Future Nostalgia / Harry Potter Fanfic

Moody and Ferrets

"Your dad's in the paper, Weasley!" said Malfoy, brandishing a copy of the Daily Prophet and speaking loudly so that everyone in the packed entrance hall could hear. "Listen to this!"

And thus, he began reading the paper. Never had Estella met a bigger prat.

"And there's a picture, Weasley!" said Malfoy, flipping the page over and holding it up. "A picture of your parents outside their house-if, you can call it a house! Your mother could do with losing a bit of weight, couldn't she?"

Ron was shaking with fury. Everyone was staring at him.

"Could you be a bigger arse?" Estella hissed.

"C'mon, Ron," gestured Harry.

"Oh yeah, you were staying with them this summer, weren't you?" sneered Malfoy. "So tell me, is his mother really that porky, or is it just the picture?"

"You know your mother, Malfoy?" said Harry; both he and Hermione had grabbed the back of Ron's robes to stop him from launching himself at Malfoy- "that expression she's got like she's got dung under her nose? Has she always looked like that, or was it just because you were with her?"

Malfoy's pale face went slightly pink.

"Don't you dare insult my mother, Potter."

"Keep your fat mouth shut, then," said Harry, turning away.

BANG!

Several people screamed–as Estella went to cast a spell a voice rang throughout the room.

"Oh no, you don't, laddie!"

Professor Moody was limping down the marble staircase. His wand out and pointed at a pure white ferret, which was shivering on the stone-flagged floor, exactly where Malfoy had been standing.

There was a terrified silence in the entrance hall. Nobody but Moody was moving a muscle. Moody turned to look at Harry.

"Did he get you?" Moody growled. His voice was low and gravelly.

"No," said Harry, "missed."

"Leave it!" Moody shouted.

"What?" Harry asked, bewildered.

"Not you-him!" Moody growled, jerking his thumb over his shoulder at Crabbe, who had just frozen, about to pick up the white ferret. It seemed that Moody's rolling eye was magical and could see out the back of his head.

Moody started to limp toward Crabbe, Goyle, and the ferret, which gave a terrified squeak and took off, streaking toward the dungeons.

"I don't think so!" roared Moody, pointing his wand at the ferret again. It flew ten feet into the air, fell with a smack to the floor, and then bounced upward once more.

"I don't like people who attack their opponent's back's turned," growled Moody as the ferret bounced higher and higher, squealing in pain. "Stinking, cowardly, scummy thing to do...Never do that again," said Moody, speaking each word as the ferret hit the stone floor and bounced upward again.

"Professor Moody!" said a shocked voice.

Professor McGonagall was coming down the marble staircase with her arms full of books.

"What are you doing? Moody-is that a student?" shrieked Professor McGonagall, the books spilling out of her arms.

"Yep!" said Moody, quite casually.

"No!" cried Professor McGonagall, running down the stairs and pulling out her wand; a moment later, with a loud snapping noise, Draco had reappeared, lying in a heap on the floor with his sleek blonde hair all over his now brilliantly pink face. He got to his feet, wincing.

"Moody, we never use Transfiguration as a punishment!" said Professor McGonagall weakly. "Surely Professor Dumbledore told you that?"

"He might've mentioned it, yeah," said Moody, scratching his chin unconcernedly.

"We give detention, Moody! Or speak to the offender's Head of House!"

"I'll do that, then," added Moody, staring at Malfoy with great dislike.

Malfoy, whose pale eyes were still watering with pain and humiliation, looked malevolently at Moody and muttered something that sounded like "my father."

"Oh yeah?" said Moody quietly, limping forward a few steps. "Well, I know your father. You tell him Moody's keeping a close eye on his son...you tell him that from me...Now, your Head of House'll be Snape, will it?"

"Yes," said Malfoy resentfully.

"Another old friend," growled Moody. "I've been looking forward to a chat with old Snape...Come on, you..."

He seized Malfoy's upper arm and marched him off toward the dungeons.

"Don't talk to me," Ron said quietly to Harry, Hermione, and Estella as they sat down at the Gryffindor table a few minutes later, surrounded by excited talk on all sides about what just happened.

"Why not?" said Hermione in surprise.

"Because I want to fix that in my memory forever," said Ron, his eyes closed and an uplifted expression on his face. "Draco Malfoy, the amazing bouncing ferret..."

The three of them laughed, and Hermione began dealing beef casserole onto each of their plates.

"He could have really hurt Malfoy, though," she said. "It was good, really, that Professor McGonagall stopped it-"

"Hermione!" said Ron furiously, his eyes snapping open again, "you're ruining the best moment of my life!"

Hermione made an impatient noise and began to eat at top speed.

"Don't tell me you're going back to the library this evening?" Harry groaned, knowing she'd drag Estella along since she didn't like going alone.

"Got to," said Hermione thickly. "Sienna and Estella got us kicked out!"

"Hey, I did not. You were laughing too!" Estella commented.

"Hermione kicked out of the library for laughing. What in Merlin were you talking about?" Harry grinned as he looked between the two girls.

"Nothing of importance," Estella muttered.

Hermione had cleared her plate and looked expectantly at  Estella.

"Mione, I have no idea how you ate so fast!" Estella said, quickly stuffing a piece of bread into her mouth before rising from the table.

"Leaving so soon?" Harry groaned. They'd been dating all of twenty-four hours and had been physically together for at most eight of them.

"Sorry, Mione needs help for this one," Estella leaned down, pressing a quick kiss to Harry's cheek and earning 'oohs' and 'ahhs' from some of the others at the table before leaving. She'd kissed Harry on the cheek even before they were together, so it wasn't like she couldn't do that whenever she wanted to.

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