Third Place - Angst

"Harry, are you even paying attention?"

Harry looked up at his friend and gave a sheepish smile. He had actually been thinking about his reaction to Malfoy again and wondering where the other boy had gone. Ever since Neville had made the observation, Harry had been watching for the blonde at meal times. Sure enough, Neville was right and Malfoy never came in to eat.

Hermione shook her head in exasperation.

"As I was saying, I believe that given Malfoy's family history we may need to get into the Restricted Section. The curse is probably similar to the Imperio and therefore most likely dark."

"But Harry can throw off Imperio," Ron pointed out, thumbing through another book of ancient spells. The library was fairly empty as it was still the beginning of term and they had been able to use a separate table to put the books they had already gone through. Unfortunately, almost all of the books they had found today were now on that table.

"Yes, but perhaps this particular curse is stronger. Or perhaps the physical contact was a necessity?" Hermione wrote down those points to use in their research. She looked back up and gave Harry a serious look. "Either way, we can't avoid Malfoy forever. We share Magical Creatures with him tomorrow."

"If he even shows up," Ron muttered.

"I can't see Malfoy missing too many classes. Whatever else may be said about him, he is an extremely diligent student."

"Geez, Hermione," Ron rolled his eyes. "It figures you would admire the guy for his grades." Hermione tightened her jaw.

"All I am saying is that we can't rely on Malfoy not showing up."

"I'll just stay away from him, then. As long as I follow my original plan to stay away from all things Slytherin, I should be alright," Harry stated confidently. He only wished he could feel as confident as his voice.

"Yeah, but you can't just run away when he comes up, otherwise, people will think you're afraid of him," Ron pointed out.

"No, I won't." Harry really hoped he told his friends the truth.

The next day was a beautiful day, sunny and warm. Harry didn't see any of that as he made his way with his friends and housemates to Hagrid's hut. Harry walked with his eyes searching the path ahead and behind for any signs of white blond hair. He was going to follow the simple plan to not get close enough for any hexes or spells to be cast on him. As long as he stayed close to his friends, Harry felt that he would be safe. The fact that he felt he had to be near Ron and Hermione to protect him from Malfoy was almost more than he could bear, but the instinctive wariness that he had at the idea of his antagonist was too much to deny.

"Look, there's Goyle and Crabbe." Ron pointed to the large boulders in the clearing where classes were held. The two Slytherins sat on the rocks talking to a few of their housemates. But there was no sign of their ringleader.

"I wonder where Malfoy is?" Hermione speculated. "He's really not one to miss a class, even one he hates. Do you think that he has missed all of his classes?"

"Hey, maybe Dumbledore expelled him for the other night?" Ron asked with obvious delight. Hermione shook her head.

"No, the Hogwarts grapevine would never miss that one."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right." Ron sat down on a bit of fencing. "Still, nice to imagine. Just think, he'd probably be disowned and have to wander the streets begging for knuts." Ron was quite enjoying his fantasy. Hermione rolled her eyes at her friend. Noticing Harry was still searching his surroundings, she put an arm around his shoulders.

"Don't worry, Harry. You know Hagrid would intervene in a heartbeat if Malfoy shows up and starts making trouble." Harry sighed and gave her a half smile.

"I know, I'm just being dumb. It's Malfoy, for crying out loud."

"Yeah, mate. He may be a bit bigger but he's still just a poncy git," Ron added encouragingly.

Hagrid appeared with a new creature wrapped about his arm and class got underway with no mischief from any of the students present.

Indago - Chapter 6

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