The idea of Bones being hurt might have given Draco a savage sense of satisfaction, but it didn't mean anything. If anyone hurt her, he would destroy them.
Which was why, when someone did hurt Bones, it messed Draco up so much. Because it was his fault. He'd given permission; he'd said that he'd wanted it. He should have agreed with Nott; should have said that he didn't want Bones hexed. Instead he'd told Zabini that he wanted Bones to suffer.
Zabini of all people. The one wizard in Draco's year who had the malevolence to plan out revenge and the magical acumen to back it up. What he lacked was motive. Slytherins didn't have each other's backs, not really. Their attitude would usually be more like Nott's. If a Slytherin couldn't look out for themselves, they didn't deserve to be spared.
So it was a shock when Draco and Parkinson walked into the Great Hall Saturday morning to find Bones sitting at the Slytherin table, begging Zabini to go out with her while the rest of the school looked on curiously.
"What?" Pansy's eyes narrowed and she took a step forward.
Draco caught her shoulder and jerked her back into a shadowy alcove by the door, out of sight of the rest of the hall.
"What's going on?" demanded Pansy.
Draco leant against the wall and folded his arms across his chest, scowling at the scene. "No idea, but nothing good."
Bones moved closer to Zabini and Blaise shoved her back. "Get it through your head, Hufflepuff, there's nothing between us."
"But…"
Zabini leant closer to her. "It's not going to mean marriage no matter what happens," he hissed, loud enough for Draco to hear even across the hall.
Parkinson drew in a sharp breath. "Malfoy, what the hell does that mean?"
Draco ground his shoulder blades into the wall behind himself, forcing himself to stay where he was rather than go to Bones' rescue. "It means he's slipped her something," he ground out. "Hopefully nothing as strong as Amortentia."
Pansy took a step forward again, but Draco caught her and shoved her back into the wall.
"Don't," he choked. "We can't interfere."
"The hell we can't. Get your hand off me, Draco Malfoy, or you'll lose it."
"Don't be fucking stupid. That's exactly what Zabini's aiming for. We'll destroy any hope she had of keeping us secret – the whole school will know that we're on her side. And they'll have no idea that she's under influence of a potion. It will look like a break-up; and it will look like we know her well enough to take pity on her."
Pansy shoved at his hand, but he kept it steady, pinning her to the wall. "Why do you care? The secret will be out then. She won't be able to hide you."
Draco winced.
Pansy stopped fighting, eyes on his face. "You wouldn't do it, would you?"
It was tempting. Draco let out a ragged breath. "It's not what she wants."
Pansy was staring at him as though she had no idea who he was. She began to say something before choking it back.
Zabini's sharp voice cut across the hall. "Don't ever touch me again! You're not that good. You never were."
Pansy scowled, a snarl escaping her. "He's going to destroy her reputation more thoroughly than you ever could. Let me out there."
Draco shook his head. "We start executing damage control the moment this is over and it won't mean a thing in two days."
Pansy settled finally, glaring at Draco as though she hated the world, and mostly blamed him for it. Draco got it. He mostly blamed himself too.
It was over quicker for Bones than it would have been for a Slytherin. Hannah Abbott and Ernie Macmillan came to rescue her and drag her away from a smirking Zabini. The Hufflepuffs, for all their lack of defence mechanisms, handled the situation well.
"What did you give her?" Macmillan demanded as Bones protested and tried to get back to Zabini.
"Going the same way as your mother?" Abbott added, glaring at him.
He merely laughed and stretched. "For Susan Bones? Please. There are actually pretty witches in the school, you know."
Bones made a sharp sound of despair. Abbott hushed her and then she and Macmillan hauled her bodily away.
Draco glanced at Pansy once Bones was out of the hall. She stretched the tension out of her spine.
"Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown," she said.
Draco considered the suggestion. Patil and Brown were hooked pretty deeply in the Hogwarts grape-vine, but neither of them lied. They might on occasion repeat gossip that wasn't true, but they never made gossip up. The grape-vine trusted them.
Draco nodded.
They found the two Gryffindor girls in the old section of the northern courtyard. Pansy didn't even glance at them, walking across to sit in the next alcove over to theirs.
"I can't believe he did that," she said, voice full of laughter. "With Susan Bones, no less. Who do you think he was going for?"
Draco tilted his head as though considering the question. "Who's to say he wasn't going for Susan Bones?"
"Please," said Pansy. "She's not remotely pretty. Zabini would not need to use Amortentia to get her."
"Who's to say that he was trying to get her? It looked like he was trying to punish her."
Parkinson laughed. "A Hufflepuff? As though anyone would bother. I think he meant to dose someone else. Do you want a bet on who?"
"Probably you," said Draco.
Pansy smiled at him. "I am the most desirable witch in our year, it's true," she said. "But Zabini hasn't offered me anything to eat or drink and I would die before I ate off the Hufflepuff table, so doubtful."
"I'll lock you in as my answer anyway," said Draco. "Perhaps he was doing a trial run on the Hufflepuff."
"I'm going to go with Hannah Abbott," said Pansy. "She's pretty and she's friends with Susan Bones so it stands to reason that their food might get mixed up."
"She's Hufflepuff," said Draco. "Pretty does not over-ride being Hufflepuff."
That should have been enough. Patil and Brown might not have over-heard the whole conversation, but they should have heard enough to reverse the damage.
Parkinson changed the subject and she and Draco chatted until the two Gryffindors went back inside.
The moment they did, Pansy's expression changed. "I'm going to kill him," she said, voice bitterly cold.
"Not if I beat you to it," said Draco.
Parkinson frowned at him. "What do you even care? I thought you would have wanted this."
"Me too," said Draco. He should have wanted it. Bones had rejected him and Draco never let people get away with that. Nott had been right, as he so often was. Before Zabini had pulled this stunt Bones might not have wanted to go out with Draco but she'd still thought that he was trustworthy.
She wouldn't think that now. She'd think that Draco had put Zabini up to it to punish her. There was no chance of taking her offer of friendship any longer. With her, there was no chance of anything anymore.