Chapter Eighteen

Great Hall, Hogwarts, Scotland, 31 October, 1991

Nursing a throbbing eye, Adrian made his way to their normal seats at the table, throwing a smirking Draco death glares as often as he could, which only made his brother smirk all the more. Scowling, he plopped into his seat and glared at the empty plate before him.

He was always in a foul mood after being beaten at something (a Malfoy trait), especially when he was beaten up.

Especially when he was beaten up by a girl.

Not that he would've fought back, anyways. He believed that hitting a girl was about as low as you could get, even if she started it.

Sighing, he turned to the staff table. A smiling Dumbledore was making a longwinded speech about the great history of Halloween.

Ron sulked, wanting none of the frivolities and fanfare that generally came with Halloween. He was here for the food, for his friends, and, well, for the food.

Seeing the expression on his friend's impatient face, Adrian had to smile a bit.

"Where's Daphne?" Neville asked, glancing around as he took a seat next to Ron, Hermione close behind him. "I thought she was right behind me."

"She was. She went to clean up her hand," Hermione said, sitting on Ron's other side. Blaise rolled his eyes and moved over to make room for her. "She's in the bathroom-"

"TROLL!!!!"

They turned to see Professor Quirrel stumbling up the aisle between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables.

"TROLL IN THE DUNGEONS!!!" he bellowed. He swayed on his feet dramatically, eyes rolling crazily in their sockets. "Thought you ought to know."

And with that, the overly-excited DADA professor toppled to the ground, unconscious.

And the Great Hall erupted into chaos. Screams and cries of terror mixed with the scraping and booming of toppling benches.

"FOLLOW YOUR HOUSE'S PREFECTS TO YOUR COMMON ROOMS! NOW!" Dumbledore shouted, amplifying his voice with the same spell his mum used sometimes.

The six friends began to scatter when Blaise, eyes wide, shouted, "Daphne! She doesn't know about the troll!"

As he watched the looks of horror cross his friends' faces, Adrian pulled out his wand, jerked his head toward the doors to the corridor where the bathroom was, and ran like a maniac.

He burst into the deserted corridor, looking around wildly. He rounded the corner to see a hulking gray figure slip into the girl's bathroom.

"Shit."

He heard footsteps behind him and turned, only to be sent sprawling by his brother and best friends.

"Ow!"

"Oh! Sorry, Ade."

He picked himself up and dashed into the bathroom, his friends close behind him.

As soon as the door opened, a smell the likes of which he'd never encountered almost made him throw up. Retching, he looked around and saw a sight that nearly stopped his heart.

Daphne was cowering against the sink, sheer terror etched on her face as the mountain troll towered over her, raising its club for attack.

"Daphne! Move!" Adrian screamed, throwing a swift stinging hex at the troll.

It roared with rage, and grabbed Daphne in its panic.

"HELP ME!!!" she yelled at them as the troll swung he around like a rag doll.

"Hang on!"

"Well what else am I going to do?" she screamed.

Ducking and rolling, Draco and Adrian maneuvered themselves so that they were behind the troll, who was swinging its club with wild abandon. Turning with a speed that belied its bulk, the troll faced them, a deafening roar erupting from it.

The brothers struggled to keep their footing on the water soaked floor.

"Surculus Telem!" Draco yelled, pointing his wand at the troll's massive chest. Small black arrows shot out of his wand and struck the troll in the chest. Howling, it flailed in death throes and flung Daphne from it.

Screaming, she hurtled toward the brick wall behind the brothers.

"ADE!" Ron bellowed, pointing at the tiny brunette.

Adrian leapt backward, snatching his friend out of the air. They landed with a painful thud, water splashing and soaking their robes. She landed on top of him, so he took the brunt of the impact.

"I thought I was going to fall," Daphne said, shaking from the freezing water and adrenaline.

"I told you, I'll never let you fall," he said, flashing the same cheeky grin at her.

"What happened in here?!"

The seven turned to find McGonagall standing in the (shattered) doorframe, clutching at her heart. "What happened to your eye Malfoy?"

"That was me, actually," Daphne said, raising her hand proudly.

Their professor, usually so levelheaded, was truly shaken by the sight of the dead mountain troll taking up most of the space in the bathroom.

The friends tuned to look at each other and were surprised to find that they were covered in water, dirt, sweat, and troll blood.

Professor Snape was right behind her, panting. His short black hair clung to his sweaty forehead. He also appeared to be limping.

"What happened to your leg, Uncle?" Draco asked, using the name for Severus he'd used since infancy. Everyone but Adrian, who also referred to him as Uncle, was looking at Draco like he'd been clubbed over the head after all.

Snape's leg indeed looked like a bloody piece of steak, and he quickly hid it within his robes.

Snape grimaced at the term, but managed to grate out in a pained voice, "There is nothing wrong with my leg, Malfoy. Why did you not follow the headmaster's instructions?"

Six of the children before him shuffled their feet, water sloshing into their shoes. "We didn't know if Daphne knew about the troll, because she was in here, and we were worried, so we came over here to get her, but the troll went in before we did," Blaise explained breathlessly.

"They really did save me, Professors," Daphne added.

"Ten points deducted from each of you!" Snape spat, obviously spurred on by the pain in his leg.

"And twenty points to each of you, except Miss Greengrass," Professor McGonagall smiled (actually smiled!). "For selfless bravery and noble stupidity!"

They all grinned at each other, amazed that they were rewarded for this.

"Dismissed," Snape hissed.

The seven first-years scampered through the door and into the corridor.

"You know, Adrian, you have to get over your saving people thing," Draco drawled. "It might be contagious."

"My what?!"

Okay, I'm guessing there are many questions. Ask away.

One that I will answer is about the arrow spell. Yes, it's real, I checked. It's supposed to be a second-year spell, but the Malfoy brothers have had previous training in many aspects of magic.

Any others, feel free to ask, and I'll try my best to answer (unless the answer would give away something important, of course. Then I'll just send you a mean little teaser email! Mwahahahahaha!!!)

-TheNefariousMe