Title: Idle
Summary: Draco attempts to be the Hero
DramioneLove Prompt #: 54- "But if I rescue her, she'll owe me a favor, won't she?" Bonus points for humour.
Disclaimer: "Harry Potter" is the property of J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. This work of fiction/art was created entirely for fun, not for profit, and no copyright infringement is intended.
A bright summer day at Hogwarts found Draco Malfoy lounging by the Black Lake. He was currently watching the water ripple. He didn't want to start his homework as it was due in two days and he was absolutely certain he could finish just in time for Potions class if he started it tomorrow evening.
The five-foot parchment about Polyjuice Potion can wait.
He had a lot of 'power' given this year- a Prefect! Potter wasn't as lucky – Weaselbee had somehow gotten the part with Granger. Docking off points from Gryffindor had become his favourite thing about the position. Draco was also a part of Umbridge's Inquistorial Squad, whom were given the task of catching Potter and his Gang.
As if his life at Hogwarts couldn't get any better, he heard Granger was also a part of the Gang.
"If I rescue her, she'll owe me a favour, won't she?" Draco hummed as he scanned a random parchment in front of him.
"If there is any rescuing, I don't think it would be her." Came a voice behind him.
Draco jumped up from the boulder he was lying on and cleared his throat uneasily. He patted down his robes for invisible wrinkles and dusted away invisible fluffs.
"What's that, Theo?" He asked when he saw his companion. Theodore Nott had just creeped up behind him.
Alright, he did not creep up. He was just walking normally.
"If there was a girl who needs any saving in any circumstance, I think they're more than capable of saving themselves than needing to be saved by you," Theo sniggered. "Now, if it was someone tall, handsome—"
"—I am tall and handsome—" Draco cut in.
"—friendly and Gryffindor, they might reconsider." Theo finished, smirking.
Draco scowled. "Girls fall at my feet often enough, thank you."
"Not one that needs saving."
"Would you drop it," Draco moaned as he fell back graciously onto the smooth boulder.
Theo sniggered even more and sat down on the ground. "Is there a certain girl in mind?"
"Of course not," Draco scoffed. "Not one at all."
"Hmm," Theo replied unconvinced.
Yet he had decided not to push Draco further.
"How's your luck with Potter and the Gang?" Theo asked after a long while of silence.
"Not very well," Draco replied, his eyes closed and his head resting on his arms folded behind him. "Although, we did catch Potter the other day, sneaking out of wherever."
"Wherever?"
"He walked out of a wall." Draco shrugged. After all, it wasn't uncommon for people to walk out of walls in the Wizarding World, unlike the Muggle World—though Draco wouldn't know this. "Umbridge figured they must have all left before Potter."
"What are they doing?"
"Wouldn't know. Don't care," Draco replied.
"Honestly Draco," Theo sighed, "You ought to know why you're catching them."
"My position is only to catch them," Draco rolled his eyes, "I don't have to know why. Besides, it is entertaining itself just to watch them walk into trouble."
"Have you caught the Granger girl?" Theo asked, a hint of smirk appearing on his face.
Draco fell silent.
"Yes?" Theo prodded when Draco did not reply.
"I might have," Draco replied softly. "Probably wasn't her, just caught the edge of her robes."
By robes, he meant hair.
Theodore Nott barked out a laugh.
Draco did not respond.
"Honestly, boy," Theo teased.
"What?" Draco said in defense. "She—or whoever it was—was turning around a corner when I saw her."
"Did the others see?"
"I was the only one there."
"What luck."
"Yeah."
They fell back in silence.
Draco was quite uncomfortable with where the conversation went. Theo was his best mate, all right. That didn't mean he was—or should have—meant to share everything. Why he replied honestly, Draco wasn't sure.
"You know I wouldn't tell another soul, Draco." Theo said after a few moments of silence. "Don't you?"
Draco grunted in response.
"She's the one you're talking about yes? The one needing saving?" Theo pushed on.
Draco grunted again.
"I'm positive she's not the one needing saving, Draco." Theo chucked. "She is definitely quite capable of rescuing herself and her useless friends."
"Right, that's it!" Draco growled as he made gesture to attack Theo.
Theo jumped up, laughing and ran off towards the castle.
Draco narrowed his eyes at the running figure and began to chase Theo.
Draco never caught up to Theo. Not that he was serious about catching him to begin with.
Tonight, he was in the library doing his potions project.
Of course, he was already regretting putting it off. Even so, he was only regretting it a little. He was already two and a half foot into his essay and his eyes were drooping.
"—dropping this potion in Granger's tea tomorrow?"
His eyes shot up and searched for the source.
"Do you really think she wouldn't notice?" the second voice asked the first, as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"She doesn't know everything!" The first voice reassured the second. "Honestly, it's not as if it's going to change the colour of the tea. It's just a befuddling draught."
Suddenly, Draco had the most energy he ever had that evening.
He had just found the one way he could rescue Hermione Granger!
It wasn't until he left the library quarter before midnight, did he realise he had not a clue of when it was going to happen or who were planning this.
He decided he would be there early in the morning to watch.
The next morning was one of the oddest morning Hogwarts has ever seen.
Draco Malfoy had not moved from his seat at the Slytherin table for hours, vanishing any cup that appeared in front of Hermione Granger, who had just sat down.
He was hiding behind the Daily Prophet, which he had modified slightly—with holes through the newspaper so he could see the Gryffindor table clearly.
Theo walked up behind Draco and was looking at the blond suspiciously before swatting him in the head.
"What in the bloody—"
"Didn't think you realize how foolish you look."
Twenty Five. Draco counted as he vanished another goblet. "I overheard a sabotage—"
"Parkinson is looking for you, something about Umbridge," Theo relayed a message.
Draco scowled in annoyance and got up. Before he left, he casted a charm to vanish any goblet that makes its way to Hermione Granger.
Evening rolled around when something interesting happened to Draco.
They—he, Crabbe and Goyle, along with Filtch—had finally caught Potter and the Army.
Umbridge had blasted a wall open and it opened up a Room Draco had never seen before. Inside, they found nearly all of Potter and his friends.
That included Granger too of course.
He supposed this could be his chance.
Draco couldn't remember much later on, but he remembers catching Potter, Granger, Longbottom Weasley, Weasley and more Weasleys and hauling them into Umbridge's office.
Umbridge clearly had something against Potter—she hinted at using the Cruciatus Curse!
She even had them all tied up and Draco was tasked to hold onto all their wands.
Draco remembered slipping Granger a couple wands while they stood by the Wall of Cats as Umbridge attempted to threaten Potter.
And being hexed by the Gryffindors, which got them all in trouble—Umbridge did not come back untouched and had been furious to find the rest of Potter's Gang gone.
Theo caught up with him a couple of hours later. It was no surprise that the news of Umbridge catching Potter and Dumboledore's Army like wild fire.
"Did you do it?"
"I slipped her wand back to her."
"I suppose its almost like saving her." Theo shrugged, passing him a stack of papers. "Letters for your pleasure."
Draco rolled his eyes and reached for the letters. "Not even close."
"With the amount of trouble Potter gets in, I have absolutely no doubt that that was my last chance."
"If you say so," Theo sniggered.
A cat's screechy meow echoed in the quiet common room.
"Umbridge calls," Draco groaned.
Theo sniggered and headed towards the girls dorms, "good luck, mate."
Draco scowled and called for the others in the Squad. "As if."
On a later note, Draco never got a chance to 'rescue' Hermione Granger that year. Futile attempts. Or rather lack there of.
His interest in being the Gryffindor's rescue had diminished when he got news of his father being sent to Azkaban. Draco blamed the lot of them.