Elf Tails

"This is easily David's worst birthday." Jack said.

It was in the evening; the hospital wing was quiet with curtained windows and lit lamps.

David was the only occupant in one of the beds. Arthur, Mike, Chrys and Mary sat around him, having spent all day waiting outside the double doors, trying to look inside whenever someone went in or out. Madam Pomfrey only let them enter at eight o'clock. Jack and Kevin arrived at ten past.

"This wasn't how we expected handing him our present." Kevin said grimly as he put down a large wrapped gift on David's bedside cabinet and sat next to Mary.

"We were waiting for him in Hogsmeade, ready to surprise him." Jack added.

"Why were you in Hogsmeade?" Mary asked.

"Because we're thinking of buying Zonko's."Jack explained. "To have a Hogsmeade branch. But it would be pointless if you guys aren't allowed out at weekends to buy stuff any more… but never mind that."

He grabbed a chair and sat beside Arthur, looking at Davd's pale face.

"How did it happen?"

Arthur retold what he had recounted earlier to Dumbledore, McGonagall, Madam Pomfrey, Chrys and Mary.

"...then I shoved the bezoar down his throat and his breathing eased a bit. Slughorn then ran for help and both McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey showed up, bringing David here. They say he'll be alright. Pomfrey said he'll have to stay here for a week or so and to keep taking Essence of Rue…."

"Bloody hell. You're so lucky that Slughorn had the bezoar in his office." Kevin said in a low voice.

That thought constantly made Arthur's stomach turn, so glad that he used the bezoar during that one Potions class.

Chrys made a sniffle. She was quiet all day. She had hurtled herself, white faced and horrified, into Arthur and Mike outside the hospital wing, demanding to know what happened. She didn't even partake in the discussion Arthur, Mike and Mary had about how David was poisoned, only standing beside them, clenched tightly until they were allowed to see David.

"Do mum and dad know?" Jack asked Mary.

"They saw him earlier an hour ago. They're now in Dumbledore's office and will be back soon." Mary replied.

There was a pause as they all watched David mumble a bit in his sleep.

"The poison was in the drink?" Jack asked quietly.

"Yeah. It was laced in with the mead." Arthur said, wanting the silence to go away.

"And Slughorn said that it was meant to be a Christmas gift for Dumbledore." Mike added.

"Do you think he was planning on poisoning him?" Jack asked.

"No way.. In fact… I think Draco was behind it, like with the cursed necklace." Arthur replied. "He would've gotten the mead from Madam Rosmerta. Either he or Rosmerta, that he'd have to put under the Imperius Curse, laced the mead with poison and hoped Slughorn would give it to Dumbledore."

"Well Draco clearly doesn't know Slughorn." Chrys spoke for the first time in hours, sounding like she had a bad head cold. "If he did, he'd know that Slughorn would've kept something that tasty for himself."

"Kr…ssss…." David croaked unexpectedly from between them.

Everyone fell silent, watching him anxiously, but after a moment, he started snoring.

The doors flew open, making everyone jump.

It was Hagrid, who strode towards them, his hair rain flecked, his bearskin coat flapping behind him, crossbow in hand, leaving a trail of muddy dolphin sized footprints all over the floor.

"Bin in the Forest all day!" He panted. "Aragog's worse, I bin readin' to him - didn' get up ter dinner till jus' now an' then Professor Sprout told me abou' David! How is he?"

"He'll be okay." MIke told him.

Madam Pomfrey appeared and cleared up Hagrid's muddy footprints with her wand.

"I don' believe this." Hagrid said hoarsely, shaking his head as he stared down at David. "Jus' don' believe it… look at him lyin' there… who'd want ter hurt him, eh?"

"The person that did this didn't intend to hurt him. Their target was Dumbledore, but that backfired." Arthur replied.

Before Hagrid could respond, the doors opened again and this time, Ben and Martha entered. The latter grabbed hold of Arthur and hugged him tightly.

"Dumbledore told us how you saved him with the bezoar." She said through tears. "First Mary, then Ben, now David…."

Arthur was speechless, not knowing what to say.

"Almost half of our family owe you their lives, Arthur." Ben said. "It truly was fate that you met our family at King's Cross."

He couldn't find a way to reply to such words, making him glad that Madam Pomfrey showed up to remind them that only six to seven visitors were allowed to be there. With that Arthur, Mike, Chrys and Hagrid decided to go, leaving the Merlon family by themselves.

"It's terrible." Hagrid growled into his beard as the four of them walked along the corridor to the marble staircase. "All this new security an' kids are still gettin' hurt… Dumbledore's worried sick… he don't say much but I can tell…."

"Isn't there anything he can think of or do about it?" Chrys asked.

"I 'spect he's got hundreds of ideas, brain like his." Hagrid replied staunchly. "But he doesn' know who sent that necklace nor who put poison in that wine, or they'd've been caught, wouldn' they? Wha' worries me…" He then lowered his voice while glancing over his shoulder. "...is how long Hogwarts can stay open if kids are bein' attacked. Chamber o' Secrets all over again, isn' it? There'll be panic, more parents takin' their kids outta school, an' nex' thing yeh know the board o' governors…."

He stopped talking when the ghost of a long haired lady drifted past them serenely. He then resumed in a hoarse whisper. "... the board of governors'll be talkin' about shuttin' us up fer good."

"But they can't." MIke said, looking worried, a feeling shared with Arthur and Chrys.

"Gotta see it from their point o' view." Hagrid said heavily. "I mean, it's always bin a bit of a risk sendin' a kid ter Hogwarts, hasn' it? Yer expect accidents, don' yeh, with hundreds of under age wizards all locked up tergether, but attempted murder, tha's diff'rent. 'S no wonder Dumbledore's angry with Sn -"

He stopped in his tracks and a familiar guilty expression formed on what was visible of his face above his tangled black beard.

"Dumbledore's angry with Snape, huh?" Arthur raised an eyebrow.

"I never said tha'." Hagrid said, though his panicked expression didn't fool Arthur. "Look at the time, it's gettin' on fer midnight, I need ter -"

"Hagrid, why is Dumbledore angry with Snape?" Arthur asked loudly.

"Shhhh!" Hagrid said, both nervous and angry. "Don' shout stuff like that, Arthur, d'you wan' me ter lose me job? Mind, I don' suppose you'd care, would yeh, not now you've given up Care of Mag -"

"Don't even bother trying to guilt me, Hagrid, it won't work." Arthur snapped. "What has Snape done?"

"I dunno, Arthur, I shouldn'ta heard it at all! I - well, I was comin' outta the Forest the other evenin' an' I overheard 'em talkin' - well, arguin'. Didn't like ter draw attention to meself, so I sorta skulked an' tried not ter listen, but it was a - well, a heated discussion, an' it wasn' easy ter block it out."

"And what were they talking about?" Arthur asked as Hagrid shuffled his large feet uneasily.

"Well - I jus' heard Snape sayin' Dumbledore took too much fer granted an' maybe he - Snape - didn' wan' ter do it any more -"

"Do what?"

"I dunno, Arthur, it sounded like Snape was feelin' a bit overworked, tha's all - anyway, Dumbledore told him flat out he'd agreed ter do it an' that was all there was to it. Pretty firm with him. An' then he said summat abou' Snape makin' investigations in his house, in Slytherin. Well, there's nothin' strange abou' that!" Hagrid added hastily when Arthur, Mike and Chrys exchanged looks. "All the Heads o' House were asked ter look inter that necklace business -"

"But Dumbledore didn't have a row with any of the other Heads, did he?" Arthur pointed out.

"Look." Hagrid said as he twisted his crossbow uncomfortably in his hands, resulting in a loud splintering before snapping in two. "I know what yeh're like abou' Snape, Arthur, an' I don' wan' yeh ter go readin' more inter this than there is."

"Look out." Chrys said tensely.

They all turned to see the shadow of Argus Filch looming over the wall behind them before he turned the corner, hunchbacked and his jowls quivering.

"Oho!" He wheezed. "Out of bed so late, this'll mean detention!"

"No it won', Filch." Hagrid told him off. "They're with me, aren' they?"

"And what difference does it make?" Filch said obnoxiously.

"I'm a ruddy teacher, aren' I, yeh sneakin' Squib!" Hagrid snapped at him.

There was a nasty hissing as Filch swelled with fury; Mrs Norris showed up, unseen, twisting herself around Filch's skinny ankles.

"Get goin'." Hagrid said from the corner of his mouth.

Arthur didn't need to be told twice as he, Mike and Chrys hurried off while Hagrid and Filch shouted at each other, their raised voices echoing behind them.

They passed Peeves near the turning to Gryffindor Tower, streaking happily towards the yelling, cackling and calling:

When there's strife and when there's trouble

Call on Peevsie, he'll make double!

The Fat Lady wasn't pleased when she was awakened from her snoozing, but she swung forward grumpily, allowing them into the peaceful and empty common room. It seemed that no one knew about what happened to David yet, thankfully, as Arthur didn't want to be interrogated all night.

Chrys said her goodnight to him and Mike, setting off to the girls' dormitory.

"You go ahead, I'll just stay up a little longer." Arthur told Mike.

"Okay." Mike said, kissed him on the cheek and went off to the boys' dormitory.

Arthur took a seat beside the fire and looked into the dying embers.

It would seem that Dumbledore and Snape are butting heads. What makes Dumbledore not realise that Snape should investigate harder on Draco, since he's the one responsible, which Snape knew, at least with the necklace.

Did Dumbledore not want Arthur to take matters into his own hands? Or was he trying to make him focus more on the lessons and try to get the true memory from Slughorn?

"There you are, Pendergast!"

Arthur jumped to his feet and pointed his wand to where he heard the voice.

He was so convinced that the common room was empty and wasn't prepared for a hulking figure to rise from a distant chair. He soon realised that it was just McLaggen.

"I've been waiting for you to come back." McLaggen said, totally disregarding Arthur's wand. "Must've fallen asleep. Look, I saw them taking Merlon up to the hospital wing earlier. Didn't look like he'll be fit for next week's match."

Arthur knew right away what he meant and his contempt for McLaggen grew even more. All he saw was a chance to be on the team and didn't care that someone had nearly died, though he didn't really know the details.

"Yeah, he might not make it." He replied coolly.

"Well, then, I'll be playing Keeper, won't I?"

"Unfortunately, yes." Arthur glared up at him. He had no choice, he was second best in the tryouts, after all.

"Excellent." McLaggen said with satisfaction. "So when's practice?"

"Tomorrow evening."

"Good. Listen, Pendergast, we should have a talk beforehand. I've got some ideas on strategy you might find useful."

"Look, I'm tired right now, let's have that talk tomorrow." Arthur said with the lowest amount of enthusiasm possible/

The news that David got poisoned spread quickly the next day, though it didn't have the sensation that Katie's attack had.

People thought it was an accident, since it was in the Potion's master's room and was given the antidote immediately, so no real harm was done.

In fact, all of Gryffindor was more interested in the upcoming Quidditch match against Hufflepuff, simply because they, especially Arthur, wants to see Zacharias Smith, who will be Chaser, be severely punished for his commentary during the opening match against Slytherin.

Arthur, while still interested in Quidditch, was just as interested in Draco. He still checked the Marauder's Map and still kept seeing that he vanished from the map a lot of the time.

At the moment, though, he prioritised Quidditch practice and homework. As well as the fact that he was being dogged around by McLaggen, which made him absolutely mad.

He did nothing but constantly stream on and on with hints that he'd make a better Keeper for the team than David, hoping Arthur could see that since he'll be playing regularly. And what made Arthur the most mad was the fact that McLaggen openly 'criticised' the other players and provided Arthur with detailed training schemes.

Arthur warned him severely that he wasn't the Captain of the team and that if he kept up with his behaviour, he'll hex him to the point that he'll end up as an overgrown slug. And that no one criticises his boyfriend. Ever.

Of course, Arthur would always check up on David and told him about the row between Snape and Dumbledore and how McLaggen is insufferable.

There was one good development from him being poisoned. He and Chrys were finally talking to each other. The two were able to apologise and were now back on good terms again, which relieved Arthur immensely.

On the morning of the Quidditch match against Hufflepuff, Arthur made sure to drop in on the hospital wing before he headed down to the pitch. David was very agitated as Madam Pomfry didn't allow him to go down to watch the match, saying it would over excite him.

"Is McLaggen still a pain?" David asked.

"To say the least. He keeps forgetting that he ain't the Captain. Not to mention his 'advice' is absolutely awful. He keeps telling the team what to do, but I always tell them to ignore him. Once the match is over, I'm gonna tell him he's out."

"Well, good luck. Make sure to hammer him and Smith." David replied.

"Don't worry, I will." Arthur grinned as he carried his Firebolt on his shoulder.

He hurried his way through the deserted corridors as the whole school was making their way to the pitch.

A noise ahead of him made him look and saw that it was Draco was walking towards him and was accompanied by two girls, who looked sulky and resentful.

Draco stopped upon seeing Arthur before he gave a humourless laugh and continued walking.

"Where the hell are you going?" Arthur demanded.

"Yeah, I'm really going to tell you, because it's your business, Pendergast." Draco sneered. "You'd better hurry up, they'll be waiting for the Chosen Captain - the Boy Who Scored - whatever they call you these days."

One of the girls gave an unwilling giggle, making Arthur stare at her, which caused her to blush.

Draco pushed past him and the two girls followed at a trot, turning a corner and vanished from view.

Now wasn't the time to see what he was up to, so Arthur continued on to the pitch.

"What took you so long/" Mike asked when Arthur sprinted into the changing room, seeing that the whole team was ready. Both Coote and Peakes were hitting their clubs nervously against their legs.

"I ran into Draco. He was accompanied by two girls." Arthur replied.

"That's odd." Mike frowned.

"Yeah. But now's not the time." Arthur replied. "Let's go!"

He marched out into the pitch to deafening cheers and boos. There was little wind and the clouds were patch, providing dazzling flashes of bright sunlight every now and then.

"Tricky conditions!" McLaggen said bracingly to the team. "Coote, Peakes, you'll want to fly out of the sun -"

"MCLAGGEN!" Arthur roared. "I'm Captain, not you, remember? Just get up to the goalposts and do your part!"

Once he marched off, Arthur turned to his Beaters.

"That was the only good tip he suggested, so do as he says." He told them begrudgingly.

He then shook hands with the Hufflepuff Captain and, on Madam Hooch's whistle, kicked off, rising in the air, much higher than the rest of the team, streaking around the pitch to find the Snitch.

He wanted to grab it as early as possible, not just to end his suffering with McLaggen, but also so that he can get back at figuring out what Draco's up to.

"And that's Smith of Hufflepuff with the Quaffle." A familiar dreamy voice said, echoing over the grounds. "He did the commentary last time, of course, and Mary Merlon flew into him, I think probably on purpose - it looked like it. Smith was being quite rude about Gryffindor, I expect he regrets that now he's playing them - oh, look, he's lost the Quaffle, Michael McGonagall took it from him, I do like him, he's very nice…."

Arthur made a quick glance at the commentator's podium, seeing Luna's long, dirty blonde hair and necklace of Butterbeer corks. Next to her was McGonagall, who looked slightly uncomfortable, like she was having second thoughts about Luna being the commentator.

"...but now that big Hufflepuff player's got the Quaffle from him, I can't remember his name, it's something like Bibble - no, Buggins -"

"It's Cadwallader!" McGonagall said loudly from beside her, making the crowd laugh.

Arthur kept his eyes open for the Snitch.

Moments later, he heard that Mike had gotten the Quaffle back and then had scored.

He continued scanning for the Snitch while he heard both Mike and Mary scoring before Cadwallader scored.

Luna didn't seem to notice as she was more interested in the shapes of the clouds and that Smith, who kept failing to have possession of the Quaffle, seemed to be suffering from 'Loser's Lurgy'.

"Fifty-forty to Gryffindor!" McGonagall barked into Luna's megaphone.

"Is it, already?" She said vaguely. "Oh, look! The Gryffindor Keeper's got hold of one of the Beater's bats."

Arthur spun in midair, seeing that McLaggen, for some stupid reason, grabbed hold of Peake's bat from him and was seemingly demonstrating how to hit a Bludger towards an oncoming Cadwallader.

He took a ferocious swipe at a Bludger and mishit, grazing Dean Thomas, who flew by.

Arthur was about to rage on him when he spotted it: a golden streak flying past him.

On instinct, he flew after it, caught up to the Snitch in seconds and managed to grab it in his hand before the Hufflepuff Seeker could react.

As Gryffindor cheered their victory and the Hufflepuffs groaned, the two teams landed on the pitch.

Arthur, once the team all got to the changing room, stormed right up to McLaggen, absolutely furious.

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU? YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE GUARDING THE GOAL HOOPS! NOT BOSS THE TEAM AROUND!" Arthur roared right into McLaggen's face as the team, including an injured Dean stood behind Arthur, all glaring at McLaggen.

"Your boyfriend let that Hufflepuff Chaser get the Quaffle, Peakes wasn't swinging properly, and Thomas got in the way!" McLaggen tried to defend himself.

"NO, MCLAGGEN, WE ARE ALL ACTUALLY COMPETENT PLAYERS! YOU HAVE PROVEN TO BE NOTHING BUT A LIABILITY! YOU ARE FOREVER BOOTED FROM THE TEAM!" Arthur roared back at him and then took his wand out and gave McLaggen boils all over his body as punishment.

"You deserved that, you stupid troll." Mike spat in contempt.

No one helped him to the hospital wing, which he reached hours later in absolute agony.

Arthur and Mike went there to tell David about the results of the match and what Arthur did to McLaggen, who was whimpering in pain in another bed.

"Very fitting. I heard Luna's commentary from here. She was so funny. I hope she continues commentating from now on." David said. "Loser's Lurgy…."

Later, when Arthur and Mike entered the common room, they were greeted with cheers. What Arthur did to McLaggen was known amongst them and they all agreed that he was awful, even saying that if Arthur didn't do anything, they would've.

Arthur then noticed that Mary and Dean were in a heated discussion in the corner, which left Arthur to wonder if their relationship was souring.

Celebrations ran high until everyone went to sleep, leaving only Arthur and Mike by themselves in the quiet common room.

"Are you gonna figure out what Draco's up to now?" Mike asked as they sat in front of the dying fire.

"No, I'm probably gonna just keep getting the same result on the map." Arthur shook his head.

He was so swept up in the celebrations that he forgot to use the map to keep an eye on Draco, and to do it now would be pointless. "I just wish I had eyes and ears to follow him and see if he is using the Room of Requirement."

The two sat there for a moment before Mike sat up straight with wide eyes.

"What is it?" Arthur asked.

"I think you do have eyes and ears. They're working in the kitchens." Mike said.

Arthur's eyes widened with realisation.

"Of course! Why didn't I think about it earlier?" He then said. "Kreacher!"

A very loud crack filled the common room before the sounds of scuffling and squeaks took its place.

Arthur quickly pulled his wand out and pointed it at the doors to the dormitories, muttering "Muffliato!"

In front of them were two house elves that were fighting and rolling around. One wore a shrunken maroon jumper and several woolly hats while the other wore a filthy old rag over their hips like a loincloth.

"Kreacher will not insult Arthur Pendergast in front of Dobby, no he won't, or Dobby will shut Kreacher's mouth for him!" Dobby cried in a high pitched voice.

"Kreacher will say what he likes about his master, oh yes, and what a master he is, filthy friend of Mudbloods, oh, what would poor Kreacher's mistress say -?"

He stopped when Dobby sank his knobbly little fist into Kreacher's mouth, knocking out half of his teeth.

Arthur and Mike got off the sofa and wrenched the two elves from each other, though they continued kicking and punching at each other.

"Kreacher, stop!" Arthur snapped at the filthy elf, who did as he was told and Dobby stopped when Mike lifted him up in the air. "I forbid you from fighting Dobby and from saying bad things about me, my friends and my boyfriend, got it?"

Kreacher begrudgingly nodded.

"And Dobby, while I'm not your master -"

"Dobby is a free house elf and he can obey anyone he likes and Dobby will do whatever Arthur Pendergast wants him to do!"

"Alright, then." Arthur said as he and Mike let the house elves go, now not fighting each other.

"Master called me?" Kreacher croaked, sinking into a bow with a look that he wanted a painful death.

"I did. I have a job for you, as well as Dobby." Arthur replied. "I want the both of you to tail Draco Malfoy. I want you two to see who he's meeting, where he's going and what he's doing. Follow him around the clock, understand?"

"Yes, Arthur Pendergast!" Dobby said at once with his eyes shining with excitement. "And if Dobby does it wrong, Dobby will throw himself off the topmost tower, Arthur Pendergast!"

"There will be no need for that." Arthur reassured him, patting the top of his head.

"Master wants me to follow the youngest of the Malfoys? Master wants me to spy upon the pure-blood great nephew of my old mistress?" Kreacher croaked.

"Yes." Arthur frowned, knowing that he has to prevent a dangerous element with him. "And you are absolutely forbidden from making contact with him in whatever way possible, understood?"

He saw the look on Kreacher's face, who was trying to find a loophole in his instructions but, much to Arthur's satisfaction, Kreacher bowed deeply again, saying with bitter resentment "Master thinks of everything and Kreacher must obey him even though Kreacher would much rather be the servant of the Malfoy boy, oh yes…."

"Alright, then, I want regular reports, but only when I'm not surrounded by people, Mike, David and Chrys being the exceptions. And don't tell anyone about what you're doing. Just stick to Draco like a couple of war plasters."

I couldn't let Hufflepuff win, not with Zacharias Smith in the team. And McLaggen is truly the worst kind of teammate you can think of.