Draco's Draught

Unicorns and Attitudes

The morning passed rapidly, despite the jabs and prods from my housemates. I decided that I couldn't handle seeing the entire student body again, so I avoided the Great Hall and spent the lunch hour in the library, looking up potions with the same effects as the one I had been doused with. Maybe there would be something that could help me speed this process along. The hour passed far too quickly, and soon it was time for me to make my way out to the pile of stone and wood that our supposed teacher called a home. I was the last to arrive, and was greeted with a large amount of snickering, and a glare from Professor Hagrid.

"All, right," he rumbled after most of the snickering had died down. "Girls to the front today. I tried to back up, but someone, most likely one of my housemates, pushed me hard in the middle of my back, and I stumbled forward, to a smattering of more snickers. I was soon followed by Pansy and Millicent, who were hiding their grins behind their hands. Granger had already gone up to stand beside the great oaf, and the other Gryffindor girls soon joined her, all smiling at me smugly. Why exactly had I kept this useless class?

Hagrid cleared his throat. "Now that you are preparing for your NEWTS next year, I thought--" that oaf thinking? That's a laugh. "--That I would start to show you how to attract some of the more important magical creatures." Attract? He didn't think he was going to sacrifice one of us, did he? I looked worriedly up at him, but he just smiled, if that's what you could call the hairy leer he shot at us, and waved us over to the small clearing right in front of the forest. "Today we're going to try to get a Unicorn to come out of the forest for us." He grinned around at us, but all I could think of was being tied to a stake and waiting for a dragon to come swooping down to grab me up and eat me.

"Now, all o' you just sit down right here, all right? Spread out a bit more. Boys, you all stay back, okay? We don't want you to scare them all away, right?" He grinned, but I could feel my stomach drop. What if a unicorn appeared, and it could tell I was really a guy? It'd probably gore me in front of the entire class. Well, maybe that would end this all that much faster. At least I wouldn't have to deal with my housemates anymore. Or my father.

I sat cross-legged on the grass, waiting for this to just get over so I could at least get away from the Gryffindors. Aside from my housemates, they seemed to be enjoying my predicament the most. Possibly more, even. Unfortunately for me, they were suddenly getting along with the Slytherins for the first time ever. Any time one of my housemates made a comment about me, the Gryffindors snickered appreciatively. Sometimes it's really hard to be a Malfoy.

"Now, the best way to attract a unicorn is for a girl to call it," our oaf of a professor said. "But it takes more than that. Cause not every girl can do it, see, and it takes a special girl to call a unicorn. And she needs to sing, 'cause if the Unicorn can't see yah, they wouldn't know to come, you know?" He chuckled to himself and turned to the six of us who were sitting on the ground. "All's yah gots to do is sing. See, Unicorns like music, and if the right voice is singin' they'll come right to it."

Sing? I had to sing in front of the entire class? Now I like music, and I'm even the type to sing in the shower every now and then, but never when anyone was around, and certainly not in front of my housemates, or Gryffindors. Especially a certain Gryffindor. "I'm not singing in front of them." I waved my arm at the boys behind me, and glared up at that oaf.

He grinned. "Ye'll sing, Malfoy, or ye'll get out of me class and not come back."

I'm sure I looked like a storm cloud at that moment, but I had no choice, so I searched my mind for a song that wouldn't embarrass me too much. The only thing I could think of was a song that my mother had sung to me as a child when I'd had horrible nightmares. The girls around me had already begun to sing. Pansy's high-pitched drone quite drowned out the other girls, so I did my best to ignore her, closed my eyes and tried to recall the words to my chosen song.

"A gentle breeze from Hushaby Mountain,

"Softly blows over Lullaby Bay.

"It fills the sails of boats that are waiting

"Waiting to sail your worries away."

The boys behind me were snickering harder than ever, but now I could almost forget they were there.

"It isn't far to Hushaby Mountain

"And your boat waits down by the Quay,

"The winds of night so softly are sighing,

"Soon they will fly your troubles to sea."

As I finished the second verse, there was a small gasp behind me, and most of the snickering had stopped. Did they like my voice that much? I kept singing.

"So close your eyes on Hushaby Mountain,

"Wave goodbye to cares of the day,

"And watch your boat from Hushaby Mountain

"Sail far away from Lullaby Bay."

I would have continued, but suddenly I felt something in my lap. I hadn't even realized that my eyes were still closed. I opened them to discover a huge unicorn lying in front of me, with its head in my lap. Normally in this class, I consider any of these creatures of Hagrid's a threat. I mean, that horn isn't exactly what you'd call friendly. But for some reason, after more than a day of misery, I actually felt calm. Maybe this class wasn't quite as bad as I thought it was.

I smiled up at Hagrid, who looked amazed. Then he smiled and turned back to the rest of the class. I looked out of the corner of my eye and noticed that none of the girls had managed to attract a unicorn. Just me. I grinned. This was something big. Not even Granger had managed it. And Potter certainly wouldn't be able. Then I heard what Hagrid was saying. "...That's 'cause only certain girls are even able to attract a unicorn. Yah see, unicorns are only attracted to virgins, jus' like in th' legends..." I flushed beet red this time, and my hand tightened into a fist in the unicorn's mane where I had been petting it a moment before. The unicorn snorted, and I loosened my grasp, and the creature stumbled up and away from me. I took that as my chance to flee. It didn't matter any more if I ran. There could not possibly be anything worse than this...

I scrambled to my feet, and ran as fast as I could for the castle, but just like in Quidditch, Potter was faster than me. He scrambled in front of me and tried to stop me. "Draco! Wait!"

But I wasn't stopping for anything. I tried to go around him, but he grabbed my arm.

I looked up into those green eyes. "What," I growled, "can you possibly have left to say to me? Get out of my way, Potter. Just let me go." I was not going to cry in front of Potter.

He was furious. It was something, at least. "No, Draco. Not until you listen to me."

"What could the great Potter have to say to me that could change what's happened to me? Just leave. Me. Alone!" At that, I pushed him, and he fell. I jumped over him and continued my escape. I'd have to hide in my rooms until I could find a way to escape my housemates. Forget History of Magic. It was my dullest class, anyway. Not like I couldn't learn it all just by reading the text, anyways.