Of Silver and Green

Ch. 06 Confrontation

He stood scowling at the door for some moments, before he felt Brynne wrap her arms around his waist and rest her head in the middle of his back. Draco's countenance visibly brightened. "Are you ok?" he asked.

"I am now," she replied contentedly.

He turned to face her. "Oh no!" she cried. "You're bleeding!" Her hand fluttered to his lip where he had been punched.

"That?" he asked. "That's nothing. I've had much worse," he said, puffing out his chest.

She giggled. "Oh really?"

"Yes!" he cried, eyes narrowed. "How do you think I earned my reputation?" he asked in mock insult.

Brynne looked thoughtful. "Hmm...like this?" she whispered, eyes half-closed, her lips drifting closer and closer to his mouth.

Suddenly Brynne heard the sound of a key turning in the lock and the door burst open, revealing a seriously pissed-off prefect. Unfortunately for Draco, this particular prefect was one of Aydrian's better friends, and so was quite unsympathetic to his situation.

"You're coming with me to Snape's office, Malfoy," stated the prefect angrily. "And you," he said turning to Brynne. "I suggest you collect your things and return to your room before I find a reason to take you in as well."

Brynne snatched up Aidynn, who had begun to regain consciousness. Then she scurried out, gazing at Draco, her gratitude showing in her bright green eyes.

"Follow me, Malfoy," commanded the prefect triumphantly and led him to Snape's office. Draco found himself standing outside the office door as the prefect walked in and informed Snape of his offenses.

"Mr. Malfoy!" shouted Snape as the prefect left his office with a pleased smirk on his face.

Draco went into the Slytherin Head's office. "Yes, sir?" he asked quietly.

"I cannot believe you would fight with a fellow Slytherin," Snape began. "Would you care to explain yourself?"

"He came to my room, looking for a fight. He attacked first, and I was merely defending myself," Draco answered coolly.

"And what about this girl, Brynne Dharielle? How was she involved?" Snape inquired.

"Well, she was the reason Flint wanted to fight me."

"Oh? How so?"

"I suppose he was jealous that we were spending time together," Draco said rather sheepishly, embarrassed to have to explain this to his Head of House. "He was her boyfriend."

"Ah. Now I completely understand. I'm glad. Frankly, I was beginning to worry about you, Draco. I was beginning to think my protégé was only interested in the male types," Snape said, the closest expression to a smile his face could form just touching the corners of his mouth.

Draco's mouth fell open. "Wha-?"

"Don't be so surprised. After seeing how much time you spend with Crabbe and Goyle, you can't possibly blamme for thinking such things. And the time you spend obsessing over Mr. Potter... It would seem, with the amount of time you spend tormenting him, that you had a bit of a crush on him. Now run along. It's my opinion that you are clear of all charges, and if Aydrian Flint or that prefect or any of Mr. Flint's other friends give you any trouble, feel free to inform me."

Draco couldn't believe his luck. Not only did he now have a girlfriend, but he also had gotten away with fighting, all in the same day. But at the same time, he was seriously disturbed by what Snape had implied. If what Brynne had told him hadn't convinced him, this certainly did. He needed to ditch Crabbe and Goyle. But as for Potter...he could try to curb his taunting, but it would never truly end, not while Potter still had his "Holier Than Thou" attitude.

Draco walked slowly back to his room. Along the way, everyone he saw kept asking why he had gotten into a fight with a seventh-year, and one with as bad a reputation as Flint's. Still more people wanted to know how Draco, medium-height and very slight, had managed to win. Draco, characteristically Malfoy, ignored them all. He went straight up to his room, but when he reached the door, someone was waiting for him.

"Well, well, well. Flint. Haven't you had enough yet?" Draco drawled with his characteristic smirk, after the initial shock of seeing Aydrian again so soon had worn away.

Aydrian glared at him and looked to kill, but suddenly thought better of it. "I actually just came to tell you that from now on, I'm going to leave Brynne alone. You can have her. I don't want her anymore." Before Draco could interject, Aydrian continued, "I've found something better anyways."

"First of all, women are not possessions. Second, don't make it sound as if you broke it off, she didn't want you, so I broke it off for her. And third, I would just love to know what pathetic creature could be convinced to he your girlfriend now," said Draco icily.

As he spoke the words, Pansy Parkinson walked up the hallway to Aydrian and kissed him on the cheek. "Hello, Draco. Are you two quite finished? We were going to go to the library to study," she said winking at Draco.

Draco groaned. "Well, I could have guessed. You've got yourself quite a catch there, Flint. A perfect match if I do say so myself. How many seventh-years do you have left now?" he asked, directing his question to Pansy. She simply glared at him as she led Flint down the stairs and toward the library.

Draco opened his bedchamber door, entered his room, and closed and locked the door behind him. He sighed and leaned his forehead against the cool mahogany. His life had changed so much in the past few hours. He honestly had no idea what to do. He needed to distance himself from Crabbe and Goyle, but if they weren't already, people would certainly begin talking if he cut Crabbe and Goyle off. But he was a Malfoy. He couldn't let peoples' opinions of him matter. As he stood there thinking dark thoughts, a pair of hands dropped onto his shoulders.