her. She screamed once before everything went black.
Racing Harry towards the Snitch, Draco's world had narrowed itself down to just himself and his goal — the tiny golden object only feet away. He heard the rushing of wind in his ears, the pounding of his heart — and then, cutting through everything else, a scream.
Ginny's scream.
He whirled his broom around in midair, almost dislocating his shoulder as the Firebolt jerked sideways. Vaguely somewhere off to his left he heard Harry swear fiercely, but he wasn't paying attention. His eyes were fixed on the scarlet-robed figure on the drunkenly swaying broom — he saw Ginny fight for control of her Nimbus 2000, lose it, and tumble sideways.
She fell without another cry, struck the ground, and lay motionless.
Screams rose from the crowds in the stands. Charlie and George were on their feet, shoving their way through the packed mass of people.
Somewhere Professor McGonagall was shouting. The Gryffindor and Slytherin teams were in disarray; Harry was shouting and Draco supposed he should rally his own team as well, but it seemed a very small thing and anyway it was too late — he had pointed his broom towards the ground at a near-vertical angle, causing him to shoot downward with a speed that would have made even Wronski jealous.
The cold wind sang in his ears like music. He imagined he had never flown so fast, or so hard. He hit the ground on his hands and knees with bone-breaking force, and scrambled to his feet. All around him the other Quidditch players were flying down like a shower of falling stars, red and green. He ran towards the splash of crimson against white snow that was Ginny. He was somewhat conscious of chaotic milling up in the stands, of the sound of yelling voices, and then he reached her and went down on his knees in the snow next to her, and he could see that not all the scarlet that she lay against was Quidditch robes. Blood.
As he reached for her, her dark eyes fluttered open, and she looked up at him. There was a blank sort of wondering in her gaze, as if she were both surprised to see him there and had accepted it as inevitable. 'Draco?' she said, her voice surprisingly steady.
'Yeah.' His voice came out in a whisper. 'It's me.'
He reached his hand towards her and then something grabbed him violently by the back of his robes and hauled him into a standing position and he whirled around and saw that it was Seamus Finnegan.
The Gryffindor Chaser was white with fury. 'What do you think you're doing, Slytherin?' he spat, as if it were the worst insult he could think of.
'Stay away from her.'
The rest of the Gryffindor team had landed. Draco saw the Creevey brothers approaching, backing up Seamus, Elizabeth running forward, and Ron, white and stricken-looking, pushing past the others to get to his sister. Tess and Dex were still in the air, but the other Slytherins were on the ground, standing at a distance, staring in surprise. He could feel Blaise's eyes on him, but he didn't care.
He turned back to Seamus. 'Get out,' he said, enunciating each word clearly, 'of my way.'
'Why? So you can gloat? What's your problem, Malfoy? We don't want you here.'
'Get out of my way,' Draco repeated. He heard his own voice as if it came from very far away. 'Get out of my way, or I will kill you. I'll break every bone in your fucking body, Finnegan. Don't think I won't.'
Seamus paled markedly but held his ground. 'I'm not going anywhere.'
Draco drew his left arm back. He was never sure later what he meant to do — hit Seamus, or hurl a spell at him. It didn't matter. As his arm went back a firm hand grabbed his wrist and held it, hard.
He turned around, already knowing whose hand held his wrist. Harry. He was pale but composed, his green eyes dark and serious.
I can't let you do this, Malfoy.
Draco looked as if Harry had hit him. What?
Harry tightened his grip on Draco's wrist until he could feel the pulse pounding there, swift and even. He knew it must be hurting him but the other boy showed no sign of pain, no sign that he even really knew what was going on around him. Vaguely, out of the corner of his eye, Harry could see Seamus turning away, looking rattled but relieved, and going to kneel with the rest of the team next to Ginny. Behind the tight knot of Gryffindors Harry could see Madam Pomfrey approaching quickly, a magical stretcher at her side. At the edge of the pitch stood Charlie and George, being held back by several professors, including Snape.
Let me go, Potter. There was an evenness to Draco's tone that was almost frightening. You've got no right — I have every right. It's my team, my teammate. Look to your own team.
Something flashed behind Draco's eyes for a moment, something wild and furious. You can't tell me what to do, Potter.
Oh, yes I can. We made a promise, Malfoy. Every second we stand here is another second that will make everyone suspicious. And for what — you can't do anything for her-You don't know that!
If you go near her the rest of my team will try to kill you.
Not if you stop them.
If you don't listen to me, I won't help you. I won't hold them off.
Harry -
No. I can't help you if you don't help yourself.
Draco whitened further. Let me go — His next thought came with the sharp force of a blow, cracking like a whip inside Harry's head. Let me go, Potter. Let me go!
With misgivings, Harry released his grip on Draco's wrist, and the other boy took a stumbling step back, and then another. He faced Harry, his chest rising and fell as swiftly as if he had been running; his eyes were nearly black with fury and something else. Harry had seen him look like that before and it hit him like a blow and hurt him as it always did, but there was nothing he could do.
I'll tell you what happens, Harry thought. Just — go. Please go.
Draco's eyes narrowed into slits and he looked as if he were about to speak; then, as suddenly as he had whipped around in midair, he spun on his heel and ran off the pitch, up the hard-packed snowy path to the school, his boots cracking the ice underfoot with the sound of breaking bones.
Harry watched him go, then turned, and out of habit searched for Hermione in the stands. He saw her immediately — she was on her feet, her hands over her mouth. As he looked at her, she took a step back, turned, and dashed away from the pitch, up the path towards school, after Draco.
Hermione's feet slipped and slid on the ice as she raced up the stone front stairs of Hogwarts. She ran without really looking where she was going, and without thinking why she was running. She had seen the look on Draco's face before he fled the pitch — fierce, furious, desperate — and it had frightened her. She ran after and towards him, without thinking why.
The entrance hall was cold and deserted. She darted left, down the hallway that led to the Slytherin dungeons. The tapestries on these walls were green, just like the tapestries that led up the stairs to the Gryffindor Tower were red. They were threaded through with gold and silver, faded from many years of maltreatment by students. Ghosts seemed to reach out of the walls and touch her as she ran. She passed a tapestry that bore the Hogwarts motto and paused for a moment to look at it, transfixed by the bold colors and the symbols. It almost seemed to her that the Slytherin snake looked about to lunge at the Gryffindor lion, the Ravenclaw raven poised to hurl herself between them. Hermione paused — was that a voice? It was coming from farther down the hall, and so was another, deeper voice. She slowed down and turned the corner. A flight of stone stairs led down, and the voices were coming from below. She was halfway down the stairs before she recognized one voice: Draco's. And the other was a girl's.
She leaned forward over the carved stone banister. Below, in a patch of torchlight, she could see Draco standing, and facing him, looking furious, was Blaise Zabini. 'Don't you walk away from me, Draco Malfoy,' she was saying in a freezing voice. 'Don't even think about it.' The wavering light glittered on the jewelry she wore — more than most girls at Hogwarts. She had multiple rings in her ears and on her slender fingers, and jeweled clips
