HP fic: Post-DH
Title: Post-DH
Scene Title: Slytherin Pride
Progress: WIP
"I thought I told you to not get into these sorts of situations."
Albus glared at the other boy. "Malfoy!"
Malfoy rolled his eyes before looking back over to the Slytherins who had thought that the younger Potter was fair game. "Honestly, you dolts. Don't you know anything?" the pale boy said before sending a jinx in the direction of one of the boys who yelped in pain. "If you're going to try to torment a Potter, at least pick the obnoxious one who thinks he's the best thing since the Founding of Hogwarts. Targetting this one just gets you into trouble because everyone knows he can't defend himself even if he tries--"
Albus felt his blood boil. "I can so--!"
He was cut off by one of the Slytherin boys saying lowly, "And why're you defending him, Malfoy? You that much of your father's son that you'd stick up for a Gryffindor like Potter--?"
"Hardly," said Malfoy lazily. "And I doubt you'd understand anything about the duties of a person of my stature and blood since I know for a fact, Zarkowski, your father was a Muggle--"
Zarkowski's face went red and he pulled out his wand. "Se--!"
"Expelliarmus!"
The wand was knocked from the Slytherin's hand just as his body was knocked back onto the ground. Everyone in the corridor paused and turned to Albus, who stood there, eyes narrowed determinedly. Malfoy stared at him, brow furrowed as if he didn't quite understand what he was seeing. Instead of asking what was most likely on his mind, the pale boy asked, "That's it?"
Albus started, lowering his wand and blinking in surprise. "What?" he asked, confused. "What do you mean 'that's it?' He's disarmed--"
"Moron," said Malfoy, his wand pointed at Zarkowski who was slowly pushing himself up off the ground, eyes glaring. "Don't you know anything about us Slytherins yet? Never trust a Slytherin even when he's on the ground. There's a reason why they're in this House, after all."
"And why are you in this House, Malfoy?" spat Zarkowski before jabbing a finger at the younger boy. "You're only here because your family's full of cowards who ran! Ran and hid away while the rest stayed and--"
"And died," said Malfoy coolly. "Died or were sent to Azkaban. Certainly, Azkaban is much more... tame since they've gotten rid of the Dementors, but it's still just as inescapable. And they will rot there, in prison. Because they went against their nature and served someone else when everyone knows the true meaning of being a Slytherin is to take care of only yourself and yours." He put the tip of his wand just a bit closer to Zarkowiski's forehead. "And I dare you to say it. I dare you to call me what you've been dying to call me all year."
The other boy remained silent and, after a time, Malfoy lowered his wand. He then looked to the others in the group and finished darkly, "As I said, if you want to target a Potter, go after the one who can and will defend himself. I'm tired of having to deal with this ridiculous mess that you make by showing just how low the name Slytherin has fallen."
With that, Malfoy turned and left.
Albus stayed there for a moment before glancing to the group of Slytherins and took off racing after the other boy. "Oi, Malfoy! Wait a minute, Malfoy!"
The taller boy paused, allowing the smaller one to catch up, to step in front of him and block his path. Light eyes studied green before they rolled and Malfoy asked impatiently, "Now what is you want, Potter? It isn't enough that I have to embarrass myself in front of my own again because of you, is it?"
Albus objected, "That's not--I didn't--I'm not weak!"
Malfoy raised a delicate eyebrow.
"I'm not!" proclaimed Albus heatedly. "Look, I don't care if your father owes my father some debt or anything, I don't need your protection--"
"You're just as stupid as those twits are," said the pale boy with quiet exasperation. "It's not as simple as whether or not my father or even I can choose to ignore the debt we owe. Don't you know anything about wizards, Potter? Considering who your father is and that your mother is, at the very least, from a pureblood family--blood traitors though they are--you should know all about these sorts of things--"
"And if I don't?" challenged Albus. "So what if I don't? What do you know about the world outside of wizards?"
Malfoy went quiet for a long moment. "Why would I care to know anything about that world?"
Albus stared at him in shock. "You... don't care? How can you not care? The Wizarding World isn't the only world there is!"
"And if it isn't? Who cares?" The Slytherin gave the Gryffindor a sort of pitying look, as though he knew that Albus could never understand what it was that he was saying. "With the Statute of Secrecy in place, the Muggle World will never acknowledge us--so why should we acknowledge them? Not only that, but what's the point in learning about that other world when the Wizarding World is the one we belong with?"
"Y-you're wrong! You're all wrong!" shouted Albus, not able to accept this answer. "I heard--I heard because of the last war, Muggles died. They died and they were hunted down because of wizards! How can you say they aren't connected when things like that happen?"
Malfoy didn't answer, just continued to stare at Albus with that pitying look.
"I don't care if I don't know all that much about the Wizarding World!" shouted Albus. "There's always time for me to learn and--and so what if I don't understand why you and your father seem fixated on this debt? If you're so against helping someone like me, then you should just stop! I don't need your protection! I can--"
"Be like your father and defeat a dark wizard by Disarming him?" asked the other boy coolly. "Pull a Potter on everyone, will you? Let me tell you this, Potter. There's only so much taking a passive approach will do. If you're always on the defensive, you'll never get a step ahead--"
"And if you're always on the offensive, you'll never understand the damage you cause!"
Eyes widening at this sudden exclamation, Malfoy stared at the Potter standing before him, hand to his robes, near where he kept his wand. Albus found it very hard to breathe with Malfoy staring at him like that. Like someone who'd just been delivered a blow to the face, signaling the acceptance of a duel. But that couldn't have been the case, Albus certainly hadn't meant for that to be the case...
He swallowed thickly, trying to wet his mouth as Malfoy continued to stare at him as if he'd never seen him before, as if he wasn't quite sure how to react.
Albus was relieved that the silence was broken--not by any student or professor, but by the sound of whistle drifting nearer and nearer. Dead Fred was taking a stroll down the corridor and paused when he saw the interesting spectacle of Potter and Malfoy facing each other. "What's this? What's this?" he asked, leaning forward in his portrait, though he couldn't actually get closer. "Second generation confrontation? Oh, what I would give if I could get George over here to see this."
Malfoy's hand twitched as the portrait spoke before he finally lowered that hand to his side and glared up at the Weasley. "Get lost, Weasley," he said, voice sharp, making Fred look to him with surprise.
"Oh my oh my," said Fred in the tone of a worried mother before looking to Albus. "Seems as though your Malfoy's a bit meaner-spirited than Harry's, though. I'd be careful if I were you. Malfoys--and Slytherins in general--are horrid gits without any morals to them--"
Malfoy's wand was out and shooting out a flame at the portrait without warning.
Dead Fred only just escaped harm. "Oi, watch it you bloody Death Eater!" he shouted angrily from the next portrait. "You know how much it costs to fix me if you damage me? Also! I happen to like having myself intact if only in portrait--!"
"Call me that again, and I swear to you, I will see your portrait burn, Weasley!" exclaimed Malfoy.
Fred's eyebrows shot to his hairline. "What? Death Eater?" he asked, a sneering tone entering his voice. "What? 'Fraid of having that reputation when all your Slytherin buddies are still fighting over who was You-Know-Who's biggest supporter--" Again, Fred had to dodge an attack. "If you don't cut that out, I'm siccing Peeves on you!"
"Go ahead, Blood Traiter!" shouted Malfoy, not at all his cool and collected self.
Albus could only watch in horrified fascination as Dead Fred continued to jeer at the Slytherin, whose face went a dark pink with anger, fury, and some other emotion that Alubs didn't quite know how to name. It was only when Fred had jumped to a fourth portrait that Albus finally moved, jumping in front of Malfoy's wand, blocking its aim at his dead uncle's portrait self.
Malfoy froze, body heaving heavy pants while his eyes narrowed more at the sight of Albus in front of his wand.
"Get out of the way, Potter," he gritted out.
Albus shook his head. "No."
"I said: GET OUT OF THE--"
"WHAT ARE DEATH EATERS?"
Again, everything froze. Even Dead Fred had gone stiff, staring at Albus as if he had just grown another head--not that that wouldn't be all that surprising in Hogwarts, but still both the portrait and Malfoy stared. Albus endured their stares for a moment longer before saying, "I don't know why you're getting so heated up at a portrait--"
"Oi," objected Fred indignantly but weakly.
"--but if it has something to do with him calling you a Death Eater," continued Albus, undeterred, "then I want to know what a Death Eater is."
Malfoy didn't say anything and, after a long moment, lowered his wand and looked away. "You really are an idiot, Potter," he said coldly. "I don't know what your father's been keeping from you, but not telling you about the Dark Lord or his servants--"
"Servants?" asked Albus, eyes widening.
"Yes, you bloody twit!" snapped Malfoy. "Didn't I say that my family betrayed the Dark Lord? Death Eaters! My father was never marked, but he certainly was one--and he loathed every second of it! Only joined because his family would have been crushed, would have been destroyed by the Dark Lord if he hadn't!" A glare was thrown in Dead Fred's direction. "Just because you died during the war doesn't mean you have the right to judge my family! We left the Dark Lord's side before the end!"
"Only when it was almost over," said Fred just as coldly.
Albus looked between the two of them again, not knowing how to stop things from blowing up again. He needn't have worried so, however, because Malfoy turned and began to walk off. "Malfoy--"
"Just get out of here, Potter," said Malfoy, not stopping. "Get back to your safe little Common Room with your cosy fire and write letters home to Mummy and Daddy, telling them all about your fun-filled adventures at Hogwarts. And stop coming down here. Next time, I might actually let them get at you. Just to prove my point."
"And what point's that?" demanded Albus, feeling at a loss of what to do or say.
The Slytherin turned to look over his shoulder. "That you couldn't protect yourself even if you wanted to."
And with that, he was gone, leaving Albus with Dead Fred, who muttered curses under his breath and swore to tell his brother George all about this. No doubt, Albus was sure that news would carry around the family until all the Weasleys and Potters and even Ted Lupin would know about this confrontation between Potter and Malfoy.
Scene Title: Slytherin Pride
Progress: WIP
"I thought I told you to not get into these sorts of situations."
Albus glared at the other boy. "Malfoy!"
Malfoy rolled his eyes before looking back over to the Slytherins who had thought that the younger Potter was fair game. "Honestly, you dolts. Don't you know anything?" the pale boy said before sending a jinx in the direction of one of the boys who yelped in pain. "If you're going to try to torment a Potter, at least pick the obnoxious one who thinks he's the best thing since the Founding of Hogwarts. Targetting this one just gets you into trouble because everyone knows he can't defend himself even if he tries--"
Albus felt his blood boil. "I can so--!"
He was cut off by one of the Slytherin boys saying lowly, "And why're you defending him, Malfoy? You that much of your father's son that you'd stick up for a Gryffindor like Potter--?"
"Hardly," said Malfoy lazily. "And I doubt you'd understand anything about the duties of a person of my stature and blood since I know for a fact, Zarkowski, your father was a Muggle--"
Zarkowski's face went red and he pulled out his wand. "Se--!"
"Expelliarmus!"
The wand was knocked from the Slytherin's hand just as his body was knocked back onto the ground. Everyone in the corridor paused and turned to Albus, who stood there, eyes narrowed determinedly. Malfoy stared at him, brow furrowed as if he didn't quite understand what he was seeing. Instead of asking what was most likely on his mind, the pale boy asked, "That's it?"
Albus started, lowering his wand and blinking in surprise. "What?" he asked, confused. "What do you mean 'that's it?' He's disarmed--"
"Moron," said Malfoy, his wand pointed at Zarkowski who was slowly pushing himself up off the ground, eyes glaring. "Don't you know anything about us Slytherins yet? Never trust a Slytherin even when he's on the ground. There's a reason why they're in this House, after all."
"And why are you in this House, Malfoy?" spat Zarkowski before jabbing a finger at the younger boy. "You're only here because your family's full of cowards who ran! Ran and hid away while the rest stayed and--"
"And died," said Malfoy coolly. "Died or were sent to Azkaban. Certainly, Azkaban is much more... tame since they've gotten rid of the Dementors, but it's still just as inescapable. And they will rot there, in prison. Because they went against their nature and served someone else when everyone knows the true meaning of being a Slytherin is to take care of only yourself and yours." He put the tip of his wand just a bit closer to Zarkowiski's forehead. "And I dare you to say it. I dare you to call me what you've been dying to call me all year."
The other boy remained silent and, after a time, Malfoy lowered his wand. He then looked to the others in the group and finished darkly, "As I said, if you want to target a Potter, go after the one who can and will defend himself. I'm tired of having to deal with this ridiculous mess that you make by showing just how low the name Slytherin has fallen."
With that, Malfoy turned and left.
Albus stayed there for a moment before glancing to the group of Slytherins and took off racing after the other boy. "Oi, Malfoy! Wait a minute, Malfoy!"
The taller boy paused, allowing the smaller one to catch up, to step in front of him and block his path. Light eyes studied green before they rolled and Malfoy asked impatiently, "Now what is you want, Potter? It isn't enough that I have to embarrass myself in front of my own again because of you, is it?"
Albus objected, "That's not--I didn't--I'm not weak!"
Malfoy raised a delicate eyebrow.
"I'm not!" proclaimed Albus heatedly. "Look, I don't care if your father owes my father some debt or anything, I don't need your protection--"
"You're just as stupid as those twits are," said the pale boy with quiet exasperation. "It's not as simple as whether or not my father or even I can choose to ignore the debt we owe. Don't you know anything about wizards, Potter? Considering who your father is and that your mother is, at the very least, from a pureblood family--blood traitors though they are--you should know all about these sorts of things--"
"And if I don't?" challenged Albus. "So what if I don't? What do you know about the world outside of wizards?"
Malfoy went quiet for a long moment. "Why would I care to know anything about that world?"
Albus stared at him in shock. "You... don't care? How can you not care? The Wizarding World isn't the only world there is!"
"And if it isn't? Who cares?" The Slytherin gave the Gryffindor a sort of pitying look, as though he knew that Albus could never understand what it was that he was saying. "With the Statute of Secrecy in place, the Muggle World will never acknowledge us--so why should we acknowledge them? Not only that, but what's the point in learning about that other world when the Wizarding World is the one we belong with?"
"Y-you're wrong! You're all wrong!" shouted Albus, not able to accept this answer. "I heard--I heard because of the last war, Muggles died. They died and they were hunted down because of wizards! How can you say they aren't connected when things like that happen?"
Malfoy didn't answer, just continued to stare at Albus with that pitying look.
"I don't care if I don't know all that much about the Wizarding World!" shouted Albus. "There's always time for me to learn and--and so what if I don't understand why you and your father seem fixated on this debt? If you're so against helping someone like me, then you should just stop! I don't need your protection! I can--"
"Be like your father and defeat a dark wizard by Disarming him?" asked the other boy coolly. "Pull a Potter on everyone, will you? Let me tell you this, Potter. There's only so much taking a passive approach will do. If you're always on the defensive, you'll never get a step ahead--"
"And if you're always on the offensive, you'll never understand the damage you cause!"
Eyes widening at this sudden exclamation, Malfoy stared at the Potter standing before him, hand to his robes, near where he kept his wand. Albus found it very hard to breathe with Malfoy staring at him like that. Like someone who'd just been delivered a blow to the face, signaling the acceptance of a duel. But that couldn't have been the case, Albus certainly hadn't meant for that to be the case...
He swallowed thickly, trying to wet his mouth as Malfoy continued to stare at him as if he'd never seen him before, as if he wasn't quite sure how to react.
Albus was relieved that the silence was broken--not by any student or professor, but by the sound of whistle drifting nearer and nearer. Dead Fred was taking a stroll down the corridor and paused when he saw the interesting spectacle of Potter and Malfoy facing each other. "What's this? What's this?" he asked, leaning forward in his portrait, though he couldn't actually get closer. "Second generation confrontation? Oh, what I would give if I could get George over here to see this."
Malfoy's hand twitched as the portrait spoke before he finally lowered that hand to his side and glared up at the Weasley. "Get lost, Weasley," he said, voice sharp, making Fred look to him with surprise.
"Oh my oh my," said Fred in the tone of a worried mother before looking to Albus. "Seems as though your Malfoy's a bit meaner-spirited than Harry's, though. I'd be careful if I were you. Malfoys--and Slytherins in general--are horrid gits without any morals to them--"
Malfoy's wand was out and shooting out a flame at the portrait without warning.
Dead Fred only just escaped harm. "Oi, watch it you bloody Death Eater!" he shouted angrily from the next portrait. "You know how much it costs to fix me if you damage me? Also! I happen to like having myself intact if only in portrait--!"
"Call me that again, and I swear to you, I will see your portrait burn, Weasley!" exclaimed Malfoy.
Fred's eyebrows shot to his hairline. "What? Death Eater?" he asked, a sneering tone entering his voice. "What? 'Fraid of having that reputation when all your Slytherin buddies are still fighting over who was You-Know-Who's biggest supporter--" Again, Fred had to dodge an attack. "If you don't cut that out, I'm siccing Peeves on you!"
"Go ahead, Blood Traiter!" shouted Malfoy, not at all his cool and collected self.
Albus could only watch in horrified fascination as Dead Fred continued to jeer at the Slytherin, whose face went a dark pink with anger, fury, and some other emotion that Alubs didn't quite know how to name. It was only when Fred had jumped to a fourth portrait that Albus finally moved, jumping in front of Malfoy's wand, blocking its aim at his dead uncle's portrait self.
Malfoy froze, body heaving heavy pants while his eyes narrowed more at the sight of Albus in front of his wand.
"Get out of the way, Potter," he gritted out.
Albus shook his head. "No."
"I said: GET OUT OF THE--"
"WHAT ARE DEATH EATERS?"
Again, everything froze. Even Dead Fred had gone stiff, staring at Albus as if he had just grown another head--not that that wouldn't be all that surprising in Hogwarts, but still both the portrait and Malfoy stared. Albus endured their stares for a moment longer before saying, "I don't know why you're getting so heated up at a portrait--"
"Oi," objected Fred indignantly but weakly.
"--but if it has something to do with him calling you a Death Eater," continued Albus, undeterred, "then I want to know what a Death Eater is."
Malfoy didn't say anything and, after a long moment, lowered his wand and looked away. "You really are an idiot, Potter," he said coldly. "I don't know what your father's been keeping from you, but not telling you about the Dark Lord or his servants--"
"Servants?" asked Albus, eyes widening.
"Yes, you bloody twit!" snapped Malfoy. "Didn't I say that my family betrayed the Dark Lord? Death Eaters! My father was never marked, but he certainly was one--and he loathed every second of it! Only joined because his family would have been crushed, would have been destroyed by the Dark Lord if he hadn't!" A glare was thrown in Dead Fred's direction. "Just because you died during the war doesn't mean you have the right to judge my family! We left the Dark Lord's side before the end!"
"Only when it was almost over," said Fred just as coldly.
Albus looked between the two of them again, not knowing how to stop things from blowing up again. He needn't have worried so, however, because Malfoy turned and began to walk off. "Malfoy--"
"Just get out of here, Potter," said Malfoy, not stopping. "Get back to your safe little Common Room with your cosy fire and write letters home to Mummy and Daddy, telling them all about your fun-filled adventures at Hogwarts. And stop coming down here. Next time, I might actually let them get at you. Just to prove my point."
"And what point's that?" demanded Albus, feeling at a loss of what to do or say.
The Slytherin turned to look over his shoulder. "That you couldn't protect yourself even if you wanted to."
And with that, he was gone, leaving Albus with Dead Fred, who muttered curses under his breath and swore to tell his brother George all about this. No doubt, Albus was sure that news would carry around the family until all the Weasleys and Potters and even Ted Lupin would know about this confrontation between Potter and Malfoy.