MARVEL [draco malfoy]

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Two:
Monsters.
~*~

The following morning, when Emma and Blaise stepped through the oak doors into the Great Hall, they were greeted by a loud call from Pansy- but it was not directed at them, instead she was hollering at Harry Potter who was shuffling off towards the Gryffindor table.

"Ugh," said Blaise distastefully, and matched his sour tone with a roll of his eyes, "will these two idiots ever stop with their crap?"

"Uh- what's happened?" asked Emma, not entirely sure what this was about.

Blaise regarded her with a confused look on his face, as if he didn't really believe that she didn't know, "I don't know how this possibly escaped you, but last night, Potter fainted on the train- everyone's been talking about it."

"Fainted?"

"Yes, fainted- dropped unconscious- collapsed- passed out, all of it!"

"Oh? But, what's so special about that? Everyone faints once in a while."

"Yeah, but they're saying he fainted after her was attacked by-"

"Attacked? On the train? That's ridiculous!" scoffed Emma as she spared a glance at the Gryffindor table and fell into step with Blaise who began his trek toward the Slytherin table.

"He was attacked by a Dementor- you know, those terrifying, cloaked creatures? I'm certain you know what a Dementor is. We almost met one ourselves last night." replied Blaise as he found himself a seat- Emma noted how it was several seats away from where Draco and Pansy sat with a small circle surrounding them, and she sat down next to him.

"Are you serious?" Emma's eye bulged, and she turned quickly to look back at the Gryffindor table, where Harry sat, immersed in quiet conversation with the Weasley twins.

"Deadly." replied Blaise, nodding.

She turned back around, and with her mouth set in an 'o' shape, she reached for the sausages, "Ugh, I reckon Potter must feel like shit right about now. Dementors are not generally friendly creatures, are they? So a full-out attack by them could hardly be on a feel-good list."

"Oh, absolutely. Y'know, my stepfather was attacked by one when he was young- he said it felt like all the happiness in the world had gone, and all that was left behind was misery and pain. He said he wanted to die in that moment."

Emma shuddered, then glanced back at Potter once more. She felt a pang of sympathy for him. "That's awful! It's actually kind of ridiculous how all of this terrible stuff just happens to him all the time, no? I'd say his life's pretty shit. No wonder he's so wound up all the time."

Blaise let out a humorless chuckle and gave a nod, "You could say that again. Poor lad can't catch a break, to be honest- I heard his family's pretty abusive too."

"Family?" Emma asked, raising a brow, "d'you mean his uncle and aunt?"

"Yep, I know you know that Potter's lived with them ever since his parents were murdered- and from what I've heard, his aunt and uncle aren't very nice people. They're horrible to him," Blaise looked past Emma and shook his head, "to tell you the truth, Emma, I really do feel bad for him. Like the rest of us, he's still just a kid. He's been through absolute hell- he doesn't deserve that."

Emma's expression morphed into surprise, "Blaise, that is literally one of the nicest things I've ever heard you say about anyone. And to think that this was directed at Potter- mighty proud of you, Blaise."

He wrinkled his nose at her, "That's still more than you've ever said for him, though."

Emma raised her brow, "Hey, that's not true at all! I'm nice to Potter all the time! And I've said plenty of nice things about him."