as if someone had just punched him in the stomach. He stopped breathing for a moment and the pain in his tummy made him dizzy.
He was only thankful that no one who knew his secret suddenly turned towards him. Sure, Pansy herself was more stiff than before, and Theo was now staring at Umbridge even though, despite the noise around him, he had kept reading in silence. He wasn't one to create any trouble, he probably didn't mind what was going on. But he had been distractedly listening and had heard.
Potter was probably too angry to pay too much attention at what she had just said, to think about him. Draco didn't mind. Ron had the same angry expression on his face. Draco couldn't tell if it was because of Umbridge's last spoken words, her insult towards him but also towards Lupin, or if it was because of the entire situation. Probably the latter. Again, Draco didn't mind. And Hermione wasn't looking either, but she wasn't saying anything to Umbridge, now, while her she had kept raising her hand a minute before.
Draco wondered if it was the way she had felt the first time he had called her a mudblood in front of her. Draco was used to hear things about werewolves, but they had never been said right in front of him. And since Umbridge knew about him, she clearly meant for him to be hurt by that.
Draco knew everyone thought werewolves were despicable, even simple wizards were not comfortable at all around them, not only purebloods. But nonetheless, half-breed was a very derogatory term for part-humans.
He barely heard Dean Thomas trying to defend Lupin before ultimately being interrupted by Umbridge who was clearly starting to lose all of her patience, if she had any to begin with. It was hard to tell, because she was still displaying her big hideous smile even though her voice was far higher-pitched than ever.
It was infuriating. Hearing her claiming that the Ministry of Magic was taking care of everything, that Voldermort being back was a lie... Draco didn't even notice that his jaw was clenched until his teeth started to hurt. But he wasn't like Potter, he wouldn't get on his feet and shout at her. So he watched, that's all he could do.
He watched as Harry claimed he was saying the truth, he watched as Harry asked if Cedric had just dropped dead on his own accord, as he got sent out of the classroom to go see McGonagall.
When they left the classroom after the rest of the lesson that they spent all silent, reading the book, Draco turned towards Pansy and Theo.
"I'm not very hungry. I'll wait for you there," he said, talking about Classroom 6B. Pansy nodded as she gave him a little smile. He then strode off to avoid all the other students that were already going to the Great Hall.
Pansy saw Ron and Hermione getting out of the classroom and Harry joining them. He had been waiting for them after talking with his Head of House. Pansy elbowed Theo as she nodded towards them.
"You go tell them, I'll go get some food, he needs to eat even if he says he's not hungry," she said. Theo nodded and watched her walk away before going towards the trio. Ron and Harry still seemed to be angry.
"Hermione," Theo called, getting their attention. Hermione gave him a very little smile. She wasn't in the mood to smile, but Theo was such a sweetheart with her, she didn't have the heart to look cold.
"Theodore," she said quietly. Theo gave her the same smile as they were still all tense. He glanced at Ron and Harry, nodding at them.
"Draco is already going upstairs," he said. "He told us he's not hungry. Pansy went to get him some food anyway but we will join him and eat there," he said, staring down at the girl. Harry and Ron exchanged a look. They knew about the meeting, they were going as well, but still, they had never really interacted with Theo. The only time Harry had talked to Pansy, the year before, had been to know where Hermione and Draco were, and she hadn't even glanced at him. She had answered and kept eating, while Theodore had directly smiled at Harry. As soon as he had seen him coming over, in fact.
Hermione had told him that Theo was a nice guy, the night of the ball. And he knew it was the truth. But having a Slytherin smiling at them and talking to them this way was still weird. He and Ron were kind of used to Draco's presence, by now, but even he wasn't that nice. He only was with Hermione. And not even in front of them. Not as much. Harry had seen it the day he had found them near the lake. Draco had been in such a good mood that he hadn't minded Harry's presence and it had been the kindest Harry had ever seen Draco be.
So he knew that this kind of things were possible, but something in his mind was still making him think that it was incredibly odd. And as Ron hid his hands deep in his pockets and stared at Theo, he knew that his best friend was thinking the same way.
"I think we're going to do the same," Hermione said, looking at her friends. "I doubt you want to be around everyone right now," she added as she stared at Harry. People around them were already whispering, pointing at him. He glanced around before nodding, looking at Theo.
"Yeah, we'll join you," he said. And with another nod from Theo, the four of them walked down to the Great Hall to take what they needed.
.
"Seriously, it's like they want you to be mad at them," Ron said as they entered the disused classroom.
"Want to have another show, do they?" Harry asked angrily as he slammed the door behind everyone. Hermione didn't say anything, she walked towards Draco, who was sitting on a table, and she put her food near him. Theo was next to it, sitting on a chair, legs crossed as he was taking little pieces of bread from his plate. Pansy had been talking, standing near them, when the trio had appeared in the classroom.
Hermione stopped next to Draco, meeting his eyes as she put her hand on his shoulder. He briefly closed his eyes when her lips met his cheek and when he opened them, he met hers.
"Are you ok?" She asked quietly. Draco gave her a smile and shrugged as he glanced at Harry and Ron.
"I don't get why they all believed Dumbledore two months ago when he told them about it," Harry said. Draco could see his hands trembling. Hermione had told him that he was angry, lately. Not just that day, he had been most of the time, always snapping at them. Already back at 12 Grimmauld Place, she had told him that Harry had been snapping at her and Ron for stupid reasons. And now, back here, with all his problems, it was only getting worse.
"The thing is, Harry, I'm not sure they did," Hermione said as she turned around to look at her friend.
"What do you mean?" Harry asked as he approached. Ron had sat at one of the desks near the group to start eating and Harry plumbed himself next to him.
"Do you realize what happened on our side?" Pansy suddenly asked, staring at Harry. Too taken aback, he was only able to raise his eyebrows. Ron had stop chewing for a second, the same look on his face. "You suddenly appeared in front of us with Diggory's dead body. We weren't there to see it, we just heard Dumbledore say You-Know-Who had done it."
"'Cause it's the truth!" Harry said loudly, frowning, now. Pansy clenched her jaw and took a step towards him.
"We know it is," Hermione said more calmly, getting a glance from the other girl. "So please, stop talking to us like that," she added. "After that night, and during two months, everyone read about how you're a nutcase and Dumbledore's going senile," she said. Harry didn't say anything else, he only looked away, not touching his food.
There was a moment of silence during which Pansy pulled out a chair that she placed next to Theo and she sat down too, her arms crossed. She didn't feel that hungry either, that day. Theo hadn't moved a bit, he was observing everyone, still eating his bread.
Draco would have liked to have five minutes alone with Hermione, just to be in her arms, but he didn't move either. And he didn't say anything. She was the one breaking the silence.
"I can't believe Dumbledore is letting that horrible woman teach us, especially during our O.W.L. year!" She suddenly said more loudly, getting everyone to suddenly look at her. "I don't get what he's playing at," she continued, "Letting the Ministry take care of finding us a teacher is one thing, I guess he couldn't refuse, but one who not only doesn't want us to use magic, but a biggoted one! How can he let her near us?"
Draco looked down for a second before he felt his own fingers on Hermione's forearm. He gently pressed it.
"Calm down," he said quietly.
"How can you be so calm? Why aren't you angry?" She asked as she turned towards him. Draco took a deep breath and sighed heavily.
"I don't know. You were able to ignore me all this time, I guess I can let it slide," he just said. Pansy frowned a little, glancing at Draco. She knew he was not letting it slide, and that he was probably angry at her, maybe as much as Harry was. Hermione was actually about to say that he wasn't usually letting this kind of things slide when Ron talked.
"Mate, I thought you would snap her head off," he said. Draco first thought that he was talking to Harry but when he glanced at the redhead, he saw his eyes fixed on him. "I mean, you've duelled Harry for less than that." Ron thought it was better for him to talk about his fights with Harry than the last time Draco had tried to get to him, back in the woods before their fourth year. He had spoken of his condition and quite frankly, if Harry and Hermione hadn't been there to stop Draco, he didn't know what would have happen.
So, he had noticed what she had said about part-humans.
"It wouldn't be very advisable now, would it?" Theo asked casually before bringing another piece of bread between his lips. Everyone looked at him except Draco, who just looked down. "Why don't you tell them what you told us before they came here?" He then added when he was done with his nibble, glancing at his friend. Draco frowned a little as he glared at him. Theo didn't react, he met his eyes and stared as his hands were busy, his fingers tearing another part of the crumb from the bread.
"What is it?" Hermione asked, getting a bit closer to him, putting one of her hands on his knee, the other resting on his arm again. "Did anything else happen?"
Draco closed his eyes for a second before he glanced at Harry for a moment. He still looked angry, but at least, he was silent and listening to them.
"You mean besides her being a liar and insulting Lupin this way?" He asked sarcastically, looking at Hermione again. He shrugged. "Well, Snape came to find me after the feast yesterday," he said promptly. "Apparently I needed to have a talk with him, Dumbledore and that stupid-" He stopped and looked away as he clenched his teeth. "But let's be real, it was only to speak with her, they didn't say anything. Anyway," he sighed.
Hermione had noticed that he was doing it again. He was beating about the bush, as always, because he had a hard time getting the words out. She softly pressed his arm, reminding him that she was with him no matter what. He glanced at her.
"Not only does she want me to learn how to make Wolfsbane Potion by myself, like I had the time with all the work we already have, but she doesn't want me to skip her class if a..." He frowned a little, looking away again as he thought about the appropriate term. He had been able to mention the full-moon when he was alone with Hermione but with everyone, especially with Potter and Weasel, it was harder. "I can't rest after a full-moon if I'm supposed to attend her class," he just said a bit more quietly.
Hermione frowned as one of her hand came directly in front of her mouth. Ron didn't hide the fact that he was gaping at him, and Harry frowned too.
"She can't do something like that!" Hermione let out, still staring at Draco. He didn't seem remotely angry, nor satisfied, of course, he just looked tired. More than he had a minute before, all of a sudden.
"Apparently, she can," Pansy said, annoyed. "That's why I also believe Dumbledore didn't have a choice but had to hire her," she added.
"What d'you mean?" Ron asked, getting a glance from Pansy. She had her arms and legs crossed and she looked more annoyed than ever. Ron swallowed, but her anger wasn't directed at him, it was directed at their new teacher.
"She told him that it was for her class, not for the others. She can't make them do the same if they don't want to. So, obviously, Dumbledore had no choice but accept that. Draco's probably lucky, if she used the "dangerous half-breed" excuse", she explained, getting a nasty glance from Draco who just couldn't help it. "He could have been forced to do the same for all his classes, because of that. Or he could have directly been expelled. I don't know why that didn't happen, actually."
"I guess I can thank my father for that..." Draco mumbled.
"Does he know?" Hermione asked.
"I don't know, I sent him an owl. But he's got enough influence in the Ministry. He's got that thing with Fudge, I'm not registered as a werewolf..." Harry narrowed his eyes a little, not getting it. "To be honest, I doubt Fudge wants any problem with him. As I was telling them," he said as he nodded in the direction of Pansy and Theo, "I bet he allows her to do what she wants as long as she doesn't push it. So it could be worse. But I do not wish to push my luck," he added. "So I'm not barking back at her," he said as he glanced at Harry. "Don't want to end up stuck in detention with her."
"Still, this woman is a monster," Hermione said. She turned towards Harry and Ron, guessing that Theo and Pansy already knew. But she doubted Ron and Harry remembered the conversation they had had about her during their third year. "She's the one who created the legislation against werewolves," she said. It seemed like finally, Ron and Harry remembered it, as both their expression changed.
"Right..." Ron muttered, looking at Draco. Draco tried not to frown. He didn't know what this expression on Weasel's face was but he didn't like it. It looked like he was feeling bad for him, somehow, and he found it disgusting. He wrinkled his nose as he looked away, meeting Pansy's eyes.
"But...," Harry said quietly. "I saw you father at the Ministry the day of my hearing," he continued, getting Draco's attention as soon as he said "your father". "He was speaking with Fudge and Ron's dad told me that... He can delay laws he doesn't want passed, that he's very well connected. You just said it yourself, he's got influence. How on earth could Umbridge make the legislation if he has this kind of power?" He asked.
"Actually, my father did stop the Ministry from making this law for quite some time," he said rather calmly, but speaking as soon as Harry had closed his mouth, like he had been offended to hear that someone could doubt his father's power, but that he didn't want to show it. "You know, werewolves didn't appear the very day I was bitten," he said, meeting Harry's eyes and speaking frankly for once, like he was tired to avoid the words, to feel ashamed. He couldn't do it anymore if they had to talk about it so often. He was annoyed, he couldn't spare them and he couldn't spare himself anymore. "They've always been there. There were attacks before mine, and there still are attacks everywhere. Some are really... dangerous. They're not all like Lupin." He didn't have the heart to include himself in that category, just in case he would make a mistake one day. He was still doubting himself most of the time. "When he heard about it for the first time, it was... Almost four years ago. He delayed it for two years, I think. Fudge knew why, obviously, not the others. And because of that, since he had too much pressure from the others..."
Draco looked down for a second. Why would someone refuse this kind of law when werewolves were a danger for everyone? It hadn't made sense to any of them. He sighed.
"Attacks kept happening. One of the... One of us... Is well known for biting childrens," Draco said more quietly. Hermione bit her lower lip as she pressed Draco's arm again, automatically getting closer. Harry was still staring at Draco, Theo in front of him, listening. Pansy and Ron had both looked down. "At least, Lupin reckons he's the one responsible for those attacks... He's crazy, he's... They can't catch him, they don't know where he is, even though they know who he is. A real savage, a worthless monster..." Draco let out the end of his phrase in a whisper. He took a deep breath. "He attacked three kids during our third year. That's when they decided to finally pass the law. It was too much. It would have just been so weird if he had refused. They would have thought that he wanted the attacks to continue or something..."
"Why didn't they make the law way before that?" Ron asked, interested. Draco glanced at him for a moment before he looked in front of him, jaw clenched as he thought about it.
"Werewolves... They're usually registered, like Animagus. I don't know if you've heard of Newton Scamander," he said as he glanced at the two Gryffindor boys. They both shook their heads and Draco let out a laugh without any joy in it, as Theo smiled a little. "Of course, you don't, he just wrote one of your school manual, you dumbasses," he muttered as he rolled his eyes. Hermione slightly smirked as she finally sat next to Draco on the desk. "Anyway," Draco said before hearing any protest from the duo, "He's been studying beasts all his life and he's actually the reason there's a register for us. He created it back in '47. But when you're bitten... You don't usually go around and shout it for everyone to know it. The first thing you think about is definitely not running to the Ministry to be a reject. So most of them are not registered, which makes it kind of useless, really," he explained. He then swallowed and looked at them again. "But when your five year old kid is bitten and you don't have anything to rescue them right away, what do you do?"
"Saint-Mungo..." Pansy whispered, staring into space. Draco slightly nodded.
"Yeah. You take them to Saint-Mungo and it's just... They know. And then the Ministry knows. And then everyone knows. They know for Lupin, so now he can't find a job, he can't do anything..." He said quietly. Harry clenched his jaw hard. It was so unfair for Lupin. Like Dean had said in class, he had been their best teacher. He deserved that job.
"But you're not registered, you said, despite Fudge knowing," Ron said. He got another look from Draco, who was always checking that there wasn't anything in Weasley's expression betraying his eagerness to mock him. But there was nothing. He just seemed interested.
"We... My father... He had what we needed to take care of my injury," he said. Harry blinked as he looked down for a second, remembering really clearly what Draco's skin was looking like, how much he hated it, the way he had hurt himself. When he slowly looked up at him again, he saw Draco's eyes on him. "When my father took care of getting the one that bit me executed, he made a deal with Fudge. I don't know what it's about exactly, I just know there's one and that I'm not in any of the Ministry records when it comes to that. That's why people couldn't understand why he was delaying that law. And when these kids were attacked... They just decided it was enough, I guess. I don't know."
"So you think you're father's the reason you're still here?" Pansy asked, looking at her best friend who nodded.
"Yeah. Fudge probably doesn't mind what she's doing, but he's not going to let her throw me out of school either, I guess."
At least, now that all the students were focusing on Potter, they weren't talking about him. Or at least, not in front of him since he had that Prefect badge on his chest. That's with this only comforting thought that they all ended up leaving the classroom. It was getting late and they all had a lot of work already.
.
The next day, after having received already a horrible amount of work from McGonagall and Flitwick, the Slytherins joined the Gryffindors for their class of Care of Magical Creatures in the afternoon. Since Hermione was angry at Ron for all his comments about the hats she was knitting for the house-elves, she had decided to stand next to Draco, who wasn't about to complain, on the contrary. They had had so much work in just two days that they were barely able to spend time together. But they were both hard-workers so at least, they weren't late for anything. Still, a few moments alone with Hermione wouldn't do Draco much harm. Unfortunately, they had soon to be separated in groups of three to work with bowtruckles. Since he knew the creature already, sketching it and naming its body part had been easy enough and he let Pansy and Theo copy his work as he kept the little creature in his hands.
At the end of the lesson, though, he packed up quickly to walk right behind Harry, Ron and Hermione. He tapped her shoulder and, even if she had been startled, she slowed down to walk next to him as he wasn't speaking very loud.
"I've got a letter from my father," he said quietly, getting a concerned glance from Hermione.
"About Umbridge?" She asked.
"Not only her," he said quickly. "About the- Hagrid too," he said, forcing himself to use his name. Hermione frowned and Harry turned around. Draco almost ran into him.
"Do you know something?" Harry asked eagerly as some students walked around them to continue to Herbology. Draco glanced around and shrugged.
"Not much, but..."
"Malfoy, what is it?" Harry asked as he got closer, frowning a little. Draco raised an eyebrow.
"Well, calm down now, I wouldn't want you to strangle me," he said. Hermione pursed her lips as she glanced at Harry. He really had to stop snapping at everybody. "Since that's what I'm trying to avoid, let me find how to tell you this, huh?" He said a bit more coldly already.
"I don't have time to wait," Harry said, still annoyed that everyone was thinking that Professor Grubbly-Plank was a better teacher than Hagrid.
"Well, maybe the stupid great oaf's got himself badly injured," Draco said through greeted teeth as he got closer to Harry too.
"Draco," Hermione said, putting a hand on his arm.
"Maybe you will if you don't shut up," Harry said on the same tone. A mocking expression deformed Draco's face who was clearly not impressed.
"Maybe he's been messing with stuff that's too big for him, if you get my drift," he said. Harry narrowed his eyes as he felt suddenly sick. But before he could say anything, Pansy' hand was on Draco's other arm and she pulled him by his robe.
"Don't you two start anything right now," she said.
"Wait!" Hermione suddenly said. God, she wasn't hoping Draco was hiding information from them because of Harry's attitude, now. "What about Umbridge?" She asked, concerned for Draco. He didn't look at Harry and Ron as he turned around again. Pansy looked impatient while Theo just started at the scene with his usual smile on his lips.
"It's nothing, really," Draco said, still clearly sounding angry. His tone was dry, even if he was talking to Hermione. And he was louder, too, to let people hear. "But Father was talking to Fudge just a couple of days ago, and it sounds as though the Ministry's really wants to crack down on the substandard teaching in this place." He now looked at Harry again. "So even if that overgrown moron does show up again, he'll probably be sent packing straight away."
And with that, he was ready to leave. He was pretty satisfied with Harry's expression. Hermione wasn't. Not only because of the way he was behaving at that moment, but because he hadn't told her what she wanted to know. Maybe it was also because of the people around, and the group of students getting out of the greenhouse, but still. She sighed, tired of her friends and Draco's behavior. He needed very little provocation to totally change his behavior with them. And she got it. He wasn't trusting people easily, so why would he trust someone he had spent his time fighting with during his first years at school?
And she had told Harry so many times already to stop snapping at everyone. And here they were, having another fight when everything had went so well between them the day before.
Still, Harry didn't have the time to react to whatever Draco had just said. Luna stopped near the group and, without even greeting them, she talked to Harry.
"I believe He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is back, and I believe you fought him and escaped from him," she said, taking aback everyone. Lavender and Parvati, who had obviously stopped to watch the fight that had been about to explode between Draco and Harry to have something to gossip about later, were now giggling ad they were mocking Luna's earrings. Draco couldn't help but shot them a nasty glare that they didn't even notice. He felt even more bad for Luna when she spoke louder to the girls, thinking that they were laughing because of what she had been saying.
"You can laugh! But people used to believe there were no such things as the Blibbering Humdinger or the Crumple-Horned Snorkack!"
"Well, they were right, weren't they?" Hermione asked impatiently now. After Harry and Draco, she didn't have time to deal with this, she just wanted it to be over. She still had a hard time finding Luna's presence in any way nice. "There weren't such things as the Blibbering Humdinger or the Crumple-Horned Snorkack," she said.
It was enough to make Luna leave as other students were laughing.
"Would you mind not offending the only people who believe me?" Harry asked Hermione directly.
"Oh, come on, Harry, you can do better than her!" Hermione said without thinking. She only glanced at Draco but it was enough for her to discover his expression. His face wasn't burning with anger like it had because of Harry, and he didn't seem sad. But he was hurt, in a way. Hermione had seen this expression on his face in the past. "Ginny's told me all about her," she told them. "Apparently, she'll only believe in things as long as there's no proof at all. I wouldn't expect anything else from someone whose father runs The Quibbler," she explained. It didn't make the expression on Draco's face change in any way.
Instead, and because he didn't want to argue with Hermione, especially not in front of everyone, he turned his head to look at Lavender and Parvati who were still laughing.
"What are you laughing at? You've seen yourselves in a mirror or something?" He let out coldly with way more disdain in his eyes than he had had when looking at Umbridge in class a day earlier. Apparently, it was enough to make Lavender and Parvati shut up. And he didn't want to know if it was because of the surprise, or if it was because he was defending Loony Lovegood, he finally turned around and stormed off, Theo following with Pansy after she looked at Lavender and Parvati from head to toe.
The Golden Trio watched them leave and it's only after Ernie McMillan came to tell Harry he was believing him too that he talked to Ron and Hermione.
"D'you think he really knows something about Hagrid that we don't?"
"And how would we know, it's not like you've given him much time to talk about it, now, did you?" Hermione snapped. "I reckon that if something had happened to him, Dumbledore would know," she said before walking quickly towards the greenhouses.