The Disgraced of the House of Black - A Multi-Character Fanfiction - Part Two

222. What Draco Had to Say

"I'm glad that's over," Neville admitted as they made their way down the train, following behind the still-brooding Zabini. "Strange man, isn't he?"

"Yeah, he is a bit," Harry agreed, but his mind was elsewhere. "How come you ended up in there, Ginny?"

"He saw me hex Zacharias Smith," Ginny explained. "You remember that idiot from Hufflepuff who was in the DA? He kept on and on asking about what happened at the Ministry and in the end he annoyed me so much I hexed him - when Slughorn came in I thought I was going to get detention, but he just thought it was a really good hex and invited me to lunch. Mad, eh?"

"Better reason for inviting someone than because their mother's famous," Harry replied, glaring at Zabini's back.

"Or having a famous grandfather?" Althea asked, giving Harry a teasing look.

"You know that's not what I-" Harry began, but before he could finish, he suddenly stopped, his brows furrowed as an idea occurred to him. In one breath, he quickly said, "I'll see you all later."

"Harry-" Althea began in confusion, but before she could finish, he had disappeared under his Invisibility Cloak. "Harry," she hissed.

But Harry never heard what she had to say as he dashed after Zabini, only just managing to slam his foot in the way before the door shut behind Blaise.

"What's wrong with this thing?" Zabini said angrily, slamming the door again and again on Harry's foot.

Seizing the door, Harry slammed it open as hard as he could, sending Blaise into Goyle's lap as Harry darted into the compartment, using Blaise's empty seat to launch himself onto the luggage rack. He was almost sure for one horrible moment that he saw Malfoy's eyes follow his foot as it slipped free from the coverage of the cloak. Sniggering, Malfoy lay back in his seat, his head on Pansy Parkinson's lap as she gently stroked his hair.

"So Zabini, what did Slughorn want?" Draco asked.

"Just trying to make up to well-connected people," Blaise explained. "Not that he managed to find many."

"Who else had he invited?" Draco demanded, looking severely displeased.

"McLaggen from Gryffindor," Blaise began.

"Oh yeah, his uncle's big in the Ministry," Draco remarked.

"-someone called Belby from Ravenclaw-"

"Not him, he's a prat!" Pansy cried.

"-Potter, that Weasley girl, and that other girl Potter hangs around I never remember the name of," Blaise finished.

"Granger?" Malfoy asked.

"No, the other one," Zabini said.

"Black," Malfoy said.

"Oh, and Longbottom was there," Blaise added.

Sitting up so suddenly he hit Pansy's hand, Malfoy snapped, "He invited Longbottom?"

"Well, I assume so as Longbottom was there," Blaise said dryly.

"What's Longbottom got to interest Slughorn?" Draco scoffed.

Zabini shrugged but said nothing.

"Potter, precious Potter, obviously he wanted a look at 'the Chosen One'," Malfoy sneered. "Black must have been there because of her family's connections to the Ministry, not that her side ever got much into it. But that Weasley girl! What's so special about her?"

"A lot of boys like her," Pansy remarked, watching Draco's face carefully as though searching for a reaction. "Even you think she's good-looking, don't you, Blaise? And we all know how hard you are to please."

"I wouldn't touch a filthy little blood traitor like her whatever she looked like," Blaise said coldly.

Draco said nothing, sinking back to lay in Pansy's lap.

"Well, I pity Slughorn's taste," Draco remarked. "Mabe he's going a bit senile. Shame, my father always said he was a good wizard in his day. My father used to be a bit of a favourite of his. Slughorn probably hasn't heard I'm on the train, or-"

"I wouldn't bank on an invitation," Zabini said. "He asked me about Nott's father when I first arrived. They used to be old friends, apparently, but when he heard he'd been caught at the Ministry he didn't look happy, and Nott didn't get an invitation, did he? I don't think Slughorn's interested in Death Eaters."

Looking incredibly angry, Draco snapped, "Well who cares what he's interested in? What is he, when you come down to it? Just some stupid teacher. Anyway, I know that once my sister has her way he'll be one short of his little club anyway-" Harry's head snapped up, his brows furrowed "-I mean, I might not even be at Hogwarts next year, what's it matter to me if some fat old has-been likes me or not?"

"What do you mean, you might not be at Hogwarts next year?" Pansy said in alarm.

"Well, you never know," Draco remarked with a smirk. "I might have - er - moved on to bigger and better things."

"You mean - Him?" Pansy whispered.

Shrugging, Malfoy said, "Mother wants me to complete my education, but personally, I don't see it as that important these days. I mean, think about it...When the Dark Lord takes over, is he going to care how many O.W.L.s or N.E.W.T.s anyone's got? Of course, he isn't...It'll be all about the kind of service he received, the level of devotion he was shown."

"And you think you'll be able to do something for him?" Zabini said scathingly. "Sixteen years old and not even fully qualified yet?"

"I've just said, haven't I?" Draco retorted. "Maybe he doesn't care if I'm qualified. Maybe the job he wants me to do isn't something that you need to be qualified for."

"Malfoy, if you're just talking about being bossed around by your sister-"

"I'm not talking about Lyra," Malfoy interrupted smoothly. "She's a little focused on something else at the moment."

"On what?" Pansy asked curiously.

Draco debated a moment before, with a sly grin crossing his features, he said, "Let's just say not all escaped fish should be let alone."