The Rivalry

Every morning the Weasel attempted to speak with Potter at breakfast. Every morning Potter made his displeasure with the other boy known, to the world at large, in creative ways. When it became apparent the ginger wasn't taking the hint it became a spectator sport to the horror of the Hufflepuffs and to the bemused interest of tSlytherins. The Ravenclaws refused to admit they were interested int he outcome, though the high amount of them staring at books without turning pages just before breakfast each day said other wise. The Gryffindors of course were content to pretend nothing was happening.

The first time the even took place Potter stood up and slowly dumped an entire pitcher of juice on the Weasel's head. On another morning he put him in a body bind and hung his cloak over his head like a coat rack. This morning looked to be the best yet.

"How can you be so selfish?" Burst out the Weasel.

Potter, calmly, kept eating his porridge. The students who'd taken to coming to breakfast early to enjoy the show, sat up straighter, eyes locked on the next table over. Waiting. The Slytherins were the only ones watching without shame.

Millicent leaned over the table to Draco and whispered. "Alright before anything else happens, which team am I rooting for?"

"Potter." Said Nott before Draco could answer, a parchment with tallies denoting the two Gryffindors' points in the feud. A rumour Draco could neither confirm nor deny if asked about stated the Slytherin was taking bets from the houses.

Weasley shoved the smaller boy. "I'm talking to you!" Potter's spoon went flying. Everybody froze. Messing with Potter before he had his coffee was just asking for it. With the feral grace Draco loved to see, Potter swung his legs around the bench, stood and face the other boy.

"Go away." His voice was quiet and low, without inflection.

"No. This isn't fair. I've apologized six times and I'm not gonna let you walk around like I have to grovel just because you're Harry fucking Potter. Get over it. So what if it hurt your feelings, it was a joke. You knew I meant it as a joke. And this might be news to you but the world doesn't revolve around you and I don't have to follow you around like a damned dog waiting for your approval." So much angst.

Potter smiled. Oh dear. Nott scribbled on his parchment.

"I'm going to use little words. Just for you." He cleared his throat. "Fuck you."

And the brunette walked around the dumbstruck boy, straight out of the hall without another word.

Unfortunately Draco had to meet up with the small Gryffindor in an enclosed space back in the library with no one around to see him murdered in a fit of displaced rage. Well to hell with that. Seeing Potter put the ginger menace in his place was one thing and while Draco enjoyed dueling with the Gryffindor he wasn't about to be used as target practice while the other boy vented his rage.

To his satisfaction, and most certainly not to his relief, Draco ended up finding the boy wonder balancing on the railing of the seventh floor balcony, staring down a the mini-students occupying the lower levels, all the way down to the entrance hall on the first floor level. Once he was certain the boy wasn't contemplating jumping or some such nonsense he sat beside him and looked with him. Three floors down a sickeningly sweet couple walked beside one another, the boy carrying an armload of books. Silver eyes glanced at the boy next to him. With a mental shrug Draco pointed his wand at the boy. The next girl walking past them on the staircase received the boy's full attention, he actually handed off the books back to his girlfriend and starting following the other girl down the stairs. Potter laughed.

Draco repressed a pleased smile, lifting his chin. "You don't seem too worried about the moral implications of this."

Potter gave an odd sort of shrug. "Don't much care about other people's love lives anyway. If I must know about them they might as well be entertaining."

"Living vicariously through others are we?"

He made a face. "I have no desire to wander around carrying someone else's things while they rattle on about inane subjects I don't care about and then stare at me expectantly for a compliment."

"I don't see how that's any different then walking around with Granger and the Weasel. Just add in some condescending lectures and food."

"Food?"

"The Weasel is always eating. I once saw him take out bacon from a pocket in the middle of Transfiguration and just start munching away. Crumbs over his robes, smearing grease around the desk." He felt an urge to clean himself just thinking about it.

"His eating habits do leave much to be desired." Potter grinned. He froze, cocked his head, nodded to himself, turned to the staircases and waved his wand at a dark haired girl with a ponytail. She tripped into a girl in front of her. The ink bottle in her hands dousing the back of the girls uniform.

Draco tilted his head. "That didn't do much."

The Gryffindor tapped his wand against his chin. Apparently accidentally blasting his jaw off wasn't a fear of his. "Watch."

He waved his wand again and the girl drenched with ink started shouting.

"I can't believe you. You're such a self centered brat. Well you know what, miss popular, Aaron was with me Saturday. He wasn't off getting your birthday present he was with me in the Astronomy tower. That's right so-" She gasped, clamping a hand over her mouth, horrified. Ponytail girl threw herself at her. Both of them rolled on the floor, kicking and screaming.

It was marvelous.

"Dance puppets..." Said Potter in a sing-song voice.

Draco, to his surprise, found himself laughing. "Oh Gods my cheeks hurt."

"You don't laugh often. I suppose they aren't used to the exercise." There. Right there. Now that was Potter. Merlin let the Weasel continue mucking things up.

It was for the betterment of mankind really.

"Oh I do plenty of facial stretching." He informed the Gryffindor, "Like smirking, scowling, sneering..."

"There is that." Potter agreed. They sat in comfortable silence, occasional sidelong glances confirming the other wasn't going to push them off in a fit of sociopathic rage. They hands their wands out just in case. Not that they didn't trust one another or anything.

"How did you know about the Astronomy tower?" He asked after a bit.

"I like to sit on the top of the balcony and contemplate mortality. For some odd reason no one ever sees me when they come up there."

Morbid.

"Ah yes it's their fault for not seeing through your invisibility cloak."

Potter gave a small smile. "That's no excuse. I sit up there talking to myself aloud. Sometimes I hum. What sort of imbecile doesn't find that immediately suspicious? It isn't as if the castle suddenly decided to give them some music to set the mood." Potter leaned over the balcony. "How long does it take for a bunch of teenagers to descend into anarchy?"

Honestly the boy had the attention span of a kneazel. "How long?" He asked, gamely.

"Lets find out." Potter placed his hand over Draco's and directed Draco's wand, muttering a spell. Curious, Draco watched.

He felt a rush of cool energy pushed threw his wand. Barely visible shimmers began decorating the stairs. Ice. Black ice. On every. Single. One. Students were slipping and falling into piles of other students. Smacking into walls, dropping their things. It quickly escalated to people taking their frustrations out on one another.

Draco leaned to the side with a bored expression to avoid a wayward hex. It was complete and utter chaos.

Lovely.

"And now to unite them in a common purpose." Potter cupped his hands to his mouth. "It was Malfoy's wand! I saw it."

The entire group looked up, zeroing in on him. Draco tried to glare a hole through Potter's head. He was unsuccessful.

Potter smiled at him, red glinting through green in his eyes. "It is the truth."

"Piss on you Potter."