The Little Pureblood [1]

Chapter 21: Dueling 101

The excitement from the win for Gryffindor was short-lived because for starters, Potter broke his arm when the rogue bludger hit his arm so while I sat enjoying listening to Flint yell at Malfoy for not noticing the snitch flying right by his own head in the game, the rest of Slytherin tried to get some enjoyment from Potter's pain.

Sam and I were still in disgrace, especially after my little escapade in chatting with the Gryffindor team. And while Sam tried to smooth things over, saying she was cheering on for Slytherin until Draco messed up, I was fully accepting my new title. After all, being the traitor of Slytherin had its benefits. For one thing, everyone in Slytherin knew my name, and that's me talking as a first year. How many other first years could say the same?

Then again, there were also some pretty terrible things that haunted me too thanks to my decisions.

For one, the Slytherin Quidditch team were still suffering from bruised egos after I gave them tickets to their first detentions of the year. Shortly before the match, I was pushed and locked into a broom cupboard and would have stayed there for the whole night if not for a Hufflepuff from my year, Annie, hearing me scream and let me out.

On another occasion, shortly after Slytherin was defeated, I was tripped on the moving stairs, almost going over the edge.

On both occasions, I had to go visit Madam Pomfry who started to take notice of my frequent visits.

"Are you always this clumsy, girl?" She asked as she worked to bandage my wrist with a Ferula charm. I sat on one of the beds with my school bag draped on the ground. The rest of the ward was silent and to my knowledge, all seemed normal, except for the one corner of the room that was marked off.

"I'm rarely clumsy, Madam Pomfry. More like the target for bullying," I muttered sheepishly as my glance went from her gaze back to my bandaged wrist.

"No writing for the day, Fountaine. And I expect you to walk with more friends of yours from now on. With what is happening in this school, you need to have your friends close. It might stop you from getting bullied, as you put it," She said the last part with a flare of a look towards me, as if she already knew of the damage I've committed in my past.

I started for the door but before I left, Madam Pomphry warned that if I come back to the wing with another broken wrist, "I'll make you mend your arm yourself! It might do you some good."

I smiled back, naturally, and told her I was looking forward to it.

Of course, I took Pomphry's words to heart and tried my best to stay near Sam and even Ginny whenever I walked the castle. It only became more necessary when that Sunday evening, Diana came running into the Slytherin Common room in such a fuss, saying Colin Creevy was lying dead in the hospital wing.

"Dead? In like he's been murdered?" Ebony questioned, turning to Kennedy for clarification but her friend looked similarly confused.

"Not likely. If there was a murder at Hogwarts, I'm sure we would all be sent packing," Sam muttered as she shifted back in her chair. We were seated on the second-floor balcony, trying to focus on our potions essays for Wiggenweld Potion when Diana started to create her own commotion.

"Pansy, It's all true! I saw him with my own two eyes! He was lying there behind the curtain, in the hospital wing and.."

"And what? What killed him?" Parkinson asked as she dropped her book to the side.

"The monster! The monster got him, just like it got Filtch's cat!"

"Then he's petrified, not dead, first year," Nyx challenged from the desks next to us. Both Pansy and Diana looked up toward Nyx who regarded them coldly from her seat.