Beware of the Slash

Chapter 5-

"Crabbe, you idiot!" screeched Draco Malfoy at one Care of Magical Creatures lesson. "You're supposed to feed the Flobberworm to the stupid thing! That's not human food!"

Vincent Crabbe, big and burly, put the Flobberworm back onto the table and sighed visibly.

"All right, all right. But just this once," Draco said, handing Crabbe the worm and letting him swallow it whole. "What does your mum say about that?"

Crabbe shrugged. "They're only five pounds. What would your mum say?" Crabbe asked defensively, cracking his knuckled threateningly. Draco stifled a snigger and went back to his own creature, which he had force-fed his Flobberworms. Nothing was interesting thus far with the creature Professor Hagrid had called "Marvellous".

It was nothing short of hideous. The creature, which was actually Grotuisk, was small and round, and could apparently fit in the palm of Draco's hand--if he wanted it there. Its eyes were large and oval, occupying half its body, and hand only feet, and no legs to match. Its arms were long and stringy. Draco had had trouble trying to get it to calm down when Hagrid had handed his over. Obviously, the Grotuisk preferred Flobberworms because as Draco looked around the classroom at the other students, their stations seemed to be filled with wriggling Flobberworms.

"Hey, Draco," came Goyle's voice to Draco's right.

"What?" he said, rather rudely.

"Mine won't eat his Flobberworms. I think there's something wrong with it," he turned to the Grotuisk, "Isn't there?" His voice had gone from deep to squeaky in a matter of seconds. Draco raised his eyebrows.

"Why don't you ask the Professor?" he forced himself to say.

"You know what? I think I will." And he scurried off, the Grotuisk held tightly in his fist. Crabbe, on the other hand, was still eating his Flobberworms and ended up needing more for his Grotuisk, which he had conveniently named Frank.

"I like the name Frank, don't you?" he asked Draco seconds after the creature was dubbed.

"If the name's not Draco...it's not really good, now is it? Think logically, Crabbe. Who'd want to be a Frank, when they could be a Draco bloody Malfoy," Draco responded smugly, crossing his arms and sitting down in the chair he had pushed away when the class work had been assigned.

He had been sitting for barely two minutes when a girl's shriek made him perk up.

"ARGH! Get it away! Get it off!" It was the one and only Hermione Granger. Draco could see Potter clutching onto his own and backing off, as if scared Draco had programmed the animal to fling itself onto Granger's chest and scare her senseless.

Draco stood up quickly and rushed over to get his Grotuisk, whom he had decided to name Draco the Second.

"Draco the Second, you unfold yourself right now and bring you're black arse over here!" Draco said in a dull voice, standing inches away from the animal. Instead of prying it off Granger, he stood in silence, tapping his foot impatiently, loving every minute of her pain and eagerness to kill the creature. Of course, Hermione Granger never hurt a fly, so leaving this thing on her would increase Draco's self esteem by about fifty percent.

"I don't want to have to call you aga--"

"TAKE IT OFF, MALFOY!" Hermione gagged, jumping up and down and trying hard not to touch the creature, which had spouted about three more legs to cling onto Granger's blouse.

Where was Hagrid?

"Malfoy! Take the Grotuisk off Hermione or yeh'll be servin' detention with me this afternoon!" There Hagrid was. He had been busy helping Lavender Brown brush her Grotuisk's fur.

Draco snapped his fingers and took the being off Hermione's blouse easily.

"Could I use to toilet, Professor?" he asked seconds later.

Hagrid waved his hand aimlessly and muttered, "Go ahea', but be quick."

Out of boredom, Draco roamed the corridors and gazed into classrooms. There was absolutely nothing to do in Hogwarts...where was its spark? Where was the buzz that made you feel like you were in the best place...the feeling of knowing that only you and 1,999 other students were in that school? Draco sighed and slumped down against a nearby pillar.

Was Hogwarts washed out?

"Maybe I should consider asking father to transfer me to Durmstrang," Draco said lightly to himself.

"Infamous Malfoy in a slum?" came a voice from a person Draco had completely forgotten about. The sound of her voice brought back something that had been driven from his mind...

It was Ginny Weasley.

"Nothing short of a cesspool," Draco responded.

"Really? And why is that?" she asked seductively, walking toward Draco in her Hogwarts shoes, black and worn.

Draco raised his eyebrow the same way he had done in Care of Magical Creatures and said, "Someone's been hit with the sudden urge to lure. What is it? You figure since I've seen your stupid suicide note, that I'll pity you? Don't waste your breath." And he stayed sitting on the floor, thinking she'd go away. Apparently not.

Ginny sighed. "And so you've caught me," she said truthfully. "Quite stupid of me to think I'd be able to get it to work."

"Not 'quite' at all. More along the lines of a Weasley gone mad," drawled Draco, aware of Ginny's face going scarlet. Then he added, "To feel is for lousy gits like Potter. I, on the other hand, do not."

Ginny scoffed. "I'm sure you do. You probably feel loads of things--"

"Why are you here?" Draco asked, in a mode to change the subject.

Ginny, taken so off guard, sat next to Draco and stared at him contemptuously. "Why are you here?" she asked.

"I asked you first."

"Stop being childish."

"Stop being a Weasley."

This shut her up. And the awkward silence in-between was filled with the easy wind that blew throughout the castle.

"Do you want to know why I was going to do it?" Ginny finally asked, to squash the silence that had now taken on an eerie tone.

Draco smirked lightly. "Potter said he didn't love you," he sneered.

Ginny scoffed and frowned. "You know, I know you can't 'feel' or anything, but you could at least listen! I mean, I don't have to be here right now!"

"Then WHY ARE YOU?" Draco yelled furiously. He stood up and looked at his watch. "Well?"

He was undoubtedly angry, but then again, he didn't have to be there either. Draco crossed his arms and stared at Ginny. Why the hell was she there? And what was the horrid feeling filling his chest at that very moment as he stood and took all of Ginny in.

Insult her he thought easily, it's the only way to go.

So that's what he did, or at least, tried to do. "Get out of here, you filthy redhead."

Ginny stood up and brushed past him. "And thus comes along another reason to run along and kill myself," she muttered as she walked.

Draco craned his neck to follow her path...and then followed.