Poison Part One – Hold Me Thrill Me
Chapter One – An Unexpected Ally?
Merlin's beard. How the hell did I get myself into this?
Harry was lying in bed; it was one in the morning. Sleep was becoming less and less familiar; he had too much on his mind. Some time ago, the Goblet of Fire had spat out his name. He never put his name in the damn cup, but still he got elected a Triwizard Champion. It was a mere two days before the first challenge. But strangely, that was not what was occupying his mind right now.
Malfoy was.
-
Yesterday. Harry made his way to History of Magic. He was late; he had been trying to finish his assignment for Snape's Potion class later this afternoon. He miserably failed, not being able to concentrate. Instead he let his mind wander on the first challenge.
He subconsciously growled in the back of his throat. Now he was late, and he didn't finish the assignment. Snape would be furious!
Suddenly someone grabbed him and pulled him into the shadows of one of the statues lining the corridor.
"What the…"
"Ssshhhh!"
Harry was dumbfounded when he recognized the one putting his hand over his mouth to silence him.
"Gwet wof mwe," he said, his voice muffled by Malfoy's hand. He shoved him against the wall and reached for his wand.
"I wouldn't do that, Potter," Malfoy said, already aiming his own wand at Harry. "Unless you want to die a painful death."
"What the hell do you want, Malfoy?" Harry spat venomously, releasing his grip on Malfoy's robes.
"Do you want to know about the first challenge or not, Potter?" Malfoy inquired, slowly lowering his wand.
"Are you joking, Malfoy?" Harry asked, squinting his eyes warily. He didn't trust Malfoy; what was he up to now?
"I'm not. I found out yesterday, when I was in the Forbidden Forest."
"What the devil is your business in… oh never mind. Tell me!"
Malfoy smirked. "You forgot to say the magic word, Potter."
Harry looked at him furiously, not intending to give in. "Fuck you, Malfoy."
Malfoy's grin never left his face. "Close enough, Potter. You'll have to face dragons in the first challenge. I saw them in the Forest, with half the Weasley family gaping at them."
"Makes sense," Harry mumbled. "Charlie probably brought them in."
"You'd better think of a strategy fast, Potter. You only have three days left."
Harry clenched his fists at his side. "Thanks for reminding me."
Malfoy folded his arms. "You know I almost pity you, Potter. You didn't even enter and still you manage to get into the Tournament. You must be scared out of your wits."
Harry opened his mouth to start yelling at Malfoy, and then he stopped before the words formed on his lips.
"How the blazes do you know I didn't enter?"
Malfoy looked at him arrogantly. "You'd never find a way around Dumbledore's defenses, Potter. I happen to know it was someone else who put your name into that cup." He abruptly turned around and was about to leave when Harry asked him: "Who?"
Malfoy looked over his shoulder.
"Aw come on, Potter, not even you are that thick! You can figure that one out yourself."
Harry hesitated for a brief moment, then called out: "Malfoy?"
Malfoy whirled around, visibly irritated now.
"WHAT, Potter?"
"Why did you tell me this? I mean, why are you helping me?"
Malfoy cast his eyes down, then looked at Harry again.
"When you have the opportunity to properly prepare, you might stand a chance against those things." He shot Harry a death glare, then continued: "I don't give a rat's arse about fighting fair, but I know you do. You're three to four years younger than the other contestants. Use this information to your advantage. Oh and Potter?"
"Yes?"
"If you tell anyone about this, I'll make your life even more miserable than it already is."
And with that said, Malfoy disappeared into the shadows of a nearby corridor.
Harry decided to skip History of Magic after this bizarre event.
-
Malfoy… He hated me since year one and now he's suddenly helping me out. So strange… Or would it be a trap? It can't be… I saw the dragons myself, hidden in the Forbidden Forest.
-
Harry caught himself glancing over at the Slytherin table more than once the following day. Malfoy acted completely normal though. He was still the insufferable jerk he'd always been.
Harry hadn't spoken to Ron or Hermione about the challenge. Ron was still unreasonably mad at him for not telling him about 'entering' the tournament. Harry felt lonely. The whole school was against him, thinking he cheated his way into the contest.
He pushed away from the table and walked out of the Great Hall. He needed to clear his mind and focus on the challenge at hand.
At the lake he sat down on the grass, his back resting against a rock. He closed his eyes and sighed.
"Look, it's Potter, all alone. What's wrong, Potter? No friends left after cheating your way into the tournament?"
It was Malfoy, accompanied by his loyal followers Crabbe and Goyle.
"Piss off, Malfoy," Harry reacted almost automatically. "I have better things to do than listen to your crap."
"You know my dad and I have a bet, Potter," Malfoy went on, completely ignoring Harry's words. "I told him you wouldn't last ten minutes in the first round. He disagreed with me."
He smirked down at Harry. "He said you wouldn't last five."
Harry smiled tiredly. "That's great, Malfoy," he said sarcastically.
Malfoy bent forward so his face was closer to Harry's.
"Meet me here tonight after dark, Harry," he whispered. Harry raised his eyebrows in surprise, but Malfoy already said loudly: "You're no fun at all, Potter. I guess without your friends you're not worth shit anyway."
Malfoy turned around and left, his two companions trailing close behind.
-
Meet Malfoy. At the lake. After dark. It couldn't sound more wrong, could it?
Still, Harry was curious. Malfoy might have some more information to offer. He still didn't have a clue as to why Malfoy would help him.
Perhaps he doesn't hate me as much as I think.
He smiled bitterly. Yeah, sure.
He got out of bed quietly and put on a sweater. He went down to the Common Room and hid under his Invisibility Cloak. As silently as possible, he made his way down to the lake, shivering in the cool night's breeze.
Malfoy was already there, waiting for him. He threw stones into the water and seemed pretty bored. He slowly got up and put his hand in his pocket. Shortly after, Harry heard a lighter lighting up a cigarette.
"So, you're finally here, Potter," Malfoy stated, inhaling deeply.
"You smoke?" Harry said unbelievingly, taking off the Invisibility Cloak. Malfoy taking part in any Muggle activity was completely insane to say the least.
"Yes, Potter, I do. It's harmless though; neat spell I got from a senior Slytherin. You didn't think I was going for the Dumbledore pipe smoker image, did you?"
Harry slowly shook his head. The image of Malfoy with a beard and a pipe in his hand was ridiculous and quite hilarious too, if you thought about it.
"So why did you want to see me?"
Malfoy put one foot on a rock and leaned forward. "To see if you made any progress at all trying to figure out challenge number one, Potter. I know you always wait until the last possible moment to take action."
"I'm not waiting 'til…" Harry said defensively.
"Shush." Malfoy sounded almost… understanding. "There's no recipe for success, Potter. You need to take advantage of your talents, should you have any. Think."
Harry thought hard, but couldn't think of any useful spells. All those times he fought Voldemort… he just got lucky, really.
"Merlin, Potter, is that what you think?" Malfoy looked at him intently.
"What?"
"You got lucky? All the luck in the world can't save you when you're up against the Dark Lord."
Harry reached for his wand. "You get the hell out of my head, Malfoy, or I swear I'll…"
Malfoy made a dismissive gesture. "Sorry. Matter of habit, I'm afraid."
Sorry? Never thought he could even pronounce it, Harry thought surprised.
"But you're thinking of spells. Don't. It takes more than a few wizards to stun a dragon. You'll be alone during the challenge."
"And again, thanks for reminding me," Harry said. "Look, Malfoy, all I'm pretty good at is flying a broom, really. We're not allowed to take our brooms, so it's no use. I've been over this a gazillion times already!"
Malfoy tossed away his cigarette bud and looked at Harry as if he was the dumbest person to ever walk this planet.
"You moron! You're allowed a wand, aren't you? You just use a summoning spell to get your broom!"
Harry studied his feet. "I suck at summoning," he whispered, embarrassed about the fact.
Malfoy snorted. "Attitude problem, much? You practice, Harry." Harry looked at Malfoy, surprised again at the sound of his first name.
When did we start to be on first-name basis? he wondered.
"You practice until your wand is broken and your hand falls off, damn you!"
Malfoy extended his hand, without even bothering getting his wand, and said: "Accio Invisibility Cloak!"
Harry's Invisibility Cloak immediately flew into Malfoy's hand.
"Now, Potter, try to get it back." Malfoy looked at him challengingly.
"Just don't laugh at me," Harry muttered under his breath, getting his wand ready.
"Why would I? This is dead serious, Harry, your life depends on it." Malfoy didn't look as if he'd laugh. Suddenly, Harry found himself safe in this place at this time of night. He didn't know why, but obviously Malfoy was trying to help him. He couldn't afford to pass on this opportunity.
He concentrated hard. "Accio Invisibility Cloak!"
The cloak moved, but not fast enough to be pulled from Malfoy's grasp.
"Again," he demanded.
Dear me, he could be Snape's son.
"Accio Invisibility Cloak!"
It took a good thirteen times, but in the end Harry succeeded to get back his cloak.
Malfoy smirked, mumbling: "You're right. You suck at summoning."
Harry shrugged. "You suck at being famous."
Malfoy grabbed his chest and grimaced before he smirked again. "Ouch, Potter, that hurts."
"Sure, like you even have a heart in there. That was a joke," he said quickly, when a shadow crossed over Malfoy's face.
"I actually do, Potter." His hand reached into his pocket for his cigarettes.
Harry surprised him by pointing his wand at the pack.
"Accio!"
His hand closed around the cigarettes.
I might die in two days. The hell with it.
"Mind if I try one?"
"Be my guest."
Harry lit his cigarette with his wand.
"What's with the lighter anyway? You don't need it."
Malfoy held it up, looking at it. "I just admire the invention. It can set things on fire. I like that."
"Destructive little juvy." Harry sat down and inhaled deeply.
Malfoy snickered. "If I had known you'd feel this adventurous tonight, Harry, I would have brought some booze."
Harry looked at him. "I might die in two days, Draco. To be honest, I don't give a shit about principles anymore."
They sat in silence for a minute. Then Harry said: "Draco… I'm sorry to ask you this again, but I need to know. Why are you helping me?"
Malfoy sighed, blowing smoke into the dark sky.
"Yeah… good question, Potter. Good question."
He remained silent after that. It lasted so long, Harry already thought he wouldn't get an answer at all. He almost startled when Malfoy spoke again.
"I started thinking this year, Potter. Why do I hate you so? Partly because I'm jealous, of course. Always in the spotlights, always getting all the attention… And I'm pissed at you, obviously, for choosing Gryffindor over Slytherin. I understand why you did it, but it still pisses me off."
"You wouldn't want me in Slytherin, Draco. I'd steal all your attention away."
"Maybe… but in Slytherin…" Long pause.
"We would have been friends."
Harry's eyes almost popped out by hearing these words.
"You're surprised? I don't have any friends, Potter, only people who fear me and follow me. That's when I started thinking. We have much in common, Potter, though you'd probably be disgusted by that very idea. You're different. So am I."
"And that's why you're helping me."
"That's why I try to save your sorry arse, Potter."
Malfoy got up abruptly.
"Keep practicing your summoning spells, Harry. They need to be powerful enough to cover long distances. If they don't…" He didn't have to finish his sentence.
"Draco…"
Malfoy stopped, but didn't turn around.
"Thanks."
Malfoy smirked into the darkness and started to walk back to the castle.
Goodnight… Harry.
Harry gasped when he heard Malfoy's voice inside his head, then he smiled. He cloaked up and took a different route back to the castle himself.