Chapter 3: K.O.
Draco Malfoy walked up the spiraling staircase slowly, making his way to the Great Hall from the Slytherin common room. The beams of sunlight lit up his frowning face and he felt frustration welling up inside him.
A week ago, his father was to send him an important letter involving the Ministry of Magic. Some kind of written testimony to acknowledge the damage he did during the Battle and a promise to never do something like that again. It wasn't his first; he had even gone to trial alongside his father and mother, but thanks to Narcissa Malfoy's hand in saving Harry, their family was not punished. Some even called her the last minute savior, which Draco found displeasing. After all, she was only concerned about him, not everybody else. Helping everybody else was just a side effect of her goal to make sure Draco was safe.
An important letter like that had not come with his owl last week. When he went up to the owlery to see if his owl Gideon had it, he found it with empty talons and a broken wing instead. After rushing it to Hagrid, it was apparent that somebody had broken it on purpose just the day before the owls would be sent out to get his letters.
It enraged Draco, even now when he thought about it. He didn't care about the letter for the moment; Gideon was one of the few living things that didn't turn away from him, and for someone to hurt it for no reason out of spite made him furious. Worst of all, he felt like a hypocrite for it. He knew that if this had been two or three years ago, he could've done something similar with a smile on his face.
He wanted to erase it all. The person he was in the past filled him with so much shame that he wanted to pretend those years did not even happen, but how could he if everybody constantly reminded him of it?
Cathryn was kind enough to lend her own owl in place of his. She had proudly introduced it to him and he had safely secured the letter, after which he signed it away. He still remembered it clearly.
The Great Hall was filled with puffy eyed students waiting for their mail, some eating their food slowly while others chatted with their friends. The students did not sit with their house members as was the custom. All rules of that sort were thrown out the window, because inter-house friends existed and the teachers did not want to confine the students, especially those who were recovering. Hogwarts was officially one family instead of four for the time being.
Draco, of course, sat alone. When the mail didn't arrive and he dashed up to the owlery to make his discovery, he came back to see Cathryn patiently waiting for him in the seat beside his. Students stared at them as they sat there chatting. He explained his situation to hers and she looked scary even to Draco. He wasn't surprised when the Great Hall's ceiling changed from white fluffy clouds to roiling grey storm clouds with thunder piercing through once in a while. She had a concerning habit of influencing her environment when feeling emotions too strongly. Draco was surprised at himself when he hoped nobody would start bullying Cathryn as well for being around him.
Today he wasn't expecting any letters. He made sure to tell his parents not to contact him unless it was for something official. Finding no sign of his new friend among the students, he sat down and bit into an apple. He opened his Potion's book and began to read as he munched on it slowly.
A few minutes later, he felt someone flop down next to him. Knowing that it was Cathryn, he did not look up from his book; she usually did all the talking. However, she was oddly silent today. He sneaked a glance at her and did a double take, and lost all the colour in his face.
Her lip was split and a drop of blood was slowly crawling down the side of her mouth. Her left cheek was swollen and growing into a painful purple. She brushed back her disheveled raven hair casually as if getting beaten up was normal to her.
Concern knit up Draco's brow and he dropped his apple with a clutter. "Who did this to you?" he demanded.
"It's a long story," she replied sheepishly.
"I'm not in a hurry."
She sighed. "I had a feeling someone would do something to Mouse after he sent your things too," she said carefully. "Because it'd defeat the purpose of the idiot who's out to get you. So...I thought I'd check the owlery just in case. Found the guy about to snap Mouse's wing, it was some bloke from Gryffindor."
"Anyway," she said, stifling a chuckle, "he looked like a deer in the headlights, I wish you could see his face. Obviously it didn't sit well with him so he started swinging. Oh, and Mouse is safe. Luckily McGonagall was passing by as well and she dragged the culprit away."
"He punched you without warning?" Draco asked incredulously.
Cathryn nodded. "He had a really weak arm. Tore out some of my hair and landed...three? Punches or so. Then I kicked him in the crotch once and he was K.O. That's when McGonagall stepped in with her mouth hanging open."
'K.O?' Draco wondered, bewildered. "You kicked him where?" he asked, not believing her.
"His crotch, his asset, the future of his childr-"
"Enough, I got it," he said bringing his palm to his face. A silence settled between them. A part of him was appalled that what he feared actually happened, but a small part of him was happy that she didn't abandon him after experiencing something like that. In fact, she was beaming despite her cut lip, which she was dabbing at with a tissue.
"Don't go about doing that kind of stuff alone," he said finally. "And sorry for bringing you into this," he added.
"Ew, stop apologising. I'd willingly do it again if I had to." She paused. "...Are you worried about me?" she asked with a grin.
He pursed his lips and he felt a smile tugging at them. "No, I don't want to be responsible for you."
She scoffed and hit his head with the newspaper, then unfolded it and looked through the columns. Finding nothing but more news of death and wounded magicians and Muggles alike, she set it back down, her nose wrinkled up in disgust. She hated these depressing things. It was better for her to not know than to know and feel bad at not being able to help.
"Let's go to Hagrid's," she said, tapping Draco on the shoulder. "We could see how Gideon is doing and there's a cute surprise waiting for you there."
"Not until after we take you to Madam Pomfrey," he said with an air of finality. He wondered what kind of a surprise she had for him. Hopefully it wouldn't be a group of students with wands at the ready.
"She's tending to more serious injuries," she argued. "I don't want to waste her time with something as small as thi-"
"You look like a potato right now," he cut in. He pointed towards her cheek. "Or an eggplant. Maybe a half potato half eggpl-"
"Okay, okay, I'll go," she grumbled.
