Chapter 27:

Victim Carrots and Pet Names

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Harry glared at his pot roast, wishing that it was his idiot partner. 'Higgs,' he hissed inwardly while attempting to grind the meat into the cold porcelain of his plate.

God damn it! Why did the bastard have to sit with him at mealtime? He sighed and speared a carrot- it was a cruel world.

Terrence blinked and stopped his monologue to glance Harry stabbing an unsuspecting vegetable.

"Oi, Potter." Harry looked up, "Hmm?"

"Have you heard a word I've said?"

"Eh," the raven haired boy squinted and readjusted his glassed, "No."

Eyes narrowing, Terrence huffed and extracted himself from the Gryffindor table, "Oh yes, bloody fine team we are. Damn Binns…"

Draco beamed at the red-headed Weasel across from him. "You thought you would win, didn't you? Well, I proved you wrong! So there- HAH!" He slammed the knight down on the chess board and waited for Ron's tears of misery.

"Uh, Malfoy?"

"Hmm?" Draco dropped his victory pose for a moment and directed his eyes to where Ron was pointing.

"That's not a move."

"Eh?"

Ron sighed and repeated himself, making sure to enunciate every word. "That. Move. Doesn't. Exist."

Draco looked at the board and scratched his head, "What? But I just did it-"He frowned as the sound of Ron's head slamming against the table could be heard.

"Ah, Weasel? Something the matter?"

The slamming only got louder.

Whispers floated down the corridor to a pair of rather bored ears. Professor Snape cringed as he became privy to the gruesome scheme of one Terry Boot to win 'the stunning Hermione Granger' back. The sallow-skinned man sighed in irritation and hunched into the room.

"Boot. Detention tomorrow after dinner in the Dungeons."

Terry blinked up from the conversation he had been holding with a house elf.

"Um, but I- erm…that is to say- Eh, why?"

Snape sneered at the Ravenclaw and muttered a spell to untie the gagged creature, "Because you annoy the hell out of me."

The brunet scratched his head thoughtfully, "Ah, I'm not so sure that's grounds for detention-"

"Quiet!" Terry cast an apologetic glance to the trembling house elf, though whether it was for the numerous rope burns or the sudden deafness inflicted, Snape couldn't tell.

"Boot- out now." Snape sighed in satisfaction as the boy's groans of misery floated over him. Feeling just a bit unlike himself, he followed the boy out the door before turning and calling after him.

"Boot, don't forget out date! Tomorrow. Dungeon. You. Me. Dirty Cauldrons. Ooh-" he smirked at Terry's aghast face and threw him a saucy wink over his shoulder while walking away.

"See you tomorrow, Puddin'"

A resounding thump could be heard as Terry dropped to the floor in a dead faint, leaving the disgruntled house elf to clean up the smudges of blood left on the stone.

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