Divided with a thin line between hesitant and relief, Draco with his arm around Hermione's led her to the hospital wing. He was still unsure about Madam Pomfrey's reactions to him stealing her away into a vast adventure of 'nonsense' (he was sure that's what the nurse would call it), and he almost turned back around at the door before catching himself. He was a prideful man; he wouldn't be swayed so easily.
He didn't even have to knock before the Hospital doors swung open and a very perplexed Madam Pomfrey stared back at him. "Mr. Malfoy, I think you have some explaining to do." She scolded him, placing her hands on her waist whilst tapping her foot. Draco only nodded with an internal smirk while walking Granger back into the hospital wing. Much to his distaste, Weasley and Potter were sitting in chairs near a non-vacated bed. When Hermione saw them turn their heads up, she hid slightly behind Draco.
"What did you do with her?" Ron seethed, his fists clenched and his teeth gnarled. Draco merely took command and said, "Well wouldn't you like to know?" With that he brushed off an imaginary speck of dirt off of his robes and turned to leave.
"NOT so fast, Mr. Malfoy!" Madam Pomfrey's voice echoed. "Twenty points from Slytherin for your foul lack of judgment on taking Ms. Granger out of the Hospital wings without permission. And a detention served with Professor Snape as well should suffice." If any time was humiliating, it was now, for Harry and Ron burst out into chuckles while Malfoy's usually pale cheeks turned a speck of pink. "You may leave, all the lot of you. Honestly, sometimes I wonder about this school's children…" Draco hurried out the door, not bothering to look Hermione's way. She was giving him a 'don't leave me' look. Harry and Ron followed Malfoy out into the hallway, but didn't dare pester him. Crabbe and Goyle were standing near by.
"You alright there, Draco?" Crabbe asked, and on his face plastered a few specks of crumb cake, no doubt he and Goyle had raided the kitchens before lunchtime. Draco only nodded in reply and continued walking down the hallway until he reached his destination: the Great Hall. With a heavy sigh he straightened his tie and awaited the mockery he was surely expecting for saving a Mudblood's life.
"There he is."
"I swear, he saved her!"
"Can you believe it?"
"I never noticed how handsome he is…"
Instead of mockery, there was a loud silence before the entire Great Hall boomed with applause. Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff galore gave loud whoops and cheers, and even the Gryffindor table was smiling his way. Never in all his life had he gained so much recognition from the entire school, aside from Quidditch matches. A sly smirk crossed Draco's lips and he took his prideful steps over to his table, where the only few glaring at him were his fellow purebloods.
"I can't believe you saved her life." A fellow Slytherin named Tim Hardy scolded. "She's not good enough to be saved by us higher sort."
"Oh, back off, Hardy." Blaise chimed in, putting his arm around Draco's shoulder and leading him over to a nearby seat. "Don't you think the man's had it up to hell and high water with his doubts?" And with that he slammed Draco down in the seat and himself as well.
"Doubts?" Draco asked, half a smile creeping over his pale lips.
"Ah, I just said that to get him off of your back. I dunno what the Hell it meant." Blaise grinned and placed a few finger sandwiches on his plate. "So how does it feel to be a hero?"
"I didn't know I was one." Draco said truthfully, then turned his face to the Gryffindor table long enough to see Potter giving him a venomous glare. Apparently he wasn't appreciating Draco's accomplishments like the rest of the school. Ron Weasley was next to Potter, tugging at his shoulder to keep him from standing up, probably to run over and punch Draco in the nose.
"Well, you are, mate. To tell you the truth I heard the Headmaster is going to give you Special Services to the school for your 'brave act.'" Blaise said curiously, almost hinting at the truth or facts.
"I don't know about that," Draco admitted, "But…" His head swarmed and he strutted his airs, "I mean, what else was I to do? Let the poor dear drown, even though she deserved it?" A few girls looked up and over to him, leaning in to hear the details. "No, I said. No, I was going to save that Gryffindor and-" He cut himself off when Pansy Parkinson snorted a laugh.
"You're so quaint, Draco." She laughed, almost choking on her rhubarb pie. "That's not the way it went at all!"
"Of course it was." Draco snapped, glaring a 'don't test me' glower.
"Oh… right." Pansy said softly, narrowing her eyes and not wanting to try the young Slytherin. Suddenly a brown school owl flew in through the window and headed straight towards Draco's way.
"What's an owl doing here during lunchtime?" Blaise asked suspiciously as the owl landed on the table with a slight THUD. Tim Hardy was splattered with gravy, making the moment ever so happy for Draco. Tim deserved it, giving Draco a hard time and all…
"I'm not sure." Draco said, taking the piece of parchment off of the owl's leg. The owl dipped its head in a bit of soup. Draco took the piece of paper and opened it up, scanning his eyes over the cut out letters from a paper, glued on the paper as if it were a ransom note.
draco malfoy
hoW does A quiddiTch CHampion like YOURself hype up Before A Chilling dip in the laKe?
"What is this?" Draco questioned, raising an eyebrow. "Some pathetic attempt to woo me?" He scoffed and showed Blaise.
"Wow, mate. Sounds like you have a stalker or something." Blaise laughed, and when he saw the pale look on Draco's face, he added quickly, "Ah, don't worry bout it. I'm sure its some kind of stupid joke a first year is playing on you." He chuckled. "Trying to hit on you with the idea of you at a lake." He folded the paper back up and passed it to Draco.
"Or maybe its junk mail." Crabbe added, "You know, like one of those puzzles they send in the mail every once in a while for some prize money."
"What am I supposed to make of it if I don't know the rules?" Draco questioned, shaking his head and placing the parchment in his pocket. "Some contest."
"Ah, who cares?" Blaise nudged over to a few cute looking Slytherins. "looks like they want a go with the hero of the school and his best friend."
"Heh, I'm sort of glad this happened." Draco smirked, waving to the girls. "For once Potter isn't the high one on the totem pole."
OOO
"Mr. Malfoy, if I might have a word?" Professor Snape asked after a double hour of Potions with the foul headed Gryffindors and the oh so loveable Slytherins. Draco groaned, knowing, JUST knowing this was about his failure to turn in his Potions essay. Maybe he could blame it on Potter. 'Er, yes Professor, Potter ate my homework…'
"Yes Professor Snape?" Draco asked, putting on a fake smile and strummed his fingers along Snape's desk. "If this is about my essay-"
"I don't care about your essay at the moment, Draco." Snape said quickly, and took out of his pocket a feather and some ink. He began to scribble aimlessly on a paper, acting as if he were signing important documents. Draco wondered why, until he saw out of the corner of his eye Neville Longbottom, covered in stink sap and cleaning out his cauldron. Snape hissed at him, "Mr. Longbottom, detention at six. And get out of my sight." Neville stood up with a disheveled sigh and ran out the door. Draco looked back at his teacher and became slightly nervous, though he didn't understand how he could become nervous around his favorite teacher. Snape laid down the feather he was holding and looked up at Draco. "Draco, you're to serve detention with me at six as well." He gave out a heavy sigh. "I expected more from you, you know." He gave Draco a piercing glare Draco was not used to ever seeing from the Potions Master.
"Professor," Draco started to explain, but was cut off when a scream was heard from outside. Both the professor and the student turned their heads sharply and raced out of the room as fast as they could. Expecting to see a great catastrophe, Draco was disappointed when outside he found Pansy Parkinson, screaming her heart out and pointing to the floor with a disgusted face.
"I saw one, I tell you!" She was yelling at Filch, shivering from head to toe. Filch had a very drawled out expression on his face.
"And I'm telling you, Parkinson, there's no such thing as Tarrywinkles. They died out long ago. And the ones that are still living only live in the deep proximities of the lake." Filch then preceded to turn to Snape and say, "Severus, I've had it up to here with this girl telling me Tarrywinkles are invading the school." Draco had never seen a Tarrywinkle, but he knew that even though the name was cute, a Tarrywinkle was nothing of the sort. They were a disgusting cross between a beetle, a cat, and a lawn gnome. One had never been photographed, a quote being said that they were 'too ghastly for human eyes, and cameras hadn't existed back when they were at their peak of living.' And what more, they had disappeared when Quidditch was invented. It was an unexplained phenomenon.
"Who's to say they're not?" Snape asked, feeling a slight pride well up inside of him, and Draco knew he was going to try to out-do Filch if it was the last thing he'd do. Filch and Snape had been at each other's throats ever since one evening when Snape had stepped on Mrs. Norris's tail.
"They've been gone far too long to be coming back. The only thing that could drive a Tarrywinkle here inside Hogwarts School is when they're lured."
"Then I suggest you talk to Hagrid about getting rid of them?" Snape said coolly. An icy feeling came over the hallway. "They're poisonous to humans." With a flick of his cloak he spun around and stood with his back to Filch. "Dangerous."
"Yes, very dangerous indeed… curious they should end up here…" Filch said, a long pause after his statement. Potter and Weasley were right across from Draco in the hallway, watching as Filch eyed Snape's back with loathing and whispered to Mrs. Norris, "Come my sweet." He pushed past many Gryffindors and limped his way down the hall. When he turned the corner, everyone quickly went his or her separate ways, apart from Potter, Weasley, and Professor Snape, who hissed to Draco, "Be here at six, Mr. Malfoy. –And that goes for you too, Potter! Weasley!"
"What'd we do?" Ron asked sharply, confused and bewildered.
"Twenty points from Gryffindor for asking stupid questions." Snape grumbled, and returned to his office, not bothering to give Malfoy, Potter, or Weasley a second glance.
Draco turned to Weasley first. "Yeah, Weasley. Isn't it obvious how just the look of your contemptible face is enough for anyone to give you detention?" He smirked over at Potter. "And you. I would think YOUR face would be enough to get you expelled at a moments notice, if you weren't always licking Dumbledore's boots… and other things."
"Take that back!" Potter screamed at him, his face turning bright red as he drew his wand. It took most of Ron's strength to hold him back as he mumbled, "Harry, he's not worth it! Get a hold of yourself!"
"Yeah Potter, get a hold of yourself." Draco mocked, his smirk burning into Harry's eyes.
"I swear, one of these days Malfoy…"
"I'll be waiting, Potter."