that she was through discussing something. "I'm so looking forward to the game on Wednesday. Make sure you catch that Snitch, Draco. I detest Aurors and nothing would please me more in this last week of school, than seeing those Ministry goons walk away from the pitch as the match losers."
Draco watched, more than a little baffled, as Pansy picked up her book bag and and left for her room. His silver eyes were as dark as the rain clouds that had been plaguing the Scottish countryside that week. For the first time since the meeting in Dumbledore's office on Wednesday, he felt the weight of his bargain with Arthur Weasley bearing down heavily upon him.
"Anything for the girl who loves me," he muttered, suddenly feeling more alone than he had ever felt in his young life.
Chapter Seventeen
Wednesday
Ginny Weasley was convinced that no legal system in the world - whether Muggle or Magic - could possibly hold her accountable for hitting Draco Malfoy over the head with something large and heavy.
He was just that infuriating.
That afternoon constituted the most time she had ever spent in his presence. His Blondness (as Ron had started calling him, among other things) had appointed himself the role of Captain of the Hogwarts side.
Granted, he was the only of them who actually was a Quidditch Captain for his own House, this did not, however, give him carte blanche to refer to Hufflepuff Beater, Horace Sommerby, as 'a giant, flying wombat who couldn' t tell east from west if he were strapped onto the needle of a massive compass'.
And this was just in the first ten minutes of practice.
The teachers had given the players the afternoon off to meet up and strategize. The Auror team was not awarded any such luxury because they were on duty until the shift change just before the match. This arrangement did not appear to bother the unflappable 'Team Auror'. They looked nonplussed, not even when small, excitable first years ran up to them to ask for autographs. Tonks apparently found all this very amusing and teased her colleagues to no end.
The rest of the school, unfortunately, still had to attend their classes. Everyone was hot, sweaty and prone to staring out classroom windows for long periods. This was especially the case for Harry. He parked himself next to a window in Transfiguration and made no attempt whatsoever to pay attention to Professor McGonagall's advice as to how best to proceed with an academic career in the subject (Hermione had asked).
Though to be fair, the Gryffindor Head of House, too, seemed slightly preoccupied with what was happening outside. She only snapped at Harry once, and even then everyone could tell that her heart wasn't really in it.
Before practice, the hallowed 'Hogwarts Team' , had sat in the locker rooms to seriously discuss what they would do. Ginny had brought sun cream and a banana because she figured she'd be missing lunch that day.
Malfoy had come armed with a small blackboard, chalk, a playbook of Quidditch manoeuvres and a pair of dragonhide Quidditch trousers that had seen better days. The pants were snug and worn and had an uncanny ability to make Slytherin Chaser Sharon Pucey stare at her shoes every time Malfoy's wild gesticulating at the blackboard brought the aforementioned trousers within inches of her face.
The tension was eased somewhat once the team were out on the pitch, in the fresh air, and on their brooms. Ron, who was nearly beside himself with anxiety at being the selected Keeper, had nearly come to blows with Malfoy when the decision had to be made regarding their main strategy.
Diplomacy eventually triumphed and the team agreed that the Auror side were probably expecting a defensive game from the Hogwarts players, which was exactly why they would be going on the offence from the moment the whistle blew.
Sharon Pucey led the Beaters and Ron through a common toss-and-dodge drill, while Ginny and Malfoy hovered at the edge of the pitch for a breather.
"How long will we be playing a purely offensive game?" Ginny asked. She had to wait for Malfoy to finish shouting at Ravenclaw's Anne Takamara, reminding her why women did not usually make good Beaters.
In response, Anne, who was easily twice as large as Malfoy, sent a Bludger whizzing past his ear.
He ignored this obvious attempt on his life and parked alongside Ginny.
"As your brother so helpfully suggested, they'll be expecting us to be intimidated, which