Chapter Eleven: The Weakest Link

There are several dialogue quotes taken from JK Rowling's Chamber of Secrets in this book. This is to convey the same story she wrote, but from another character's POV. The quotes taken directly from the book have three quotation marks (instead of two) around them to signify she wrote them and that I am citing them. Because I am transforming pieces of her work into something new this falls under the Fair Use Act. Additionally, JK Rowling has stated that she is okay with noncommercial fan fiction. All direct quotes, the Harry Potter storyline, and the characters all belong to JK Rowling.

The New Year holiday came and went, and if the Hogwarts students made any resolutions to be kinder to each other, they were long forgotten by the time term started. The Gryffindors and the Slytherins, in particular, continued to fight and harass each other. The Slytherins were hissed at and tripped in the hallways for being "snakes." The Gryffindors were shoved, and insulted by the Slytherins.

Draco was no better. In fact, he had been in a particularly foul mood ever since he returned from Christmas break. The rest of his break had not gone very well after the Christmas ball. His father was still furious at him for his class ranking, and Draco had spent most of his time avoiding him in his room. Family dinners had been incredibly tense and awkward. Draco had found himself wishing to be back at school. Now that Draco was back at Hogwarts he spent a lot of time with Crabbe and Goyle, harassing the students from the other houses.

Even the Slytherins who did not agree with the rivalries or harassment understood why it was so prevalent. The Slytherins may have been unkind to the other houses, especially the Gryffindors, but they felt ganged up on by the other houses. The majority of Hogwarts students seemed to hate the Slytherins, which caused the Slytherins to act unkindly, and in turn the other houses continued to hate Slytherins. It was a seemingly impossible cycle to break.

Another Gryffindor quidditch match was coming up soon. This time they were playing against Hufflepuff. Several Slytherins, including Flint, had begged Professor Snape to volunteer as a referee. They insisted that he was the only teacher who would not be biased to favor the team Harry Potter was on. Professor Snape agreed to the dismay of the Gryffindors, who always disliked Professor Snape.

Even with a referee that wouldn't favor the Gryffindors, there was no denying that Harry was a great quidditch player. Any house that hoped to win the house cup had reason to worry and stress over this next game.

Draco was messing around in the halls by the library with his two loyal cronies, Crabbe and Goyle, when Neville Longbottom was unfortunate enough to walk by.

"Oi! Fatty! Come here," shouted Draco.

Neville kept his head down and tried to keep walking, but Crabbe and Goyle cut him off.

"Hey, I was speaking to you Longbottom. Hasn't your mummy ever taught you about manners? Oh... right, she abandoned you with your Grandmother didn't she?"

"Y-you don't know anything about that Malfoy," Neville stuttered. His face was red and teary-eyed.

"No matter," said Draco, moving on. He had expected Neville to get angry or scared, but had not expected that emotional response. "I have been looking for someone to practice this on."

"Locomotor Mortis," shouted Draco, and Neville's legs quickly bound together. He wobbled for a moment before crashing down, dropping all of his books.

Crabbe and Goyle roared with laughter as Neville struggled to get up. When he finally made it to his feet, he jumped a few steps forward before toppling down all over again.

"Come on," sniggered Draco. "Before someone comes and sees." And the three Slytherins walked away, leaving Neville to struggle back to the Gryffindor common room.

As the Hufflepuff versus Gryffindor match drew closer and closer, Draco continued to spend more and more time with Crabbe and Goyle, neglecting his friends. He'd ignore them in the Great Hall during meals, he'd walk right past them when they were studying in the common room. Pansy was particularly worried about him.

"I just don't understand what we did," stressed Pansy one night in the Slytherin common room.

"We didn't do anything, he's just being a twat," Blaise replied bluntly.

"He just gets like this sometimes," Daphne finally said. "When he's stressed, and overwhelmed with everything he just withdraws."

"It's not fair!" Insisted Pansy. "He's not the only one who gets stressed, and to make us worry about him... He's acting like Crabbe and Goyle are his real friends... Don't you think Blaise?"

Blaise shrugged, "If he's going to act like this I'm not engaging. People typically don't stick around, so get used to it."

"He just has a hard life," insisted Daphne.

"Yeah no shit Daphne," Blaise snapped. "So do you, and me, and Pansy. We're prestigious, Slytherin, purebloods. Our parents see us as their legacies and not their children. We are expected to be the best. Everyone hates us. Our families have controversial views, suspicious ties to suspicious people, and tons of enemies. Draco's family might be mad he ranked second, but I ranked fifth. Draco might be mad at his dad, but my dad is dead. My mom has married five times. I am on my fourth stepfather, because they keep dying. I'm sick and tired of putting up with Draco's bullshit." Blaise stormed down to his dormitory.

"Blaise is right," Pansy spoke quietly. "Draco doesn't own "having a tough childhood". All of us have been through an incredible amount of bad things. If we don't stick together, we'll have no one."

"Speak for yourself Pans," Daphne asserted before also leaving for her dormitory.

Finally the day of the match arrived, and the stands flooded from students and teachers of all houses. Ever since Harry Potter had made the Gryffindor team, the quidditch games had higher attendance rates than ever before. Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle, who were looking for trouble, made sure to all sit right behind Neville, Ron and Hermione.

Snape walked out onto the field and signaled with his whistle for everyone to mount their brooms. He released the quaffle into the air and both teams were off, soaring through the beautiful, cloudless, sky.

Just a few minutes into the match, Draco felt bored just sitting there in the stands, unable to play. He had hoped that Longbottom, Weasley, and Granger would turn around and notice him sitting behind them, and now he was growing impatient.

Draco reached out and nudged the back of Ron's head, causing him to turn around. "'Oh, sorry, Weasley, didn't see you there,'" Draco said in a falsely kind tone. "'Wonder how long Potter's going to stay on his broom this time? Anyone want a bet? What about you, Weasley?'"

To Draco's dismay, none of them answered or engaged with him. This pissed him off even more, and he struggled to come up with more ways to torment them. "'You know how I think they choose people for the Gryffindor team?'" Draco asked, just as Snape awarded Hufflepuff a penalty for illegal contact on the Gryffindors' part. "'It's people they feel sorry for. See, there's Potter, who's got no parents, then there's the Weasleys, who've got no money — you should be on the team, Longbottom, you've got no brains.'"

Even from just seeing his back, it was clear that Ron had tensed up in anger, but he continued to keep his back turned to Draco, and his on the game. On the other hand, Neville turned around, and stammered in a shaky voice, "'I'm worth twelve of you, Malfoy.'"

Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle howled with laughter, shaking the stands. Neville's face turned bright red, and he looked to Ron for support. However, Ron was too engaged in the game and just muttered, "'You tell him, Neville,'" while keeping his eyes glued on the match.

Draco, still not pleased with the minor reactions he had evoked, continued to pester them,"'Longbottom, if brains were gold you'd be poorer than Weasley, and that's saying something.'"

Finally Ron had had enough, "'I'm warning you, Malfoy — one more word —'"

But Hermione cut Ron off and distracted him, "'Ron! Harry — !'"

"'What? Where?'" Asked Ron turning back to the game.

Draco looked up to see Harry diving towards the ground at record speed. "You're in luck, Weasley, Potter's obviously spotted some money on the ground!" he heckled.

Suddenly, without warning, Ron lunged at Draco, completely wrestling him to the ground. Ron was completely on top of Draco. A hit to the stomach. A punch in the eye. Draco just laid there letting Ron beat him senseless, without trying too hard to fight back.

Maybe this is what Draco wanted. Maybe he needed to feel the pain he was feeling inside, physically. Maybe he wanted the bruises and cuts he felt inside to show on his body as a cry for help. Suddenly, Draco became aware that the position he had gotten himself into made him look weak. He finally kicked Ron in the Kidney, and used his strength to get up.

Draco stood up, looking to the field and saw Harry holding the snitch. Hermione started shrieking, "'Ron! Ron! Where are you? The game's over! Harry's won! We've won! Gryffindor is in the lead!'"

Draco turned to his right and saw Longbottom knocked out cold, with a very proud Crabbe and Goyle standing above him.

As everyone went inside to either celebrate the win or pout about the loss, Draco left the stands in the opposite direction of the castle. He desperately needed some time to himself. He walked all the way to the edge of the forbidden forest, sat down, and started to cry.

However, his moment of sadness was cut short when he heard voices. "'. . . d-don't know why you wanted t-t-to meet here of all p-places, Severus . . .'" Said a meek voice, that could belong to none other than Professor Quirrell.

"'Oh, I thought we'd keep this private,'" Snape responded coldly. "Students aren't supposed to know about the Sorcerer's Stone, after all."

Draco was in complete shock. Was that the hidden object on the third floor? The sorcerer's stone? Draco had read about it before in a book about alchemy. Created by Nicholas Flamel, the sorcerer's stone could turn metal into gold, and produce the elixir of life, which would keep the drinker from dying. Draco thought to himself that there was no way Hogwarts would hold such an item, but then realized how bad the stone would be in the wrong person's hands.

Draco inched forward to get a better look. He suddenly heard a hooting noise, and instinctively looked up to see the bird, but instead he saw none other than Potter sitting in the tree. Draco almost called out to him, but thought twice as he caught the end of Snape and Quirrell's conversation.

"'Very well," Said Snape. "We'll have another little chat soon, when you've had time to think things over and decided where your loyalties lie.'"

Draco saw Snape coming out of the forest and he hid behind a tree. He waited until Professor Quirrell left as well, and then waited to see Harry for a good twenty minutes. Eventually, Draco gave up, completely confused as to how Harry had managed to sneak by him.

Draco stumbled back to the castle, just as nightfall was setting on the castle. He managed to make his way back to the dungeons before curfew. Draco stumbled into the Slytherin common room with a black eye, a cut lip, and several other bruises hidden by his uniform.

Pansy gasped audibly at the sight of him, ran to him, and gave him a huge hug. "What the hell did you do?" She asked. Any anger or resentment she had towards him, completely forgotten.

"Weasley," Draco answered plainly.

"We should tell Professor Snape," said Daphne.

"No-" Draco started, but Daphne cut him off.

"I don't care what you said to him Draco, physical assault is not okay," Daphne interjected.

"Daphne no, that's not the right way to handle things," Draco insisted, sitting down on one of the couches. "We have more important things to discuss than Weasley."

Blaise lowered the book he was reading, and looked to Draco, "So you're back then, mate?" He asked, doubtfully.

"Yeah, I guess so," Draco answered.

"Done acting like a prat then, are we?" Blaise pressed.

"I don't know about that," said Draco smirking. Blaise smiled, and it seemed as though the group was back together. The four emotionally damaged little Slytherins may have not always got along, but they knew they needed each other.