Chapter 4
Harry was starting to get a bit worried as the days went on. Lupin was starting to look rough around the edges with the upcoming full moon approaching, and Draco was being just as much of an ass as he always was. Since Sirius had reminded him about the upcoming full moon and that he needed to stay away from the basement around that time, it just stressed Harry out that much more since his plan at the start of summer had been that he would go and stay with the Weasleys during the full moons so that he wouldn't be making things harder on Lupin, but of course things never tended to go as planned for him.
It also didn't help that since Draco was trying his best to ignore him or insult him every chance he got, Harry hadn't been able to warn him about Lupin's condition and that he should stay away from the basement when Lupin transformed even though the man was going to be chained up with silver down there.
The boy let out a sigh as he made his way down to breakfast on the day of the full moon, and he frowned as he saw how pale Lupin was looking already. When they were in school they never normally saw Lupin the day of the full moon or the next day since he was still feeling under the weather from his transformation, so it broke his heart to see the man looking so worn down.
"…Morning, Lupin," he said softly, Sirius having told him that he shouldn't talk too loudly around the man during the day of the full moon since all of his senses were heightened to that of the werewolf in him.
Remus offered a small, tired, smile as he turned to look at his godson. "Good morning, Harry."
"Where's Sirius?"
"He's making my potion for me," Remus said with a grimace, already shivering at the thought of having to drink that disgusting Wolfsbane potion.
Harry frowned. "Do you need me to help with breakfast? You don't look like you're feeling too well."
Remus let out a soft sigh. "I'm fine, Harry… Days like today are just never the best for me," he reminded him as he cooked, canting his head to the side a bit when he heard footsteps. "Good morning, Draco. I must say I'm surprised to know you're up and down for breakfast without someone having to come up and get you for once," he said idly.
Draco blinked as he stopped in the kitchen doorway and he eyed the man suspiciously. "…How the hell did you know it was me?"
"The sound of your footsteps. You're the only one who has feather-light steps, that and your scent; you have quite the unique smell about you," he admitted.
Draco shivered at those words and he glared at the man in disgust. "How the hell would you know what I smell like?!" he snapped, furrowing his brows in confusion when he noticed the man flinch and bring a hand up to his ear while Harry worriedly placed a hand on Lupin's back.
Harry glared over at the blonde. "Keep your voice down, will you?" he said softly.
Draco returned the boy's glare. "My voice isn't any louder than usual, idiot," he growled.
Remus shook his head and let out a tired sigh, really not in the condition to deal with the two's bickering at the moment, though he smiled as he heard his lover's footsteps approaching and smelled his familiar scent.
Sirius arched a brow as he noticed Draco and Harry having some kind of glaring match in the kitchen, and he slipped past them to make his way over to his lover and he wrapped his arms around the man's waist to pull him close and place a soft kiss to his cheek. "Good morning. How's my little Moony feeling today?" he softly asked with concern.
Remus let out a content sigh as he leaned back against the man, his eyes flicking over to Draco when he heard him make a disgusted noise. "I'm alright for the moment. Is the potion ready?"
Draco arched a brow as Sirius nodded, and he couldn't help but wonder what the hell they were talking about. Of course, it was now that he finally took notice to how pale Lupin was looking, so he assumed the potion was one to help him feel better.
He decided to just ignore them all as he made his way through the kitchen and into the dining room to take a seat at the table and take a peek out of the window, having learned that the whole building was enchanted so that you could look out but no one else could look in since it didn't even appear that there was a building here.
Things were slowly getting better the longer Draco was away from the mansion, but he still couldn't help but worry about what might happen whenever he finally had to leave this place. He knew that Hogwarts was safe, yes, but it wouldn't be safe on his way to the train station. He was just glad that he still had quite a while before he really had to worry about that, but he just couldn't help but worry all the same, especially since most of the Slytherins would bear Voldemort's mark. He wasn't stupid, he knew that they would surely punish him for running away from the Dark Lord.
The boy was so lost in his thoughts that he hadn't heard the others come into the dining room, so he jumped a bit when a plate was suddenly being sat down in front of him by the house elf that was always so eager to please him.
"Kreacher is sorry for scaring you, sir. Does master Malfoy wish Kreacher to punish himself, sir?" the elf asked as he bowed to him.
Draco let out a sigh and shook his head just to wave a hand in dismissal before he picked up a fork and nudged at the food on his plate.
"I'd check your food if I were you. That damn elf might have poisoned it if he was that eager to give it to you himself," Sirius warned as he took a seat at the table.
Draco ignored him since he knew for a fact the elf was trying to please him because he wasn't a mudblood, half-blood, or blood-traitor. He looked up when he heard footsteps next to him, and he glared as he noticed Potter take a seat next to him. Honestly he didn't know what the hell the Gryffindor was up to, but he was getting quite annoyed with how he was acting around him. It was driving him mad that he would no longer fight with him to the point of things actually getting to them throwing hexes at each other, not to mention he was still suspicious of this whole truce the other teen supposedly wanted to call.
He blinked as he looked past Potter and he noticed that Lupin had something on his plate that appeared to be…raw and bloody. He frowned as this made him think of some rumor he heard at the end of third year when the teacher resigned, but he couldn't remember what exactly it was since he hadn't thought Dumbledore had been crazy enough to let someone like that teach at the school.
Remus looked up when he felt eyes on him and he caught Draco staring, and he grimaced as he looked down. He really hated when someone stared at him just because of what he had to eat on the day of the full moon… He had been glad to note that Harry wasn't staring at him at least, so that was a plus, but he didn't exactly feel comfortable eating with Draco staring at him in disgust.
Harry and Sirius both noticed that Remus stopped eating and they looked to see Draco staring at the man. Sirius glared at him while Harry reached over and lightly punched the Slytherin in the arm to get him to stop staring.
Draco snapped out of it and turned to glare daggers at Potter, though he was a bit caught off guard by his pleading look. He furrowed his brows in confusion and glanced back over to Lupin and Black just to see Black whispering something to Lupin while Lupin nodded and took a bite of whatever the hell it was he had on his plate.
The Slytherin decided he really didn't want to know so he turned his head to look out the window again as the other three started up a conversation with each other. He didn't bother to pay any attention since he didn't exactly like any of the people he was stuck with, and he doubted he'd have anything to talk about with them anyways.
Harry looked over to Draco when he noticed he was still being rather quiet, and he frowned to see that it didn't look like he had even touched his food yet. He reached over and lightly nudged his arm with the back of his hand, and he couldn't help but arch a brow when he noticed Draco tense up slightly. "Hey, are you ok? You still haven't been eating much," he said softly.
Draco glared out the window. "What's it matter to you?"
Harry let out a sigh, not really wanting to deal with Draco's stubbornness today of all days, so he just shook his head. "Never mind then…" he muttered just to quickly finish up his breakfast.
Draco gritted his teeth as, once again, Potter refused to start a fight. He was honestly getting sick of this! He needed a fight, dammit! He was seriously getting to the point that he was ready to just find Kreacher and take all of his frustrations out on him!
He finally started to take a few hesitant bites of his food when he heard the sound of a door opening and he soon heard footsteps in the hallway.
"Harry? You here, mate? Me and Hermione came to see if you're ready to go! We know it's early but we thought you'd like to go and hang out somewhere!" Ron called out.
"We're in the dining room, Ronald," Remus told him as he grimaced, his ears still ringing from the boy's shout. "And would you please be so kind as to lower your voice?"
Draco groaned at the sound of the weasel's voice, and knowing that the damn mudblood was with him just made it that much worse. He looked over to the doorway where he heard an apology dying on the redhead's lips, and he noticed Granger and Weasley staring at him in shock.
"What the hell is he doing here?!" Ron shouted in shock, wincing when Hermione slapped him and Sirius shot him a glare while Lupin let out a whimper. "Er, sorry…again," he said softly.
Remus took a deep breath just to get to his feet and shakily make his way out of the room, Sirius worriedly following after him. If he didn't know it would hurt his lover's overly sensitive ears at the moment he'd shout at Ron for being an idiot and shouting when he knew what today was!
Hermione stared at Malfoy intently, arching a brow as she noticed him fidgeting with one of the sleeves of his shirt and pulling it down even though it was already all the way down.
Since Draco didn't think it would be good to get himself in a three-on-one fight, he got to his feet and quickly made his way out of the room, shoving past Weasley as he did so.
Ron's eye twitched as he stared after the snake, and oh was he tempted to drag the bastard back down there and teach him a lesson! "Seriously, what the hell is he doing here?!" he growled.
"I trust Dumbledore and all, but isn't it risky to have someone like him in the Order, not to mention around you?" Hermione asked curiously.
Harry let out a sigh. "Dumbledore didn't bring him here."
"What?! Then why's he here?!" Ron snapped.
Hermione gave him a stern look. "Please, Ron. There's no need to shout-think of Lupin," she reminded him.
Harry thought about telling his friends why the blonde was there, but he realized Draco probably wouldn't want people to know he'd gotten himself beaten half to death and that he saved him. Sure, he should've told them because they were his friends, but he knew Ron would never let the boy live it down and he really didn't want to make Draco even more uncomfortable around there than he already was. Hell, it'd probably give him that much more of a reason to hate him.
"I…uh… Well, I'm sorry you came all this way, but I can't come and stay over at your place with Draco here," Harry told him.
Ron's mouth dropped open in shock while Hermione looked at him in surprise. "Since when did Malfoy become Draco?!" he asked, utterly dumbfounded.
Harry nervously scratched the back of his neck.
"…Ok… So Malfoy's here, but why can't you come with us? You know what tonight is. It's not safe for you to be around when Lupin transforms," Hermione reminded him.
"I trust Lupin, and besides that we can't leave. There's no way he'd want to go to Ron's house, and there's no way Ron and his family would want him there anyways," Harry pointed out, thinking that was a reasonable enough reason for him and Draco to have to stay.
Ron rolled his eyes. "So let him stay here and you come with us!"
Harry frowned. "I can't do that. I mean, you can't honestly expect me to leave him here alone with Sirius and Lupin."
"Why not? If Lupin happens to get loose and decides to use Malfoy as a chew toy, what's it matter? We wouldn't have to worry about the little git anymore then now would we?"
"Ron," Harry said sternly, giving him a look. "I'm not going to leave him here alone in case something were to happen."
"…Why is he here, Harry? You know you can tell us. We're your best friends," Hermione reminded him.
Harry shook his head. "I can't tell you, ok? I just don't think Draco would be too happy if I told you guys what happened." He held up a hand to keep Ron from saying anything when he saw the redhead open his mouth. "I just want to make him comfortable while he's here, and I want him to trust me so we can finally call a truce like I've been wanting to do for quite some time now," he admitted. "It's just kind of hard to do when he won't really talk to me unless he's throwing an insult my way or something…"
"Well duh, that's how the little git is!" Ron reminded him.
Harry shook his head. "I don't really think so… I've honestly been wondering about that… I just wish he could stop acting like a dick now that we're not in school. I mean, he doesn't have anyone to pretend for or try and impress."
"Aw come on, mate. Can't you at least come with us to hang out a bit?" Ron asked sadly. "You can have your crazy, 'Malfoy's not really a giant arse' moment later!"
Harry rolled his eyes. "I'll come with you guys," he held up a hand when Ron grinned, "but only if he comes with us. And you have to be nice," he warned.
Ron groaned. "Are you kidding me?! What the hell has the damn ponce done to you?! If I didn't think you were out of your head before, now I know you are! You would never talk good about that bastard before, let alone ask for him to hang out with us!"
Hermione pursed her lips at the thought of having Draco Malfoy around them. He wouldn't be so bad if he didn't call her a mudblood all the damn time, but as it was the bastard couldn't be civil with her for even five minutes for some reason. "I don't really like the thought of that, Harry…but if he could at least try to not be a complete and utter dick then I can deal with it."
"What?! You're joking, right?" Ron asked in shock.
Harry blinked in surprise, honestly stunned to hear that Hermione would actually be ok with it. Ok, so he'd hoped that would get them to just leave him alone and leave without him, but he doubted he'd have much luck here with Draco by himself, so maybe it would be good if they went out to relax. Besides, if anyone tried to hurt him again, Harry would be there to make sure nothing happened to him.
"…Cool. I'll go up and see if he'll come then," he told them, ignoring Ron's protests as he made his way past his friends and quickly headed upstairs to Draco's room.
Draco looked up when he heard footsteps outside of his door, and he frowned as he soon heard a knock. If the mudblood and the weasel were still out there, there was no way he was coming out of the room.
He glared darkly when the door was opened without his permission, and he crossed his arms and let out an aggravated sigh as he looked away. "What do you want now, Potter?" he growled.
Harry offered a small smile. "Sorry to intrude, I just wanted to know if maybe you wanted to go out."
He arched a brow when he noticed the shocked look on Draco's face and he felt his cheeks heat up as he realized what he'd just said. "No, wait, I meant hang out!" he corrected himself quickly, his cheeks still on fire. "Er, so would you like to go hang out somewhere?"
Draco pursed his lips as he turned to look at the boy. "…Why would you think I'd ever agree to hang out with you?"
Harry frowned. "Well, it's just that you've already been here for a few days now, and something tells me you have to be more than ready to get out of here for a while."
"Even if that were true, why would I want to go anywhere with you?"
Harry let out a sad sigh as he slowly made his way over and took a seat on the bed next to Draco, not failing to notice the way the boy tensed up. "Look, I don't know if you believe me or whatever, but I really do want to call a truce. Come on, let's just go have some fun somewhere."
Draco nibbled on his bottom lip in thought, not sure if he could trust the Gryffindor or not. Then again, if Potter really was just trying to trick him then why would he have saved him, and why would he not have kicked him out after seeing his mark?
He shook his head after a few moments. "I can't go anywhere, Potter… If I leave this place then I'll be…" he trailed off, not wanting to think about what would happen when the Death Eaters got ahold of him.
Harry reached over and hesitantly placed a hand on the blonde's shoulder. "Hey, you don't have to worry you know. You'd be with me, Ron, and Hermione."
Draco's eye twitched. "There is no way in hell you would get me to hang out with those two!"
"They promised to be nice as long as you agree to be civil with them. It's really not that hard to do you know… Besides, we won't be going anywhere that anyone you know would be at, so you don't have to worry about what someone might say. It's not like we're going to tell anyone you decided to hang out with us, and even if we did do you honestly think anyone would believe us?"
The Slytherin thought about this for a moment. "…I suppose not…" he mumbled softly before he let out a defeated sigh. "I guess it would be better than being stuck in this place all summer with nothing to do whatsoever."
"Great!" Harry said happily. "Just try not to insult anyone, yeah? They really will try as long as you do."
Draco rolled his eyes. "I may not insult them, but that doesn't mean I'm going to be talking to them either," he told him simply.
Harry shrugged, "Whatever works for you, but I hope you won't be as reluctant to at least talk to me. It's more fun if you have someone to talk to after all," he said with a smile.