intelligence to look slightly abashed. "I like to keep abreast of things. And you know Hogwarts won't be the same when you leave."
Singh had been trying to get Draco's attention for the past two minutes. But since the boy was calling him by his first name, as opposed to 'Mister. Malfoy' - which Draco had previously advised, on pain of death - Draco was quite happy to ignore him.
"Mr. Malfoy," Singh finally said, his fists balled at his side. "The bell' s already gone. Can we go now?"
"You may, when you tell me what you've learned today?"
He blinked. "That fistycuffing in school is not to be done?"
Draco sighed. "What have we learned, Carmen?"
The young Slytherin did not disappoint. "That fistycuffing in school and getting caught, is not to be done."
Draco smiled. "Very good. Now you may go."
The boys waited until Draco had signed their detention slips and then left as if the Dark Lord himself was at their heels. Carmen stopped Draco at the doorway to sign her slip. When he was done, she handed him a shiny, green apple from her bag.
"For you," she said, "because you missed lunch to watch us."
Draco, who was very fond of green apples, pocketed the offering and set off at a jog. He had defence class with Lupin and his fan club at Greenhouse Four that afternoon. It was to be an outdoors lesson, from what Draco had gathered.
Granger would be there, and she had better be prepared for what he was going to say.
Chapter Nine
There was already a gathered crowd of students waiting outside the allotted Greenhouse by the time Blaise and Hermione arrived from the Library.
It was not an ideal day for outdoor activity, but that was precisely why the class had been gathered there. The weather had been especially humid since morning, and the dark, grey-blue clouds that hung over the castle had yet to follow through with rain. The air was still and heavy, with not so much as breeze to stir the leaves on the trees that bordered the forest.
The lake, which was usually a pleasant, shimmering blue, was a moody, cobalt and as still as pane of glass. Dragon fireflies, ink bugs and sand-gnats buzzed interestedly around the sweaty, irritable students. There was also nothing to be done about the mud-caked shore of the lake, or the smell than emanated from it. The giant squid had apparently given up on waiting out the heat in the cooler depths of the water and had clambered up onto the muddy shallows to sun bake, with a great deal of squelching and sliding.
As usual, the class had informally divided themselves into two groups. Despite the heat, the Gryffindors huddled close together, easily distinguished by their amiable chattering and the fact that most of them had stripped off as much of their outer uniform as McGonagall was likely to allow (should she chance to pass by). Sleeves had been rolled up and collar buttons left undone.
The Slytherins meanwhile, were a ubiquitous mass of well-pressed uniforms and were silent, save for the odd sniffling of a summer cold.
"There she is," Harry said, inclining his head towards the approaching Hermione. Harry was in comparatively good spirits that day, having conducted a very successful Quidditch practice in the early morning. It was Harry's express wish as graduating Gryffindor Quidditch Captain, that the team maintain its sterling standards long after his departure from Hogwarts.
Recent practices consisted of re-caps of patented Potter game play and rousing pep talks to the tune of 'keep winning or else I'll come back and hammer the lot of you'. The team were also trying out their new Chaser, a fifth year with the unfortunate name of Emma Snotscotter, but with the best batting arm any of them had seen since the Weasley twins.
Smiling widely, Harry waved Hermione through to the little bit of shade under which he and Ron were currently standing.
"You missed lunch again. We were just about to send someone to fetch you."
Harry looked pointedly at Seamus, who had his arms folded and was in turn glaring at Ron.
Seamus was apparently having another disagreement with Ron, an occurrence which had becoming more frequent since Seamus had made his intentions towards Ginny known to all. "By send, he means they wanted me to run through the castle calling for you," said Seamus, sounding put out. "In this heat," he added.
Ron swatted at a sand ngat. "If you were clever, Finnegan, you' d have started at the Library.