All of Sunday had Harry studying on the Astronomy Tower as he attempted to hide from his fellow Gryffindors who were still shunning him. Just wait until they find out I'm helping Slytherins, Harry thought to himself somewhat bitterly. Despite knowing how much the others would hate him for it, however, Harry couldn't bring himself to regret his decision. He knew he'd need all the support he could get for the Tournament and the Slytherins were by far his best option since they would stick with him for as long as he stayed useful to them. Plus, he admitted to himself, Malfoy might just turn into a pretty decent friend.
Realizing how late it had gotten, Harry packed up his things and snuck into his bed back in Gryffindor. The next morning, he was awoken to water being splashed all over his body from a spell. He jolted awake immediately to find Ron pointing his wand directly at him.
Harry looked around, seeing many of the Gryffindor boys gathered around his bed, laughing at him. When his eyes caught sight of his trunk, however, he became furious. Whatever spell Ron had used on Harry had obviously been used on his belongings as well, since his entire trunk was filled to the brim with water; some of Harry's stuff having floated to the top.
Harry, before he could lose his temper like the others thought he would, calmly reached for his wand, quickly drying himself. He then rose slowly, trying to remain as calm as possible so that he wouldn't get expelled for releasing his magic on everyone in his anger.
He walked towards his trunk, quickly getting rid of the water before taking in the state of his belongings. All of his clothes were soaked, but he easily cast a drying charm on them. All of his ink and quills he had to throw out, including all of his parchment, deciding it wasn't worth the effort in using more powerful charms on things he could easily buy. He was about to throw out all of the parchment when one, in particular, caught his eye.
He turned as quickly as he could, wand pointing directly at Ronald.
"We're done." Harry simply stated before casting an extremely powerful restoration charm on the Marauder's Map.
When everything was once again dry and functioning, Harry cast a non-verbal, and fairly complicated, locking charm on his trunk before silently walking down to meet Hermione for breakfast. When she started to ask what was wrong, Harry simply shook his head and continued walking into the Great Hall.
"Harry," Hermione started forcefully as they finally reached their seats at the table, "what happened up there?"
"Ronald," Harry snarled, "and I are no longer friends."
"I thought you said he would come around eventually..." 'Mione said carefully.
"He might... but I won't." he replied angrily.
"What did he do?" Hermione whispered in shock, knowing it must have been quite serious in order to get Harry to stop being your friend and act so viciously.
"He tried to ruin my stuff," Harry responded, grabbing himself something to eat, despite feeling terribly sick.
"Tried to? So everything is all right?" she asked hopefully.
"Only because of that powerful restorative charm I'd found in the Black Library this summer..." he said as indifferently as he could since he was trying his hardest to look calm in front of the school.
He heard Hermione suck in a breath, letting him know she understood just how much damage had been done if he'd had to use that particular spell. It was powerful enough that even Hermione had immense trouble performing it most days.
Harry looked around him, then, trying to seem as normal as possible. He could tell that not everyone was fooled, however, when he locked eyes with Malfoy. The blond had his head tilted to the side slightly, as though Harry was a particularly tricky puzzle he was trying to solve. When he noticed Harry watching him, he looked questioningly at the brunette, obviously wondering what was irritating Harry so much. Harry merely shook his head, trying to get the blond to believe that nothing was wrong. He quickly sighed to himself, however, as Malfoy only scowled at him, clearly not believing him for one second.
Resigning himself to having to re-explain everything, Harry hastily finished his breakfast before standing and walking out of the Great Hall, leaving Hermione behind. Once in the hallway, he waited a few moments before seeing a determined Draco Malfoy come barreling out of the large doors.
"Well," Harry said, smiling for the first time that day, "that was rather quick. In a hurry, are we?"
"Potter?" Draco said, surprised to find Harry waiting for him. He had expected to have had to chase the brunette down.
"Who else?" Harry replied, still smiling slightly.
"Well... That was easier than I expected." Malfoy said, looking confused.
Harry sighed, the smile rapidly fading, "I figured it would be easier to just get the explanation out of the way now, rather than have you corner me later when I need to get to class or something."
"What happened, Potter?" Malfoy asked seriously.
Harry sighed once more before motioning for the blond to follow him down the corridor and into an abandoned classroom. There, he shut the door, casting a strong privacy charm on it. He turned around, finally facing the teen's bright grey eyes.
"Ronald... he..." Harry tried, sounding distraught, despite his best efforts to remain composed.
"What did he do, Potter?" Malfoy asked, not used to seeing this side of the brunette.
"He tried to destroy all of my things." Harry finally said after taking a few deep breaths. "Even the things he knows mean everything to me. This wasn't just anger, Malfoy... This was pure hatred. He knew just how to make me hurt the most and he used it against me."
Malfoy surprised Harry then, pulling him into a tentative hug, gently rubbing circles against his back. Harry felt awkward at first, before deciding it couldn't possibly make him feel worse.
"What does this mean?" Malfoy whispered after a few moments.
"It means Ronald and I are no longer friends," Harry replied, strangely calm.
"What if Weasley changes his mind later?" the blond asked, finally pulling away from the other boy.
Harry sighed to himself slightly, "It's too late. Nothing could make up for it... He intentionally crossed one of the very few lines I have."
He watched as Draco nodded slightly as if having confirmed something to himself. "For what it's worth," the blond began, "I'm sorry."
"For what?" he confusedly asked.
"That you've had to go through this in the first place."
Seeing such sincerity in those grey eyes nearly made Harry choke up, ending with him coughing slightly instead, before murmuring, "Thanks", slightly blushing all the while.
"Come on, we've got to get to class now," Malfoy said, which Harry was grateful for.
The two silently walked towards the Dungeon together, Harry preparing himself for double Potions with Snape. Draco entered the room first, taking his seat beside Pansy, the other still empty. Harry started moving towards his seat before stopping dead at seeing Ronald sitting at the table in what was usually Harry's seat; the middle one. Deciding not to sit beside his fellow Gryffindors, Harry turned sharply and stalked towards Draco's table, sitting in the seat between the two Slytherins.
Harry ignored the surprised looks from the Gryffindors and the triumphant look on Ronald's face. Instead, he focused on the raised eyebrows he was receiving from Snape; giving him a glare in return, as if to say, "move me, I dare you". Snape did not do this, however, merely raising his eyebrow further before beginning his lecture. Immediately, all eyes were on Snape, allowing Harry to breathe a sigh of relief at the attention having been diverted, for a little while, at least.
He tried to pay attention to the lesson but found himself unable to focus on anything for very long. When it was time to brew the potion, which Harry did not even know the name of, Malfoy waved his hand in front of Harry's face in order to gain his attention.
"You alright?" the blond asked, grey eyes full of concern.
"Yeah, just... needed to zone out for a bit, I suppose." He responded, smiling slightly in order to prove it.
"Good" Malfoy began, "then make yourself useful and go get the ingredients." He teased, causing Harry to smile for real.
Harry rolled his eyes dramatically and sighed, saying, "fine", before sticking his tongue out at the blond playfully and making his way towards the supply cupboard.
On his way back, he noticed Pansy and Malfoy seemingly arguing over something but stopped once he got nearer. He was about to comment on it when he returned but was interrupted by Snape.
"Well, Mr. Potter," Snape began, "I'd have been praising your new-found ability to be quiet during my lessons if it weren't for the fact of you not listening to a word I'd said."
"I was listening, Sir," Harry replied meekly, already knowing where this conversation was going.
"Then, without looking at the board, tell me the name of the potion we're brewing today," Snape replied smugly.
When Harry took too long to respond, Snape smiled triumphantly, "Detention. Tonight after dinner. Do be on time, Mr. Potter." With that, Snape turned around swiftly, walking purposefully back to his desk where he sat watching everyone preparing the potion.
"Could today get any worse?" Harry asked, dropping his head onto the table with a sigh.
