Of Silver and Green

Ch. 05 Fury

Aydrian Flint was in a rage. He had heard that neither Brynne nor Draco Malfoy had made it to the Great Hall for lunch two hours ago. (It was good to have prefects for friends.) He snarled. He was going to hunt down Malfoy and carve his heart out with a spoon! But first to find the prat. He reflected...a very difficult thing for someone with all the brain cells of a rubber duck to do. Where were they most likely to be? If he knew Malfoy, and he thought he did, he figured them to be in Brynne's room. Malfoy was a rat, and Aydrian hated him with a passion. Everyone thought Malfoy was so great. Slytherin's Golden Boy. Not if he could help it...Malfoy was going to be Slytherin's Black and Blue Boy when Aydrian got through with him. He stalked darkly from the hospital wing. He snarled again. He couldn't wait to get his hands on Malfoy. Forget magic, he wanted to inflict the pain himself. He cracked his knuckles. He was going to enjoy this.

He climbed the stairs to the fifth-year hallway and without knocking strode into the girls' dormitory. The two girls within screamed in terror at the sight of a male entering their room. Then one of them, Pansy Parkinson, realized who it was. She stopped screaming and smiled coyly. "What are you doing here?" she asked seductively.

Ignoring her tone, he answered, "Looking for Brynne."

"Well," she said pouting, "Brynne's not here. But I am."

"Yes, well, that's nice," he replied, completely ignoring her innuendo. "Do you know where Brynne went?" he asked. He would not let a little sexpot like Pansy dissuade him from his mission.

"No," Pansy said, sounding rejected. "You certainly have a one-track mind, don't you? But, come to think of it, I do have an idea of where she is," she said, brightening visibly, with a gleam in her eye that only Slytherins can have.

"Would you like to let me in on it?" he asked, growing frustrated.

Pansy smiled evilly. This was the perfect opportunity to reap her revenge on Brynne for snagging Aydrian first. "Hmmm..." she said thoughtfully. "I seem to remember seeing Brynne and Draco Malfoy headed into his private room."

Aydrian growled, a truly wretched sound. He turned and left the room, slamming the door behind him. He was fuming. So they'd spent the last two hours together? In Malfoy's room no less. That spoiled prat! Thought he could have whatever he wanted and looked to start with Brynne? Aydrian didn't think so. He didn't like other people touching his things, and he was going to make Malfoy regret the day he was born. Aydrian made his way to the end of the hall quickly. When he arrived at Malfoy's door, he stood just outside, listening for signs of what they were doing within. Unfortunately for Aydrian, he could not hear a thing. Aydrian tried the door. Locked. Furious, he began to bang on the door. "Open up!" he shouted. "I know you two are in there!"

Brynne was still thinking about the consequences her actions were going to have when she heard someone slamming their fist against the door and a voice that sent the chill of ice running through her veins. She looked at Draco; her eyes portraying her utter terror better than words ever could. "What are we going to do?" she whispered, looking very much like a frightened rabbit.

Draco frowned. He knew what he had to do. He realized his efforts would most likely be for naught. How could a fifth-year, no matter how talented, take on a seventh-year and hope to win? But he was Slytherin, in its purest form. Raw ambition. He would win, simply because failure was not in his vocabulary as a Slytherin and Malfoy. "Everything's going to be fine," he told her. "I would protect you at all costs." He had given up trying to deny it. He wanted to protect her and was willing to acknowledge he was human after all. He had no idea when this new development had occurred; it was all blended together. Her eyes, the embrace, her affection for the animals...it all mattered, and yet none of it did, if one part was missing.

Brynne was oddly comforted by Draco's strong words, despite the growing urgency of the pounding on the door. She gave Draco the bravest smile she could muster and returned Shadow to her cage. "You'd better let me take Mordechai. And do you have anywhere I can put Aidynn? He simply hates Aydrian and could get hurt if left to his own devices."

Draco pulled an empty box from his closet. "Is this good?" he asked. Brynne nodded. Draco lifted Aidynn and deposited him within. He closed the box and carefully shoved it beneath his bed. Then he handed Mordechai back to Brynne, who wrapped the copper snake back around her bicep and smoothed her sleeve.

"I'll help you in any way I can. Know this: Aydrian has probably come unarmed and without his wand, judging from the fact that he hasn't been able to open the door. Although I wouldn't put it past him to have forgotten how to unlock doors magically," she said under her breath. "He considers this a matter of pride and means to best you with his bare hands. If you use magic to beat him, he will never consider this over. You must beat him at his own game and by his rules, so to speak."

"Understood," Draco replied. "Stand back, over there in the corner," he commanded, steeling himself against the challenge he was about to accept. Brynne obeyed and moved beside the owl's cage. 'Why are you doing this! You're going to die!' shouted Draco's inner coward as he approached the door and unlocked it. He then stepped away and watched expectantly as the doorknob turned and the door swung open.

There stood Aydrian Flint, face red, and looking mad as Hell. His eyes, black with ire, darted from Malfoy, who was standing before him looking smug, to Brynne, who was cowering in the corner beside two cages. Aydrian refocused on Malfoy. "You will rue the day you dared cross me, Malfoy!" he shouted, practically spitting out the last words. "Brynne is mine!" he exclaimed. "But since you are obviously too spoiled to respect other people's possessions, I'll have to teach you some manners. Prepare yourself for a world of pain!" he cried, lunging at Draco.

Aydrian may well have been the stronger and larger of the two, but Draco was slighter, and therefore quicker. He easily sidestepped the charge and brought his elbow down forcefully between Aydrian's shoulder blades. Aydrian landed with a crunch on his face. He got up quickly and turned to glare at Malfoy, who looked quite pleased with himself. Aydrian tasted blood. He had cut his lip when he landed, and the coppery taste of his own blood in his mouth only fueled his rage.

"Women are not possessions," Draco said, shocking himself as the words came tumbling from his mouth. "If you do not know this, then perhaps it is you who needs a lesson in manners," he commented.

Aydrian snarled at the words and attacked again, this time with some of what he thought were well-aimed punches. The first glanced off Malfoy's chiseled jaw, but Draco swept under the second and struck out with an uppercut, sending Flint into the wall behind him. Aydrian regained his senses slowly. He looked up and saw Malfoy sneering down at him. "You smug little bastard!" he hissed.

"Oh, no, I am fully aware of where I came from and who my father is, but frankly, your origins have been a mystery to me. Perhaps you could enlighten me?" he replied, his face not changing. With no warning, Aydrian leapt up and tackled Draco, pummeling him with both fists mercilessly.

Brynne was standing in the corner. As Draco lost his edge, she began to whimper and slid down the wall to the floor. Head in her hands, she began to cry, tears pouring from her eyes and streaming down her face. She couldn't watch this. She heard a growling coming from under Draco's bed, but before she could react, Aidynn burst from the box and leapt onto Aydrian's back. In an attempt to protect Draco, he sank his sharp little teeth into Aydrian's neck and began to tear at his flesh.

Aydrian howled in pain. He paused in his attack long enough to reach behind him to grab Aidynn and hurl him against the wall. Aidynn slumped in an unconscious heap on the floor.

"No!" screamed Brynne. She scrambled to Aidynn and gathered him in her arms. "He's alive," she breathed, cradling him to her.

While Aydrian was distracted, Draco got in a particularly forceful punch that sent him flying. Draco then pounced on Aydrian and punched him hard in the jaw, knocking him out. He got up after examining his handiwork gleefully and walked over to Brynne. "Is he alright?" he asked softly.

"Yes," she replied. "Is he?" she asked, clearly indicating Flint.

"I hope not," then, seeing the look of horror on her face changed his answer. "Well, he's still alive, if that's what you mean, but as far as alright, I'd say far from it. I just did a number on his pride. He just lost a fight with a fifth-year, and his girlfriend all in one day." Draco went over to Aydrian's life-less form and grabbed him by the wrists. He pulled him to the door, opened it, and heaved the body out. Pansy Parkinson appeared to have been waiting outside his door. "You may want to take care of that. No one else wants to," he said, disgusted.

Pansy frowned, and looked ready to comment, but then thought better of it when she saw the murderous expression on his face. She knelt by Aydrian's side and tried to wake him up as Draco reentered his room and slammed the door behind him.