Shadowed Evil
Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter…

Rating: Still M

RG Note: Bet you all hate me right? Not posting for six-months? How terrible… I've started year 11 and… homework's been draining my time away… This is my holidays now… so I can really get into this… Cheers!

Big thanks to: Alienstarburst and FizzyTopKyle. Enjoy!

It took four days for Draco to recuperate; with the help of a nourishing potion on Severus' part. He had to beg and plead but in the end Madam Pomfrey agreed to give the Slytherin permission to return to classes.

With his return it took no time for him to recap on all he had missed. The years he was forced to study during the summer holidays were paying off. Luckily Dumbledore had spread a rumor that Draco had been away attending family business in England.

"Nott, Zabini, follow me"

These words made every Slytherin in the common room start. The younger students jumped and scuttled out of sight whereas seventh years knew what was coming and made a path for their ice-cold leader.

Blaise and Theodore found themselves feeling very small and unsafe; they had been sitting in front of the fire discussing the return of their little problem when said problem called them forward.

"Now"

Scrambling to their feet both boys trailed after Draco, neither knowing what else to do. Theodore was tall but scrawny, with a thuggish face and dark brown eyes. Blaise had black hair, dark skin and slanting blue eyes.

They both jolted out of the nervous thoughts when the door to Draco's quarters closed behind them.

"I've heard some very interesting things about you two during my absence…" Both boys chanced fearful glances up at Draco's pale, hard features. Cold blue-grey eyes stared back unimpressed. "Care to explain?"

Gaining courage Theodore straightened his back and replied,
"Taking over for you… You left without warning, what were we supposed to do-?"

"You know perfectly well what you were supposed to do!" roared Draco; the two other Slytherins jumped visibly and cringed. Though Draco was smaller than both boys he still held a powerful air about him. Most Slytherins knew the blonde's magic was nothing to underestimate. Draco's voice grew quiet; both boys winced when they caught its sharp edge "…Why?"

Blaise shiftily glanced at his friend and saw Theodore was not going to speak,
"We think that our way of handling the situation was…"

"More appropriate?" Draco finished quirking an eyebrow, smirking when Blaise blushed and lowered his eyes. "Severus explained to me that three hundred, I'll repeat that again… Three hundred house points were lost because of how you handled it"

Blaise tensed and lowered his eyes,
"They were frightened of us…"

"Really?" asked Draco looking surprised, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Maybe because you two idiots were stupid enough to chance it! What if Dumbledore expelled you two? Where'd that leave you?"

"The Dark Lord would-" Theodore stopped when he noticed a sharp shudder hit Draco.

Shivering the smaller teen narrowed his eyes at the thought of Voldemort and growled out his words,
"Would what? Help your sorry asses? Why waste his time, if you can't be stealthy enough to last long enough to get a basic education. What use would you be to him?" Theodore and Blaise both nodded, Draco snarled, "Get out of my sight!"

It was late at night when Draco stirred and rose from bed, unable to sleep. Doubts and fears he wished gone had been swirling inside his head. It needed it to be cleared.

Before long the blonde found himself climbing down the steps leading to the grounds of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He visibly started when his foot sunk into deep snow. He had lost so much time during his magic-induced coma.

Shifting his Nimbus 2001 on his shoulder the Slytherin continued on his path towards the Quidditch pitch.

In two days Draco would be playing Quidditch; Slytherin versus Gryffindor. Draco smirked when he remembered Harry's beat-red face when he was caught holding him. The blonde Slytherin chuckled at the memory.

Severus was already giving the golden-boy hell in potions.

Straddling his broomstick, still deep in thought, Draco allowed his instincts to kick in and he took flight. For half an hour he simply allowed his broom to float around the pitch while thoughts and nightmares drifted through his head like something surreal.

Once again his doubts made themselves known. Draco was starting to question his parents. Over the entire ordeal, neither his mother nor father came forward. Narcissa and Lucius had seemingly vanished when Voldemort took control of Draco mind. Had Voldemort taken them? Or were they in hiding? Was that why Voldemort targeted him? So many questions with no answers… It was enough to drive Draco insane.

Harry had been avoiding him lately.

This thought threw Draco off his train of thought. The blonde teen rolled his eyes and laughed quietly to himself; what was new? The Gryffindor had always avoided him. But the laughter died weakly in Draco's throat and he found that thought made him sad.

What did he care if Potter was avoiding him? Draco narrowed his eyes at nothing. An uncomfortable bubble formed in the Slytherin's chest and he growled at the strange, unwanted feeling.

Suddenly a noise startled Draco out of his reverie; he tightened his grip on his broom and tensed. A memory leaped forward; Voldemort clamping a hand down on his shoulder, touch searing. A shudder ran through Draco and he swayed dangerously on his broom but he held tight.

Calming himself, the blonde peered through the dark and found the source of the noise. A broom lifted into the air, raven-black hair and bright green eyes. Draco smirked when he recognized the teen who had been on his thoughts.

Meanwhile, Harry felt the rush as he lifted off into the night air. He hadn't been able to sleep. Strange thoughts (he rather hoped would have abated by now) of his little encounter with a particular blonde Slytherin (who was, by chance, flying above him; considering whether to make himself known or not) refused to let him be.

"So Potter"

Harry wasstarted badlywhen Draco dropped down next to him, so much so that he nearly lost his balance. Luckily, the Slytherin had considered and prepared himself for this reaction and steadied his rival.

"Shit, Malfoy you startled me"

Draco rolled his eyes and smiled lightly,
"Whatever, isn't it a bit late to be flying?"

"I could ask the same of you Malfoy" snapped Harry, but shut his mouth quickly afterwards. Bad habits died hard.

Once again Draco shrugged off Harry's comment, but instead of replying he flew to the other end of the pitch and promptly pretended Harry no longer existed.

This action caused guilt to start gnawing its way at Harry's insides. He had spent barely ten seconds in the blonde Slytherin's company and caused their rivalry to resurface. Watching a particularly well accomplished Wronski Feint, Harry remembered Hermione's discovery concerning Draco's childhood and felt increasingly embarrassed.

Soon Harry noticed Draco's flying started to become sluggish. Narrowing his eyes, Harry watched and unconsciously moved closer to the blonde wondering what was happening. Then he saw it; the Slytherin's eyes had lost their sharpness and concentration, it almost seemed as if he was in a trance.

Harry watched in wonder as Draco's body reflexively flew, twisting and spiraling around the goal-posts and the house stands. The dark-haired teen couldn't help but admire Draco's natural skill that had come forth when his mind was wondering.

"Sorry"

This time it was Draco's turn to start when Harry's voice broke through his thoughts. Though Harry probably didn't know it, his words had stung. For a moment Draco was sure they could put their childish fighting aside but…

"Wha-?"

"I'm sorry Malfoy… I shouldn't have bit your head off"

The edges of Draco's lips quirked upwards and he flew over to his blushing Gryffindor rival.
"Good luck on Tuesday…"

Harry blinked in surprise at the statement and found himself smiling at the thought of their Quidditch match,
"Don't expect me to go easy on you"

Draco grinned,
"Wouldn't have it any other way"

Red and Gold. Green and Silver.

The colors of school robes were a blur as the two Quidditch teams swept from their respected wings. Cheers rose from the crowd. Excitement was buzzing in the cool winter air.

The Gryffindors wore their usual winter uniforms, as were the Slytherins. But Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws were a wash of green and red. Some students cheered louder than other, riled up, waving flags and chatting excitedly. Others sat quietly watching the teams, wishing they were wrapped in a comforter in front of their common room fire.

"Students of Hogwarts welcome to today's match! As you all know, this clash is between our school rivals; Gryffindor and Slytherin" cheers were renewed tenfold.

Draco smiled to himself as the thrill thrummed through him. Suddenly everything else became unimportant, the memories of his nightmares, Voldemort, his constant doubts of his father… these thoughts were swept away by the roar of the student body below.

"And please give a warm welcome to Slytherin's returned captain; Draco Malfoy!"

If Draco had been expecting Seamus Finnigan's comment, he was almost shocked off his broom by the cheers from all houses. Even a majority of Gryffindors had gotten to their feet in the stands grinning and clapping with the rest of the school.

He had been chosen to captain the team in the summer holidays and was welcomed with open arms by his team. To no surprise Harry was chosen to captain his team but amazingly tried to turn down the position. Key word; tried. His team swayed him after several weeks of pleading.

Draco noticed his team positioning themselves, preparing for the game. He moved towards the centre and smirked when Harry held out his hand, which Draco shook.

"Good luck Potter… Though it won't help you" whispered Draco, smiling when they pulled away.

Harry rolled his eyes,
"Same to you Malfoy, I won't lose"

"Malfoy, Potter!"

The two students jumped at the sharp yell. Peering down, both Harry and Draco found themselves caught in the sharp, annoyed glare of Madam Hooch. "If you two are finished?" simultaneous nods "I want a clean match Harry, Malfoy"

Draco rolled his eyes; even if some had put his past behind them some couldn't forget. Though the blonde couldn't blame the Quidditch teacher and sent her an innocent smile,

"Sure thing Ma'am" he said before sending his chuckling team-mates and smirk.

"And the Quaffles released!"

Ginny swept forward and caught the ball with ease, easily dodging a wild swipe from Blaise.

The sudden sound of buzzing iron filled the air as the Bludgers were released and started to gain momentum. Cheers rose and fell as passes were made between Ginny and Dean. Luckily for Draco, his Keeper Zachary, a fourth year, had been honing his skills in his absence. The Quaffle was caught and passed to Daphne Greengrass.

Draco tore his eyes away from the game and glanced at Harry, the other Seeker was still watching his team, calling some helpful hints. Draco didn't have the heart to tell the dark-haired boy that it would probably be his downfall.

Raking his eyes over the pitch, Draco grimaced when there was no glimmer of the snitch. But what was he expecting? Winter clouds were building overhead, Draco half expected it to start snowing any minute.

"And Gryffindors in the lead! 30-20!"

Draco refused to watch how his teammates were fairing; he trusted them. He kept his eyes peeled; hoping a ray of sun would reveal the snitch and finish off the game.

"Draco! Look out!"

Vincent's voice shocked Draco out of his search. The urgency in his friend's tone sent him into evasive action; he tried to spiral downwards but still copped a Bludger to his right shoulder.

"Ah!" yelped Draco clutching his battered joint. The iron ball arched back, ready to take the Slytherin down but Gregory quickly intervened and sent the Bludger for the Gryffindor Keeper.

Ron's eyes widened and he darted away from the Bludger before it smacked into the Gryffindor goal posts with a resounding clang.

"Drake, you okay?"

Draco grimaced and gave Blaise a sharp nod.
"Stop hovering! Help Daphne and Theodore!"

For a second Draco's mind tried to reel away from the pain in his shoulder, he caught Harry's worried glace, and then a flash of gold.

Without hesitation Draco forced his Nimbus into action. Ignoring the sharp pain, Draco hooked his limp arm over the broom handle and used his thigh muscles to keep his balance.

Harry must have taken a moment before he noticed Draco wasn't plummeting to the ground but chasing the snitch. Because of this Draco had a good lead. Suddenly he pulled his broom up to level it, his Nimbus groaned under the strain, but Draco ignored it and followed the snitch that had taken off horizontally. Harry's broom seemed to handle the sudden stop easier, but later Draco would admit reluctantly that Harry's broom was a few leagues ahead of his own.

Adrenaline pulsed through Draco, masking the pain in his right shoulder, sparking his magic. Harry was coming up quickly on Draco's left; a familiar determined gleam had appeared in his eyes. The Slytherin wondered fleetingly if that same look could've been seen in his own eyes as he neared the snitch.

Then time seemed to slow; Draco's left arm shot forward, his finger curled around the small winged orb. With the relief of catching the snitch, things started to crash down on Draco. Sudden exhaustion, pain, noises.

"Slytherin wins! 210-80!"

Slowly Draco's feet touched ground and he stumbled, he felt faint, but before he could collapse he was swept into a hugs and claps on the back from his team.

"Good on you Drake!"

"That catch was amazing!"

"Hey Dray, you don't look so good?"

"He's fine! Let's celebrate! Fire-Whiskey on me!"

"I hope not Mr. Zabini" the voices died away as Severus pushed through the crowd. "Well done Draco, now let's see your arm?"

Draco was trying to blink away his daze as the arm of his robes was pulled upwards. He heard his teams members chatter stop quickly and Severus hiss,
"It's dislocated… Pomfrey will have to take a look at it"

Slowly Draco noticed he was being led away. His sleepless nights must have caught up with him.
"Hey Malfoy!" Draco stopped walking and pulled away from Severus and turned around. Harry ran over, a smile gracing his features. "Good game Draco" a tired smile flashed across Draco's features and slowly he lifted his uninjured hand.

Harry blinked when Draco held out the snitch. The Gryffindor went to take it but Draco clasped his hand and pulled him closer so the Slytherin's mouth was near Harry's ear.
"Go console Weasley… He looks ready to blow"

A/N: Well was it good? Bad? Funny? Boring? That was my first Quidditch scene! What do you think? Please let me know! I'd love to get your comments and ideas! My writings definitely changed since chapter one… blah…