Chapter Eight: Halloween
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"You know, Halloween is tomorrow and I've heard almost everyone talk about the feast and 'trick-or-treating'. I haven't heard anything about Wizarding World traditions, though." Harry was sitting on the arm of Draco's chair, grinning at him. "Feel like telling me some?"
"There's not many traditions. I think it's the same as Muggles. Mother always uses it as a chance to throw a Masquerade ball, every year." Draco shrugged, smiling softly and remembering the rainbows of colors and fabrics swirling around the ballroom as he'd remained near the snack tables, talking with his friends when he was young.
"There used to be a truce," Hermione piped up from where she was reading - big surprise - and curled up on a couch not far away. "A truce between wizards and all magical creatures that no fighting or wars would happen on the day of Samhain. Professor Binns talked about it in class last week."
"As if we're expected to absorb anything from those lessons. The man is more boring than a bucket of flobberworms," the blond said, rolling his eyes at her. While Hermione and Harry looked confused at the term, Ron gave a snort of laughter.
"Too right. I can barely keep all the goblin names apart- I mean, you think talking about goblin and ogre wars would be exciting. But, no. They're really boring."
"You know, it would probably be less boring if we had a different teacher." Looking through his book, Draco hummed quietly. He felt Harry lean closer, and then heard the child's voice.
"Are you... Draco, are you reading a book for seventh years?" Hm, he at least had the foresight to ask quietly.
"No. Don't be foolish." And now Harry was leaning against him and reading the book with him. That... Why.
"How do you even understand anything in this?"
"It's not a book for seventh years," Draco repeated, glancing to Harry. "Why are you reading over my shoulder?"
"Dunno, thought I could see what you were studying," Harry shrugged, sitting up and stretching. "Hey, Ron. Bet I can beat you in Exploding Snap."
"I could beat you in my sleep," Ron said with a snort- Huh. Strange. When had it become Ron? And speaking of, when had Granger become Hermione?
"Bring it," Harry grinned, grabbing the deck and shuffling it up. "Loser has to go down and get us all snacks, though."
"Alright. I'll be having a treacle tart. Thought I'd tell you ahead of time," Ron taunted. Hermione glanced over to them, rolling her eyes before smiling.
"I'd like some tea and biscuits." Sweet Merlin they were all children. It... Alright, it was a little bit adorable.
"I'll be sure Ron remembers when he loses," Harry grinned, handing the deck over to Ron. "Losers first." Draco only watched them all fondly, like one would with little ones playing together. He was content. It wasn't Slytherin, but... It wasn't all bad.
::
"How are we ever supposed to remember all these spells," Harry groaned, burrowing his face in his hands. The feather he was supposed to be floating was simply laying there, not having moved an inch. "I can barely remember what I had for breakfast!"
"It's not that bad," Draco said with a smile. He gestured to Hermione. "She's got the right idea. Flashcards. Ways to help you study." He shrugged, muttering the spell to make his feather float. "I like to think of the meaning, or the origin of the spells. Wingardium Leviosa. Like you're giving the item wings with which to levitate."
"Right." Harry looked a little lost, but tried the spell again anyways. This time his feather managed to float - not much, but it was definite improvement. Beside them, Ron was begrudgingly asking for Hermione's assistance.
"See? You're not so bad. It just takes a little time, is all." Draco nudged Harry with a smile. "Don't worry about it. You're not the only one with troubles." He gestured around the room where people were still trying to get their feather to float, some poking it while others only turned to talk to friends. They were startled by the sound of an explosion where they turned to see Finnigan. Of course.
"You know what? You're right, I could be way worse," Harry laughed, attention lapsing and allowing his feather to gently float back down towards the desk. "So, are you excited for the feast tonight? I hear it's supposed to be amazing."
"It's alright," Draco said simply. Draco was far too used to the Halloween feasts to be amazed by them as he had been, but the first years were all going to be in awe.
"Well, I'm rather looking forward to it," Hermione spoke up, feather now near the ceiling. "Hagrid has been growing the pumpkins for the feast and they're huge last time I saw. Big enough to fit all four of us in one, I bet."
"Don't go getting ideas, Granger," Draco teased. He of course had heard the old fairy tale, and had been taught how ridiculous the muggle conception of magic was for the time limit of transfiguration to be so specific.
"And here I already had my glass slippers picked out," Hermione snorted, Ron looking confused and Harry giving a rather startled laugh. Draco kept his fat mouth shut, only looking back at his feather. Right. Right. Didn't need any comments like that. "Still, the decorations are bound to be spectacular-"
"Forget the decorations," Ron laughed. "Think of the food. Fred and George told me that Hogwarts always goes all out when it comes to feasts!"
"...What do you think Christmas is like, here?" The question was quiet and reserved, and Draco only realized after he asked that most likely only Harry had heard him.
"I don't know," Harry frowned thoughtfully, prodding at his feather with his wand. "I think it'd be nice. I mean, can you imagine this place covered in snow? Think of all the snowball fights that could be had. Plus, the Forbidden Forest probably looks great."
"It's forbidden for a reason," Draco pointed out, though Harry had coaxed a bit of a smile from him at the thought. He'd still go home for Christmas, but... staying for both weeks felt wrong.
"Are students allowed to stay here over the holidays?" Harry sounded curious, tongue stuck out in concentration now as he repeated the spell and managed to ge the feather a bit higher. "Or are they sent home?"
"Many choose to go home for the holidays. Some choose to stay here." Draco shrugged, slipping his wand into his sleeve and leaning back in his chair to watch Harry. "I haven't decided."
"You should go home." Letting the feather start to drop back to the desk, Harry turned around to look at Draco. "Judging by all the letters they send, your parents seem to miss you a lot. Plus they're probably worried about the whole Gryffindor thing."
"Mother said they were only worried because I was so worried." It was hard to keep the awe from his voice, only quietly watching Harry. It was a novel concept. Both of them supporting him so fully.
"That's good, then," Harry grinned. "Definitely go home and see them over the holidays- At least for a few days. You have to be missing them, and it'll be good to get away from school, right?"
"Yeah. I guess." Draco realized that his mother would most likely throw her holiday ball... And invite his 'friends.' Which... That might be a good thing. He could talk to them, see if there was anything worth salvaging.
"Just think about it," Harry smiled, flicking his wand at Ron's feather and snickering as he floated it off the desk. When Ron looked back at his now vanished feather, he looked very baffled.
"You're so cruel," Draco snickered, nudging Harry. He pointed his wand at the feather and tried to steal it from Harry. What ensued was a silent struggle on who could gain control of the feather, both losing when Hermione decided to play.
It was the next day that Draco was glancing to the three of them more and more in confusion. He felt like... Something. He had a bad feeling. He didn't know what, but... Something happened today.
Was it something to do with the 'Mystery of the Year'? He didn't think it was, but still. That bad feeling just wouldn't go away. It was bad enough that Harry picked up on it before lunch. "Draco? Hey, are you alright? You've been off since breakfast."
"Oh, uh... Yeah. I've been fine." Really, he must have been awful if Harry had noticed. "Just worried about exams," he said with a nervous grin.
"You're worried about exams." Harry gave him a rather skeptical look, and, damn. Not as dumb as Potter. "At the end of October."
"My parents always stress the importance of grades," Draco said easily. It wasn't a lie. Just not the entire truth. Not that Harry needed to know that.
"Mhm." Harry stared at him for a few moments before shaking his head. "Fine, I'll believe you. But try to enjoy yourself, at least?"
"I can try." Draco smiled and followed Harry to the Great Hall. "What's Halloween like where you live? Not with your family, just where you live."
"Pretty normal, I guess," Harry shrugged. "Kids dress up, parents take them door-to-door for trick-or-treating, and everyone gorges on candy for the next few days." Silent for a moment, Harry gave a weak smile. "I was never able to try any."
"I'll have mother send you some," Draco said with a smile. Harry deserved to be treated like a child, sometimes.
"Wha- Oh, no, no- I mean, if you guys want to, but you and her definitely don't have to do that," Harry shook his head, looking a bit startled. "I mean, just the food at Hogwarts is enough to turn my head."
"Yeah, well, still. What's your favorite?" Draco was already getting out a piece of parchment and writing out his letter to his mother, looking to Harry with a smirk.
"Oh, uh, I don't... I don't know? I guess I like chocolate frogs, the few times I've had one?"
"I'll have her send a bit of everything." Draco's smirk turned into a smile at Harry's look as he scribbled something down on the parchment. "Care to accompany me to the Owlery?"
"Sure," Harry nodded, smiling as he got up to follow after Draco. "Your owl's name is Merlin, right? The eagle-owl?"
"Right. How'd you know that," Draco asked curiously, looking over at him. The younger shrugged, looking around the castle - he was still trying to memorize the layouts.
"You greet him at breakfast all the time, when he delivers your letters. Plus he's always sitting nearby when I go up to visit Hedwig."
"So I've noticed," the blond muttered before continuing to walk. "So, how'd you come up with the name Hedwig?"
"I found it in one of my textbooks," Harry shrugged. "'A History of Magic', I think. Seemed like a good name for her."
Draco couldn't help it. He laughed. "You found it in a textbook?" That was actually pretty damn hilarious. And so very him.
"Well, I wanted something magical," Harry defended, smiling anyways at Draco's laugh. "I figured where better to look than a magical history book." Draco only laughed a bit more. That was damn adorable. "Yeah, yeah, it's so funny."
As they reached the owlery, the two saw Hedwig and Merlin were once again curled up together, looking close as could be. "I swear to Merlin, get your bloody owl away from him," Draco said with a pout.
"Wha- How do we know this isn't Merlin's fault," Harry pouted back, whistling anyways and smiling as Hedwig flew over to him at once. "Hey, girl. Are you annoying Draco by being nice to Merlin? Good girl."
"How dare you fraternize with the enemy," Draco scolded Merlin, rolling up the parchment and handing it to the owl with a ruffle of feathers. "For mother." Merlin gave a low noise, fluffing up his feathers importantly and then flying over to Harry's shoulder. Nuzzling at Harry's cheek, Merlin looked far too satisfied with himself as he took off again. "Bloody owl!" Draco quickly turned around before Harry could see his blush. Rotten stupid bloody bird.
"I think he's great," Harry laughed, running a hand over Hedwig's feathers and then whispering something quietly to her. After that, Draco felt talons gently wrap around his shoulder, Hedwig hooting quietly. Draco felt his expression melting a bit before he was back to pouting.
"Oh, and what do you want?" The owl only fluffed her feathers a little, nuzzling against Draco and nipping at his ear affectionately. Draco swatted at her half-heartedly before giving a half-smile.
"Too friendly for her own good," Harry laughed, walking over to brush a hand over Hedwig's back. "Shall we go visit Hagrid? He wants to show off the jack-o-lanterns he's made."
"If you'd like," Draco hummed, looking at Harry with a soft, fond smile. He often caught himself doing that. If he didn't know better, he'd call himself lovesick. But that was ridiculous. Harry was eleven, and he hadn't loved Potter. He'd just...appreciated some of his features.
"Bet I can beat you there," Harry grinned, already taking off and running towards the owlry steps. "Especially since you're so slow!" Draco lagged behind, glancing to Hedwig and raising an eyebrow.
"Do you plan on coming along, then?" Hedwig shuffled her talons, clinging more tightly to Draco and giving him a look that vaguely reminded him of McGonagall. "Alright, alright." Draco followed along after Harry at a much more sedated pace, hands in his pockets as he continued to smile.
Days like this were...nice. That worry from earlier this morning seemed almost gone, and everything just seemed so nice. It... Draco could stand to have more days like these.
Later, at the feast, Draco was looking around the table, his expression cold and closed off. It was his first Halloween as a Gryffindor... Not something he was excited about, really. "At least try to enjoy it," Harry sighed dramatically, offering Draco a cup of his usual tea. "Look, Ron's having fun."
"Apologies. I didn't know it was a requirement," Draco said coolly. He barely looked at Harry, only staring at the table coated in silver and green, where Blaise, Pansy, Vincent, and Greg all seemed to be joking and palling around. They never did that... Was it because of him? Because they were just allies?
"You're moping worse than when Hermione got a B on that pop quiz of Snape's," Harry sighed, setting the tea down and quieting his voice. "Anything you want to talk about?"
"It's fine." Draco looked back down at his plate, picking at the food piled on top of it. He hadn't even cared about what he'd been grabbing, just putting things on the plate.
Harry seemed to study him for a moment before shrugging and pushing a slice of pumpkin pie closer to Draco. "Alright, I won't push. But if you do wanna talk, I'm a pretty good listener when I need to be." Right. 'By the way, Harry, I've known you for seven years already from an alternate time,' Draco imagined himself saying. 'Oh and by the way in that time I was in Slytherin and we were awful to each other and nearly killed each other.'
Yeah, that would go great. That would go perfect. Might as well as tell him he had been a Death Eater, as well. Maybe he could come up with something to reassure Harry without telling the truth or lying. He could probably do-
A loud banging echoed throughout the Great Hall, noise dying down to see Quirrell running in. "Troll! Troll in the dungeon!" Oh shit. Draco was immediately looking around the table, doing a quick head-count.
"Granger. Where is she." Draco was already standing as the others started to panic and run. He didn't pay attention to Dumbledore's words, or the professors telling the students to follow their prefects.
"She was here," Ron spoke loudly, trying to make himself heard. "I think she went to the bathroom. Should we go warn her?"
"Definitely. She won't know." Draco grabbed Harry's elbow, tugging him up and out of the Great Hall. Ron was close behind them, the three skidding around all the groups and trying not to get spot by the older students.
"How did a troll get in the dungeons," Harry muttered, quickening his pace. "I mean- I mean a troll."
"I don't-" Draco shook his head, trying to run through everything he knew. "I don't- He had to have been let in. Nothing else would make sense."
"Do you think it was a prank by someone?" Ron frowned, looking around and seeming to keep an eye out for anyone. "I mean, I could get letting in a creature, but trolls are pretty stupid. Stupid and dangerous."
"I don't know- I don't know," Draco said sharply, hands balling into fists as he stormed towards the girls' bathroom. It was the only place Hermione could be. "Bloody hell, Weasley, I can't fucking know everything!"
He barely knew anything. Fuck he should have done more before coming back here. Research, or something. Just- Fuck. He was so far in over his head. "Draco," Harry hissed, jerking him back by his shirt before he could round the corner. "Look." It was then the smell hit.
"Bloody hell, that explains it." Why there'd never been any sign of a troll in the dungeons. "Come on. Let's close it in before it can do any damage." The other two nodded, all of them watching as the troll lumbered around, club dragging across the floor.
Draco had never seen a troll this close, and now that he was, he regretted ever being curious. This one was near sixteen feet, smelled like a sewage system, and looked as mean and vicious as Crabbe and Goyle on a very bad day. And Draco had seen them at their worst. It stumbled and shambled into a room, Draco gesturing forward and running behind it, pulling on the door to close it.
Harry grabbed the key that was tied around the door handle, shoving it inside and locking it. "Now let's find Hermione and get-" A high-pitched scream drowned out the rest of his words. A scream that came from behind the door.
"Fucking hell!" Draco turned the key again and pushed the door open. "I think we bloody found her!" Ron and Harry followed in after him at once, all of them seeing Hermione backed against a wall and looking terrified, the troll growling at her and raising his club.
"Distract him, quick!" Harry yelled, grabbing a rubble of rock from where something had been smashed. As soon as he had it, he was throwing it at the troll. "Over here you ugly git!"
"Trolls are impervious to magic," Draco called, using his wand to shoot up sparks to attract the troll. "Weasley, get Granger out of there!" Nodding, Ron scrambled over the rubble and behind the troll, grabbing Hermione by the hand and quickly pulling her along. Draco looked around at a bit of a loss. What could they do... Well. He had an idea. Taking Harry by the hand, he pulled Harry out of the bathroom and closed the door behind them.
Ron was locking the door at once and ripping the key out, tossing it as far away as possible. "Right, let's- Let's not do that again. Ever-" He was cut off by Hermione hugging him tightly, crying a little, and, right. Eleven-year-old who just went up against a troll. She was allowed to cry.
"So," Draco said finally, panting just a bit. "I think we should find a tea-"
"That won't be necessary, Mr. Malfoy." This woman knew everything and Draco feared for the day she became Headmistress again. "Explain yourselves- Just Mr. Malfoy, thank you."
"We noticed that Granger was missing. Went to use the loo, I imagine. Thought we should find her. Warn her. Troll was on this floor," he said, glaring at the ground. Quirrell was damn lucky he wasn't here, right now. He'd be glaring daggers at him. Bloody- Damn man probably let it in, himself. Who else would have access to trolls?
There was a roar from inside the bathroom, McGonagall raising an eyebrow as the door rattled. "I see. Stand back you four, please. Just wait over there." With that, she was unlocking the door with her wand and walking in.
"That troll doesn't stand a chance," Ron muttered quietly, Harry nodding in agreement.
"Bloody hell," Draco said in a hushed tone. "The woman's bloody amazing." All three gave noises of agreement, hearing a mighty crashing sound from the bathroom before McGonagall was walking out calming and looking as impeccable as ever.
"Now that we have that taken care of. I would like you four to return to your common room, the feast will be continuing there for students. Please do try not to run into anymore trolls, yes?"
"Professor, that'll be quite impossible. You're sending us to the Gryffindor Common Room." Alright. Draco still had the wit of an eighteen-year-old. He was allowed his snide remarks. In fact, he was rather proud of them.
McGonagall gave him a stern look, although he could see she looked a touch amused. "Off you go, you four. I'll contact the others and we'll see if we can't find how this troll go in. And how he got up from the dungeons."
"Was he ever in the dungeons in the first place," Draco asked. "Was the smell there?" Because...he never remembered the smell. That was a smell he wouldn't forget. It hadn't been there, first year, once they'd returned.
"Not that we're aware of yet," McGonagall muttered. "And that's what's worrying me." As other professors started arriving at the scene, Draco noticed that McGonagall was giving him a rather appraising look.
"We'll just go now, Professor," Harry smiled, pulling Draco along, the group all moving towards the stairs. "That was terrifying. Let's never do that again. Ever."
Draco laughed and nodded, leading them back to the common room. "I'm perfectly alright with that." It was only when they were halfway there that he realized he and Harry were still holding hands. He quickly released Harry's hand and shoved his own into his pocket, hoping the younger hadn't noticed.
He was eleven, he probably hadn't noticed. No, he was an eleven-year-old Harry Potter. He definitely hadn't noticed. "Enough excitement to get rid of your bad mood, I see," Harry teased. "Feeling better?"
"Are you kidding? We just bested a troll. As first years. I'm feeling great!" ...He was starting to understand Gryffindors a little better, now. Maybe they could go beat another troll! Oh, Merlin, he was sounding like them now, but... Come on. Eleven and they had beaten a troll.
"I'm just glad you all got there in time," Hermione smiled, giving a single, light pat to Draco's back and smart girl. She knew he had problems with physical tough. "Thank you, all of you, for saving me."
"Who else would be an actual challenge in class," Draco teased, giving her a warm smile. He didn't notice the look Harry gave him for it.
"Just because you're on my level doesn't mean you're going to get top scores," Hermione sniffed, smile twitching on her lips. "Although you're welcome to try."
"You're right. I'm far above your level. It's all too easy, to me." Rolling his eyes, Harry gave a small laugh.
"Let's just get back to the common room. We have a feast to finish, after all."
