Draco winced and tried not to rise to their bait. He kept his eyes on the Cicuta in front of him, but Rivers knocked his hands down.
                              
"What's a matter... too scared to fight back now that you don't have your Death Eater pals to help you?" Michael goaded.
                              
"Little bitch is probably afraid of going back...."
                              
"Is that it, Malfoy? You a scared bitch, now?"
                              
"Here, I would have thought you and the dementors were kindred spirits... you know being soulless killers and all," Oliver growled.
                              
"Come on, bitch. You assholes had no problem torturing me last year... can't even stare one of your victims in the eye."
                              
Draco finally turned. "I never...."
                              
But Michael punched him in the nose. Draco doubled over from the pain, blood flowing out, soaking his hands. The crowd around him laughed with depravity. 
                              
"I didn't think that sword of a nose could break... but I guess I was wrong," Tracy laughed.
                              
Draco didn't look up at any of them. He had stupidly risen to Michael's bait in the first place. Mike knew that Draco hadn't tortured him. Draco remembered everyone who hurt him, it wasn't something he'd forget. But the Carrows were executed, like his father. Draco was a convenient punching bag.
                              
"Leave him alone, Mike," Terry Boot, the freshly-made Ravenclaw prefect growled.
                              
"This doesn't concern you, Terry. It's between me and the Death Eater."
                              
"And now me. Go back to your desk, Mike... Oliver."
                              
"Anthony is dead because of him and his buddies... Terry."
                              
"Go back to your desk, now," he growled. "You aren't doing that shit in here... in class... not when I'm right here. You're being an asshole and a bully."
                              
"It's Malfoy, Terry! He's been strutting 'round the school like he owns it since first fucking year. You're going to stop me now that the tables are turned?"
                              
"Yes. Now move or it's detention."
                              
"Oh no! Not detention... not going to take points from your own house, Boot?"
                              
"20 points from Ravenclaw, happy? Now get or I'll call Professor Sprout over. I always enjoyed how she makes students in detention spread manure in the Devil's Snare pots."
                              
Apparently, the fear of being straggled by an aggressive, teething plant was enough to make them walk away. Draco looked up, at his unexpected rescuer, his eyes blurry with tears from the pain. "Thanks."
                              
"No problem," Terry said and then snapped at Tracy and Alexus who were sending him rude gestures. "20 points from Slytherin, Davis... you want to try me?" They turned away. 
                              
Terry looked back at him, concerned, and asked, "Do you want to go to the hospital wing?"
                              
Draco shook his head. Blaise would be furious if he left the greenhouses without waiting for him. Plus, there was that broken part of him that wouldn't defy Blaise's direct order. But in reality, some students had open periods, it'd be just as unsafe to walk the hallways. He could handle pain from waiting. He had worse... a lot worse.
                              
"Want me to fix it, then?" Boot offered.
                              
Draco met his eyes. Being righteous and morally upright he could understand from the new prefect, but kind and sympathetic was a surprise to him. He wasn't that he thought Boot couldn't do it. Draco was still hesitant to have a wand pointed at his head by a less-than-cordial classmate. As far as he knew, he had never exchanged even a pleasantry with him.