The Green Girl

Second Year Part 2

"Who?" Theo passed Draco the pitcher of pumpkin juice and stared at Millie in confusion.

"Colin Creevey," the girl said again. "You know, the little Gryffindor with the camera who follows Potter around everywhere."

Theo flicked a glance at Draco and said, rather dryly, "We don't all pay enough attention to Potter to know who the members of his fan club are, Millie."

"Well, he was going up to see Potter in the hospital wing - he had to regrow bones after the game, you know, because Lockhart bungled fixing his broken arm - and he was petrified. Just like the cat."

"That kid's annoying," Pansy said. "Can't say I'm sorry I won't run into him and his stupid camera all the time anymore."

"He's rude," Hermione said with a shrug. "It's like it doesn't occur to him that people might not want that thing shoved in their faces all the time."

"I didn't know he bothered you," Draco said, a dangerous look on his face and she kicked him under the table.

"I can take care of myself, Draco. Stop with the protective brother crap."

Blaise was suddenly taken by a coughing fit and Hermione stopped talking long enough to squint at him, but he waved her off.

"He wanted to do portraits of all the Muggle-borns at Hogwarts and wasn't taking no for an answer. Not 'Thank you, but I'm not interested.' Not 'No.' Not 'Bugger off.'" She shrugged. "I think, 'If you stick that thing in my face again I'll smash into so many shards no reparo in the world will fix it,' finally got through to him."

"What did he say to that?" Draco asked and when Hermione flushed he glared at her. "Tell me," he insisted.

"I think it was something like, 'stuck up Slytherin ,'" she snapped. "I said he was rude."

"I heard him," Vincent said around a mouthful of scone. "He said you were a stuck up Slytherin bitch who thought she was better than everyone else."

Hermione shrugged, her mouth tight. "Yeah, well," she said, "I may be a bitch, but at least I don't harass people to sit for portraits they aren't interested in."

"Why would you want to be grouped with a bunch of mud... Muggle-borns like that anyway?" Pansy asked. "It's not like you have anything in common with them."

"Exactly." Hermione grinned at the girl. "If he'd said he wanted to do portraits of all the second year Slytherins I might have been interested."

"Speaking of Muggles," Daphne said and Hermione grinned.

"I'll ask my mum to pick up some more."

"More Muggles?" Theo asked and all the girls started to giggle and Pansy muttered, "Don't worry about it, Theo."

. . . . . . . . . .

It took a few days for Colin Creevey's petrification, and what it meant, to fully circulate. "The Chamber of Secrets has been opened," students whispered to each other. "The Muggle-borns are all at risk."

"Someone goes with her everywhere," Draco insisted. "Let the other Houses take care of their people; Slytherins protect our own."

. . . . . . . . . .

When Hermione admitted she planned to stay at Hogwarts over Christmas Break, Draco immediately signed up to stay too. "Though," he said to her, "if I don't bring you home for dinner at least one night my mother will do that thing where she looks disappointed in me."

"That doesn't seem like the worst fate ever," Hermione said and Draco just snorted.

. . . . . . . . . .