Chapter 4

Reece sat with his head in his hands as the concept of levitation was explained. He sat behind Draco, beside Blaise and Pansy. Yep, he and Pansy were still on pretty decent terms. If either one of them was against nastiness, they would have had a disagreement by now. But due to the fact that they were both as horrible as each other, the two of them made quite a vindictive duo.

"One of the wizard's most rudimentary skills is levitation – or the ability to make objects fly." This guy was way too excited about teaching a simple spell. "Do you have your feathers?" The Gryffindor know-it-all that was now getting on Reece's last nerve waved her feather. "Good. Now, don't forget the nice wrist movement that we've been practicing. Swish and flick." How long were these lessons again? "Everyone."

"Swish and flick." The class chorused, imitating the wand movement. Reece simply put his head down on the desk and ignored the instruction. He hated charms.

"Good, oh and pronounce it wingardium leviosa. Off you go then." In Reece's opinion this class had to be one of the most ridiculous things that he had ever sat through. He sat up lazily and took out his wand, pointing it at the feather on the desk. Just as he said the spell, bloody Granger managed to beat him. It was only because he wasted time being bored but still. She won. "Oh well done, see here everyone, Miss Granger and Mister Lestrange have done it." Hermione's proud smile faltered slightly when she noticed Reece leaning back against the wall lazily with his wand not even held correctly. At least she had done it first. Reece's day was brightened when he noticed the Weasel slumped over his books, having a strop over the whole competition between himself and Granger. Perhaps she could be a valuable ally? No, Gryffindors were the loyal ones.

Seamus, an irritating little Gryffindor for some reason decided to have another go, only to blow the feather up and dirty himself up in the process.

"Think we're going to need another feather over here Professor." Harry said in shock.

"No shit, really?" Reece muttered sarcastically under his breath. Pansy, Zabini and Draco all overheard the comment and burst out into a fit of snickers and chuckles until they were shushed.

When the lesson finally ended, Reece followed the four Gryffindor boys and listened to Weasel taking the mick out of one of his own. A sudden sound of quickened footsteps made Reece look to his right. It seemed he wasn't the only one who had heard Ronald. Granger stared at the ground as she barged past them. Well there's a reason to finally attack the ginger git. Reece lunged forward and shoved the small Weasley forward with so much force he fell to the ground.

"As much as I hate to say it, you're a member of the Sacred Twenty-Eight. Get out of the hovel and learn some manners." Reece stood over him shouting, until he was pushed away by Dean Thomas. "Push me like that again and I'll put you in the ground." He hissed at Dean before turning on his heel. Hermione began walking again, and Reece guessed that she had stopped to watch the event.

After that blow up, Reece kept his head down in the common room until the Halloween feast. When he reached the hall with Draco, Crabbe and Goyle they went and took a seat at the far end of the Slytherin table. Reece watched as the three boys shoved endless amounts of sweets in their mouths. He couldn't eat. He felt sick. Even though it was in spite on the Weasel, Reece had defended the Gryffindor know-it-all. How embarrassing. Letting his well-sculpted mask slip for someone whose blood wasn't even pure.

"Troll! In the dungeon!" Everyone looked quickly at the DADA Professor. He was running down the middle of the hall, his arms flailing in fear. "Troll in the dungeon!" He yelled, coming to a halt. Dumbledore and McGonagall rose from their seats slowly and watched at the Defence Professor stood still as a statue. "Thought you ought to know." He said as he fell to the ground in a sudden feint. With that, the entire hall burst out into a fear stricken panic. Reece rose from his seat ever so slowly, a bored expression etching onto his features.

"Silence!" Dumbledore bellowed, gaining the attention of everyone in the hall. "If everyone will please, not panic. Now, Prefects will lead their house back to the dormitories. Teachers, follow me to the dungeons. Reece turned to join his house, but couldn't help but notice Snape looking tense all of a sudden. He quickly swept out of the door behind the teacher's table, leaving Reece full of questions. What on earth was he doing?

News of the bleeding Gryffindors defeating the troll travelled fast. Draco wouldn't stop going on and on and on about how even Crabbe and Goyle could have beaten one. They of course thought it was a compliment, but everyone else knew better. Reece sat at the table watching Snape closely. Daphne and Tracy had tried to talk to him multiple times during breakfast but he answered quickly, not allowing the conversation to continue. Now the head of Slytherin house was talking to Potter about Quidditch. That guy was clearly up to something.

"I can't wait to see Potter go flying off of his broom today." Draco spat as he sat across from Reece. Just as he was about to take a slice of toast, a large broom-shaped package was dropped in front of Harry. "You've got to be joking." He growled as he rose from the bench. "I've just lost my appetite. Come on Lestrange, let's go." Reece knew better than to argue with Draco when he was in a mood like this so he got up and left the hall along with his blonde friend.

Harry left the hall with Ron, broomstick in hand. He didn't get very far though, because as soon as he turned the corner, Reece and Draco were waiting for him.

"Ooh a Nimbus two thousand." Reece said with satirical interest.

"As if you think a broom like that is going to help you catch the snitch, Potter." Draco spat. His jealously and anger was clear, even Harry could see that Draco was ready to fight.

"Sod off Malfoy." Ronald countered poorly.

"I'm not going anywhere until Lestrange shows Potter how beating is done outside of Quidditch." Draco retorted as he folded his arms over his chest tightly.

"Letting your sidekick do your dirty work again Malfoy?" Harry asked as he puffed out his chest. Reece whipped out his wand immediately, taking huge offence. He was not Malfoy's sidekick. He was the mastermind. He had the control. Within seconds Reece had lunged forward, grabbed Harry's sweater and pressed his wand into the throat of the golden boy while he was at it.

"Just because I don't just insult with words doesn't mean I'm not able to outsmart you, Potter." Reece shoved him into a nearby wall. "You ever heard the story of how Rabastan Lestrange was locked up in Azkaban?" He whispered in a menacing tone. Harry shook his head slightly in reply as Reece continued to shove him into the stone. "My father got caught. He got caught torturing a witch and a wizard to insanity. Do you want to know who they were?" The two heard both Draco and Ron swallow a lump in their throats. "Frank and Alice Longbottom." With the harsh emphasis, Reece let him go and turned away, Draco following at his heel. Hopefully Potter and Weasel would never look twice at him again.

Reece stood in the crowd with the rest of the Slytherins and both teams began taking up their positions on the pitch. He couldn't help but roll his eyes when an annoying voice of a Gryffindor commentator rang out across the grounds.

"Welcome to Hogwarts' first Quidditch game of the season. Today's game, Slytherin verses Gryffindor." Just as he thought Lee Jordan had finished talking… "The players take their positions as Madam Hooch steps out onto the pitch to begin the game."

"Now I want a nice, clean game." She said sternly with her hands on her hips. Naïve much? Every Slytherin knew that it would never be a clean game. If you can cheat and get away with it, why not go for it? Reece honestly couldn't wait to try out for a beater spot. It wasn't as good watching it from the crowd.

Right at the start of the game Angelina Johnson scored and earned ten points for Gryffindor. The goal certainly did not boost the Slytherin morale and a few older students in the crowd started to bad mouth the keeper – saying how it was an easy save and so on.

At one point Marcus Flint managed to have a good run with the quaffle. Good run meaning that he kicked and barged opponents out of the way. Unfortunately he wasn't able to earn the points as the smug Gryffindor keeper Wood managed to make the save.

Reece and Draco burst out laughing along with a few other Slytherins when Wood got knocked off his broom, and the comical snickers continued when Angelina went flying into a Gryffindor tower. This had to be one of the best, dirtiest games ever seen. And it was made even better when Potter lost control of his broom while pursuing the snitch. But then… all good things must come to an end, and Harry Potter got the snitch. Got, not caught. Swallowed the flaming thing leaving all Slytherins to mourn their loss to their rival house.

All of the Slytherins were not in a good mood that night, and Reece hid away from the furious older students in his dorm.