"I said no. Malfoys arm is fine. He's just being a lazy spoilt brat."
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MALFOY DIDN'T REAPPEAR IN CLASSES until late on Thursday morning when the Slytherins and Gryffindors were halfway through double Potions. He swaggered into the dungeon, his right arm covered in bandages and bound up in a sling, acting, in Aurora's opinion, as though he was the heroic survivor of some dreadful battle.
"How is it, Draco?" Pansy asked. "Does it hurt much?"
"Yeah," Draco said, putting on a brave sort of grimace. But both Harry and Aurora saw him wink at Crabbe andGoyle when Pansy had looked away.
Aurora looked at Harry who was already looking at her. Aurora shook her head and continued on with her work.
"Settle down, settle down," Professor Snape said idly.Harry and Ron scowled at each other, making Aurora snort; Snape wouldn't have said 'settle down' if they'd walked inlate, he'd have given them detention. But Malfoy had always been able to get away with anything in Snape's classes; Snape was Head of Slytherin house, and generally favoured his own students beforeall others.
They were making a new potion today, a Shrinking Solution. Malfoy set up his cauldron right next to Aurora, Harry, and Ron so that they were preparing their ingredients on the same table.
"Sir," Malfoy called, "sir, I'll need help cutting up these daisy roots, because of my arm –"
"Weasley, cut up Malfoy's roots for him," Snape said, without looking up. Ron went brick red.
"There's nothing wrong with your arm," he hissed at Malfoy.
Malfoy smirked across the table."Weasley, you heard Professor Snape, cut up these roots."
Ron seized his knife, pulled Malfoy's roots towards him and began to chop them roughly, so thatthey were all different sizes.
"Professor," drawled Malfoy, "Weasley's mutilating my roots, sir."
Snape approached their table, stared down his hooked nose at the roots, then gave Ron an unpleasant smile from beneath his long, greasy black hair."Change roots with Malfoy, Weasley."
"But sir –!" Ron had spent the last quarter of an hour carefully shredding his own roots into exactly equalpieces.
"Now!" Snape said in his most dangerous voice. Ron shoved his own beautifully cut roots across the table at Malfoy, then took up the knife again.
"And, sir, I'll need this Shrivelfig skinned," Malfoy said, his voice full of malicious laughter.
"Black, you can skin Malfoy's Shrivelfig," Snape said to Aurora not even glancing at her direction.
"No." Aurora simply said, not even looking up from what she was doing.
"I beg you pardon?" Snape said, his voice turning dark.
