Although Lucius had a long list of questions he wanted to sit down and ask his troublesome son, he knew this was not the right moment. In the end, he withdrew his gaze from Draco.
That deep look made Draco, who had no idea what his father was thinking, feel his eyelid twitch a few times.
Lucius's cold, sharp eyes settled on Arthur Weasley across from him, then he lifted a hand and gave a small wave toward the wizards on his side.
That bold motion nearly made Arthur Weasley attack on the spot...
But in truth, it was not a signal to strike. It was an order for them to rein in the restless magic they had been holding back.
Wands lowered.
No voices of objection.
That was what Arthur Weasley and the others saw.
It had to be said that when it came to magical strength, Lucius did not really have the kind of dazzling record that could truly awe or intimidate others.
Compared with Dumbledore and the Dark Lord, his reputation in the wizarding world was hardly on the same level. But when it came to prestige among his own side, he truly fit the role of a leader.
With just a tiny gesture, those arrogant noble wizards, the sort who looked down their noses at everyone and were prideful to the bone, all obediently suppressed the magical fluctuations they had been holding in check.
That alone was enough to show everyone exactly how high Lucius's status was among them.
At the very least, if Voldemort wanted to achieve the same result, he had to rely on overwhelming power and brutal punishment, ruling his followers through fear and pressure before he could barely manage it...
Arthur Weasley was no fool, so he naturally caught the meaning in that small gesture.
And precisely because he understood it, he found it even harder to comprehend.
Why?
Was this what pure-blood pride and thinking looked like?
Were they not just a faction brought together by shared interests?
Without some higher ideal as a foundation, they should have been nothing more than a mob.
That was what he thought, but he did not show it. He merely gave Molly a look, signaling her to have the others lower their wands as well.
Both sides knew perfectly well that now was not the time to tear things apart...
...
Compared with the stiff atmosphere between Lucius Malfoy and Arthur Weasley, the mood around Draco and the girls felt almost a little too relaxed.
There was still tension, of course, but it was clearly a very different kind...
After all, Pansy had now taken Ginny's place, and without the slightest hint of shyness, she was openly hugging Draco while looking down haughtily at Ginny Weasley, who for some reason was gritting her teeth.
As for Luna, who had slowly drifted to Ginny's side, she was glancing back and forth between the two of them with a blank, dreamy expression. It was impossible to tell whether that airy gaze had noticed anything at all.
But one thing was obvious.
The way Pansy acted made it look as though she were baring her teeth at some stray dog that had suddenly wandered into her territory.
That provocative look was impossible for Ginny to miss.
And that stray dog... no, Ginny, should have felt relieved, as though a burden had finally been lifted. Yet for some reason, what rose in her heart instead was a faint sense of resentment, along with an injured feeling she did not even realize she had.
Even though the Broomstick she was now riding was a far more expensive new model, and much more comfortable as well.
For some reason, deep down it still felt as though she had lost something to Pansy...
Sneaking a glance at Draco, who had not said a single word and had not looked her way even once, Ginny tightened her grip on the broom handle until her fingers nearly turned white.
"Hmph."
"Hmph."
Pansy, who had been half dazed by Draco's scent and the hard feel of his stomach, heard that slightly sulky huff and immediately answered with one of her own, a sound that came out almost like a cute little snort in Draco's ears.
At the same time, Astoria, who had also come up beside Draco, guided her Broomstick closer and softly asked the question she had wanted to know for some time now...
Only after watching Ginny Weasley fly farther away, making sure no one else could overhear, did Astoria finally ask,
"What happened?"
"What do you mean, what happened?"
"Do not play dumb. You know exactly what I am asking."
Draco blinked in surprise.
Astoria, who usually carried herself as though she were very mature, always standing a little way off and watching with a smile no matter what he did, was unexpectedly forceful this time.
She was smiling, but it still gave Draco a strange sense of pressure...
And that was not all. Behind him, there was also one very restless little fool.
A growing softness pressed against his back.
The way she clung to him so naturally and skillfully, without the slightest concern, was enough to make anyone think that if Draco's parents were not nearby watching, Pansy might have thrown her whole body onto him already.
"Exactly. Why did you not bring me with you?"
"That really is the part you are focusing on? I should have expected that from you, Pansy."
"Do not change the subject!"
Even a well behaved little dog knew how to rebel against its master now.
Draco raised a brow, surprised, but he quickly realized why Pansy and Astoria were acting so differently from usual.
Even though he could not see Pansy's face, the little head pressed tightly into his back and the strength of her arms around him said more than enough about how worried and unhappy she was about what he had done...
"You... all knew?"
Astoria rolled her eyes, and Pansy answered in a muffled voice,
"We did not see how you dealt with those Death Eaters, but we saw very clearly what just happened between you and Weasley."
"Actually, it was Lockhart who warned us, which is why we went to find Mr. Malfoy. As for who dealt with those Death Eaters, I do not think there is any wizard besides you and Snape who knows Sectumsempra."
From just those few sentences from Pansy and Astoria, Draco immediately understood why they had appeared here.
Aside from the wounds, which made Sectumsempra easy enough to identify, the rest had clearly come from outside information.
That guy did it on purpose?
He should have guessed it earlier.
Thinking back now, Lockhart really had never mentioned anything about what was happening on Lucius's side.
Without even realizing it, Draco had assumed his father and the others would not make it here in time, and so he had never considered his father's faction as possible support.
Just as Draco began wondering what exactly Lockhart's purpose had been, Remus Lupin and Barty Crouch Jr. below also noticed what was happening in the sky.
At some point, the two sides that had been tangled together in battle had already pulled apart again.
They were not fools.
When faced with another force whose intentions were still unclear, neither side was willing to keep fighting the other to the death without regard for the consequences.
Even reckless Gryffindors would not do something like that...