A/N Adrian Pucey is a wildcard for me. Although we have a vague outline a lot of his personality is left up to imagination. I've given him this fun, playful edge and tried not to give him exactly the same personality as he has been given by others on here (Don't get me wrong I love how people characterise him). So if you like him, please let me know if you want to see more of him throughout this series.
I'm also adding in a scene that is only featured in the book. Because of this I don't think the plot will be in order, as the film has a way of jumbling things up. I'm hoping that it makes sense and that it doesn't screw up the plot, but if it does I hope it's not too bad.
Disclaimer (Just in case) there will be a small bit of book text and you will probably know where. I tried not to copy exactly, changing words and adding things in here and there. But some of the speech is straight from the book.
Chapter 33
Draco's words had had quite an impact. Words always seemed to hit Reece the most though, so it wasn't the most surprising thing in the wold. Ever since the conflict with Yaxley Reece had been silently brooding. It was affecting his mood and before people began picking up on it like Malfoy did, he just decided to forget about it and push it to the back of his mind with help from his book on Occlumency. The book was very helpful, and Reece had read it the total of four times since he had taken it from the library. It highlighted the art of the branch of magic, and even mentioned its counterpart: Legilimency. Of course when he had gone to look, Reece had found no books on Legilimency. It was for the best though; as there would be many problems in the school if half the students became Legilimens and began cracking into the minds of other pupils.
For the time being Reece was happy with Occlumency, and he now had the knowledge of how to detect someone trying to enter his mind. He had also picked up the idea of closing one's mind, pushing and supressing everything so that he could force out intruders with ease.
After absorbing all he could from the book, it was time to return it. He did so, handing the book over to Madam Pince before making his way through the library, passing an unfocused Viktor Krum. Reece continued to walk, pausing next to a bookshelf to get another look at the Durmstrang champion. The famous seeker was holding a large book, and although his eyes were behind the pages he appeared to be peering over it discreetly. Nosily, Reece followed Krum's line of sight to notice that Hermione Granger at the end of it. Was she aware that he was staring? Reece looked at her for longer than a moment. She didn't seem uncomfortable in any way, and so that must mean that she hadn't noticed him yet. Or it meant that she liked being stared at…no. This was Granger. She was the type of person that didn't like being stared at.
"Ay up Lestrange." Reece flinched slightly upon hearing his name whispered loudly from behind him. He snapped his neck round to see Adrian Pucey, a chaser on the Slytherin Quidditch team when they actually played. Pucey was two years above Reece, and was consequently starting to study his N.E.W.T.s. Therefore he was in the library often, and even more so now that there was no Quidditch this year. "Who we staring at mate?" Although they got along well both on and off the field, Reece wouldn't trust the Slytherin as far as he could throw him. This meant there was no way he'd tell the sixth year that he was staring at Krum because Krum was staring at Granger; and then he began staring at Granger because in his mind Granger's kind of pretty…
"No one in particular." Reece replied calmly, looking at the random bookshelf in front of him. He noted to himself that he was looking at books that focused on Runes, and gave himself a mental reminder to pick an advanced book up later.
"Don't bullshit me." Pucey grinned, punching Reece's shoulder playfully with his free hand. "I know what it looks like when people stare mate, I do it all the time." The corners of Reece's lips peaked up slightly as Adrian spoke. He had always been a funny guy, and often entertained the Quidditch team by making crude and playful jokes in attempt to keep the team morale high. Most words that came out of Pucey's mouth were often in some way funny. He'd even been known to take a slap to the face in the common room, after rattling off innuendos during a conversation with a brunette in seventh year.
"Yeah?" Reece questioned in a light-hearted tone. "Who do you stare at then?" Pucey scoffed, grinning as he put his book down on a nearby desk.
"There's this Hufflepuff," Reece's eyebrows rose in surprise as Adrian continued. "And she's mates with Diggory right, but good lord I've never seen anything like it." Pucey held his hands in front of his chest, pretending to cup two seemingly large mounds. "Now I'll tell you. The robes don't do her any justice but when she's just got her jumper on – and even just her shirt if you're lucky man – they're bloody massive." As Adrian continued to explain, Reece began laughing silently and had to hope that Pince didn't hear him and kick him out. "That's who I stare at." He whistled quietly but Pince still heard him and gave him a threatening glare from her seat.
"You're not even a bad guy Pucey, but a Hufflepuff? Christ almighty I wasn't expecting that." Reece laughed, drawing the attention of a couple of first years nearby and getting a glare from Pince as he did so. "You think she'll look twice at you?"
"I don't care if she does or doesn't, as long as she keeps taking her robes off in potions I'm more than happy." Pucey chuckled while picking up his book and stuffing his free hand in the pocket of his robes. "Don't get me wrong," He started upon seeing Reece's judgemental amusement. "I'd love it if she you know, sat on my knee and let me snog her senseless, but honestly she's not exactly supposed to be my type if you get what I mean."
"What's her blood status?" Reece sighed in understanding, feeling sympathy for the older Slytherin.
"Half apparently – but barely." Adrian said. He still appeared to be in high spirits, even though the conversation had taken a deeper turn. "A lot of muggleborns and squibs and shit in her family I've heard."
"Does that bother you?" He asked quietly. It would have been funny if people had overheard the conversation before but now it was serious. If their conversation was spread around the school, Pucey would receive a lot of hassle from both Slytherin students and Hufflepuff ones.
"Nah fam." Adrian replied, his chav dialect making an even bigger appearance. "It's not like I'm saying I wanna marry her or anything. All I'm saying is she's fit as fuck, and that's why I stare at her." Pucey paused for a moment. And then his eyes dark eyes lit up in realisation. "Yo man I just got completely side-tracked there. We were talking about you, and who you were staring at."
"That honestly doesn't matter because I wasn't staring at anyone." Reece said as he folded his arms tightly across his chest.
"Ah come on mate I just told you about my Hufflepuff." Pucey argued, wiggling his perfectly done eyebrows in attempt to rile the young Quidditch beater up.
"Just because you told me about your Hufflepuff doesn't mean I'm going to tell you about my Gryffindor." As soon as Reece mentioned the house it looked as if Adrian had suddenly struck gold. The sixth year's eyes lit up mischievously and his lips curled into a knowing smile as Reece rolled his eyes at the expression on Pucey's face.
"Red and gold ay?" Adrian asked arrogantly. "Well I never. Reece Lestrange enjoys the view of a Gryffindor."
"Don't start being a dickhead Pucey." Reece hissed, giving the older boy a warning glare. "I have this thing for girls I can't touch. It makes them hotter – the fact that I can't have them just makes me want them more." That statement was one hundred percent true. And it was one hundred percent about Granger.
"Waye aye, I totally get you man." Pucey smacked a comforting hand down on Reece's shoulder, squeezing it tightly in attempt to make the gesture appear manly. "Good luck getting your Gryffindor mate, I hear some of them are like little firecrackers when you get them in bed." He gave Reece a knowing smirk. "I best be getting back to the common room, I've got a potions essay to do for tomorrow. Newts are bloody hard."
"I bet." Reece said in regard to his earlier and final statement. "See you around Pucey." He watched as Adrian began to leave the library, and once the older Slytherin was finally out of sight Reece sighed deeply. That was too fucking close. If Adrian had looked round the corner and seen Granger he would've known it was her immediately. Idiot, Reece internally scolded himself. Now a Slytherin knew he liked a Gryffindor, and yes it was only Pucey but the guy still knew. If this got out he'd hex Pucey so bad the guy would be in the hospital wing for the rest of the year.
"Got it!" Reece said loudly, holding the charmed badge in his palm. Upon hearing the cry of joy Malfoy shot over to Reece; Crabbe and Goyle in tow as the chatter level in the common room began to rise again.
"We've done it?" Draco asked. He looked down at the badge in Reece's hand greedily, smirking as he took it into his own palm and admired the fine craftsmanship. "Support Cedric Diggory – the real Hogwarts champion. This is brilliant Lestrange, we've really done a good job."
"Wanna know what the best part is?" Reece questioned just as smugly, making Malfoy nod as Crabbe and Goyle watched on in awe. "Press the badge." Malfoy did so, almost jumping up and down in excitement as the letters turned green, revealing the other message.
"Potter stinks." Malfoy sniggered as the two large boys beside him burst into a fit of hysterical laughter, clearly finding the joke most hilarious. "Are you sure it's ready to go Lestrange?" He asked while placing the badge on the table and pulling out his wand.
"Positive." Reece replied, watching Crabbe and Goyle wiping away their tears of laughter with a distasteful snarl. In all honesty he still couldn't stand the two.
"I'm going to duplicate a load now then." Draco announced. "Once I've done them, Crabbe, Goyle, I want you to hand them out to everyone that's in our potions. We can all wear them for our double lesson later today; test them out and see if they're good enough to pass around the rest of the school."
It turned out that Crabbe and Goyle could actually do something right. They managed to get the badges to the girls as well as Theo and Blaise. Draco was most impressed to hear that they hadn't messed up in any way, shape or form, and Reece was just happy to know that they had managed to keep their dealings quiet. Now they were all waiting outside potions with the large badges pinned to their robes, allowing the 'Support Cedric' sign to flash in the direction of the Gryffindors.
"Like them, Potter?" Malfoy said loudly, looking around at the rest of his house smugly as Harry approached. "And this isn't all they do – look!" Reece pressed down on his badge along with Malfoy, and the Gryffindors watched as the writing twisted and began turning green, showing the 'Potter stinks' sign. The Slytherins howled with laugher, and even Reece had to chuckle slightly at the looks on their faces.
"Oh, very funny," Granger said to Pansy, Daphne, Tracey and Millicent. The girls appeared to laugh even more, and their giggling was now beginning to irritate Reece ever so slightly. "Really witty." Reece looked to Weasley for a split second; and noticing that he wasn't sticking up for Granger or even Potter for that matter, he shot the ginger a sharp glare that Ron seemed to shrink under.
"Want one Granger?" Malfoy said, holding out a spare badge to her. "I've got loads," Well that was a lie. They had barely duplicated any yet. "But don't touch my hand, now. I've just washed it, you see, don't want mudblood sliming it up." That was a low blow. Reece felt tension arise in his body, his shoulders flinching under the pressure as his fists curled. Malfoy always knew how to insult someone and that one seemed to piss Reece off more than it angered Granger. Suddenly Potter began pulling out his wand, and Reece knocked Draco on the shoulder. Malfoy, understanding the signal, took out his wand also while Reece stepped back. Now it was three on two: Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle versus Potter and Granger.
"Harry." Granger said, attempting to warn her friend as Reece threw up a large shield charm with his own wand to protect the rest of the Slytherins in case a hex came their way.
"Go on, then, Potter," Malfoy said quietly. "Do it, if you've got the guts." Reece watched on as the two fired a hex at each other at exactly the same time. The two jets of light ricocheted off of one another, and all watched as Potter's hit Goyle in the face and Malfoy's hit Granger. Reece had to supress a smirk when Goyle bellowed, putting his hands up to cover his nose. But his near to amused expression immediately faded when he saw Granger clutching her mouth, a panicked whimper escaping from behind her hands. Reece let down the shield hastily and moved forward once again, taking up a spot beside Malfoy as Weasley rushed forward to see what was wrong. The redhead managed to drag Granger's hands away from her face and it wasn't a pretty sight. She looked like a bloody beaver; her front teeth growing quickly, passing her chin as she let out a terrified cry.
"And what is all this noise about?" Snape said in a soft, deadly tone, making his presence known as Reece watched on helplessly. He wanted to help her. Take her away from the crowd and at least try and fix her teeth. But he couldn't. He had to just stand and watch as Pansy continued to snicker behind him along with Tracey and Draco. "Explain." Snape drawled, pointing at Malfoy.
"Potter attacked me sir-"
"We attacked each other at the same time!" Potter cut in angrily, turning away from Granger and her long teeth.
"- and he hit Goyle – look –" Snape began to examine Goyle, and in Reece's opinion the boy didn't look too good.
"Hospital wing, Goyle," The professor said calmly as Goyle began to run down the hall, covering his nose with clammy hands. Reece stepped forward slightly, standing a little in front of Malfoy and getting a better look when Weasley managed to get her to move her hands.
"Malfoy got Hermione." Weasley said. "Look." And Snape did indeed look, ignoring the stifled giggles of Pansy and Tracey behind him and Reece's sudden presence only a tiny bit behind him to his left.
"I see no difference." Snape said coldly. There were many snorts and sniggers from the Slytherins and Reece could no longer cope. He couldn't take it anymore. Standing and doing nothing like Weasley wasn't his style – never had been. He just wanted to shut Snape up, cast a silencing charm on the Slytherins and then take her away from all of this. She hadn't done anything; only been caught in the crossfire and now Snape was taking the piss.
"Well then you must be blind, sir." Reece spat resentfully, pushing past Snape with a hint of force and shielding Granger from the view of the Slytherins. He placed both hands on the top of her arms, spinning her round on the spot while keeping his grip on her shoulders. "You know it's pretty fucked up that no one tried to help her," Reece said to Snape as he gave her a nudge forward, following behind her with his hands still on her arms. "Now I've got to put my hands on a mudblood 'cause all you lot are so heartless." He felt her tense due to his choice of words, and as soon as Reece had pushed her down the corridor he bent down slightly, whispering in her ear. "I didn't mean that." He said calmly as they moved onto a set of moving stairs, heading in the direction of the hospital wing. "They're all gonna question me about this anyway. I had to say something like that as an excuse, I'm sorry." Reece knew she wasn't going to speak back, and he didn't even know if she could.
"You should be fine Mister Goyle." They overheard Madam Pomfrey saying as she made her way towards the door to see who had entered her wing. "Oh good lord." She sighed, inspecting Granger's teeth as Reece rubbed the top of her arms reassuringly before stepping back and letting the woman do her job. "Get seated on a bed Miss Granger." Hermione did so, sitting on the nearest hospital bed as Pomfrey shot off to get a potion. Reece stayed near the doors, refusing to leave, continuing to watch her under a sharp gaze as she struggled to drink the potion that Pomfrey had handed her.
"You don't have to stand guard." Granger said to him once her teeth had reduced by at least half the size. Reece shrugged, his stern expression never faltering as Madam Pomfrey continued to work on her teeth. He stayed in his position even when Goyle left the wing, both of them nodding to one another when he passed. Hermione seemed to shift under his gaze once Pomfrey had disappeared from the room, and Reece slowly made his way over to her, his shoes clicking on the hard floor as he did so. He perched on the side of her bed, hesitantly taking her small hand in his.
"I'm sorry I didn't help you sooner." Reece murmured as he rubbed small circles on her soft hand with his thumb without realising. "I shouldn't have let them laugh-"
"You got me away from it, though." Hermione said, her throat clearly dry and her eyes still glassy as they had been outside potions.
"Not soon enough." He trailed off. The look in her eyes – she was hurting and he had no idea how to put a stop to it. And then it got worse. Reece sat and watched helplessly as a single tear leaked from the side of her eye, running across her skin as she shut her eyes in attempt to stop it. What was he supposed to do? Reece would barely ever see girls crying, and he never thought it was his business to stop it but now… "Hey." He muttered while bringing her hand to his face and placing a soft kiss on her knuckles. "I've got you Granger. I've always got you." And with his words Hermione sat up quickly, flinging her arms around his neck tightly and pressing her face into his Slytherin robes to muffle her sobbing. Reece was taken off guard for longer than a moment, and when he finally recovered he wrapped his arms around her trembling frame as Madam Pomfrey swept past, obviously deciding it wasn't the right time. It seemed to Reece that she was letting everything out. What had just happened was a main factor but then there was things that he had no idea about. Things such as Harry and Ron arguing, and her worrying about Harry being in the tournament as well as the constant hassle she received from the Slytherin girls. He felt sorry for her. He really did.