Matters of Blood and Connection

Chapter 10: Crashing Down

Draco watched as a dim light surfaced from somewhere in the dark and felt the boot leave his throat, allowing him to breath in a slow, but choking, manner. He could see Pansy on the ground and hear her sobbing. She was muttering something he couldn't quite make out and, as he went to grab her, he let out a horrible scream, and a cracking sound echoing through the corridor.

"You aren't going to hurt her anymore," he whispered, taking pleasure in the fact that he just stepped on his friend's hand, but broke nothing. He gripped Draco's chin roughly and pushed his head into the wall. "How does that feel?"

"Stop!" Pansy gasped, her eyes widening. "You're going to kill him!"

Nott looked at her and smiled a little, his eyes flashing with rage as he turned his attention back to Draco, and if anything, he looked more deranged with his face half-covered in shadows.

"Don't you want him to die for hurting you?" he asked Pansy.

"No."

"It was his idea to make that bitch play me," Nott snarled as he grabbed Draco's blond hair. "You didn't want me to keep blackmailing you, so you sent her to mess with me. I would have thought you'd never let that whore go anywhere without you. Really, you two belong together - you're so fucking manipulative that I can't believe I trusted either of you."

Draco winced as Nott's nails dug into the back on his neck.

"Stop it!" Pansy shrieked. She had made a move to grab Nott's hands and force them away from Draco's throat when Theodore glared behind him at her.

"I think you need to take a seat," he hissed, sending his elbow into her nose and shoving her back onto the floor, hard.

She fell with a thud and was motionless, her nose dripping with blood.

It wasn't until a scream rang out did Nott's eyes widen and he let his prey go. He whirled around and his eyes fell on the spot where Pansy was lying.

Except there was no girl on the floor.

"Where did she go?" Draco said as he used the wall to straighten himself, gasping slightly as he took a breath. "What happened?"

Nott's eyes were still wide as he turned back to face Draco. He looked very terrified about something as he glanced behind him, his lips moving silently. He walked a few feet and crouched down, staring at the ground, and the droplets of blood on it.

"She broke through the barrier I set up," he mumbled.

It happened very quickly; the darkened hall around them had seemed to explode with sunlight and Draco looked around as all of the students passed them, some worried and others whispering to each other.

"What's happened to you?" a voice asked as someone touched a hand to Draco's shoulder.

He turned his head slightly and stared into Blaise's face.

"You look like shit."

"Thanks," Draco muttered and sucked in a breath. God, it hurt to do that. He glanced around. "Have you seen Pansy?"

Blaise was looking from Nott to Draco when he said, "She's in the infirmary, looks pretty bad, too. She's got a bloody nose and a gash on her head. What happened?"

"I pushed her and she fell," Nott mumbled, startling the others.

"You did what?" Blaise said, his eyes flashing dangerously.

Theodore smiled slowly, almost harshly, as he stepped forward and nodded at Draco. "I would have killed him if Pansy hadn't fallen through the barrier I set up and scared whoever had walked by. He doesn't deserve her! She should be mine, damn it!"

"You created a barrier?" Blaise said, looking surprised. Then his facial expression changed and he reached a hand out to grip Nott by the collar of his shirt and pulled him roughly, so that he stumbled. "You would rather kill one of your own to get a girl, instead of moving on, you psychotic little prick?"

Draco stood back and watched what was taking place.

Nott chuckled softly. "Didn't you ever wonder how I manipulated Pansy?"

Draco's eyes widened and he felt angry suddenly. "She would never hurt me. What did you do to her?" He stepped forward and glared at Nott. "Answer me."

"She just needed a little push in the right direction," he said darkly. "She was so weak-minded that it was easy."

When his back hit the wall at full-force, Nott gasped, his eyes wide as they fell on Draco, whose hands were around his throat, his gray eyes full of hatred.

"You fucking bastard," hissed Malfoy. "You should be cursed where you stand."

Nott merely smiled.

"Mr. Malfoy! That is quite enough!" came a shrill voice.

Draco winced and turned around. He knew that voice all too well, and she was heading straight toward him, her nostrils flaring angrily and her glasses tilted slightly. He took his hands from Nott's neck and stepped back.

"How dare you!" Professor McGonagall cried. "Mr. Nott, are you all right?" she asked as she came to his side.

"I'm fine, Professor, really," Theodore muttered, rubbing his throat.

McGonagall nodded briefly and whirled on Draco, her eyes narrowed viciously. "Never have I seen such behavior in all of my years here. What exactly happened that you thought you needed to choke another student, let alone a friend of yours, Draco?"

He knew that if he had said anything, it would sound ridiculous, and she would never believe him. He stared at her and blinked back the vision of the redhead girl that had erupted in his mind's eye. He had only one question on his mind now.

"Did you see what he did to Ginny Weasley?"

* * *

Her brown eyes widened as she looked toward the doors. It had been nearly two hours since he had left and she kept thinking she heard footsteps. Apprehension and hopefulness filled Ginny's mind as she closed her eyes and laid her head back against the pillows on the bed.

A shuffling noise made her sit up, her heart thumping in her chest, and her eyes wide as the doors to the infirmary flew open. She expected to see Draco, grinning broadly at her with Theodore Nott bound or unconscious at his side. Instead, she saw two more people, one whom she had not expected at all to be there.

"Oh, Miss. Weasley, is there anything I can do?" Professor McGonagall asked gently.

Ginny stared for a second and wondered how her own Head of House didn't already know about what had happened. Cautiously, she looked behind Blaise and stared into Nott's face.

"How are you, Ginny?" he asked as he stepped forward.

Ginny's eyes narrowed and she watched in horror as no one stopped him from making his way toward her. When he was standing next to her bed, she shifted her body away from his.

"What's the matter?" he asked, reaching a hand out to touch her cheek.

She whimpered at his touch.

"Go away," she whispered. "Please, Theodore."

She closed her eyes, and when a hand yanked on her arm, she opened them to find Nott on the floor and Draco standing beside her, his hand on her wrist.

"It's okay now," he said softly, pulling her against him so that her head rested on his stomach. "I'll take you back to your dorm soon."

She felt his body twist as he looked outside.

"Before it gets dark I want to go for another walk."

"But what about-"

"He's going straight to Dumbledore," Professor McGonagall said swiftly. "I'm so sorry that I wasn't the one that found you after he did this, Miss Weasley."

Ginny smiled slightly as McGonagall escorted Nott away, but noticed how Blaise lingered in the doorway, staring at them.

"What's up?" Draco asked, turning his head.

"Weasley," Blaise asked, "did Pansy come in here?"

Ginny thought for a second. "She left a little while ago. What happened to her?"

A smile flickered across Draco's mouth and he said, "I'll explain everything later."