𝐀 𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐋𝐄 𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐄

Chapter 5

Chapter 5: "Chapter Five"

Draco, however, scarcely noticed. The rest of the class went by in somewhat of a whirl as Flitwick finished the testing, sending seven of the boys up to the next form. Draco spent the remainder of the class trying to catch Zabini's eye and pointedly ignoring the stares he was getting from Zacharias, Harry, and Orion. When Flitwick called an end to the class, Draco stood and collected his things, and was crossing the room to speak to Zabini when he was confronted by those same three boys, hands on their hips.

"Cheers, Draco," said Zacharias, the tallest and eldest of the three and therefore the leader. "My name's Zacharias, and this is Orion, and this is Harry." The other two boys nodded politely. "We just wanted to let you know that you're quite welcome here and we thought we might invite you up for tea this afternoon and get to know a bit about you."

Draco blinked, a bit taken aback, and, all things considered, rather intimidated by them. In addition, he'd been extremely disgusted by the way they had treated the poor boy whose name he still did not know. But he did not want to be rude, so he inclined his head slightly and said, "I should be delighted."

"Wonderful!" Orion spoke up, clapping Draco on the shoulder. Draco, who was much smaller and thinner than the other boy, flinched. "Then we shall expect you at quarter past two, all right?"

Draco offered up a weak smile, and then had a thought. "Might I invite Zabini?" he asked cautiously. "He seemed to have had somewhat of a trying morning."

Orion sneered, any semblance of politeness gone. "Why would you want to invite that dunderhead?" he snapped. "He hasn't intelligence, class, or any personality to speak of."

Zacharias smirked. "He's worse than that boy from the North...what was his name, Longbottom? He's practically a Squib, he is."

"Be nice to Neville," Harry spoke up. "Merlin knows he's a good-natured sort, although he might not be the quickest at studies..."

"Oh, Harry, always the mediator," Orion teased, slapping him on the back perhaps a bit harder than necessary. "You're just like Uncle Remus."

Harry rolled his eyes a bit, although he was grinning, and then turned his attention back to Draco, who was watching the exchange with a polite expression on his face, although inside, he was seething.

"Sorry about them," Harry apologized. "They're not the most tactful of people."

Zacharias scowled. "You mean we actually speak what we mean rather than tiptoeing around it."

"Yeah," Orion piped up. "Come on, Harry, you know Zabini's a right idiot. Don't try and pretend otherwise."

Harry sighed, but Draco noticed he didn't deny the statement. Instead, he changed the subject. "Anyhow, perhaps it'd be better if it was just you. It's you we really want to talk to, after all." He smiled a bit apologetically, although he didn't really look all that sorry.

"In that case," Draco said as pleasantly as he could manage, "I apologize, but I must decline your kind offer. Now if you will excuse me, gentlemen." He bowed slightly and then pushed past them, determined to seek out Zabini. If he'd been the sort to look back over his shoulder once he'd left a place, he might have seen the cold grimace on Zacharias' face, the irritated curl of Orion's lip, or the somewhat confused look in Harry's green eyes. However, he was not, and frankly he didn't much care to look at any of them at that particular moment.

When he finally found Zabini, he was standing by himself, his arms folded quite tightly across his chest. He didn't look up when Draco approached. "Come to taunt me as well, have you?" he asked, sounding utterly miserable.