Those Damn Weasleys

Chapter Six

Halfway through Transfiguration, Snape comes in. "Excuse me Minerva. May I borrow Miss Malfoy for a moment?" He asks, his eyes scanning the classroom until they meet mine.

McGonagall raises an eyebrow and nods. "Very well Severus."

I stand up and slowly walk to the back of the class where Snape is waiting. He opens the door again and I follow him out into the hallway.

"What is it, Professor?" I ask. Don't tell me those Weasleys got me in trouble on the first day of bloody school.

"It seems that your brother found a way to injure himself during his Care of Magical Creatures class." Snape says, sighing through his nose.

"He did? Where is he? Is he alright?" I ask, the worst thoughts flooding my head. It's possible he's just being his usual dramatic self. On the other hand, it's possible he got his ear sliced off or something by some dangerous creature that oaf Hagrid brought to class.

"He's in the hospital wing. I'm sure Professor McGonagall would allow you to visit him." Snape says before walking off.

I duck back into the classroom and rush over to McGonagall. I can feel the class's eyes on me but I ignore them.

"Sorry Professor, but may I speak with you?" I ask McGonagall.

She nods. "Continue to read the chapter on your own." She instructs the class before leading me to her desk at the front of the class. "What is it, Miss Malfoy?"

"Um-my-my brother was injured in Care of Magical Creatures. Can I-he's-may I just be excused? He's in the hospital wing. Melissa or-or Cassius or Graham can take notes for me and they can uhm they can-"

McGonagall rests her hand on my shoulder. "Take a deep breath, Miss Malfoy. I'm sure your cousin will be alright. You may go. I'll have Mister Warrington take notes for you."

"Um-thank you, Professor." I walk quickly back over to my desk and pack up all my things. I can feel my friends questioning looks but I shake my head at them.

Once I'm all packed up, I sling my bag on my arm and walk at a calm but brisk pace to the doors. As soon as I'm in the corridors, however, I take off in a sprint. I run up to the hospital wing on the fourth floor.

I slow down when I reach the doors and take a deep breath, preparing myself for what's on the other side. I knock briskly and Madam Pomfrey opens the door a moment later.

"Can I help you?" she asks.

"My brother, Draco, was admitted not long ago...? He was injured in C-"

"Oh yes, come in. He's been whining for a long while now, but don't you worry, he'll be perfectly fine." She opens the door wider for me and I carefully step through.

I hear a loud groan from a bed near the front on the left and instantly know it's Draco. I rush over to him, but when he sees me, he just groans louder. "Cassie, the bloody oaf nearly killed me, him and his stupid chicken!"

He's got a bandage on one of his arms and I rest a hand on his forehead.

"Who did? What happened? And what's all this about a chicken?" I ask, puzzled.

Draco whines and twists around in his bed a bit. "Hagrid! He brought a Hippogriff to show the class and it went rabid and nearly tore my arm off!" He groans loudly.

I hear Madam Pomfrey snort from the other side of the Hospital Wing and try to think back to my first year of Care of Magical Creatures. Are hippogriffs violent by nature? "Did they write to Father about this?"

Draco moans and thrashes again. "I'm in so much pain I can't even think straight. I need a nap."

"Alright, I'll leave you alone. I'll write to Father, just in case." I kiss his forehead like Mother used to do when we were sick and go to speak to Madam Pomfrey.

"Has my father been informed?" I ask her quietly so Draco isn't able to eavesdrop like he normally does.

She sighs, her eyes locked on Draco. "Yes, I believe Snape sent a letter to Mister Malfoy. I'm sure he'll have quite a few things to say about how I cared for his son-" she halts suddenly and her eyes dart to me like she suddenly remembered who she was talking to. "Right, I mean... Draco should be fine. I'll keep him here tonight just in case, but the hippogriff really only scratched his arm. He should be at breakfast tomorrow morning."

I nod and thank Madam Pomfrey before leaving the hospital wing.

As soon as I turn the corner, of course I have to run right into none other than George Weasley.

"Watch where you're going, Malfoy." George snaps.

I give him a cold stare. "Don't test me today, Weasel. I'm not in the mood to handle your stupidity."

He takes a threatening step towards me. He and Fred both hit a growth spurt this summer, and George is now nearly a head taller than me, but I don't cower. "I didn't like how you threatened my brother yesterday, Malfoy."

"Boohoo. Now out of my way."

"Don't go around threatening people when you know you don't have the guts to do anything."

Boiling anger flares inside me and I stomp right up to George, glaring up at him so intensely, his confidence falters. "Don't tell me I don't have guts, Weasley. Maybe if your brother had kept my family's name out of his filthy mouth, I wouldn't have wanted to kill him as badly as I did. Now piss off Weasley, or I'll send you and your brother home in a match box this Christmas."

We glare at each other for a moment before George storms down the hall.

Once he's gone, I set off to the common room alone. As soon as I go inside, Cassius, Melissa, and Graham all bombard me with questions.

After I fill them in they seem to calm down a bit more and we sit down at a desk.

"Is now a bad time to tell you McGonagall wants a four foot long composition by afternoon tomorrow?" Cassius asks, pushing his Transfiguration notes towards me.

"No, it's alright. Hey, do any of you have your Monster Book of Monsters on you?"

They all shake their heads, but Dracos friend Crabbe passes me his copy from the table closest to ours. "Here. You have to stroke its spine to read it." He blushes slightly. "Sorry Draco got hurt. I tried to protect him, honestly!"

"It's alright. Thank you." I mumble in acknowledgement and take the book, stroking its spine like Crabbe instructed. It trembles then relaxes in my hands and I open it to the table of contents. I flip to page 24, chapter three, that talks about hippogriffs.

"Hippogriffs are exquisite creatures that are half eagle, half horse... blah blah blah... Here! 'Hippogriffs are prideful creatures that are not violent by nature, unless threatened or insulted.'" I look over at Crabbe's table where he's sitting with Pansy Parkinson and Gregory Goyle. "Oi! You three! Did Draco offend the hippogriff when he was told not to?" I ask, closing the book.

They share a hesitant look.

Crabbe nods carefully as I hand him back the book. "Yeah, sorta. Harry Potter rode it and he was fine, so Draco thought he could too but he sorta... called it ugly?"

I roll my eyes and massage my temples. "God... so it was his fault."

Melissa giggles slightly. "Wow... Dracos... kind of an idiot, isn't he?" she says.

We spend the rest of our free period catching me up on what I missed in Transfiguration and starting the composition.

After our free period, we all split our different ways-me and Cassius to Ancient Runes, Melissa to Divination, and Graham to Arithmancy.

By the end of the day, we've all got about fifteen feet of parchment due altogether.

"Bloody heck, I knew fifth year was going to be hard but I didn't know it was going to be this hard." Graham groans, leaning his head on my shoulder later during dinner.

"Tell me about it! If one more teacher assigns a composition, I will throw myself off the Astronomy tower." Melissa says, resting her head on my other shoulder.

"If you both keep complaining, I'm going to throw you off the Astronomy tower." Cassius says.

"Go ahead, please do. Trust me, you'll be doing us a favor."