Bleed Them Dry

September 1; Hogwarts Express

A tall, white-haired Slytherin leaned against the compartment door casually. "Good afternoon, Mudblood, Potty, and Weasels," he greeted. Hermione, Ron, and Ginny merely ignored the insults, tired of the relentless circle of bickering and too busy mourning the loss of their friend, Fleur, to care. Harry, however, was not in the mood to stay quiet. He had interned at St. Mungo's over the summer (a bonus that would help him later become an Auror), along with Malfoy and had endured a summer full of taunting and cruel jokes.

"Malfoy, get lost," Harry ordered, his temper quickly rising.

The heartless boy feigned a look of hurt. "I am deeply sorry that I have offended you, Harriet," he mocked, smirking cruelly. That act swiftly bored him, too, and so he switched tactics. "It would seem to me that your whores were less offended than you," he whispered into Potter's ear.

It bothered Harry to hear that, and moments later, Draco Malfoy was lying unconscious on the floor of the compartment. "Harry, you dolt, why'd you go and do that?" Ginny asked, pushing Malfoy out of the way.

"He called you all whores."

Ron's eyes became the size of saucers. "He WHAT?!"

Hermione blushed profusely, glaring down at his limp figure. Ginny merely smirked and giggled a bit. "Is that all? You idiot, he wasn't being serious," she said, rolling her eyes.

"I'm not letting anyone say my girlfriend is a whore, dammit Ginny! I'm sure Ron would agree with me, right, Ron?" Harry argued, his face flushed from exasperation.

Ron nodded enthusiastically. "Why, if I'd heard him, I'd have socked--"

"Oh, Ron, that's sweet, but honestly..." Hermione said, smiling kindly at him. The four had coupled off during the summer, and Hermione seemed to have stopped scolding Ron for everything. Ginny, on the other hand, was becoming more and more aggravated with Harry's behavior, which was somewhat understandable. He had become increasingly angry and argumentative over the summer, prone to bouts of destructive violence related to his godfather's untimely death. Harry had even socked Dudley, resulting in a prompt decision of Dumbledore's to have Harry go stay with the Weasley's for the remainder of the summer holidays.

When the train slowed to a halt, Malfoy was still out cold. Ginny remained after her three friends left, claiming to have lost her eyeliner. This was a complete and utter lie, of course. She was a witch, after all, and did not use those absurd Muggle products; she had merely desired to make sure that Malfoy was alright.

"Draco?" she asked quietly, tapping him on the shoulder. He stayed still. "Draco, get up. Harry didn't hurt you that badly, did he?" The body remained motionless, and Ginny felt her stomach lurch in fear. She sat down closer to him and kissed him on the cheek.

He immediately sat up and pulled her into his lap. "Is that all I bloody get after being forced to listen to those ignorant fools tear apart my dignity?" he demanded coldly.

Ginny seemed stunned for a moment, not quite sure if he was joking with her or not. She bit her lip, waiting for him to break the awkward silence. "I was only kidding, darling," he said, pecking her on the cheek. "Come on, my pretty weasel. They'll be wondering where we are," he said. They both stood up and exited the train. It was empty save for them, so there was no fear of being seen with one another. It would do no good to be caught by Ginny's boyfriend, or anyone else for that matter.

* * * * *

Great Hall, during supper

Cho Chang, a sixth year Ravenclaw, wandered down her house's table until she found Luna Lovegood. Cho needed a word of advice in regards to a deeply personal and ethical issue, and Luna seemed to be rather intelligent in these sorts of matters. "Luna, can I talk to you out in the Entrance Hall for a minute?"

"Oh... Sure," Luna responded, as dazed as ever. It was Cho's personal opinion that the Lovegood girl was permanently "stoned" as Muggles put it.

"Luna, you heard about Fleur Delacour, right?" Cho asked, twittering nervously.

The blonde girl nodded. "The Crumple-Horned Snorkacks killed her."

Cho wrinkled her brow, again doubting Luna's sanity. "Um, right. Well, see, I know something... that might explain what happened, but you know, I was sworn to secrecy," she began, wondering what Luna would say.

"Please continue," Luna ordered, taking a sudden interest in the matter.

"Right," Cho responded, listening to her heart pound. She leaned over towards Luna and whispered the entire story into her ear. Luna's eyes bulged in amazement (or at least they seemed to bulge more than normally).

"So it wasn't the Crumple-Horned Snorkacks after all," she whispered when Cho had left.

* * * * *

Hermione Granger waited nervously in the small broom cupboard outside of the Great Hall after supper. She had received an owl the week before term began requesting that she meet an anonymous admirer here. She had assumed it was Ron playing a romantic joke on her, but now she was no longer sure. She had clearly seen Ron go up the Gryffindor Common Room with Harry, Neville, Ginny, and Dean.

The door creaked open, and the familiar figure of a Slytherin she loathed entered. "Hullo, Granger," he said politely, offering her his hand.

She felt her stomach lurch. Surely this wasn't her "admirer?" Ignoring his hand, she stood up. "Excuse me, but I need to get to my common room," she said hoarsely.

"Granger, can't we just talk? Call a truce?" he asked. His tone was such that Hermione was unable to decipher if sarcasm was intended or not. She paused, waiting for him to say something. "I apologize for the affair on the train today, but you must know... You're rather pretty when you blush, for a Muggle born."

"I-I have a boyfriend," she stammered nervously.

"I am well aware of that fact, however, we could see each other, privately, if you'd like," he replied quietly.

Hermione shifted, uncomfortable. He had not called her "Mudblood" at all in the past five minutes. Could it be that he was being truthful? Or perhaps it was a mere joke. "I have morals, Malfoy," she spat, hoping he would accept this.

"That doesn't mean we can't talk civilly, at the least," he said, running a hand through his hair.

She considered this momentarily. "Fine. Friends," she finally concurred.

He shuddered at the word. "Don't be so hasty. Meet me here tomorrow night, same time, alright?" he asked. Without waiting for her response, he slipped out of the cupboard.

He had a meeting with his dearest Ginevra to attend to.

* * * * *

8 o'clock; Gryffindor Common Room

Harry Potter kissed Ginny absentmindedly on the cheek as she departed from the bustling common room, absorbed in a furious game of wizard's chess. "Harry, have you seen Hermione?" his opponent, Ron, asked him.

"Can't you see I'm trying to think here?" he snapped, annoyed. Harry was sick of being beaten by Ron, and his chess set no longer trusted his commands. After he moved his remaining knight ("Oi, there, can't you see his bishop? You ignorant little--!"), Harry sighed. "Now, what was the question?" he asked. Ron repeated his question, looking rather annoyed with him. Harry thought a moment before responding, "No idea. Have you seen Ginny?"

Staring at him as though he'd lost his mind, Ron rolled his eyes. "She just left, you dolt. You kissed her goodbye." Harry's eyes became wide, but he had no time to say anything, for at that precise moment, Hermione came bounding through the portrait hole, her face flushed with obvious guilt.

"What's wrong?" Ron asked, abandoning the chess game that Harry so badly longed to win. He stood up and went over to greet his girlfriend.

Shifting from one anxious foot to the other, Hermione sighed. "I've... just gotten a detention for running into Professor Snape. It was an accident, of course, but he was holding... a glass of grape juice. It went everywhere, and now I have detention tomorrow evening!" she moaned, clearly lying. The two daft males failed to notice, though.

"That slimy git. I reckon he ran into you," Ron muttered, furious. He had planned a romantic evening for Hermione and himself for tomorrow--plans which were now completely ruined.

Harry did not particularly care, however. "That sucks. Did you see Ginny by chance?"

The guilty look left Hermione's face quickly. "Yes, actually. She said she was headed towards the library. Why?" she asked curiously, taking a seat. Harry said nothing but promptly stood up and left silently.

The very next moment after the portrait hole shut, Neville came tumbling down from the boys' dormitories. "Have you seen Harry?" he asked, straightening his robes.

"Why is everyone asking that same stupid question?" Ron muttered under his breath before standing up to go help Neville with fix whatever he'd messed up this time.