Second Time Around

The Fourth Hogwarts Champion

"Merrily we fall out of line, out of line

I'd fall anywhere with you I'm by your side

Swinging in the rain, humming melodies

We're not going anywhere until we freeze"—I wouldn't mind, He is we

Draco considered boycotting Moody's class at first, but Theo convinced him to go. He said it would be like running away, and Draco didn't want Moody thinking he'd successfully scared him off.

He sat at the second table to the left and gazed out the window. When Moody finally entered, Draco didn't even look up. He didn't care if it looked disrespectful; Theo's dumb potion was making him drowsy again.

The lunatic started prattling on about curses and how they weren't up-to-date enough on them. Geez, he was saying stuff he already knew.

"A wizard who's about to put an illegal curse on you isn't going to tell you what he's about to do. He's not going to do it nice and polite to your face. You need to be prepared. You need to be alert and watchful. You need to look at me when I'm talking to you, Mr Malfoy."

Draco looked up. Moody's back was to him, must be the magical eye.

Then he stared talking about the Unforgivables. At this Draco sat up.

Weasley knew one, the Imperious. Draco knew it too, he'd seen his father use it once and get away with it, on a Ministry worker no less.

Moody cursed the spider to obey and dance around the room. It gave him great satisfaction to see Weasley's face pale and frantic as the spider danced on his head.

The class laughed, Moody silenced them.

The next curse had Draco sitting up when Neville Longbottom, usually one to sit quietly at the back, volunteered the Cruciatus Curse and Draco knew why. After all, it was his Aunt Bellatrix who tortured his parents to insanity.

Wait. Aunt Bella did what! Draco never knew this. Why did he suddenly think that?

Moody made the spider bigger and cast the curse. The spider writhed and squealed in pain, as the basilisk had done in his second year. From the corner of his eye, Draco saw Potter glance at him.

He'd better not say anything.

Then the last curse, this time it was Hermione who suggested it. The Killing Curse. The curse the man in his nightmares used like it was a simple Accio spell, like breathing. Left right and centre he killed and killed and killed. Avada Kedavra.

When the lesson was over and the bell went, Draco ran out the classroom. Bursting into the abandoned girls' bathroom where he and Hermione had made the Polyjuice potion, he slumped to the floor as another vision came through.

More death, more destruction, more headaches. What else was new?

Eventually, things calmed down and he was able to limp to the common room. There, he swallowed his potion and fell into a dreamless sleep despite the fact he still had a day of classes. He hated these nightmares. At least he wished they could tell him more, all he ever seemed to dream about was the man killing or loving that woman.

Draco slept all through the day and when he woke up in the middle of the night he went back to sleep. It seemed like a side effect of the potion was intense drowsiness. Draco was forever tired. He slept so much that he ended up sleeping though half of Moody's morning lesson.

Draco almost didn't go, but seeing as he needed the grade he had no choice.

He arrived just as Moody was praising Potter over something.