...
He'd screwed up. He'd screwed up big time!
Up until that disastrous Transfiguration test, Gryffindor had been seventy points behind Slytherin.
Last night, in a sudden great hall feast called by the blasted old bugger, the tables were turned on their heads because of some bollock's last-minute points!
He'd lost thirty-five points for abuse of power. Evidently trying to force his classmates to give him the answers counted as that!
He'd lost another thirty-five for his attempts at trying to cheat off of Rodrick's paper- Which was the same blasted thing!
And then, as if the world itself wanted to screw him over, he lost one more freaking point for trying to damage Harry bloody Potter's answers!
And to cement it all, the man had declared that the testing season was officially over- Apparently first years took theirs last- Which meant that no more points would be given out!
Nothing short of Professor Snape becoming headmaster was going to give Slytherin its rightful house cup! And everyone blamed him for it!
His father was going to be furious!
He cursed out a whisper at the sheer disapproval running through his housemate's eyes- Every year evidently finally deciding to join in together on something and it had to be to ridicule the Malfoy family!
He ignored them all, his gaze instead focused on the bored orphan reading through the next year's potions book, flanked by a Greengrass that was constantly trying to either get his attention or raise his mood or whatever- He didn't particularly care!
The git, following his removal of points, had been the first one to start bloody laughing in the hall, once again showcasing his true allegiances!
Between the suspicious death of their defense professor, which only he and Nott seemed to have somehow guessed the true cause of, not that anyone else believed them- The death itself was the main focus if it could even be called that really.
As he always tended to during any of those so-called feasts, he focused on his house's reaction, if only to see anything worth putting pressure on to benefit his own status.
His year seemed to be the only shocked ones at the news of the dead defense professor-
The second years had been somewhat wary.
Most of the third years had either rolled their eyes at the news or just shook their heads in disappointment.
The fourth years made jokes about it.
The fifth years hadn't given a damn.
Half the sixth years had made a bet on it, while the other half hadn't even noticed they'd had a new professor, to begin with.
And the seventh years hadn't even shown up to the bloody feast.
Regardless, between that suspicious death, and the orphans' newfound... Attitude towards everyone, he and Nott had realized he'd probably been the one to kill him.
And then told the professors about his behavior during the test to get rid of any attention on him!
His eyes narrowed at Greengrass. She had to be the one that told him what to say. Grassing was literally in her name.
It hurt to use the muggle version of the word but considering her best friend was half-blood and she was openly friends with a mudblood, it made sense that she figured it out and elected to live up to her family's name.
At least that was Nott's theory, who for some reason knew the muggle word and told him about it, to begin with. And well, he didn't really have anything better to go on.
Wasn't like one of the other Gryffindors had managed to convince the professors- The only Gryffindor the teachers paid any real attention to was Potter after all and he hadn't been there.
Clearing his head, he took in a deep breath and walked up to the murderous orphan, intent on paying him back for the recent mockery.
It certainly made sense in hindsight why he'd found it all so funny to see Slytherin lose the house cup- Because it was all obviously part of his plan to undermine his own, noble-born, status in the house.
Figures the only time the git felt bothered to actually play at house politics, he'd be so inept at it as to cause the entire house to lose the cup just for his plot to succeed.
Greengrass was the first one to note his presence with a look of disapproval.
He felt tempted to throw her the bird at the face alone.
It took him a moment to notice Nott and his disturbing-looking grin.
With practiced effort, he promptly drew his wand and threw a silencing charm over the three of them- Himself, Nott, and the orphan.
It took them two weeks to figure out how the spell worked. Mostly because Nott kept on trying to skip important steps they'd needed to learn.
The action startled Greengrass, though thanks to the silencing charm he didn't hear any complaints. It also seemed to draw the orphans attention.
He watched as Rodrick let out a sigh and looked up towards him, his book still in his hands, before to his own surprise, the boy turned a look towards Nott. Having somehow figured out the other was a part of this-
"Don't mind me, Rodrick," Nott remarked with a smile. "I am just here to watch the show."
...The utter traitor. He was going to pay for that one.
When Rodrick's gaze turned back towards him, his eyes holding a very unnerving look towards them, he let out a sniff as he raised his nose and crossed his arms, his face barely forcing the grin to show up on it.
"I know what you did," He remarked, earning a raised eyebrow. "And if you think I am going to let you get away with humiliating me like that, you've got another thing coming-" Greengrass's slow-growing irritation at being left out was rather amusing to note on the side. Rodrick however didn't budge on his expression at all. "-Nott and I-"
"Nope, again, not a part of this, just spectating." The blasted snake remarked, causing him to twitch.
"-figured out-" He continued through grit teeth, a warning look to the other. "-that the professor hadn't really died to an accident, that you were the one to-"
"I'd choose my next words very carefully Malfoy." The bloody orphan interrupted him cooly as he put down his book, and focused his attention on him completely.
"..." The grin stayed on his face. "Or what?" He scoffed.
"Or else you'll suffer an accident yourself," The orphan deadpanned, his stone-faced expression a tad unnerving if he was been honest with himself.
"...My father has a great deal of influence in the ministry-" He managed to make out. "-threaten me again, and I can have you put under investigation." A single beat passed, his confidence growing back up quickly. "And I am sure they'd love to find out what really happened to Professor Abatoth."
A single beat passed in silence once again, before to his surprise the boy simply started chuckling.
"You're certainly not wrong." The orphan shrugged, leaning back into his seat. "I am sure your father could do that, but I very much doubt you'd live to see the result."
He held in the urge to gulp, his gaze narrowing instead as he elected to let out a scoff. However, when he made to open his mouth, the other simply beat him to it.
"Drop it, it really isn't healthy for us to compete like this."
"Compete!?" The word practically spat itself out as he narrowed his gaze once again. "You think I am competi-"
"Not at all."
His words froze as confusion filled him.
"It's hardly a competition if both sides want different things." The Orphan's face switched into a small smile. "You might be willing to do a lot of things for influence, but I am willing to do anything for survival." The boy let out a shrug and picked up his book. "So again, drop it."
A few seconds passed by in silence, seconds he took to peak at Nott's expression, finding a very intrigued one, before he settled back onto Rodrick's...
The orphan was... Utterly indifferent to him.
With another held in glare, he barely managed to grit out-
"Fine... But only because I owe you one already, so consider the favor don-"
"No." The orphan interrupted him as he turned the page, completely ignoring the girl who'd started poking his shoulder with a finger out of annoyance. "The favor's done when I say it's done."
His teeth were practically grinding on themselves by now.
"...This isn't how you play these games orphan..."
"I am not playing games, Malfoy." And before he could even respond to the words with indignation because what else could it even be called, the orphan promptly broke the silencing charm without even reaching for his wand, earning a whistle from Nott in the process.
"...Sorry about that," The orphan remarked, a genuine smile on his face as he turned towards Greengrass. "Malfoy needed a private opinion on something."
...The gall of the blasted...
"Tch," He made to turn on his feet and walk off.
"His stupidity isn't very private you know." Greengrass huffed, earning a twitch in the process. Even Nott seemed to find that one funny.
He on the other hand simply walked towards the entrance, intent on meeting his head of house- He promptly ignored the shiver that ran up his spine the moment he got out of the dungeons.
...Had to be the change in temperature.
...
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