Fairytales
Once upon a time...
Harry potter was no ordinary boy. He was probably as far from ordinary as you could get; he was a wizard, and not just any wizard, but the Savior of the wizarding world, several times over. He was currently scouring the Hogwarts castle for one of his best friends, namely Hermione Granger. And the best place to find her was always…
…the Library.
Sure enough, he found his bushy-haired friend amidst the shelves of dusty books, pouring eagerly over an Enormous Tome.
"Hey Hermione."
"Oh! There you are Harry! You know, I just found the most interesting spell in this book, Wizard Words around the World."
Harry's well-tuned Danger Sense was going off. If he didn't do something soon, he was going to have to listen for hours to explanations of dry old spells and their origins. His friend took no notice of his pained expression, instead eagerly prattled on.
"It's a translation charm. I've already cast it on myself, and I must say, it works quite well. Watch; I am speaking in Bulgarian. See? Isn't it cool?"
He had to blink in confusion at this.
"Uh…but…nothing happened, Hermione."
"Of course something happened, Harry," she tutted impatiently. "When I said 'I am speaking in Bulgarian', I did say it in Bulgarian. But because of the spell, you heard it in English. Anything I say now will be heard by everyone else in English. Though there are some problems with it. Like slang or colloquialisms."
And off she went. He could let her go on for a bit, but he really had to talk to her, especially before his Gryffindor Nerve left him. Evasive Actions were needed, and the best one--
"They don't translate properly because they aren't in the Standard Speaking Library the book talks about and—"
"Uh, that's great Herm. But I need to tell you something."
--interrupt her with Personal Stuff. She always felt the need to mother him when she thought he was Emotionally Distraught. Besides, it was personal. Oh dear, he was so screwed…why was he doing this again?
"Of course Harry. You know I'll always listen to you. But is it something you don't want to talk to Ron about?"
Geh. Ron. Ron was a problem. Going to be a problem. This was Bad. Still, if Hermioine was good for anything, it was keeping Ron calm, under control, and from going into murderous rages.
"Well, I was hoping that if you took it okay, you could help me figure out how to tell Ron."
"Oh Harry, you know we'll always be your friends. What could be so bad?"
She was looking at him expectantly. It made him feel a bit like he was supposed to provide a two foot scroll on all the different ways it could be Bad. Why was he doing this again? Oh yeah, because that prat had actually had a point…
"It's about Draco Malfoy."
"That slimy little ferret? Oh Harry, you didn't get into a fight with him again, did you?"
Ooo…bad start. Well, there was only one thing for it; spit it out as fast as possible, then flee in abject terror, hoping she was too shocked for immediate reprisal or violent outburst.
"No! Not a fight, exactly. Well, maybe it was an argument, but that's not what I want to tell you! Listen, he and I are—"
"Potter! There you are! You have some nerve walking out on me when I'm talking to you!"
Speak of the Devil…Harry winced as the other boy grabbed his arm and began tugging him away from his friend. This was Even Worse! If he was here, there was no way this was going to end without someone going to the hospital wing.
"Malfoy! Get away from Harry this minute! I'll tell Madam Pince you were harassing us!"
…Forget even worse, that would be Disastrous! Getting teachers involved? It'd be all over the front page newspapers tomorrow! Why had he thought this was a good idea?
"Stuff it, Granger. This is between Potter and me."
Now that was just plain rude. Besides, the grip on his harm was starting to hurt.
"Hey! Lemme go! I'm talking with Hermione now!"
He was rewarded for his efforts with a Scathing Glare. Well, if the stupid prat thought he'd take that lying down, he had another thing coming!
"Malfoy, if you don't let him go right now, you'll be hexed into next week!"
That's right! He hex him into…wait, he hadn't said that, had he? The other boy had now turned his glare upon Hermione, and upgraded it to Disgusted and Annoyed. Suddenly his expression changed to a smug smirk.
"I'm sure Professor Snape has something to say about that," he drawled, directing his attention over the witch's shoulder. "Don't you Professor?"
"What?!" she gasped, whirling around immediately. "Professor, it wasn't our fau—" There was no one there. She whirled back around, only to be met with empty air again. "Malfoy, you prat!"
****
Hermione burst into the Gryffindor common room in a flurry. Spotting the familiar red hair, she charged over the where the third of their Inseparable Trio was sitting and regarding her with some surprise.
"Ron! Ron! You've got to help!"
This was not met with the response she expected.
"What's up Herm? Weren't you in the library?"
Men! Or in this case, Ron!
"Yes I was, but that's not important right now! It's Harry!"
This did get a reaction. Ron's eyes widened comically, and he leapt to his feet, grabbing her arms in a panic.
"What? What's wrong with Harry? Is he hurt? Is it You-Know-Who?! How many were there?"
Each question was emphasized with a shake. She brushed his hands off easily, tutting in annoyance.
"No, no, Harry got dragged off by Dragon Mal—wait a minute…"
The spell! It was still active! Still, Ron wouldn't be stupid enough to--
"A dragon?! It the castle?!"
Or perhaps he would.
He turned and charged for the portrait, calling over his shoulder, "We gotta save him, Hermione!"
"Wait, Ron! I didn't mean that! Come back!"
****
Harry had been dragged out of the library, down several flights of stairs, and through more corridors than he cared to count. It was obvious the other boy had no destination in mind, and was merely Stalking about in a Huff. With that in mind, Harry decided he'd been dragged around enough.
"Dammit Draco, you're hurting me!"
This actually caught the other's attention.
"What? Oh."
He stopped and dropped Harry's wrist almost guiltily. "Well, if you hadn't of run off on me, I wouldn't have had to search the whole bloody castle for you!"
As if this was all Harry's fault! He glared at the Slytherin.
"Yeah, well, you were being a prat."
Okay, a bit weak, but true. The blonde exploded at him in exasperation.
"You were being bloody unreasonable, Potter! You'd think being the wizarding world's savior and everything—"
"I'm not—"
"—that you'd be able to face your friends. Merlin's beard, I can't believe I'm about to say this, but they care about you—"
"I know that—"
"—and if they managed to put up with your stupid mood swings for this long—"
"Hey!"
"Shut up Potter! I'm trying to be sincere here, and I think I'm going to need to wash my mouth out after this. You should just tell them—"
"I know!" he shouted. The other boy snapped his mouth shut in surprise.
Harry took a deep breath, trying to calm down. He had to appease the blonde first, apologize for the earlier argument (which probably had been his fault, dammit), then find Hermione and try to explain everything to her. …Why was he doing this again?!
"I know I should, Draco. I…thought about it after I left, and you're right, it's not fair to them that I hide it, and they should know—"
"You're rambling, Potter."
This was said with a bit of a smirk. Progress!
"Eh, sorry. Anyway, you were right, and I was about to tell Hermione, when you burst in and dragged me off!"
The Slytherin had the grace to look a bit embarrassed at that.
"…Oh. Well, of course I'm right! Just don't expect me to be nice, or Gryiffindorish to your friends or anything."
Harry started at him in exasperation. Well, it was probably the closest thing to an apology he'd ever get from the blonde.
"You idiot. I suppose I shouldn't expect the impossible from you, should I?"
The other had snapped to attention at that, and began backing Harry against the wall, mischievous smirk on his face. Oh dear, he was in Trouble, wasn't he?
"What did you call me, Harry?" came the quiet question. Big Trouble. Think fast, talk fast!
"Uh…hang on…I didn't—mmph!"
Any protest he'd had was silenced as the other boy pressed his mouth against his own.
"HARRY! I'LL SAVE YOU FROM THE—oh my GOD MY EYES!!"
"Ron! Will you wait! I meant…Oh my. Harry!"
They broke apart in surprise as Ron barreled into the room (Hermione hot on his heels), only to collapse in shock at the sight of his best friend in an Intimate Position with another boy. And Malfoy at that! He'd never be the same…
Harry waved sheepishly at his friends, still pressed between the wall and Draco.
"Uh…Hiya Herm…"
Draco nodded at them neutrally.
"Granger. Weasel."
"Draco!"
"What? Oh fine. Weasley."
The shocked look faded quickly from Hermione's face, and she tutted in exasperation.
"…Well, so this is where you've been running off to lately. Still, I wish you'd told us, and really, Harry. Malfoy? You could do so much better!"
"Hey!"
Draco looked quite miffed at this, but Harry cut off any retaliation by clapping his hand over the blonde's mouth.
"Quiet you! Sorry, Hermione, but I was trying to tell you earlier. Things just kinda got…messed up."
Understatement. Things could not have Gone Worse if they'd tried! He thought back to Rita Skeeter, and shuddered. Alright, so things can always be worse.
"I suppose that's true," Hermione mused. "Ron! Stop crying! Honestly, you're so immature! I guess we'll see you later then, Harry?"
Later? Wait, they weren't leaving him with Malfoy, were they?
"What? No, I—"
"Great idea, Granger," Draco smirked, scooping the surprised Harry over his shoulder.
"Hey! Put me down! Hermione! Help!"
"You brought it on yourself, Harry."
"No! Wait! Ron! Please!"
"Malfoy…and Harry…my poor innocent mind…."
"See you later, Gryffindorks," Draco said, ignoring Harry's squirming as he left for Parts Unknown.
"You're still a prat, ferret!" Hermione called graciously after him, absently patting the sobbing Ron on the back.
And so the Dragon escaped unscathed with the Hero in tow, and left the traumatized Knight to the comfort of the sensible Witch.
Greetings all, Dragon-sama here. After a long time of inactivity, I am back and working on new and old stories! This came out of no-where, I swear! *looks shifty* That aside, this is set in no time in particular, but is probably floating in the void of the AU sixth year (since it was written before that book came out...). First attempt at something obviously slash, however light it may be. Let me know what you think!
