Draco's Panther

12-21

Chapter 12 – Friendship Knows No Bounds

Draco was sitting calmly next to Blaise in the potions classroom when Professor Snape came slamming in. Black robes swirling behind him, he had the appearance of an avenging demon and probably would have kept the appearance had a set of dagger like nails not found their way into the rippling cloth.
The sudden pull and tear had the professor teetering backwards before he caught his balance on the corner of a desk.
"Mister Malfoy, will you please remove your familiar's claws from my robes?" Snape hissed, glaring at the bright emerald eyes laughing into his black ones.

"Loose Damian." Draco murmured, trying not to grin at the situation. The panther rumbled softly before removing the offending paw.
He was asking for it. I'd bet he's entered every door in the castle that way, like a horrid black bat just looking for some poor student to attack. The voice whispered through his head before laughing gleefully, causing Draco to smile at the pleasure his familiar was taking in Snapes embarrassment.

I have to agree with that, he does always like to enter with a bang. Draco mused, watching his godfather pace back and forth in front of the class, before slamming his wand against the board. The crack having every member of the attending Gryffindor house snapping to attention and opening their books, snatching quills and readying themselves for the hour of hell they were about to go through.

Sitting back and admiring his perfectly done nails while Blaise muttered and carefully wrote down his observations about the swirling green potion in the cauldron before them, Draco took the chance to listen to the gossip sweeping through the room. The Gyrffindors seemed to be arguing quietly among themselves about the disappearance of their Saviour. Listening with interest, Draco's mouth nearly fell open in shock at the whispers he heard from the Weasel.

"Hey, Draco, pass me the-" Blaise was cut off mid sentence as Draco's elbow connected with his side. Glaring at his friend he tilted his head in the direction of the Gyrffindors before going back to carefully staring at his nails, one hand playing with Damian's soft ears. His eyes moved to rest on his godfather who was carefully mixing a potion for Madam Pomfrey, completely oblivious to the Gryffindor uprising occurring in the back corner.

"Do you think he really transferred Hermione?" One of the Gryffindor males asked, leaning closer to hiss the question at the smartest person in the school.

"Harry would never do such a thing, Seamus. He knows that we need him here to protect us from Voldemort." Hermione muttered, concentrating on the potion cooling before her.
"Where is he then Hermione?" Ron snarled, jabbing a finger at her chest, before looking around and making sure he had the attention of his fellow Gryffindors. "That bastard up and left us here for dead. All of us who helped him, risked our lives for him and his stupid dreams, he doesn't care about us. Don't you see, he's not coming back to save us this time. That cowardly little moron ran away like a scared little kitten. That damn hat should have put him in the dungeons with the rest of the snakes!" Ron snarled, finger jabbing the table before him with emphasis.

"But Ron, remember he saved your father that time." Neville stuttered, glancing at Hermione for confirmation. Before Ron could answer the challenge and continue dragging his friends name through the mud, he was cut off by the cool calculated voice of Draco Malfoy.

"I must agree with you Weasel, Gryffindor bravery is certainly taking a turn for the worse. Of course if I had friends like you and the Mudblood there, I would have run screaming for my life, and everyone knows that Malfoy's don't scream." The gleam in the icy eyes was almost frightening. The Slytherins snickered as their Prince glided towards the Gryffindors, panther trailing slowly after.

"Malfoy, who are you kidding? You have no friends...only little prats who suck up to you so their fathers can stay in the good graces of yours." Ron hissed, hands opening and closing as if trying to get the courage together to actually strike the Slytherin. The low snarl of the panther sitting calmly next to Malfoy had Ron backing away from the pair, stumbling slightly before collapsing into his chair and clutching the edges of the cold wood.