visibly twitching with the addition of yet another moving target on the field.
"If you don' t come back, can I have all your seventh year Charms assignments?" Knox called out, only to be glared at by Ron.
At ten paces from the edge of the pitch, Draco paused and put a hand up to shield his eyes against the bright, morning sunshine. He squinted at the boy on the field and might have counted to five if he thought that would help things.
"TADPOLE! YOU GREASY, DISGUSTING, SLIMY WASTE OF SPERM! YOU COME BACK HERE THIS INSTANT OR SO HELP ME I'M GOING TO RIP YOUR DICK OFF AND POST IT TO YOUR MOTHER!"
Dodders was in the process of running from a bludger that seemed to be intent on hobbling him. He executed a rather nimble jump into the air, dropped to the ground heavily and then rolled. The bludger smashed into the sand where Dodders had been moments before, bringing up small dibbets of soil. He staggered to his feet, panting. The boy was still in his pyjamas, for Merlin's sake.
"You' re crazy, Malfoy!" Dodders called back. "You' re the one that dared me to do this!"
"Use your head you stupid little shit! Would I sign off with my own bloody name?!"
The boy was finally starting to look panicked. Draco had to hand it to him. He had balls, though a worrisome lack of brains.
"You mean you didn't send me that note?"
"No, I didn' t write it or send it! Shall I have the castle elves perform interpretive dance in order to get that point across to you!" Draco shouted.
"AHHHHHHH!" Dodders suddenly screamed. He tripped on a bit of upturned soil. Even from where Draco was standing, he could see that the boy had twisted his ankle badly.
"Granger, I hope you' re watching," Draco whispered and then bolted towards the howling, prostrate, Dodders.
Four bludgers immediately broke off from the pack and headed towards him. Draco ducked, swerved, stopped running and then continued. It was like tackling an obstacle course from hell. Six years of Seeker training was paying off, though dodging the bludgers on land was markedly trickier than doing it in the air.
He reached Dodders just in time to grab hold of the younger boy's collar and drag him away before he was pummelled into the ground.
"Stay there!" Ron called out. He was leading a group of older students out onto the pitch. They were doing their best to divert or distract the bludgers.
"Can you walk?" Draco asked, gritting his teeth. He looped an arm around Dodders' waist and propped him up.
The plump boy was almost a dead weight and Draco' s injured shoulder began to protest. "Try and walk, you twit. If I use leviosa, you'll be a floating target. I can't carry you and blast them at the same time!"
"I'll try" Tadpole gasped as he put more weight on his injured ankle.
They made their way to within five meters of where Ron and the others stood. Ron's freckled face was relieved and jubilant.
"Hurry, you're almost clear!"
Almost, but not quite.
They would have been perfectly fine had Dodders not stumbled yet again.
Lamenting the fact that they couldn't Apparate within school grounds, Draco hauled the boy up once more, but not before a bludger collided into the back of Draco's knees. Both Slytherins fell over and Draco's wand went flying. The bludger smashed into the earth, not two inches from Draco's head, making a pumpkin sized crater in the ground.
"Cover your head!" Draco ordered. Dodders was too scared to listen. He stared scrambling away towards Ron and the others, on his hands and knees.
A second bludger was gaining altitude. When it reached its zenith, it began heading back towards the ground at high speed, apparently making a beeline for the fourth year. Spells were flying over their heads. Vaguely, Draco noted that Madam Hooch and Professor Flitwick were now on the scene. Some of the other bludgers had already paused harmlessly in mid air, but not the one heading for Dodders.
Draco pushed his hair out of his eyes and spat out the sand and bits of grass that were in his mouth. His wand was quite some distance away. For a brief moment, he contemplated making a mad dash for it.
Anyone who claims that going to Muggle school these days is dangerous, really ought to attend Hogwarts for a week or so, Draco decided.
Not stopping to analyse the wisdom (or rather, lack of) of his decision,