[4] UNREQUITED ENEMIES ━ Draco Malfoy

16. Defender Of The People

SIXTEEN DEFENDER OF THE PEOPLE

     "That catch was amazing! I thought Smith was really going to get it, but no! Merlin, what a game!" Diana was recounting the events of the Ravenclaw-Hufflepuff quidditch match that had just transpired as they headed back into the castle. Hufflepuff had lost, but Xander wasn't too disappointed as he knew Ravenclaw's win was deserved with how hard they played. Xander had never cared too much about quidditch, but he liked how excited Diana got about it. Justin ran up and joined them -- now having changed out of his uniform. The girl turned to him and kissed him, after she said, "You played great, like always."

The two got absorbed into their own conversation as Xander walked beside them, not really minding being the third wheel. His mind had been other places lately if he was being terribly honest. Mainly on the fact that he hadn't seen Draco or Harry since the incident save for seeing Harry in some classes. He was nervous about Draco, but he was sure the boy had healed up just fine considering his friends were walking around as nothing happened. There was also a chance they simply didn't care about him, but Xander didn't want to think of something like that. How lonely that could be.

"Oi, Salamander, quit dragging your feet. I swear, we'll be the last back to the common rooms at this rate," Diana turned back to get the boy's attention as a smile donned her face with Justin's arm around her shoulders. Xander was happy she was happy, but he'd be lying if he said he wasn't the least bit jealous of the fact that her love life was stable.

"Yeah, yeah, all right," Xander scoffed as they continued walking. Something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. Harry Potter was leaving Professor Snape's classroom. In a split-second decision, he called out to Diana and Justin, "You two go ahead, I'll catch up with you later."

The girl shrugged and waved goodbye as they turned the corner. Immediately, Xander whipped around to where Harry was clearly trying to hustle back to the Gryffindor common room, calling out, "Hey, Potter! I think we need to have a chat about the sorts of spells you think are okay to use on your classmates."

"I threw it out!" Harry immediately defended as soon as Xander approached him, clearly looking nervous, "The book that I learned the spell from, I mean. It's gone, I don't want to mess with it after seeing what it did--"

"So you're telling me you cast a spell that you found in a random book without even knowing what it did? Harry, I never thought you were stupid, but wow," he exclaimed, hating the twinge of anger in his voice. He was angry at Harry, though, for being idiotic and for putting all three of them in danger. "You could have killed him! You are lucky I cared more about Draco not dying than I did about hexing you to the high fucking heavens. I know you're the "chosen one" and all and you're kind of used to things working out for you and nearly escaping death every year, but the rest of us aren't that lucky. You've got a brain and I know you're smarter than that so I strongly suggest you actually use your brain next time you're in a duel. Or just try not to get into a duel in the first place."