Chapter 18
"Care of Magical Creatures with that monstrosity next." Draco ranted as he along with Reece, Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy, Nott and Tracy descended the stairs down to the edge of the grounds where Hagrid had planned the lesson. The two Neanderthals sniggered gruffly and Nott nodded in agreement as they continued to bob down the steps. "And that prediction in Divination, what a load of rubbish." Pansy and Tracy broke away from the group and stood with Lisa Turpin, leaving Reece with the four boys as Hagrid began speaking to the group of pupils.
"That's it. Come on, now. Come closer." A few students stepped towards the teacher with hesitant interest. "Less talking if you don't mind." He pointed directly at Draco who was still ranting on about how Harry Potter always seeks attention. Reece didn't care for Malfoy's incompetent ranting and attempted to move away, only to be caught by the grip of Crabbe.
"What are you playing at?" Reece hissed at the large Slytherin as he ripped his arm forcefully out of the boy's grasp. Vincent shrugged and nodded towards Hagrid, as if telling him to pay attention. "Dickhead." He uttered under his breath as Hagrid began speaking again.
"I got a real treat for you today. A great lesson. So follow me." The group followed Hagrid to the edge of the forest, squinting as the harsh sunlight appeared through the trees. They were all stepping over a damaged wall when he began speaking again. "Right, you lot. Less chattering. Form a group over there. And open your books to page forty-nine." Draco and Reece both looked down at the belts that were keeping their books closed and it seemed Draco couldn't resist commenting.
"Exactly how do we do that?" Malfoy asked as he stepped forward angrily.
"Just stroke the spine of course. Goodness me." Hagrid muttered as he led the group. Neville Longbottom obviously didn't stroke the spine properly and ended up being attacked by the book.
"Don't be such a wimp, Longbottom." Reece grinned as he spoke. Teasing Gryffindors never got old. Once they reached the clearing that Hagrid had chosen, everyone started to put down their things and open their books.
"Oh, yeah. Terribly funny." As soon as he heard Draco snidely replying to Granger's statement, Reece rolled his eyes and shrugged off his robes – readying himself for a confrontation. "Really witty." The trio turned around in annoyance and looked at Draco. It seemed the rest of the class had taken interest in his words also. Unlike most of the boys in the class, Reece's shirt wasn't loose. As soon as eyes were on him and Draco he began stretching, showing off the muscles that his shirt was pressed against. He even caught Lisa's eye and winked. If Brown didn't work the blush on her cheeks proved that she was an option. "God, this place has gone to the dogs." Draco ranted as Crabbe and Goyle folded their arms smugly. "Wait until my Father hears Dumbledore's got this oaf teaching classes." The two large henchmen laughed stupidly.
"Shut up, Malfoy." Harry said as he approached the Slytherins.
"Oh great comeback Potter. We can all tell you put a lot of thought into that one." Reece taunted as he widened his base and cracked his knuckles.
"Ooh…" Crabbe, Goyle and Draco all snickered until Malfoy shoved his bag into Goyle's arms. He stepped right up to his rival, looked past him, and then stumbled back with fake fear on his face. Draco began prancing around for a few seconds before pointing at the sky. "Dementor! Dementor!" Harry, along with students who weren't facing in that direction all whipped round fearfully to notice that there wasn't anything there. The three boys wearing their robes threw up their hoods, and the five Slytherins began taunting him with hand gestures and ghoul noises. Hermione strut forward and pulled Harry away from the confrontation, leaving those who were wearing green in a fit of laughter.
"Dun ne, ne ner." Hagrid shouted as the group all looked to where he was pointing. Draco was visibly disgusted by the sight of the creature, and Reece wasn't overly happy about it either. "Isn't he beautiful?" No. "Say hello to Buckbeak." Rather not.
"Hagrid, what is that?" Ron asked in shocked amazement.
"That, Ron, is a hippogriff." He answered in an excited tone as he moved towards the group. "First thing you wanna know is they're very proud creatures. Very easily offended, you do not want to insult a hippogriff." Reece was trying to listen but all he could hear was Malfoy rambling on about Potter in his ear. "It may just be the last thing you ever do. Now, who'd like to come and say hello?" Not Reece. Everyone stepped backwards, leaving Harry in his original position. "Well done, Harry. Well done."
"Attention seeking again." Draco's good mood had suddenly disappeared and he was back to complaining about Potter. Just as the hippogriff bowed back to Harry, Malfoy pulled out an apple and he along with the rest of the Slytherins pushed students out of the way in order to be at the front of the group. Both luckily and unluckily, depending on how you look at it, Reece ended up standing beside Granger. He couldn't move either, because Goyle was standing closely to his other side with a laughing Draco. As Harry was trying to approach the creature, she – much to his horror – grasped Reece's arm without realising. He looked down in shock for a second, hoping no one was watching and then looked up at her embarrassed face. She quickly removed her hand, blushing as he smirked suggestively at her.
"Don't be embarrassed mudblood." Reece muttered as a large sum of the group began clapping at Harry's success. "You can touch me again if you'd like." He said as he leaned down to her ear. She rolled her eyes but refrained from commenting for some reason as Hagrid hoisted Potter up onto Buckbeak's back. Harry jet off into the sky and Reece snuck back to the other side of the group, not wanting anyone questioning him about why he was standing with a mudblood.
"Oh please." Draco snarled furiously as everyone began celebrating when he hit the ground. Reece followed him in case he did something stupid but chose to stay quiet. He shoved two Ravenclaws out of Draco's path and allowed his friend to go full steam ahead. "You're not dangerous at all, are you?" Was he seriously ranting at the hippogriff? Reece followed Draco loyally while secretly doubting the actions of his blonde friend. "You great ugly brute!" Well fuck.
"Malfoy, no…" Hagrid tried to stop the creature but it was too late. A couple of annoying girls were already screaming and Buckbeak was already poising for attack. He lowered fiercely, and took a huge slash at Malfoy. Draco managed to block the attack with his arm, falling to the ground as he did so. The angry creature went for Malfoy again, but Reece moved in front of his friend. He stood with his jaw set, his fists tightened as he covered his face from the blow. Buckbeak lunged again, swiping his talons vertically across the left side of Reece's abdomen.
"You fucking prick." Reece hissed rather loudly as he stumbled back. He was only just able to stay on his feet, but it wasn't until the adrenalin cleared that he felt pain. Slowly, he put his hands over the left side of his plain white shirt and felt a soaking patch that was continuing to grow. Blood. Reece looked down absently and noticed a huge pool of red drowning the white material.
"Away, you silly creature." Hagrid commanded as Buckbeak moved away from the scene.
"It's killed me! It's killed me." Draco squealed as he tossed and turned on the floor, holding onto his arm as if it had been sliced open like Reece's stomach had.
"Calm down." Hagrid stuttered as he looked down at Draco. Reece stood to the side, gripping his side in what was becoming unbearable pain. "It's just a scratch." Reece smiled manically. Just a scratch? The blood was now beginning to dye his hands crimson, and he attempted to stumble towards the crowd.
"Hagrid." Granger stepped forward, looking at Reece's current state with fearful concern. "He has to be taken to the hospital wing." The gamekeeper had yet to notice Reece's injury and presumed she was talking about Malfoy.
"I'm the teacher, I'll do it." Hagrid said as he picked up Draco and began carrying him towards the group.
"You're gonna regret this." Malfoy cried as Hagrid carried him to the gate. Reece drowsily passed the group – picked up his robes and put them on – and then ran his hand across the front of his book weakly as Pansy and Tracy ran up to him.
"Oh my God." Tracy gasped as she got a close up view of the blood. "We have to get you to Madam Pomfrey, you look like you're dying."
"I'm alright." Reece dismissed as he stumbled to his left. Pansy only just managed to keep his weight upright against her small frame, but the two girls managed to hook one arm over each of their shoulders and keep him supported. "You know, you girls are really good to me." He was losing so much blood he was starting to sound drunk. "You don't even hex me when I'm vulgar." Even thought they shouldn't have, Tracy and Pansy smiled at his random words. Reece was now beginning to slur and somehow Granger had appeared by Tracy's side and was carrying his book with a worried expression on her face.
"Just accept the help." The Gryffindor responded to Pansy's glare. The four were trudging up the steps to the school and the girls were becoming quite exhausted, but they knew they had to get him help quickly.
"Yeah Pans," Reece repeated. "Accept her help." They had now reached the castle and were making their way towards the staircases. "You three are really pretty, you know that?" He said randomly, much to the amusement of the Slytherins and the embarrassment of the Gryffindor.
"Even when he's bleeding out he still finds the time to flirt." Pansy grinned at the humour in the situation as Tracy nodded in agreement. They reached the hospital wing and noticed Madam Pomfrey tending to Draco's arm with a no-nonsense expression.
"Get him on that bed over there." Pomfrey commanded when she saw the state of the boy that had just been brought in. She left Draco and immediately started instructing the girls to fetch this and that. Along with the three girls, Madam Pomfrey gasped in shock when she peeled off the bloody shirt. There was a huge cut, going from near the bottom of his ribcage to his v-line. "Girls I'm going to have to ask you to wait outside." She instructed as she examined the large opening at the side of the boy's toned stomach. "Well Mister Lestrange, you're in for a painful night." The curtains were suddenly forced shut.