A/N: Thank you for all the support again:) Just another little filler chapter about Draco settling into the new universe, before the big guns come out and they're hunting horcruxes and whatnot!;)
P.S. I have the changed the title of this fic numerous times, but have decided to settle on The Hand of Friendship - it was my original title when I first started writing this a couple of years back and I have decided to finally stick with it:)
OF QUAFFLES AND BROOMS
...
Draco continued to stare at the ball in his hands as if it was going to bite him. Moving it around in his hands felt weird, it was too big and wingless, the groves made it difficult to hold and it was hollow.
Draco had rarely ever held a Quaffle; he was a seeker by blood and by skill, it was just something he was good at. He was quick and stealthy; exactly the right build for a seeker. Chasers were quick as well, but they also had to perform tremendous tricks in order to get the Quaffle to others. He couldn't do that, he didn't have the training.
He could faintly make out someone calling his name but he ignored them, instead studying the burgundy exterior of the Quaffle that he would soon be playing with.
"Draco, get on your broom and start passing!"
Draco's head shot up to see Harry floating above him, balancing on his broom with one hand, using the other to point over at the other chasers who were waiting for him to start passing.
"Sure mate," Draco replied, throwing his leg over his broom and flying off towards his fellow two chasers, Roberta Rodriguez and Riley Higson. Harry nodded and sent him a small reassuring smile before turning to direct Blaise on how to defend the goalposts easily.
"Are you feeling okay Draco?" Rodriguez asked, noticing her teammate's earlier hesitation. Draco looked up at the female player and nodded. It was strange having a female on the Slytherin team, under Marcus Flint's supervision he had only let males tryout, stating women were a hinderance. He had been a sexist pig in Draco's opinion. Women could play Quidditch just as well as men, look at the Holyhead Harpies, they still ran in the main league despite being an all female team.
Higson threw him the Quaffle which he surprisingly caught effortlessly. He twirled it around suspiciously, curious about how he had managed to handle the unfamiliar ball with ease. Rodriguez pulled him out of his puzzlement.
"Oi Draco, if you don't start passing again I'm calling Harry over to sort you out."
The thought of Potter 'sorting him out' was amusing to Draco but he thought better of it. Harry was the Captain of the team and he was supposed to follow his orders. He tossed the ball at Rodriguez, who also caught it easily. She gave him a funny look but he only smiled innocently, his Malfoy charm shining through as she merely rolled her eyes before passing back to Higson.
They continued to pass the Quaffle, alternating who they were sending it to each time. Draco was just managing to pluck up enough courage to try out some of the tricks Higson and Rodriguez were using to seize each others difficult passes when Harry blew his whistle, signalling them all to join him down on the centre of the pitch for a mid practice briefing. Draco landed next to Harry, the Quaffle tucked underneath his arm. Glancing at the stands he noticed Hermione sat halfway up, her nose stuck in a book. She caught his eye and sent him a small wave. He gulped nervously but sent her a quick thumbs up, she chuckled, shaking her head and returning to her book.
"Right team," Harry started, leaning on his broom for support as he peered at the group of seven around him. Draco took in the team around him, so different from his original time at Hogwarts. Crabbe and Goyle had been replaced by two burly fifth years Draco vaguely recognised but didn't know the names of. Then there was of course him and the other two chasers, neither had been on his old Slytherin team, Blaise was the keeper, still a no, and Harry was seeker. Draco smirked smugly as he thought about the Gryffindors, how had they coped without their prized seeker?
"Following on the legacy of the Slytherin Quidditch team, there is no way we are losing this year. And definitely not to the Gryffindors. We haven't lost to them in close to ten years and I don't plan on losing to them now. Understood?" the team nodded in response. Harry smiled triumphantly. "Awesome, so here's what we're going to do. Draco, Roberta, Riley - you're going to be working together to try and get the Quaffle past Blaise; Blaise, you're obviously trying to stop the Quaffle from getting in," he said pointedly.
Blaise saluted. "Right boss."
"Darren, Andrew - I'm going to be sending bludger-like objects your way, your job is to try and hit the chasers. Got it?" the beaters nodded in understanding, readjusting their grips on their batons. Harry blew his whistle and everyone mounted their brooms, soaring to their places. Harry blew his whistle a second time and their practice started.
Harry's practice technique worked for the majority of their lesson. Draco had just scored his fourth hoop against Blaise, who looked ready to throw the Quaffle at his friend's head, when their practise was interrupted by some unwanted guests. Landing beside Harry, Draco glared at the seven figures who were now walking towards them, their burgundy and gold Quidditch robes billowing out behind them. Draco groaned when he noticed that pompous prick, Cormac McLaggen leading the team. Cormac still had the same stuck-up look he carried at the other Hogwarts.
Harry glowered at the approaching Gryffindors. Glancing around, Draco saw Hermione make her way down through the stands towards them. He turned back to his seething Captain.
"Get outta here McLaggen, this is our practice time," Harry growled, holding up the permission slip from Professor Snape. "See, I have it in writing."
McLaggen snorted, his smug expression only growing. "That's funny because I seem to remember McGonagall giving us permission too," he pulled out a similar sheet of parchment to the one Harry was holding. "And since you've already been here for hours, it's our turn now."
But Harry wasn't giving up. "You can't just kick us out of a practice!" he seethed angrily. "If we did that to you you'd blow your top!"
"Weasley especially," Blaise jutted in. "I can just picture his beetroot face right now when we beat you in next month's game,"
"Oh really?" McLaggen didn't look impressed. "In case you hadn't noticed, I'm in charge of this team this year. Things have changed, I'm not as easy to defeat as Angelina was,"
"You sound nervous McLaggen," Rodriguez answered. "Worried you won't be able to continue your legacy as the biggest git in the world,"
McLaggen only glared at her, turning to Draco. "You're awfully quiet Malfoy, usually you can't stop insulting us," he grimaced. Draco simply raised an eyebrow.
"I'm just waiting for the famous Weasley hair to actually catch on fire from all the tension in his thick skull as he tries to figure out what in the world we are discussing," he narrowed his eyes in McLaggen's direction who scowled back. Draco heard Rodriguez and Higson snickering behind him as Weasley's face really did turn beetroot.
"Well I'm not moving," Harry stated, staring down the Gryffindor Quidditch team. They glared back as Ginny stepped forward.
"Well neither are we Potter, so you better get used to it,"
"Just practice tomorrow," Hermione finally spoke, the exasperation on her face was evident, she had no time for petty Quidditch arguments.
"Hufflepuff have the pitch booked for tomorrow, obviously," the she-weasel rolled her eyes at Hermione.
"Surely you should have booked the pitch then, rather than just getting a random note signed and rushing down here to ruin their practise," she replied. Ginny had pushed her way to the front of the Gryffindors now, almost face to face with Hermione.
"Who's side are you on Granger? You're a Gryffindor!"
Harry scoffed. "Maybe if you treated her better, she would actually support your team."
Hermione brushed him off, a blush appearing on her cheeks. "That's okay Harry, I can handle them," she answered, sending him a weak smile. Blaise put his hand on Harry's arm as their Captain took a step towards the Gryffindor team menacingly, they were laughing at Harry's retort.
"Calm down, mate. Let's just go, we can book another time," he eased, turning to Draco to back him up. Draco was still glaring at McLaggen. Despite being on the same team as Potter, it was moments like this that made Draco realise why he hated Gryffindors so much, they were so bloody cocky and hypocritical.
Coming to his senses, slowly Draco and Blaise managed to pull Harry away from McLaggen and lead him back into the Quidditch changing rooms, the Gryffindors still shouting behind them and laughing manically.
"I hate them."
Blaise tossed a towel to Harry who furiously wiped the sweat off his forehead. Draco wasn't sure if it was because of Quidditch or his anger towards the Gryffindors.
"You didn't have to defend me Harry, I'm used to it," Hermione scolded. She had followed them into the changing rooms and was sitting on a bench, her book resting on her lap and her ankles crossed.
"Yeah but you shouldn't Hermione!" Harry chastised, still infuriated by the enemy's cheek to interrupt their Quidditch practise. They would have been done in half an hour tops anyway.
"He's right." Hermione looked over at Draco, who had finally spoken out. For once, he agreed with Harry Potter. Despite Hermione being friends with them, she was a Gryffindor. Slytherins had a rule where you had to look out for your own, obviously the Gryffindors were different. "You belong in their house, you're one of them yet they treat you awfully. Like when Weaslette tripped you on the stairs, that was bullying."
"And what am I meant to do Draco? Tell McGonagall? The Weasley's are the perfect Gryffindor family, what will she do about it when I'm just a know-it-all who hangs around with the enemy house."
"You are not a know-it-all, Hermione." Harry was stood opposite her. She looked up from her lap and Draco saw that there were tears forming in her eyes. For once, he felt sympathy for her. Every cruel thing he had said to her in the past coming back to him. Did she act like this every time he called her 'mudblood', or 'beaver teeth', or 'know-it-all'? Had she run to Potter and Weasley and cried her eyes out over all the derogatory terms he had used against her. He winced internally, regret flooding over him.
"Yeah," he supplied. "You're the brightest witch in our year! I'm sure they're just jealous."
He couldn't help but feel a little better inside when her doe eyes turned towards him, and a smile graced her features.
"Thanks Draco."
"He's right Hermione, you are the brightest witch in our year. Better than any of those Gryffindors. I mean come on, Weasley's thicker than a troll!" Blaise argued, pulling off his Quidditch shirt. Hermione innocently averted her gaze, turning back to Harry and Draco.
"I'll wait outside and let you change. Don't be too long." She left, her book tucked under her arm ready to be opened the second she left the dressing room.
"Okay, so now she's gone can we plan how we're going to sabotage the Gryffindor Quidditch Team?" Blaise asked, buttoning up his school shirt. Draco smirked and shot a glance at Harry, who nodded.
"Obviously."
...
"I am not helping you break into the Gryffindor common room." Hermione glared as she continued to walk to Charms class. Harry and Blaise were close at her heels, with Draco not far behind. Last night the three boys had sat down and planned how they would sabotage the Gryffindor Quidditch Team, but for that they needed Hermione to get them into the common room. Unfortunately, she was not up for giving them access.
"But we let you into the Slytherin common room?" Harry argued, trying to catch up with her fast pace.
"I don't force you too though!" she retorted feistily, turning a sharp corner down another corridor. Flitwick smiled at her cheerfully, always happy to see his favourite student.
Charms breezed by, Harry and Blaise prayed and pleaded across the room to Hermione about the password but she continued to blank them. Draco watched as she jotted down note after note, every word that came out of Flitwick's mouth, she wrote down. He was the same, he'd never noticed it before but it seemed to him that he was just as swotty as he made Granger out to be. He completed the charm just seconds after her, glaring at Weasley and Thomas as they threw bits of rolled up parchment at the back of her head. Her hair was tied up today and looked less bushy than normal, it brought out the structure of her face more, which was quite attractive without the buckteeth and ferocious mane.
Luckily, he was brought out of his disturbing thoughts about Granger by Flitwick ending the class. The Slytherins had Herbology next, with the Hufflepuffs, so Draco wouldn't have to sit and watch his friend and Potter (who he still felt a tiny bit uncomfortable about calling a friend) torment Granger into giving them her common room password. However, as Hermione left her seat and headed towards the exit, on her way to History of Magic with her fellow Gryffindors and Ravenclaws, she dropped a piece of parchment on Draco's desk. Harry leant over and snatched it off the table.
"Yes," Potter half whispered, half cried in excitement as he unfolded the parchment.
"Phoenix ashes?" Blaise read over his shoulder, his voice laced with confusion. Draco knew what Granger had left on his desk straight away.
"The password!" Harry said, turning to Blaise, Draco and Theo (who had joined them and was following them to Herbology) enthusiastically. "Finally, we can give those Gryffindors something they deserve."
"Didn't Hermione just break a Hogwarts rule? Has she done that before?" Theo said in awe. Harry shrugged.
"She can just blame Neville, he always writes the password down on scrap parchment. We can just say we saw it lying around in the Charms classroom and picked it up, if we get caught," Blaise informed. Harry smiled.
"And we won't get caught."
Draco narrowed his eyes as Potter led them to the Herbology greenhouses. He was finally noticing the Slytherin inside of the boy who lived. Now they would just have to make sure Snape didn't find them, they would have detentions for the rest of their Hogwarts lives if he did.
...
A/N: Sorry it was just a filler, I hope you enjoyed it all the same:)
Next week, Draco and Theo have a little heart to heart :)