Two Houses (HarryxDraco)

Chapter 10

When Harry had decided to return to Hogwarts, he promised himself two things: that he would try to stay out of trouble and that he would make more of an effort to study. But despite his good intentions, only two days into the start of the new term, he had already managed to fail on both counts.

The morning was fairly uneventful: he sat in the Great Hall having breakfast, nose deep in the latest issue of Seeker Weekly, when Hermione cleared her throat to get his attention. He glanced up over the top of his magazine to look at her.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but that doesn't look like the script that Professor Tonks gave us to revise," she said accusingly.

"No, it's something infinitely more interesting than that," he quipped, lifting the magazine again to block Hermione's disapproving face from view. Unfortunately, it did nothing to block out the sound of her voice.

"Don't you think you two ought to be rehearsing for the auditions?" she asked, casting a judgemental eye over Ron who still looked half-asleep as he ate his porridge.

"We have been rehearsing," Harry lied.

"When?"

"Last night."

"No, you weren't. You spent the entire evening playing Exploding Snap!"

"We rehearsed while we played cards," he countered, glad that he had the magazine to cover his atrocious poker face.

"Well, Hermione, Luna and I were rehearsing last night," said Ginny, looking up from the copy of her own script. "The story's not bad, actually. I'm interested to know what happens in the end."

"What scene are you practising?" asked Harry. Ginny glanced at the script again.

"Act two, scene two," she replied. "Capulet's Orchard. Hermione is playing Romeo, I'm Juliet and Luna is the Nurse."

Ron peered at Ginny's script and snorted. "Very clever of Luna to pick the role with the least amount of lines."

"She speaks twice," Ginny pointed out. "Here and...here."

Ron laughed. "So her lines are that she says 'Madam' twice. I think you two have been conned into doing all the hard work."

"The Nurse's role might be small but it's an important one," Hermione argued. "She functions as a go-between for Romeo and Juliet, which you would know if you bothered to read the script!"

Ron sighed and turned back to his breakfast, too tired to argue with her. Just then, the sound of fluttering wings signalled the arrival of the morning post and hundreds of owls soared through the open windows clutching letters, newspapers and parcels. Harry watched as the owls made their deliveries and he still half-expected to see Hedwig appear with a letter from Hagrid or with a dead mouse clutched in her beak. A tawny owl flew over the heads of several Slytherin students and came to a stuttering halt in front of Draco. Harry expected it was probably a letter from his mother—she usually sent him a parcel full of sweets and cakes when the new term began—but as Draco tore open the letter he suddenly yelped in pain and jumped to his feet, his hands and sleeves drenched in a yellowish green liquid.

"What's going on over there?" asked Ron curiously, rising to his feet to get a better look. "Bloody hell, looks like someone sent Malfoy bubotuber pus."

"What?" Hermione jumped to her feet to get a look for herself. "Oh dear..."

The trio watched in horror as large, yellow boils began to erupt all over Draco's hands. Several students laughed as they watched Draco try in vain to wipe the liquid off, rubbing his hands across the front of his robes, but his fingers and palms were already covered in painful sores that looked ready to burst. Harry stared after Draco as he hurried out of the Great Hall, his face screwed up in pain.