The Mudblood

Chapter 119 : Year 6

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Apparently, my victory over Zacharias Smith in the Gryffindor locker room resulted in the desired effect: Dumbledore's Army quit breaking school rules. Normally, I wasn't one to advocate for rule following, but with the punishment being so severe, I'd rather the students be docile but grumpy than injured or dead. Malfoy did continue to take advantage of his position as Head Boy, particularly when he was in a "sour mood" and felt like taking points from the students that had ambushed us, but I didn't even disapprove of such "unfairness"—and neither did Ginny. She'd been furious when she heard about the scuffle, and Neville had decided to put Dumbledore's Army meetings on a hiatus until after the winter holiday.

"Trust me, if I had the chance to pummel Malfoy for what he did to Luna, I would," Ginny said to me one day as we left Divination, "but Dumbledore's Army isn't about offense. Harry taught us these spell as a defense, so we could fight when the time came, not so we could start senseless fights. I'd bet anything that Zacharias was just using Luna's detention as an excuse to fight Malfoy. He's been whispering about how he wants to destroy you two since you came out as Death Eaters. I'm sure his intentions are less about nobility and more about selfish pride, too. I'll be surprised if Neville lets him come back to the meetings in January at all."

I didn't dwell on the issue of Dumbledore's Army too much, though. Given the upcoming exams and the mounds of homework we'd been receiving, I found myself drowning in education rather than drama. Even with the ongoing war outside the castle walls, I still spent every night poring over Arithmancy charts with Malfoy instead of contriving a scheme to end Voldemort. It was maddening, but I cherished the moments when Malfoy snickered at my incompetence and stupidity, especially when the term ended and I was confronted with the harrowing reality that we would be returning to the Manor for two weeks. We would be returning to Voldemort.

On the train ride "home", the Slytherin Six opted for a compartment instead of sitting amongst the other Slytherins. Only four members of the Slytherin Six were actually present, though: Melody had chosen to stay at Hogwarts for the holiday, where she would be in complete isolation since every other student was taking this opportunity to escape the castle walls that had become more like a prison than a sanctuary. I knew the reason she wasn't leaving Hogwarts was because she had nowhere to go; her home was no longer her home, and if she went there, her father would likely kill her. I would have offered for her to accompany Malfoy and I back to the Manor, but bringing the Anti-Gaudium that Voldemort sought right into his captivity didn't seem like the wisest move.

Harper was the other missing member, but he, surprisingly, hadn't decided to stay at Hogwarts with Melody. None of us were really sure where he'd been the entire day on the train. The sun had set hours ago, leaving the window in the compartment as a dark sheet of blackness, but still there had been no sign of him.

"He's been weird the past few weeks," Astoria was saying as she examined her pale blue nails. Seated on the bench across from me, she was perched comfortably in Anderson's lap, leaning back against his shoulder as he wrapped his arm around her waist. When she'd initially settled into this position, he'd been bemused, but there had been no complaints from him, and he now wore the same lazy, confident smile that he'd been sporting since the Quidditch match. They weren't officially dating, but they were...something, for sure.

"He hasn't talked to me at all," I agreed from where I sat wedged between the wall and Draco Malfoy. Goyle was on his other side, taking up most of the bench, and even though it had been hours, I still hadn't gotten used to the heat of Malfoy pressed against my side.