Disclaimer: If I owned HP would I be doing this? No, so I don't =[
A/N: I'm leaving tomorrow for ten days and will be without computer access, so this is my last update in this story until I return. LAM may update tonight or it might have to wait until I get home.
Sorry!
R/R!
Chapter 18: Oh the Drama
Adrian jumped about a foot in the air, as did Harry, when Hermione's loud screech inturrupted the subtle moment.
"What the hell?" Harry demanded, whirling in place to glower at his irrate friends.
"What do you think you're doing?" Ron demanded, shoving past Hermione and sticking his finger in Harry's face.
"Making friends with Ferret Junior? Its bad enough they've corrupted Fred and George" The angry red head wailed, ignoring the twin gasps from his two older brothers whom were shadowing Draco.
"I was just talking to him Ron" Harry protested as Draco arrived on the scene, instantly pushing himself in front of Adrian. Ron then whirled on Adrian, ignoring Harry's comment and Draco's current position.
"What did you do to him? Imperious curse I bet, you dark spawn are all the same, cursing innocent light wizards" He ranted, shoving Draco aside rather harshly and sending the surprised blonde straight into Fred's arms.
"What?" Adrian gasped, looking at Ron as if the red head had grown another eye.
"I didn't use any curse" He protested, holding his hands up in self defence. "I was just talking to him" He added, sounding exactly like Harry had just moments ago.
"A likely story" Ron raged, all his anger with Adrian coming to the fore front. He growled, his fist balling suddenly as he swung at the unprotected blonde, his fist connecting violently with Adrian's jaw.
-Snap-
Adrian's hand flew up to the side of his face, blood spurting everywhere.
"What the hell?" He gasped through the pain, Draco made to step forward but was stopped by Fred's arms.
"What are you doing? He needs me" Draco growled, struggling in a vain attempt to reach his injured brother.
"Watch" Fred ordered softly. Instead of succumbing to a threatening episode, Adrian's own fists were balling.
"Stupid little Ferret, can't even fight back" Ron taunted, ignoring the fact that Adrian's eyes were slowly darkening and anger was beginning to colour his normally placid complexion.
"Shut up!" Adrian suddenly roared, causing everyone to jump, Harry especially.
"I've never done a bloody thing to you, but all you do is harass me, try and make me sick and beat me up. You're nothing but an arse hole Weasley" The youngest Malfoy raged, his anger evident. He was so fed up with the abuse he suffered at the hands of Ronald Weasley that he wasn't even scared or worried. Instead, he snapped, a year of abuse and torment finally breaking him. Roaring incoherently, Adrian lunged, landing on Ron with a thud and knocking the surprised boy to the ground. His fists balled and he began to hit Ron, striking every inch of him that he could. Of course Ron, when he managed to shake his shock also got in a few good punches and blood and curses flew between the two.
"Stop it!" Hermione shrieked a few moments later, her voice startling the four males who had been staring at the scene. As if her voice was a cue, the boys surged forward and dragged Adrian off of Ron, quickly seperating the two. Adrian had a broken jaw and what would be a wickid black eye, Ron wasn't fairing much better, sporting a broken nose and a few missing teeth.
Draco wrapped his arms around Adrian, holding his twin back, admiration evident in his eyes.
"Wow bro, didn't think you had it in you" He said, as Harry and George wrestled with Ron who was screaming obscenities.
"I can defend myself Dray, when I need to" Adrian murmured, wincing as he touched his jaw.
"Lemme see" Draco ordered, turning his twin as he and Fred quickly looked over the young man.
"You need to go to the Hospital Wing" Fred finally assessed, "But Ron will as well. Good job kid" He clapped Adrian on the back gently.
Slytherin Commons:
"Merlin 'Ri, I can't believe you punched Weasley in the face" Blaise giggled, using the nickname he had come up with for the youngest Malfoy.
"Its about time you stood up for yourself Adrian, I'm proud of you" Pansy said, hugging the slight boy and kissing his cheek in a sisterly and friendly manner.
"Thanks guys" Adrian said, his voice soft. Once he and Draco had returned from the hospital wing, Draco had proudly told and re-told the tale to anyone who would listen.
"It was beautiful, Weasel never knew what hit him" Draco said, a comforting arm tossed around Adrian's shoulders. Anyone could see that the older twin was extremely proud of his brother, though Draco was also still a bit anxious. It had been extremely hard to watch Adrian get in a fight and defend himself, without his help.
"I think I'm gonna go lay down, Pomfrey dosed me with some pain stuff for my jaw and its making me sleepy" Adrian finally murmured, pulling away from his twin and making his way towards the dorm room.
Waiting until his twin disappeared from sight, Draco collapsed in a chair, letting out a rough sigh.
"You okay Dray?" Blaise asked, sitting next to his best friend.
"Yea-No, I dunno" Draco murmured, raking his fingers through his silver-blonde locks.
"It was hard, seeing that. I've always been able to protect him, but today..." The Prince of Slytherin trailed off, looking at his friends as they seemed to nod in understanding.
"You saw a side of Adrian you've never seen before. It's okay to be confused and a little upset" Pansy reassured.
"Adrian normally doesn't defend himself, he's never had to. You and your parents are all so protective of him that he's never been forced to stand up for himself. He did that today, and while you're proud, you probably also feel like you failed him a bit" Pansy added nodding sagely while the boys gaped. She had summed up how Draco felt exactly.
"How did you know?" The blonde demanded, staring at the brunette with wide eyes.
"Because Dray, I've known you and Adrian my whole life. You've always been his defender and today he defended himself for the first time. You just don't know how to react to it" She said, stroking his hand in a comforting fashion.
"Adrian's probably also unsure of what to think. He probably feels good that he was able to cope today and even defend himself but he probably also feels bad" She added, as Draco's eyes grew impossible wider.
"Why would he feel bad?" Draco asked, arching an eyebrow.
"Boys" Pansy muttered under her breath before launching into her next explanation.
"He probably feels bad because he'll assume that you, Lucius and Narcissa will be mad at him or disappointed. He's been taught his entire life to avoid conflict due to his condition. And now he's finally done something, and survived, but he'll be worried. He'll think that he shouldn't have done that, that you guys will be mad at him for putting himself in a potentially dangerous situation" She explained, as Blaise snickered at the look on Draco's face.
"He's probably also worried that he'll get pulled out of Hogwarts because of this latest issue. And Adrian loves it here, anyone can see that" She added.
"Why would he worry about that?" Theo cut in, looking confused.
"We've all seen how Lucius and Narcissa react when Adrian's in trouble. He thinks that his fighting will push them over the top. They already are reluctant about letting him stay here, so he thinks any issues he has with anyone that are negative or detrimental to his health will result in him not being able to come back"
"Mother and Father do tend to go over board with protecting him" Draco murmured while all his friends looked at him incredulously.
"Just your mother and father?" Pansy probbed.
"Fine, fine I do to" Draco said, holding his hands up in a 'I give up' manner.
"I should go talk to him..." The blonde added, "Reassure him that nothing bad will happen. If anything Father will be proud that he defended himself and punched Weasel. Mother won't like it, but she'll cope" He mused to himself before standing up and striding down the hallway.
"Think it'll work out?" Blaise asked Pansy as they watched their friend disappear.
"Yea, it was bound to happen eventually. Adrian may not be strong but he's certainly no pushover, and he's probably been dying to show his parents and Draco that he can, to an extent, take care of himself" She said, turning her gaze from the hallway to the roaring fire.
"Lets hope" Theo said, glancing at Blaise out of the corner of his eye.
"Fancy a game of chess?
"Sure" The Italian boy said, pushing the Malfoy situation from his mind and grabbing the nearest board.
"Boys" Pansy muttered, rolling her eyes skyward for the moment before settling down to watch their game.